HoloJourneys

by vanderblast

A fateful encounter with a fluffy sheep inside a castle dungeon, begins a journey that will change the world. In a world of magic, swords, magical spirits and endless possibilities, Anon, sets forth on a journey with his friend Watame to see everything this world has to offer and to find their origins. The journey won't always be easy, but together, they can always make it through.

4. A new land of elves, thieves and clowns?

A wooden watchtower coming into view ahead causes Watame to put the brakes on her magic that has had you and Flare running at her excited pace since you started on foot. Thankfully the distance was not as long as the last time you were pulled along by her magic. Flare and yourself share a brief moment of discomfort as you both sit and stretch to help ease the burning sensation in your muscles, but you both perk up seeing the wall made of trees, brush and greenery ahead. The road you walk on begins to narrow as you get closer to the watchtower, where a pair of armored elves carrying spears stand at attention.

When asked to identify yourselves, Flare states who she is and that she is on a journey to discover her elven roots. They press further and ask her to explain what you and Watame want to do in the land of the elves. Flare continues to explain that the two of you are also on a journey to discover your origins. The guards look at Watame and agree that they have not seen one quite her in some time, so it was believable that the humans would have no clue as to where she could be from. They look at you with less convinced eyes.

You explain the uncertainty of your origins and that a clue to your birthplace might be tied to the elemental spirits. This earns a chuckle from the two. They tell you that the elemental spirits have been quiet for ages and some human would likely never be linked to them, but if you really wanted to waste your time on that, your best bet would be to go to Lu'shaldor, the city of mages and scholars. The three of you are allowed passage but not without the guards urging you not to cause trouble, eyes will certainly be on three outsiders like yourselves.

They step to the side to allow you all to pass. As you take your first steps into a new kingdom you can't help but grin with excitement. A whole new country now lies in front of you. Trees that overflow with life surround and tower overhead of the path you walk on. The sun's rays peek through the branches above, making the surrounding forests feel inviting and full of joyous mystery. The sounds of wildlife sing through the air, birds fluttering and chirping, branches bending, woodland animals scurrying. You notice more and more birds perching and taking a particular interest in Flare as she walks and marvels at the scenery.

"It's all so beautiful." Watame says, not being able to keep her eyes focused in one direction for more than a few seconds.

"I had no idea it would be so different so quickly." Flare remarks in awe. She gives one of the nearby trees a gentle touch with her hand. "It feels so peaceful and comfortable here. This is really where I come from?"

"Yeah it's really something else. Nothing back at the coast even comes close to this. It looks like it stretches for miles too. I can kinda see why the elves try to keep the walking roads as small as they can."

"Oh that's right!" Flare suddenly says as she pulls a map from her satchel at her side. "If we want to go to Lu'shadlor like the guards said, there should be a fork in the road coming up. We will want to head left so we head to the northwest. There should be a small city we can get to by nightfall. We can rest there tonight."

"Good idea Flare." you say. "Now we won't have to worry about camping out. Plus I really want to see a real elf city. I wonder what it'll be like."

"I hope they have tasty food!" Watame chirps.

The three of you happily strolled through the vibrant walkway of nature. It made you feel like this land could hold all the answers you've been searching for, you knew that was a little overly optimistic, but the splendor of nature filled you with such wonder it was hard to think any negative thoughts at all. Before long you came to the fork in the road Flare had mentioned and went on your desired route.

The sun's light shifting through the trees is your only indication of how much time has gone by since you stepped foot into the elven kingdom. You notice Flare and Watame suddenly stop behind you, Flare's eyes dart around your surroundings, as she tries to hone in on something.

"We're being followed." she says in a low whisper.

With a hand above your sword, you become more tense. The lush forest was so enamoring you had not even entertained the notion that someone or something would want to start a conflict. A tense moment of utter silence passes. In an instant Flare readies her bow and lets an arrow fly into the forest beside you.

A loud yelp is heard as you turn your attention toward what looks to be a human diving from behind one of the trees onto the ground. Realizing their cover had been blown, five more figures appear from behind the trees. One picks his fallen comrade up harshly and pushes him towards the open path in front of you. The group split to stand between your path forward and your path back. All six of them were rough looking humans of varying sizes, their clothes look like they have seen better days, and look like they could likely live in the wilderness itself.

One who had as much of a commanding air that a group of ruffians could have steps forward towards you. A short sword twirls in his hand as he looks you down with threatening eyes.

"I'm gonna make this real simple." he starts. "Drop whatever valuables you have and be off."

"I got a better idea." Flare retorts as she locks another arrow. "Move aside and get out of these lands and I won't open a hole in your chest."

Unsheathing your sword you back Flare up on her threat. Watame follows suit and readies her harp. It would be a shame to have to fight in somewhere so peaceful, but they might not give you much of a choice.

"That one's an elf boss!" one of the goons behind him exclaims. "But she don't look like any elf I ever seen."

"Ayy who cares!" another says. "We haven't been allowed our own score in months, and their moneys as good as any elf's."

"You're welcome to try." Flare says tightening the pull on her bowstring. "Maybe you'll win, but I can promise you at least a few of you won't be walking after the attempt. Or you can crawl back to whatever hole you came from."

"She uhh, raises a good point boss. Nobody this armed usually comes through here. My backs still sore from sleeping on sacks too."

A moment of tense silence passes. Both sides are waiting for the other to make the first move. The breaking of branches in the distance brings the thugs to a heightened panic. The leader directs his men to get back to the hideout and they all scramble away into the forest. After it becomes apparent they are not going to come back, you all put your weapons away and breathe a sigh of relief.

Flare seems to be scanning the area for whatever had caused the humans to flee, but after another moment, she shrugs, which tells you whatever she was looking for could not be found. The three of you continue to talk as unspoken questions fill the air. What was a group of humans doing in the forest of elves? Were they really just here to rob unsuspecting travelers? A few of the things they said weighed on your mind as you tried to uncover some hidden meaning behind them, but at the same time you questioned if it was even your problem. Nothing a group of brigands could do to help with the goals the three of you had. You brush off the thoughts for now and smile at your companions to help bring the pleasantness back to your walk.

After almost an hour of walking the city of Alurdine comes into view. The orange of the setting sun shines over the top of the elven architecture. Buildings of all shapes and sizes pass by as you enter the city, the air was rich with the smell of the wood that was used to build them. You were not sure what to expect, the few elves you had met before at the trade posts with your dad were rather eccentric, so you might have assumed in the back of your mind that their architecture would be so as well. Everything was surprisingly modern and practical, a lot like human cities but with more emphasis on elegance and tranquility.

The elfish citizens however did not have the same air about them as their buildings did. Dressed in mostly dirtier and well worn tunics the elven populace walked about with their heads low. Most did not seem to pay you and friends any mind at all, which was a first for you. Some gave you a quick glance out of curiosity, but quickly turned back to whatever they were doing. Flare and Watame seem to be enjoying the new sights, but you could tell the wheels in Flare's head were turning. After a few days of one on one magic training, it was easy to tell when she was concentrating on a specific thought. She keeps her expression cool and pleasant, but her brow tends to furrow ever so slightly when she begins to focus on a specific thought. Maybe she also thought something was strange, but then again, was it really your problem?

Before you can expand on the thought, two heavily armored elves led by a taller elf, his white hair was combed back straight and fell just to his neck line and he sported a thin mustache. His armor was more ceremonial, built for protecting just his chest, the edges of a simple brown tunic could be seen underneath it.

"Human." the lead elf starts. "I am Captain Aldren, and you will need to come with me for questioning."

Just like that, a single sentence, from a complete stranger, and years and years of bad memories came flooding back at once. The eyes of people who already thought you were guilty of something. A stare that told you that you shouldn't have come here. You thought you had put all that behind you, now that you were so far from the place where superstitions ruled over logic, but here it was happening again. Before you could spiral further a gentle hand is felt on your shoulder. Broken out of your panic you see Watame smiling at you. You begin to calm down, just enough to try to formulate a response for the situation at hand.

"On what grounds?" Flare says stepping in front of you. "What reason could you possibly have for bringing my friend in for questioning? We just got to this kingdom, we haven't done anything wrong."

"On the grounds that this human here has been seen cohorting with the band of thieves that have been hiding in the forests for months. One of my scouts has confirmed a human matching your companion's description talking with them."

"That's ridiculous!" Watame almost shouts. "Anon would never try to steal from anyone."

One of the guards whispers something to the captain and points toward your spell book. Aldren nods as the guard steps toward you and pulls the book right out of its straps before handing it to his captain. Flipping through its pages the elf murmurs to himself before closing it.

"And where would a human get something such as this? This is no language I have ever seen, and I refuse to believe this was something from the kingdom of humans. You're coming with us and that's final. If you are truly innocent, we will find that out together."

The two guards make another step toward you before Watame and Flare block their path.

"If you're taking Anon, you'll have to take us too." Watame says.

"That's right! We're not gonna let you just take our friend away based on a lie." Flare adds.

You could tell your friends were ready to fight, ready to do whatever was necessary to make sure you weren't taken away. It was the first time anyone had really done something like this for you. As terrible as the situation was making you feel, you couldn't help but smile. You know what you need to do next. You walk around Watame and in front of the pair.

"Watame, Flare, thank you. I'm going to go with him though." you say looking back at them with a reassuring smile.

"What?!" Flare responds. "Anon you don't need to do that, you aren't guilty of anything."

"I know that, but I'm just going to have to prove that to the captain here."

"We can help prove that too." Watame says, "What if, what if we bring the thieves to you? We did see them a little while ago, but they ran off."

Captain Aldren taps his chin for a second in consideration. "The half-elf and the sheep-girl may try to prove the human's innocence, but since I trust the eyes of my men I will still be bringing him in for questioning."

"That's what we'll do then! Don't worry Anon, we'll get you out." Watame says as you are ushered away by the two guards.

"I know you guys will." you say back with confidence before turning your head forward, what did you walk into this time Anon?

Watame paced up and down the nearby side street Flare had pulled them both too after Anon was taken away. How could this happen? What do we do Flare? Do you think Anon is okay? All these questions and more she asked aloud as he moved. Flare was doing her best to stay calm and think of a plan as she leaned against a wooden lamp post.

"It'll be nightfall soon." Flare said. "It would be a bad idea to go back into the forest in the dark. We should try to get some information first. We can do that and get ourselves a place to stay for the night at the inn we passed by."

"But Flare." Watame says, trying to keep her tears under control. "Can Anon wait until tomorrow? Will he be okay?"

Flare walks up to Watame and takes her into a light hug. "It's gonna be alright Watame. Anon's strong right?. A night in a jail cell won't hurt him."

"But, but you saw his face earlier. When those guards came up to him, I've only ever seen him look like that once before, back at the castle where we met. He might be scared."

"For a guy being taken in for questioning he didn't look that scared to me. Did he seem scared to you when he smiled at us?"

"No."

"That's because he's being brave for us, so we need to be brave for him too. Come on Watame, he trusts us to get him out of this mess, but he doesn't want us to get into unnecessary danger either. So we should try to make the best plan we can for getting those no good thieves. Okay?"

Watame pulls herself together thanks to Flare's encouragement and puts on that confident sheep smile.

"You're right Flare! We need to do our best for Anon. Let's go to the inn now!" Watame says taking Flare's hand in hers and running back to where the inn was.

The air inside the inn was heavy, filled with patrons who seemed to be content to keep to themselves and whatever problems they came here to forget. Flare and Watame found seats at the bar and ordered themselves some food, like her father often preached, any plan worth making, needs to be fueled with a full stomach. Flare thought over the facts so far as she ate. If her observations were correct, the thieves were apparently causing more than just a minor inconvenience for this city. The general mood of the people who lived here, their clothes, and now the food itself, all signs seem to point to the fact that these people are just barely scraping by.

"I'm not sure if any of the people will be in the mood to talk to us Watame." Flare finally says.

"They don't look too happy do they." Watame says as she finishes her food, clearly not too impressed by it though.

"And on top of that, they probably won't trust the two people walking around with the human that just got arrested. Maybe this was a bad plan after all."

"No it's not Flare. We can make this plan work. We just need to convince them that they can trust us." Watame says getting up out of her seat and bringing out her harp. "I used to do this all the time back when I was at the evil wizard's castle. The people he captured didn't trust me at first either, but after hearing my songs they started to like me more. I'll just do the same thing!"

Watame skips over to a platform she could use as a stage and begins to play a lively melody. As her voice empowers the uplifting song, more and more of the inn's patrons start to watch her, and some even start to smile. After her song ends she is met with light clapping from the crowd, which she returns with a small bow.

"Everyone." she starts. "My friend has been wrongfully taken away, and the only way to clear his name is by bringing in the thieves he is accused of working with so they can be brought to justice. I know we are outsiders, but we really have done nothing wrong. I'm asking if you have any information, please share it with my friend and I. Anything at all could help."

Watame's plea is met with silence for a few moments, she was beginning to lose hope when an older elf stood from his chair and approached Flare.

"I will tell you what I can, young half-elf. If your kind sheep friend will play another song for us."

Watame and Flare exchange hopeful smiles as she begins to play another song for the entire inn's pleasure. As the old elf sits next to Flare the innkeeper places a pair of mugs in front of them.

"It's on the house." she says. "This is the most lively this place has been in a while."

"She is right." The old elf begins to say after taking a swig from his mug. "Most of the people in this city have not had much to smile about for a while. Is this your first time to your homelands, half-elf?"

"That's right." Flare says. "I've lived in the human kingdom to the south since I was a baby. This is my first time setting foot in elven lands."

"Sorry that your first impression is so dreary." the innkeeper remarks.

"But what happened? Surely one band of human thugs could not have caused things to end up like this?"

"Those humans are just the instrument used by the corruption that's taken root in our city." the old elf answers. "They are being backed and instructed by a high end business owner that lives here. Some say he was nobody important until about six months ago. All of a sudden, someone was able to start making big investments and purchases, seemingly out of nowhere."

"It sounds like you know who this person is, how have they not been arrested if they are the ones orchestrating the crimes?" Flares asks.

"No one really thought anything of it at the time, merely a stroke of good luck, but as wealth and status increased, so did his influence. Some of the captain's own men are on the payroll now. If it ended there things would not be as bad, but this person has knowledge of all the trade caravans that are bound for here, so all he has to do is provide his band of thugs with the time and the place, and he can get all the gold and goods he wants."

"But how has this kept going for six months? Surely a group of worn down humans could not escape elves in their own forests. And even if they could, wouldn't places just stop sending trade caravans through here if they keep getting robbed?"

"We thought the same thing. It could not go on for long, we said, but we were wrong. We underestimated this man's growing influence. Deliveries of goods kept coming on the same route, and kept getting plundered, leaving only scraps for the people that ordered it. The thieves continued to 'just evade' the guards. We also held out hope that the kingdom's higher authorities would put a stop to it all, the captain has been growing impatient with the lack of results, so it would have likely come soon, but thanks to your human friend, that crook may have just found the perfect scapegoat."

"It sounds like just catching the thieves won't be enough." Flare says looking down into her drink, things were getting more complicated by the second. "I'd need to expose this guy as well."

"That may not be entirely true." The old elf remarks. "If you did happen to catch the thieves the captain would certainly hold up his end of the bargain and let your friend go. He is an honorable man, but even that would likely not be enough to expose the man responsible for all this. It would be his word against a pack of human thieves. I don't think I need to tell you how that might go."

"But catch one of those guards in the act." the innkeeper mentions, clearly as invested in the conversation as Flare is. "You can make the captain question everything."

"That might be my best bet." Flare says. "It's funny that the person closest to the potential solution is Anon right now, if only he knew what he was supposed to be looking for. I hope he's doing okay."

The innkeeper leans in and in a low whisper says "There's a shipment on the way with a lot of goods for the businesses here, I have no doubt that those humans will be after it tomorrow. Maybe you can catch the thieves before the guards get to them for the exchange."

Flare looked back as the innkeeper went back to her duties, and began to try to formulate a plan. She was thankful that she was able to get more information than she could have hoped for, but even so, it wasn't enough. The first challenge she was faced with on her journey and she was already coming up short. There had to be some way to approach the problem she hadn't thought of yet. She thought back to what Noel would say about when she was faced with roadblocks.

"If hitting it from one side doesn't do the trick, I just try the other!" Noel's voice rings in her head.

That was just like Noel, brutally forceful and honest. Maybe that was it though. If she couldn't expose the guards or the elf behind it all, maybe she could force the thieves to do it for her. At the very least they could provide some sort of clue to go off of, something to show the captain to maybe convince him to look deeper. Either way she would have to corner them first, would just her and Watame be enough to overpower them though? It might be time to get creative.

"Excuse me miss." Flare says getting the innkeepers attention. "You wouldn't happen to have a few shovels and ropes I could borrow do you?"

The innkeeper smiles as she begins to piece together what Flare might be planning to do. "If you are going to do what I think you are, they're yours."

Flare smiles as Watame rejoins her after performing her last song for the now cheery crowd. She brings her close and goes over what she has learned and what she plans to do next. Watame intently listens, nodding, frowning, then smiling again.

"Can we get started now Flare!?" Watame says excited.

"We should get some sleep first, it's pitch black out there Watame, we would be tripping over our own holes. We'll leave before dawn though."

"Alright, just this once, let's get sleepy not sheepy. I hope Anon is able to get some sleep too."

"I'm sure he will, not much else he will be able to do right?"

Meanwhile, you had spent the last couple hours at least being grilled by the captain in a small room, just barely big enough for the both of you and the small table that separates you. You started from the beginning when he asked who you are and what you are doing in this country. Unlike with Noel, you don't omit the part Hector or Undine, you had a feeling you were going to be having this conversation a lot in the future, might as well get practice now.

"Undine?" Captain Aldren scoffs. "A spirit like that has not been heard from for centuries. They are a myth, folktales. Even if she still exists, I find it hard to believe that a human with no real grasp for magic could summon such a being."

"You're not wrong, at least for the moment I can't summon her back, but that's part of why I'm traveling in the first place, to learn, so I can again."

"And your two companions are also displaced orphans like yourself? That's rather convenient."

"Well Watame might have parents out there, and I might too, but that's why we're here, we want to find answers."

"And your spell book, you say it has some unknown connection to where you come from?"

"I have to believe it does, it's the only thing my dad found with me."

"You do realize how fantastical this all sounds right? On top of the fact you just happen to show up when I am so close to a breakthrough on finding that band of human scoundrels."

"Just because I'm human?"

"No." Captain Aldren calmly states. "Unlike some of my kin I could care less about what you look like or where you hail from. I only care about the safety of my people and the facts. The fact is my men reported seeing you conversing with the thieves, and then they just left. If you aren't in league with them, how come they did not take you for all you had?"

"They wanted to, but they must have heard your men closing in and turned tail."

"Impossible. A good elf can move through the forest undetected. While I want the thieves captured I also want the whereabouts of all the goods they stole. My men were instructed to find them AND where they hid their stolen spoils."

"Then how come you're sitting here talking to me instead of sorting through a bunch of stolen goods with the right people in jail huh? If your men were close enough to see me talking to those guys, and if they can move as silently as you claim, it should have been no problem to tail those thugs to their hiding spot. You're getting some bad info, captain."

The certainty in Captain Aldren's eyes wavers, you can see doubt starting to creep onto his face. Maybe there is something more to all this than just a group of ragtag jerks stealing pocket change. It was his turn to be pressed for answers.

"If your men are giving you false information, what else could they be doing behind your back?"

Captain Aldren's eye twitches at the accusation. He looks like he wants to explode, but he seems to get the reins on himself and his expression returns to the stone wall it was when he first brought you here.

"I've grown tired of this banter human. Let's see if you feel like telling me anything useful after a night in a cell."

In a huff he pulls you up by the arm and gathers the sack that contained all your belongings and drags you out of the room. A quick turn down the hallway leads to a descending stony staircase, the light growing more dim with each step. What a joyous memory to have to relive so soon you think to yourself.

A small jail lies at the bottom, three separate cells separated by stone walls line the left side. Not much else occupies the area save for a small wooden table and chair. Captain Aldren tosses your things onto the table and shoves you into an open cell.

"Enjoy your stay." he says smugly before closing the barred door behind you.

"Oi Warden!" a spunky girl's voice comes from the cell next to yours.

As you turn to the captain you can just make out the pure exhaustion that painted his face, the look of someone who suddenly regrets being somewhere.

"Am I good to go yet? I think I've done just about all there is to do here." the voice comes again.

"Quiet you" Captain Aldren snaps. "And its Captain."

Whoever this is, they were better at pushing the captain's buttons than you were. Just then you could also see a devious smile stretch across his face.

"I actually brought you a new roommate." He says. "Please make him feel at home, he is a great listener by the way."

As he turns to leave you whispers into your cell. "I think you will definitely change your tune by morning."

With that you were left in a darkening jail cell. Except this time, there was no fluffy sheep girl or knife in your boot to help you.

Fantastic.

"That guy can be so uptight." the girl's voice comes again. "He said you were my roommate but we're in different cells. That doesn't make sense, so I think we're jailmates. Anyway! It's nice to meet you!"

A gloved hand that you can barely just make out to be red comes into view in front of your cell and waves happily.

"Some people say you can't meet someone without seeing them first, but I don't think that's true." she continues. "We got our voices and our ears and those are pretty good. You also just got to see my hand, so you know I'm real and you're not crazy. Well you could be crazy, I don't really know anything about you yet, but at least you aren't imagining me. Anyway! What's your name? What are you here for? I can already tell you're a human though, so you can skip that part."

Expecting whoever you are sharing jail time with to keep talking, you wait until it is clearly your turn to get a word in edgewise.

"I'm Anon. How can you be so sure I'm a human?"

"You smell different. Different from anyone else I've smelled before, so I made a guess. Are you one of those human thieves that has the warden so upset?"

"I'm not, but he sure is convinced I am. I think his men are framing me for some reason. The captain seems pretty stressed to get results, so I might just be a scapegoat."

"Hmmmm, yeah a lot of those guys have pretty crooked auras to them. I'm here for a similar reason. I was just passing on through on my way to the human kingdom to the south, and they decided to lock me up just for being me. Can you believe that!? Here I was just trying to liven things up a little, give the people something to smile and laugh about, they all looked so down in the dumps I couldn't just ignore it."

"So you didn't do anything wrong? Just tried to make people feel a little better?"

"Pretty much! Some of those crooked guards told the warden they saw me in cahoots with those thieves. Said I was the reason they kept getting away. Lies! I haven't even seen a human yet!"

Your initial apprehensiveness toward this person was beginning to dwindle. They sound genuinely nice, and definitely more upbeat than someone you expect to meet in a jail, you couldn't deny the wonders it was doing for your mood. Getting up and walking to the bars of your cell you hold out your hand in front of the bars to the cell next to yours and wave.

"And now you have. It may be just a hand, but hey sometimes you gotta work with what you got. I'm sure it counts for something right?"

"Well! This day turned out pretty good after all! I got to see an actual human! I'm Polka by the way. Now what's a human doing in elf lands anyway?"

Slumping down to a sitting position against the stone wall next to the bars of your cell, you begin to tell Polka your entire story, the castle, meeting the people you now call your friends, Undine, everything. She was completely immersed in your story as you told it, interrupting here and there with questions about what you felt at time, or what the people you met were like. It was like finding a treasure chest filled to the brim with jewels and gold, to tell your story to someone who believed you unconditionally. There was no disbelief in her voice when you talked about your spell book either.

"That's pretty crazy Anon! It's also so magical how that little book is kinda looking out for you, almost like it wants to help you find your home. I hope I can see it in action sometime."

"I'd be happy to show you if we manage to get out of here."

By the time you finish your story, the entire jail was pitch black, you could barely see your hand in front of your face.

"Guess time flies when you're having fun!" Polka chirps. "The lights in here are controlled with magic, so they get lower and lower as the night goes on. If you ask me, they go out a bit too early."

"Wish I could make it a little brighter in here. Since I got nothing but time now, maybe I'll try to make the light spell Flare showed me work."

"Just a simple light spell? You talked about not being able to do it, but you were able to make a splash of water? Hmmmmm."

You begin to attempt the light spell just like Flare showed you again, but just like before you are not feeling any promising results. More and more you try to paint a clear image of light in your mind, golden, illuminating light. A few minutes go by without so much as a flicker from your own mana.

"Why doesn't it work?" you say aloud to yourself, almost forgetting someone else would be listening.

"Are you sure you're visualizing the right thing?" Polka asks.

"Yeah, I got a clear image of golden light in my head, like the sun. That's what Flare said she would think of to help her first master the spell."

"Try starlight instead."

The suggestion confused you for a moment. Sure stars were bright in the sky but they didn't exactly come to mind when thinking of lighting a room. You decide it wouldn't hurt to try and you begin to concentrate on the color of starlight as you will mana to your hands. A strange sensation starts to bubble to the surface of your hands, and with a surprising 'omph', a small ball radiating with the light of the stars floats above your cupped hands.

"I did it! I can't believe I finally did it!" you exclaim. You are captivated by your newest creation. It was so much more than a tiny splash of water that was gone in an instant. This was stable, comforting, and best of all, was exactly what you wanted right now.

"How did you know that would work Polka?"

"That's what's so cool about magic. What makes it work can be different for everyone. You mentioned your spell book glows like starlight, so I figured you might have an affinity for that, and it looks like I was right. Polka is a great teacher huh?"

"You bet! But I have to ask, if you can do magic too, why haven't you made any light for yourself Polka?"

"Well to tell the truth, my mana is pretty dried up actually." Polka answers, her voice losing a lot of the pep it has had up till now. "Kitsunes are influenced a lot by the weather, so since it's so dark and dreary down here, I can't conjure much. I might pass out if I tried. Though it's not like I can go anywhere anyway."

The fact she just said she was a kitsune registers in your head for a second before you start to focus on how sad it made you feel that Polka was unable to do magic here. You only discovered magic recently but it was already such a big part of you, you can't imagine what it would be like to be cut off from your mana completely.

"Here" you say as you carefully stretch your hand through the bars of your own cell so it is in front of Polka's. "Flare said you can attach spells to things using your own mana and little tweaking. Take it."

Thanks to the light from your spell you can clearly see an ungloved hand approach your own. Polka hesitates for a moment as her hand gets closer to yours, as if unsure this all was real. Taking the lead you concentrate your will to float your ball of starlight into Polka's open palm. To your surprise the ball was now floating in Polka's hand. Her hand recedes as from the wall outside your cell you can see her silhouette thanks to the light you gave her. It was interesting to say the least, the only thing you can make out for sure is that two pointed ears shot upward at the top of her head, but the rest looks human enough, another familiar situation, you're three for three now.

"It's so warm." she says softly. "Thank you, but now it's dark in your cell."

"Already working on that." you say as you begin to concentrate on making another ball of light for yourself. With some extra coaxing and effort, another ball of starlight floats above your hand after a short moment. "I did say I needed to practice after all, and having two back to back working spells is a huge step forward for me. Thanks again Polka."

You both looked towards the walls outside your cells to at each other silhouettes, it's not face to face, but it was still comforting in its own way.

"So why are you trying to get to the human kingdom anyway Polka?" you ask to break the brief silence.

"It's kinda embarrassing, but seeing how you already laid it all out bare for me, I should do the same for you right? My dream is to become a performer that can bring smiles to anyone." Polka starts, the cheer she had earlier quickly coming back to her voice. "The world has become a much more gloomy place recently, and I wanted to see if the human kingdom on this continent was the same. Plus I hear humans like to have fun."

"Well you got this human to smile in a jail cell, the rest of them should be no problem for you."

"Thanks Anon. So what's your plan then? Wait for your two friends to clear your name?"

"At first yeah, but even if they somehow manage to catch a few of the thieves, I'm thinking it will take a little more than that to spring us both out of here."

"So you wanna get out of here then? The guards that are supposed to watch over us don't take their job too seriously. I haven't seen one take the night shift in days."

"I'd love to, but unless you got the keys, I'm not sure how we are gonna get out of here."

"I got an idea, do you trust me?"

That was a good question. You only know so much about Polka right now, you haven't even seen her face yet, but at the same time, you somehow know you can trust her.

"Sure Polka, I trust you." you say to the shadow on the wall.

"Okay. Give me your hand." Polka says, stretching her hand out of her cell, you do as she asks and place your hand in hers.

"This might feel weird, but I promise you'll be okay. Are you ready?"

"I'm not sure what exactly I'm ready for, but if it'll help us escape, go right ahead."

Without warning a tingling sensation shoots your body. The ball of starlight disappears as your concentration on it breaks. It felt like a part of you that you didn't even know about was being prodded and pulled. It was not the feeling as when you used the spell book, but it wasn't entirely unlike it either. It was although your very being was coming out of you in a single breath. In what was only mere seconds but felt like minutes, the strange sensations leave your body entirely. Your body struggles to keep you upright, the only thing holding you up was Polka's hand tightly gripping yours.

"Sorry sorry!" she gasps. "That should be enough though. Are you okay?"

"What was that?" you ask while catching your breath.

"Hold that thought." Polka says, letting go of your hand once she seems sure you aren't going to fall over.

Looking through the bars of your cell the light that you gave Polka was no longer there, but instead a pink glow started to appear. A stream of the same pink light is thrown out of Polka's cell and onto the nearby table. The light looks to be enveloping everything that is on the table, and like yanking on a fishing line, it comes back to the cell next to you carrying everything with it.

The light vanishes and you can hear Polka shifting through things, but before you can get any closer to try and look you hear a click from her cell door. She quietly steps out and unlocks yours as well. You slowly stumble out, still feeling the effects of whatever Polka did to you earlier. Polka puts a finger up to her lips and motions for you to follow her. Much of her features were still veiled by darkness, but you could definitely see a large fluffy tail coming from her backside.

After climbing the stairs that led to the jail, Polka points to an open window halfway down the hallway, close to the room you were interrogated in. Fortunately this part of the building was on the first floor, so a simple climb and jump is all you need to secure freedom.

The bright light of the moon and stars was a welcome sight overhead as the night air invigorates your senses. Before you can take more time to admire your first time looking at the night sky from a new country, Polka grabs your arm and pulls you along. This was the first time you can finally see her thanks to the light of the moon.

A corset mixed with vibrant red, black, blue, pink and gold colors that is held by straps that reach behind her neck, tightly hugs her body. The frilly skirt that might very well be part of the corset itself looked to have four layers to it, the outer frills are painted with white and sky blue stripes, while the layers in between were black as far as you can tell. Mismatched thigh highs run up her legs, one a bright pink with alternating white and black stripes, the other the same blue as her skirt frills, also sporting the white striped pattern. Even her shoes had mismatching colors, the curled jester shoe on her left foot was a solid red, while the opposite was a mix of pink, red, and blue. Right above that large fluffy tail you spotted earlier sits a large bow, solid black with singular blue and pink stripes meeting at the middle from both ends.

Her wavy blond hair that reaches just past her shoulders bounces and shines in the moonlight as you move. A singular braid that sits on her right side can be seen swaying back and forth. You also finally notice that one of her pointed ears is now covered by a dual pointed jester's hat. The mix of colors that make up the rest of her outfit are present as their own stripe along the length of the hat, with metal stars covering the tips.

It is definitely the most interesting outfit you have seen so far. Once she is satisfied you are both far enough away from the jailhouse, she leads you both an unoccupied alleyway.

"Here you go." Polka says handing you all your belongings. "And thanks by the way."

"No thank you Polka." you say as you are happily reunited with your spell book and sword. As you get everything strapped back on you in the right places, you can't help but notice Polka keeps averting her gaze from you.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-Yeah. I'm okay. It's just now that you're right in front of me, I can see your spirit a little more clearly. It's just very bright. My eyes are probably just used to the dark after being in that cell for a week."

"I'm sorry!" you blurt out. "Would it help if I turned around or something?"

"I just need a second to adjust. That's all."

After a few moments of awkward silence as you stupidly tried to think of ways you could possibly make your spirit less "bright", Polka returns to her upbeat self and smiles at you.

"All good" she says. "Whew! Warn a girl next time would ya? I could have brought sunglasses."

The joke forces a small chuckle out of you. "Alright so what now for you Polka? If you're going to head for the human kingdom I can point you in the right direction. It's the least I can do to thank you for busting me out."

"After we were both wrongly locked up?! No way. I'm gonna help you dish out some justice! That is, if you don't mind having me around? I can be super useful, I can fight pretty well, I know a lot of handy spells, and best of all I will always try to put a smile on your face! That's Omaru Polka!"

"You make it hard to refuse when you put it like that. I'm glad to have you along then Polka." you say, offering your hand to hers for a shake, but you soon realize the possible awkward situation you just created. "Wait, will you end up feeding on me like you did earlier if we shake hands?"

"Oh no. I have to purposely do that. It's a very deliberate act. We can touch just like anyone else!" Polka explains, grabbing your hand with both of hers and giving it a vigorous shake.

With a new friend and ally, you both sneak off into the fleeting night to try and find Watame and Flare. You hope that they would likely be at an inn. You remember passing one before you were apprehended by the captain. Stealthily, you and Polka traverse the city to get to it, being careful to avoid any patrolling guards along the way.

By the time you found the inn the stars had just about disappeared into the coming morning sky. As you approach you see Flare and Watame both coming out, carrying what looks to be a sack of shovels? Watame suddenly notices you and her face warps to pure glee.

"Anonnnnn!" She shouts as she barrels toward you, followed by a surprised Flare.

"Shusssh" you hiss once they both get closer, you were free for now but you had just broken out of jail. For all you know Captain Aldren might already know you escaped and is coming after you now.

Flare looks at you with relief, you had a lot of things you wanted to tell the both of them right now, but you both know this is not the place.

"Glad to see you Anon." Flare says with a smile. "Now come on, we have work to do. I'll fill you in once we get a little away from the city, and introduce us to who you have with you too?"

You nod and the four of you are off. The rising sun reminds you that you have almost gone a full day without sleeping. You should be ready to fall flat on your face and pass out, but you felt so excited. The thrill of executing some unknown plan of Flare's, the joy on Watame's face to know that you're back with them, the excitement of a new fun friend, you didn't want to think about sleep yet.

Flare leads you through the forest outside of the city for a few miles at least before she stops at an area with enough space for everyone to rest.

"Watame, Flare. This is Omaru Polka." you start, stepping aside as Polka steps forward and takes off her hat in a greeting bow. "She was locked up in the cell next to mine. She's the one who helped me escape. She wants to help us out too."

Flare steps forward and offers her hand to Polka. "If Anon says you're good then I think so too. Welcome to the party Polka."

"Thank you for helping Anon get back to us." Watame says next. "I'm so happy you're back with us Anon. Now you can help us with Flare's plan! And with Polka too we will be done twice as fast!"

"You got a plan huh Flare? I'm guessing you think something about this whole thing doesn't add up either." you say, eager to hear if she found out anything tangible as opposed to the pure gut feelings you and Polka have.

"I do. There's a lot more to this than just a group of thugs mugging people for simple gold." Flare says as she sets her pack of tools down, and pulls out a map. "Turns out there's some business tycoon is pointing the thieves exactly where they need to be and when. This person also seems to have a lot of the city guard in his pockets, so there's no way they'll get caught."

"I knew it!" Polka shouts. "I just knew some of those guards were scummy."

"What about you Anon?" Flare asks. "Did the captain you talked to seem like he might be in on this too?"

Thinking back on your one on one time with the man, you shake your head. "Nah, he genuinely trusts whatever his men report to him. He told me what he cares about most is the safety of his people, and I believe him. He definitely doesn't seem like a bad guy."

"That's good to hear. Some people at the inn said the same, but I just wanted to confirm that with you. That's perfect for my plan though. We need him to be on our side when the time comes."

"He's already starting to doubt himself, or at the very least everything he's being told." you add. "So what is this plan of yours anyway Flare?"

"Right. So we wouldn't gain a lot from just capturing the thieves. The guy behind it all would just replace them and the real problem would never go away. The people of the city would continue to suffer."

"Is that why they're all so down in the dumps? Some guy is stealing all their stuff?" Polka asks as she swings her legs from atop a branch she now sat on.

"That's a simple way of putting it, yes." Flare answers. "For half a year all the goods were being stolen and sold back to the people who needed them at much higher prices than they should be. Most people can't afford any new goods now, not to mention the things they already paid for never reach their hands. Whatever the people of the city don't buy, this guy sells to someone someplace else."

"He's a big jerk!" Watame adds. "We need to help the people here Anon. They're nice, and they just want things to go back to normal."

"You'll hear no arguments from me there. So what can we do Flare? Just bringing the thieves isn't gonna be enough like you said right? What do you want to do?"

"I want to set a trap for them. There should be a shipment of goods coming in today. While the thieves are busy with that, we set a trap where the exchange between them and the guards is supposed to happen."

"How can we know where they are gonna do that?" Polka asks next.

"I got a pretty good idea of where that's gonna be. It needs to be in an ideal area to satisfy some specific conditions."

Flare kneels down and spreads the map she unrolled onto the soft grass and points to a specific spot in between the road they had used earlier, the city, and the forest you now stood in.

"The thieves would need quick access to the road that trade wagons and caravans would be taking. It would also have to be someplace close enough to the city so that whoever was picking it up wouldn't have to go too far. It would also need to be someplace with enough natural resources for the thieves to live off of. You remember how dirty they were, they have to be living out in this forest. That's why I think their base of operations is here, within short walking distance of the closest stream to the city."

"That's pretty slick thinking!" Polka says, impressed as she jumps off her tree branch. "What we gonna do with them after we trap them?"

"I'm going to ask them some questions first. There's a few things about this whole situation that I can't quite figure out, like why a group of humans are choosing to stay in elven lands just so they can rob simple deliveries for next to none of the profit. If we can get some answers out of them, we can have that much more to prove both yours and Anon's innocence."

"Sounds good to me Boss Flare!" Polka says, helping herself to a shovel from the sack and resting it along her shoulder. "Just point and I'll dig!"

With a plan in place and tools in hand, Flare leads everyone to the supposed hiding place of the band of brigands. While you were focused on the upcoming task, you could not help but be enchanted by the depths of the elven forests up close. Fresh morning dew hangs from the tips of the leaves and the grass that sparkles in the morning sunlight. You reach a rather large stream that is just quite not large enough to be considered a river. The water sparkles like diamonds as it cascades perfectly over rocks, wood, and leaves. You can't remember ever seeing forest water this clear and pure, you wonder how good it tastes.

Your admiration of the water in front of you is cut short as Flare calls for you to not fall behind. Following the stream you soon come across a small clearing, and like Flare predicted, held all the signs of people living there. A fire pit complete with a cooking spigot sat in the middle while sacks and various other makeshift camping gear littered the ground around it. The only things that are missing are the people that called this little spot their home.

With Flare's instruction you all work together to dig holes, set up snares, and then properly conceal them all. It was really amazing what the four of you could accomplish in such a short time when you worked together. Was this what it was like to work with a team? You and Watame worked together before, but the relatively simple work you all did filled you with a very wholesome feeling.

With the traps set the only thing to do was get out of sight and wait. Each one of you took a different corner around the camp to hide in. Watame and you both find some full shrubs that you carefully place yourselves into, while Polka and Flare decide on a more aerial approach and find some high overlooking branches to perch on.

You take the opportunity to rest your eyes for a bit, you wouldn't be much help if things got messy while you were as tired as you were. After dozing off for some unknown amount of time you are stirred back to reality by the sound of a squeaking cart wheel. Peeking out of your protective bush you spot some familiar humans pulling a cart whose contents were hidden by a white tarp. You wait patiently for the traps to be sprung, this was Flare's show now and it was time to see just what she put together.

From the opposite side of the camp you hear the clang of armor. Two elven guards walk very casually toward the coming thieves, Flare had mentioned wanting to catch some of the captain's men in the act, and your anticipation grew thinking of the chance to get some payback on the people who likely had a hand in putting you and Polka in jail.

All eyes move from the moving cart to the two elves, and back again. They finally meet on the side of the camp you and Watame hid on. You watch the dirt beneath their feet start to shift and sink. One of the elves goes to hand a pouch of something to the one you recognized as the leader of the humans from before, as two of his goons push the cart further. The ground starts to crumble, both parties look downward in confusion, too late do they realize what was happening as the cart is pushed forward another inch.

That was the breaking point.

Confusion turns to shock, which turns to fear, all in under a second as the two guards, the human leader, and the cart of stolen goods fall into the hole you dug. The remaining five thieves begin to panic as they try to assess what is happening. You see an arrow fly from Flare's hiding spot, catching one of the thieves by his sleeve and lodging him to the tree, his face bright white. Another stumbles into one of the rope snares as he is hoisted by his ankle and left dangling upside down from the tree branch.

Like cornered rats the remaining three huddle back to back in front of the hole, at least they were smart enough to realize there might be more traps around, you think to yourself. With the odds easily in your favor, you emerge from your hiding spot with your sword drawn, your friends following your lead as you all close in on the group.

"Not another move." Flare demands, another arrow locked and ready. The thieves look too eager to comply as they hold their hands in the air. "Now since you all won't be going anywhere for a while, we have some time for a few questions. Why are a group of humans doing this far in elven lands? Why have you been robbing people for someone else for basically nothing?"

Flare's questions are met with silence for a few moments. Until one of the smaller goons who spoke during your first encounter begins to talk.

"We've been under the greedy elf's boot for months. We only came here in the first place cause we got a job to guard some simple shipment from here to the human kingdom, ya know, one of those good faith kinda deals between the two."

"It's true, that's just what we did" another chimes in. "It paid pretty well too, we couldn't believe our luck. At the end of the job we were offered another, make sure another delivery made it back here, real easy we thought."

"But we were duped!" the leader calls from down the hole. "That pointy eared rat set us up!"

"The boss is right! There was illegal contraband in both of em. And we were the only ones on the hook for it if word got to the authorities. So the elf gave us a choice. Work for him, do some robberies, get enough to eat and one day retire when he makes it big."

"And what was the other option?" you ask almost out of courtesy.

"Rot in the deepest dungeon the elf can find, doesn't matter if it's in the human kingdom, or the elf one. We figured it was harmless enough, once the elf got rich enough he would be set, we would set off, and that would be that. But we realized too late how deep his grip got into things. There wasn't gonna be any escape for us."

"Yeah it was either come clean and get killed, run away and be killed, or keep up the easy work he gives us and maybe live a bit longer. If you call sleeping on sacks in the woods living."

"Why not just tell the captain of the guard? Even you guys must know how badly he wants all this to stop." you inquire.

"Well excuse us for not exactly being trusting of these elves, and we have no idea who is on that asshole's payroll. We could have very well been signing our own death certificates doing that."

"You would have been fine. He just really wants these robberies to end."

"Anon's right." Watame speaks up. "What you're helping that big bully do is hurting all the good people who live in that city. His greed is making everyone's lives there so much harder. Most people can't even get basic things anymore."

"You don't get it!" one of the thieves yells. "Lord Rahndel holds all the chips in this little part of the kingdom, and he ain't gonna stop till he gets even more, gets even higher in power and standing. He don't care if he has to lie, steal, cheat or even kill to do it either. Look at us, we're all under his thumb, we couldn't stop him if we tried."

Looking at the thieves hanging their heads low, you could tell they genuinely did not want to be doing this, well maybe they liked robbing people before, but not like this anyway. You almost felt bad for them, tricked into playing a part in some greedy man's scheme for wealth.

"Maybe you can't, but I will certainly try." Captain Aldren's voice comes from behind you.

You turn around to see the captain walking towards you all, his brow furrowed, chest puffed, and clearly agitated.

"I had my suspicions of that little weasel." he starts again. "But now that I've heard it with my own ears I finally have cause to corner him."

He steps in front of the thieves and inspects the hole, he looks at you, and then to Polka, his scowl grows even larger.

"Imagine my surprise this morning to find out that a human and a fox girl broke out of my jail. Now imagine further my surprise when the guard who was supposed to be on duty is now lying in a ditch with thieves!"

"Hiya warden!" Polka waves. "Glad you made it! We got the thieves for ya."

"How did you find us anyway?" you ask.

"I just followed the trail." Aldren says, holding up a collection of different color ribbons, colors that matched Polka's clothes.

"I figured the warden would be pretty mad and try finding us once he figured out we were gone. And once we decided we were gonna head out to take care of things ourselves, I left him a little trail." Polka explains as she starts pulling out more ribbons from her one black sleeve. "I can keep making these for hours."

"Mad, does not even begin to describe what I'm feeling. While I hate that the two of you unlawfully escaped. I hate that I pushed down every instinct that told me that there was treachery within my own ranks even more. I hate that I started to doubt the words of my own men."

"Maybe next time you won't be so quick to lock up random people off the street who just happen to not be elves." you say snidely.

"I suppose I deserve that, but don't forget, you still escaped custody. That is still breaking the law, so you'll need to pay your debts. Helping me transport these scoundrels back to the city should suffice."

"Sounds like a deal to me. That good with you Polka?"

"Yup! That's cool with me"

Flare and Watame also nod in agreement and the captain begins to bind the wrists of the thieves one by one.

"If you all cooperate, I will do what I can to ease your punishments. I can at least promise you that Rahndel will not have power over you after the day is done. You two on the other hand." Aldren looks at the two now detained elven guards with pure disgust. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves."

While this did not raise the spirits of the humans, they did at least behave and let themselves be led back to the city. You walk beside the captain who looks to be very deep in thought, and not the pleasant kind.

"What a mess." he grumbles. "I don't even know who I can trust anymore. Can I even leave the prisoners while I deal with Rahndel?"

"You can always drop them off at the inn." you suggest casually. "That's what Flare was gonna do anyway, the people there want all this to stop as much as you do, they wanna help."

"Even so. I'm one man against who knows how many. By the sound of things Rahndel's influence is considerable. I, uh, I hate to ask this, especially after the welcome I gave you, but for the safety of my people, I would ask for the aid of you and your companions. I know I have no right to, but if you would-"

"Yeah we'll help." you say before he can finish. "We want to help the people of this city anyway, and if taking down this Rahndel guy is the way to do it, we got your back."

"Yeah! What ya gonna do warden?" Polka says joining you both. "Tell him he's under arrest and to come quietly?"

"Yes." Aldren answers flatly. "But I don't expect it to be that easy."

After dropping the thieves and guards off at the inn, Aldren leads you all to the upper side of the city. Similar to the noble district back in the human capital, rich estates lined the streets.

"One thing before we arrive." Aldren starts. "If he chooses to resist, you are all free to use whatever force you deem necessary to apprehend him. I need him alive though."

"But what if he ends up falling on my sword though?" you ask, you knew how to not fatally injure someone, but that got considerably harder when faced with an opponent who definitely wanted to end your life.

"Just use these on your weapons."

Aldren pulls out a stack of paper slips and hands them to you.

"They are enchantments for your weapons, use them and you will be able to prevent life ending injuries to your opponents no matter where you strike."

"So it makes my sword dull?"

"Not in the slightest, the magic will allow your blade to still pass through skin like it normally would. It will certainly feel like you've been cut but there will be no physical wound, but you can still cut someone if you truly will it to do so."

"Magic sure is convenient for a lot of things huh?" you say as you place the slip of paper on top of your blade, it disappears with a faint glow. You hand a slip to Flare as she uses it on her bow.

Polka takes off her hat and reaches her full arm inside which earns a double take from you. She pulls out a black cane fit for a circus ring mistress, and pulls from its head to reveal a thin blade she then uses her enchantment on.

"How much can you fit in there?" you ask in awe.

"Maybe if you're lucky I'll show you someday." Polka answers with a wink.

Soon an estate that towers above all others comes into view. Everything about it is just gaudy, over designed, and knowing what probably went into paying for it, disgusting.

"I'm such a fool." Aldren says to himself. "I have no mind for business, so I thought nothing of his quickly accumulated wealth. I can't believe I didn't notice the root of the problem sooner."

"You can save the self pity for later." Flare remarks. "What matters is that you're taking the chance to make up for all that. Stand tall and proud. Everyone else was so quick to cower just at the mention of this man, but you didn't even hesitate to say you were gonna arrest him. My father would say that counts for a lot."

Aldren makes an appreciative nod to Flare, but before you can say anything further, a pair of armored guards come to the gates and they tense at the sight of the captain, but quickly try to hide their surprise.

"I would speak to Lord Rahndel." Aldren says. "Now."

With no choice but to comply to avoid arousing suspicion, they open the gates and lead you all onto the estate grounds. It is even worse up close, you spot what looks to be a statue of a portly short elf in the middle of a large fountain.

"Captain Aldren! So good to see you!" a voice coated with fake pleasantry calls from above.

From a balcony on what could very well be the fifth or sixth floor of the estate overlooking the front courtyard, you see a dark haired elf that looked a lot like the statue. Even from this distance you could make out the large fur coat he wore and the brightly colored rings that adorned his hands. Even more jewelry shines in the sunlight, did this man even have gems in his clothes?

"Lord Rahndel! You are under arrest for robbery, bribery, and conspiracy. Please come along quietly." Captain Aldren calls up to him.

"I'm not so sure I very much like what I get out of that deal, so I'll make a counteroffer. I'll just have you all killed, have it all swept under the rug so to speak, and you'll finally be out of my hair."

A line of armored elves step forward from behind Rahndell and draw their bows, all their arrows pointed at you and your friends. A motion of the elf's hand and a rain of arrows is set loose upon you. You quickly take out your spell book and step in front of the group, your book shining to meet your call.

"Stellashield!" you yell, as the shield of starlight appears and every arrow bounces off it harmlessly. You barely felt any resistance from your shield, you let the spell fade away.

While the elves are distracted by a human casting such a large spell, Flare fires an arrow right into the shoulder of one of the archers and quickly readies another.

"Not gonna make it easy I see." Rahndel calls. "That's alright, I pay these boys for the hard jobs."

Rahdnel snaps his fingers and the front doors of his mansion open and ten elves, armed with spears and large shields march out.

"Looks like we're doing this everyone." Flare says, knocking another archer from the balcony over with another precise shot.

"Time to show everyone how Noel's training made me an even better combat sheep!" Watame says, before singing a song of strengthening for your group.

You switch to your sword as the elves come within striking range. The first spear that comes your way is met by your blade, the power granted to your arms by Watame's magic allows you to dislodge it from your foes hands with a single swing.

Another elf with his spear raised flanks your side, but is instantly sent flying several feet forward by a powerful kick from Watame. She gives you a proud smile before focusing back on the battle.

Polka is jumping around with the agility of a fully seasoned acrobat. Each attack made against her is met with thin air as she twists, turns, ducks, and jumps out of harm's way. Every miss against her was rewarded with a quick slash of her sword, she looked tickled pink by the entire situation.

"This is my first fight with the team so you better believe I'm gonna do my best in it!" Polka says as she disarms another elf.

You look up to make sure that the archers from above are not planning to take more shots at you when you notice a pair of robbed figures now at Rahndel's side. One is pointing both his hands toward Polka as a fireball bursts forth at her.

Polka smiles as the ball of fire approaches her. She pulls her hat off her ear and turns it so the opening is facing the incoming spell. Before your eyes the hat grows and expands to match the size of the fireball, which sucks it in entirely before returning to its normal size. The battle seems to stop for an instant, all eyes are on Polka, and she is loving it. She shows everyone around the bottom of her hat, nothing could be seen in it, she gives it a few shakes, nothing comes out. With a spin she points the bottom back at the balcony and the fireball comes flying out and just misses one of the mages heads.

This girl was amazing, you had no idea magic could even do things like this.

"This girls a riot Anon!" Flare says trying to hold back her smile as she lands another arrow in the shin of an approaching elf.

"Thank you, I aim to please." Polka returns the compliment with a bow.

This was going surprisingly well. Even with little sleep these elves are not much of a challenge for you. You guess after going head to head with a knight order leader some lesser trained opponents are just easier to handle.

Watame is keeping opponents back with her magic notes, and her kicks look to be stronger than ever.

The captain also makes short work of whatever elf decides to engage him.

"Looks like your hired muscle isn't too eager to keep going!" you taunt. "I guess since we didn't just roll over and die they are having a little trouble. Well how's this for trouble?!"

Switching back to your spell book, you begin to pour much more energy into it. Aiming at the mansion you open your palm and cast the Stellar spell. The beam of starlight blasts a clear hole into the building, and like you had hoped, the elves before you take a step back.

"And if you don't want to be hit with a blast even bigger than that, back down now!" you demand.

"That's a nice little trick for a human." Rahndel snaps. "Now let me show you one of my own."

Someone from inside comes into view on the balcony and hands Rahndel what appears to be a rifle, and it was emitting a bright purple glow near the back where a large glass orb could be seen.

"This is the latest innovation in mana based weaponry, funded by yours truly." Rahndel says with a mischievous smile. "Why waste all that time learning spells and having to use your own mama to do it on top of that? When with this, all you have to do it point, pull the trigger, and"

From the barrel a concentrated beam of purple mana fires and makes contact with the ground in front of you. The blast sends you flying and you fall onto your back with a hard thud. With the wind knocked out of you, you roll onto your side to try to get up. Watame"s voice comes through your ringing ears, and then you feel her help you up by your arm.

"Anon are you okay?!" she says as her voice finally starts to unmuffle in your ears.

"I think so. What the heck was that? I didn't even have time to try and dodge it."

A crater big enough to fit a whole person is all that remains of the ground where the mana rifle made its mark. If that had hit you head on, you might have been blown to bits. The thought terrified you, and that kind of power was at a person's fingertips? One thing was for sure, you could not let anyone be hit by that thing.

Through refocusing eyes you see Rahndel prepare to fire his weapon again.

"Everyone behind me now!" you yell as you push yourself in front. "Stellashield!"

Another blast of mana meets the shield you create. The second it connects you feel your body strain and shake to keep the shield intact, it takes all your concentration to stop the spell from falling apart. You look and see a giant crack in your shield straight down the middle, then it shatters when another blast comes.

Blown backward again, you push yourself up in desperation, you need to make another shield now.

"Oh and just so you know! This baby can fire up to twenty times without needing a recharge. I spare no expense you see."

"Hey are you alright?" Polka says, helping you up.

"I'll be fine, but if I don't make another shield now, we're done for."

"Your shield spell can't more than two hits from that thing." Flare argues. "We need a better plan."

"If I can outlast it, we win. Even if my shield breaks, I'll make another. Again and again. I'll protect you all."

Forcing yourself to power your spell book even more, you cast your shield spell again. You feel the first shot connect and crack the shield, then something more. It must be the mages beside Radhnel attacking you as well. Another shot fires and your shield shatters once more and you fall over. You had to keep going, but you were at your limit, you have never cast this many spells back to back before, and the shield spell takes a lot more energy to try and maintain.

This was bad, Flare thought. The kind of successive destructive power Rahndel had in his hands was like nothing you have ever seen before. Anon was in a bad spot too, his shield just wasn't strong enough on its own. Could you all try to make a run for the building? That would just land you in a closed space against that thing, running away wasn't an option either. Wait, wasn't there a second part to Anon's shield spell? That's it!

"Anon, you need to make another shield." Flare tells you as she helps you up, taking your spell book off the ground. "We are going to use that blowhard's own energy against him."

Flare was right! Your spell can convert the energy it absorbs into power for you, but there is one problem, knowing another shot is on its way you snatch the book from her and cast another shield.

"You guys should try to get out of here while I block these." you say as another shot of mana and fireballs connect with your cracking shield. "There's not enough time between shots for me to charge and cast the shield again."

"There's no way we are gonna leave you Anon!" Watame protests. "Let me be your strength. I'll cast the spells for you."

"And Polka and I will buy you the time you both need to chain the spells together. You have something in that magic hat of yours that can do that right, Polka?"

"I think I can whip up just the thing!" Polka says.

Sheathing her blade back into her cane, Polka steps out from the cover of your shield. With a wave of her cane, mana begins to appear and shimmer in the air in front of your shield. A large colorful cylinder appears to intercept the second shot that was coming for you all. Through the fading light of your shield you can see it struggle to contain the blast that was meant for your shield, Polka looks equally strained trying to keep her magic spell together.

"This ones a doozy!" Polka grunts. "One return trip coming up!"

Another twirl of her cane forces the floating cylinder to rotate a full turn, and once it completes its motion the mana it intercepted comes rushing out from its opening towards the balcony where Rahndel stands as he fires another shot.

The two blasts collide with an explosion of blinding purple light hangs in the air. Polka retreats to the cover of your shield after her spellwork is done.

"That took almost all I had for the one time guys, I think now would be a good time for whatever this plan of yours is."

"Charge!" you shout as the shield dissipates into a bright shining light in your fist.

Watame, who hasn't left your side, takes the spell book from you and gives you a reassuring smile.

"Here we go Anon! The third spell! Stellashield!" she shouts.

With your focus freed from powering the spell, and the extra energy from using Rahndel's own blast creates the biggest shield you have ever made. The first shot comes, the shield holds, there are a few cracks, and you still feel the strain of its impact. The second comes, the cracks grow larger, but it still holds.

"I'm not sure it's gonna be able to take another hit Watame!"

"Right! Charge! Stellashield!"

Before the third shot can meet its intended mark, the chain of commands bring forth an even more powerful shield to block its advance.

Flare uses the opportunity to land a shot directly in the chest of one of the mages that stand on the balcony. This made Rahndel furious, he fires a quick burst of shots at your shield. The sudden assault is too much, your shield shatters and you and Watame fall backward. Watame steadies herself on one knee and pulls you up with her free hand.

"Get up Anon. We can do this!" she tells you as the book shines brighter and brighter. "Together, there isn't anything that will keep us down! Stellashield!"

It feels amazing, here you are battered, tired, and trying to protect everyone from the most destructive weapon you've ever seen, and you felt so confident. You watch the shield form in front of you bigger than before, even without the extra energy from charging. You could feel how much Watame believes in you, in herself, and in your friends. Could those powerful feelings alone make the spells even stronger? Speaking of other people, where the hell was Captain Aldren? You didn't see him with the group behind you anymore, maybe he ran off to find help?

Your thoughts are interrupted by another blast of mana hitting the shield in front of you, it wavers, but you and Watame put everything into keeping it strong. A second hits it, parts of the shield fall off around the edges, but you are not giving up, you will not let this madman get through. A high pitched scream comes from the balcony which causes you all to look up in surprise. Through the shimmering light of your shield you can see what appears to be Captain Aldren wrestling the rifle from the grip of Rahndel. With a kick to the overly dressed elf's leg, Aldren takes the weapon and throws it off the balcony, it breaks in half against the solid ground.

Before he could do anything else, the mage who was still standing hits the captain with a pulse of mana from his hands, sending him backward into the air.

"I got him! I got him!" Polka declares as she runs toward the mansion, pointing her cane toward where Aldren was falling. With a flash of reds, blues, and pinks, mana twists and flashes together and before all your eyes a giant inflated whoopie cushion materializes and catches the captain, the sound that followed puts a very stupid smirk on your face. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief, but you all quickly remember you are in the middle of a battle, and with Aldren's bravery, Rahndel was now disarmed, it was time to finish this.

"Let's go back on the offensive Watame, let's show em a blast of our own."

"You got it! Charge!" Watame shouts with a smile. "And….Stellar!"

The combination of the charge from your shield and Watame's convictions creates a massive blast of starlight from your palm that cuts through another floor of the mansion like it was nothing. Seeing their own ace in the hole in pieces, and the might of your attack causes the elves who were still ready to fight to lay down their weapons and back away. You can see Rahndel start to lose his nerve, looks like paid loyalty will only go so far, and he is certainly not a man worth dying for. This is short lived as he puts on that smarmy smile you saw him wear earlier.

"Most impressive young warriors!" he declares. "I think we can see both sides are exhausted, so let's deal shall we?"

Polka and Captain Aldren join your side again and look up skeptical at the elf.

"I'm listening Rahndel." Aldren starts. "Are you finally ready to answer for your crimes?"

"Not quite, but that beautiful young lady with the bow, she is a half-elf correct? My sources tell me you are looking for who your birth parents were, your family. Oh it would do my heart good to reunite you with your family. Just join the winning side and you can have all that and more. Wouldn't that be nice? Knowing your full heritage and having power to go with it?"

Before anyone can answer, Rahndel continues his blustering.

"But I am also a man who knows a package deal when he sees one, so what is it you want, human? I could use a man with your power, just name your price and help me get rid of the meddlesome captain and your heart's desire will be yours. Gold? Land? Women? All the above, I can supply it all."

Not another word leaves his lips before an arrow whizzes past his cheek, drawing blood. Flare looked up defiantly at him. "That's my answer, you slimeball."

"I also just realized something." you start. "People like you make me sick, you think you can just push people around and buy people like their lives don't have meaning. Like they don't have feelings, hopes, or dreams. None of that matters to you, all you care about is lining your own pockets."

The more you put your thoughts into words, the more your anger grows. This elf reminded you so much of Hector, stealing what he wants from other innocent people because he doesn't want to work for it himself. "You scheme and hide behind lies because you're not man enough to work for what you want. I'll never abuse people to get to my goals, even if that means I'll never get there."

"Anon's right." Flare joins in. "You think you can just buy people like that? You're disgusting. I would never help you. Even if it means I'll never find out about my birth parents or my family. Even if it means I'll never be fully accepted here or in the human kingdom. I'd rather not have any of that if the only way I can means I have to be like you!"

"You tell em Flare!" Watame cheers. "You never need someone like him to help you cause you got all of us! We're gonna achieve our dreams and we won't ever stoop to his level to do it!"

"Thanks Anon, Watame. Now go kick this guy's ass for me. I'm afraid the next arrow I fire will kill him, so you have to get him for me so he lives."

"You got it Flare!" you say with a thumbs up, your book beginning to shine brighter than before under Watame's arm. "Light me up Watame!"

"Go get em anon! I'm putting all I got into this last spell! Stellaruke!"

"He really does shine like starlight!" Polka says wide-eyed as she sees the veil of starlight envelop your body even in the full daylight. "Okay! Who wants an express trip to the penthouse suite of a scummy elf lord!?" Another twirl of her cane and a flash of magic creates a giant trampoline next to the mansion. "Jump on Anon!"

Polka was certainly the most unconventional fighter you have met so far, but you love it. You happily race her and you both jump on the springy launch pad, and are rocketed up to the high balcony. A flash of horror covers Rahndel's face as the two of you have him in your sights. Polka swings the head of her cane over the head of the mage who still stood beside the elf lord, while you bring your fist down over Rahndel's head, plummeting him straight into the ground of the balcony. He was not going to get up from that for a while.

With Rahndel subdued, Captain Aldren begins to look inside the mansion for what he would call evidence, while the four of you stand watch over the elf lord and the people he hired. Once Aldren is able to find a list of exactly who is on Rahndel's payroll, he is able to call on those he now knows he can trust.

"This is going to be a paperwork nightmare." Aldren says to you all as his own men begin to arrive. "Nonetheless, I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I would certainly have not survived this encounter without you all."

"Ahhh don't mention it Warden. I had a lot of fun!" Polka chuckles.

"Well don't sell yourself short on this captain, things might have gone another way if you didn't manage to get to Rahndel and take that weapon from him. I didn't even see you get inside." you say.

"I am a captain after all. I may not have fought dark wizards and the like, but I can still more than hold my own. You all can be on your way now, my men and I will take things from here."

Taking the hint you were in the way, you all say goodbye and head back towards the inn for some well needed rest.

"So Anon." Polka says as you all walk through the city. "Do you always make little speeches like that?"

"What? I don't think so, what are you talking about?"

"Oh yeah! You also did something like that with the evil Wizard. I cried a little during it." Watame says with a fond smile.

"You also had quite a bit to say when you fought with Noel." Flare grins. "Something about always protecting Watame and I?"

"Ohhhh what a gentleman, I think I picked the right guy to break out of jail then. Do I get to be on that list too?"

"Fine fine! It just kinda comes to me okay? I don't mean to do it" you say red faced. "Wait, what do you mean Polka?"

"I'm saying I wanna come with you guys! You're all so fun. Catching thieves, beating up bad guys, what more can a girl ask for?"

"But what about going to the human kingdom?"

"The truth is, I've just been lonely for a while so I thought the human kingdom might be a fresh start, but after talking with you, fighting alongside you three, I don't feel so lonely anymore. So if it's okay will you take Omaru Polka along with you on your journeys? I promise to do my best and always make you smile!"

"Well I already think of you as my friend Polka, so of course it's fine with me. Watame? Flare? What about you?"

"Another friend!" Watame cheers, giving Polka a big hug.

"I'm very happy you want to come along with us Polka." Flare says warmly.

"Thanks everyone!" Polka beams as she is hugged by the fluffy sheep.

"Now let's get to the inn and celebrate!" Flare cheers.

"Yay! I'll get to sing for everyone again!" Watame skips forward ahead of you all, her arm now locked with Polka's.

"You sing!? Me too!" Polka exclaims.

A hero's welcome awaits you all at the inn. After some brief introductions a few of the captain's men come by to pick up the prisoners you left here earlier, as well as drop off the shipment of supplies meant for the inn that you left down in that hole. Watame and Polka went straight to entertaining the growing crowd at the inn while you and Flare sat at your own time that was lined with freshly cooked food. Your mouth waters and you suddenly realize just how empty your stomach is. Flare is of the same mind as she starts to scarf down food with you. The sudden change in table manners is a bit surprising, but after the day you both had, elegant table manners be damned.

"Hey Flare." you say in between bites.

"Hmpf!?" Flare responds with, while her mouth is stuffed with food. You manage to see a glimpse of her shock at catching herself to what she just did, and she scrambles to try and be more proper again.

"I just wanted to say, thanks for putting that awesome plan together and taking charge like you did. You really got us out of a jam."

"I was only doing what was obvious to me." she says, surprised by the sudden compliment. "The three of us set forth on this journey together, and we are gonna finish it together too. Plus I promised I would have both your backs too."

"And you are a hell of a shot with that bow! I knew you had to be good, but it was amazing to see you shoot. I don't think you missed a single one. You even got the shin of one of the guys who was about to take a swing at me. I wish I could hit things with that kind of precision."

"Well if you keep getting into trouble, you'll get to see just how much I can do."

"Still I'm kinda sorry we got in this mess to begin with because of me, I bet this wasn't exactly how you wanted to spend your first time alongside some of your people."

"I'll admit I was pretty worried at first, and the thought did cross my mind that I could be labeled a criminal by association and that might make connecting with my home and possibly family harder, but I didn't care. You're a good person, when we first met, Watame only had nice things to say about you, and someone who would risk it all for someone they didn't even know has to be worth risking everything for in turn. Plus I never expected this journey to be easy all the time."

Flare looks down at her mug thoughtfully, her prideful smile from before disappears.

"I had some pretty bad lows growing up, my father probably told you that he and Noel were the only people I trusted, even though my father is who he is, people still treated me differently because I'm a half-elf. It seems ridiculous since you'd think I would be accepted by both sides since I am in fact some of each, but I think that made it worse."

You stayed silent and listened, you knew a lot of how Flare must have felt during those times, you knew all too well the feeling of not being accepted or given a chance just because of where you were from.

"I couldn't understand why the sight of me caused such disdain, so I did all I could to redeem myself in their eyes, trying my best at everything I did, offering to help strangers, but that only seemed to make it worse, like they thought I was looking down on them or trying to outdo them." Flare continues, struggling to stave off the bad memories.

"But I never saw any of that in how you looked and talked to me, you seemed to just accept me from the start, even though you didn't know me. I think that's exactly why you didn't share the same stares as the others. Then Watame told me how you wanted to help her find her home and people. I hadn't thought about my birthplace for so long I had forgotten that I too once dreamed of doing that."

"I was kinda the same way. I used to think about it a lot when I was little, but then one day I just pushed it to the back of my mind. Watame was actually the one who gave me the inspiration to finally take this journey. She not only gave me the courage to make that first step, but she also brought me a lot of comfort. Comfort knowing I wasn't the only one who felt like this." you say back, thinking about the time you first met that fluffy sheep in a dark dungeon cell, and how she brought your desire to see everything this world has back to the surface.

"Yeah, it was the first time I felt like I was talking to someone who understood how it felt to be displaced, I love my father and Noel, but I need to find out where I'm from, and maybe that'll help me find out who I'm supposed to be, Noel had that part so easy, she knew from the very start she was going to be a knight, to protect her kingdom, and she's gonna be the best there ever was, but I was never sure what I'm meant for."

Flare's expression starts to considerably brighten as she continues, the more she lets out, the more a weight seems to lift from her shoulders.

"And the more I talked with Watame the more it felt like THIS was what I'm meant to do, at least in the moment. And then I made up my mind to ask you to take me with you. I was still a little nervous, especially when my father set up that little match against Noel."

"You were nervous!? How do you think I felt when I realized Noel could crush boulders with just her fists? She fought to win in that match too, I was lucky to make it out in one piece."

"But you surprised all of us when you didn't back down, Watame even more so."

"Well it's kinda like you said, we know how you feel, wanting to find your birthplace and family. This is gonna sound a little crazy but during that fight I think I was able to feel just how strongly Watame felt about helping you, and not like what I think she's feeling, like I actually FELT it inside me, alongside my own feelings."

Flare gets lost in thought for a moment before asking. "Did that happen when she held your spell book?"

"Now that you mention it, I think so. Do you think that has anything to do with it?"

"I can't say for sure, based on how I have seen it work I can only make guesses, but the book seems to be tied to your inner strength, I guess a broader way to put it is your soul, and the book somehow connected you both? That allowed her to read the book for you and have it use her inner strength instead of yours for the spell."

"Just what the heck is this thing?" you say as you unstrap the book from your side and flip through its pages again. "From how the captain looked at it earlier I get the feeling the elves won't know a lot about this book either. What you said has made the most sense so far though. I did feel something a little extra from the book earlier though."

A page suddenly catches your eye, it was a brand new spell. It was a similar feeling back when you made your promise to Noel and the third spell appeared, but it was more similar to when Watame could read the spell book for the first time. You ask Flare to take a look at the book for you, and pass it across the table to her.

"But you already know I can't read this, remember? I don't see the point of-" she goes silent after glancing over the book's pages, confirming what your instincts were telling you. "I can read four spells now. Wait, four? Since when were there four?"

"After you said that the book was a possible link to my soul, I thought about how when you were standing up to that creep Rahndel. What you said back there really resonated with me, it made me admire how strong you are. I think the book was responding to that since you're important to me too now Flare. I trust you with my life, and I'm gonna help you realize whatever dreams you got. Long as I'm around you never have to feel alone again."

"I don't know what to say Anon. Can you really just give me the power to use something as important to you as this? What if there's a limit to how many people can read the book?"

"I'm not sure it's that simple." you shrug. "It was almost like the book was trying to tell me to give it to you. If the book chooses to let you read it, who am I to argue? If it really is part of my soul that would be like arguing with myself wouldn't it? I've argued with myself enough times growing up, and no matter what the outcome was I still felt like the loser, so I've had my fill of that."

This earns a giggle from Flare as she hands you back your book. "You're an interesting guy Anon. This actually means a lot to me, that you trust me. I'm going to be someone worthy of that trust for you."

Although you had spent time alone with Flare before when she was trying to teach you magic, you never really got into the deep topic of either of your pasts. She knew most of what there was to know about you from when you had to explain yourself to Noel, but you could only make guesses about what things were like for her until now. It feels good that you got to connect like this, to really share the lonely feelings you both had growing up. It's liberating to be able to put those feelings out there and have someone else understand, and to make you feel like you will never have to feel that way again. You look behind you to see Watame and Polka happily finishing another song together.

"Those two really can sing can't they?"

"Mhmm. It is quite entrancing. So you really found Polka in jail?"

"Yup. The captain locked her up because of some bad info just like me. I was pretty lucky that he did though, without her I wouldn't have been able to get out when I did, and I wouldn't have learned how to do this." you say before holding your two hands apart slightly over the table so Flare can see. With focus and a little push, a ball of starlight floats above your open hands. "See!? I can do the light spell now"

Flare claps her hands in praise. "I would say that's your first mastered spell Anon! If you keep practicing your mana will grow in no time. How did you get it to be that color though? Mine only shines golden."

"Polka came up with the idea. I told her I was struggling to make the spell work and told me to try and envision starlight instead of sunlight. She figured I might have a magical affinity for it because of my spellbook, I don't know exactly what that means but it got the spell to work."

"Now if we could only get that water spell of yours to be more than a tiny dribble."

"It's more of a splash thank you very much. And it's a good thing I got great teachers to help me then isn't it?"

"Oi Flare! Come sing a song with us!" Polka says as she appears and locks Flares arm with hers, before dragging her to the stage, where she ropes her into a performance with her and Watame.

They all have good voices you think to yourself as you turn to watch them. Flare is a little stiff at first, but who wouldn't be the first time performing for a crowd? It doesn't take long for Polka's contagious cheer to infect her as she becomes more comfortable. After a few more songs the three of them join you back at the table, their bodies slump and move slowly, but their expressions are absolutely beaming with happiness.

"I don't think I said this Anon, but I'm glad you got arrested!" Polka says to you after taking a hydrating gulp of her drink. "This is the most fun I've had in forever! Look at all the smiling faces we made. I wanna do this for the whole world!"

"Stick with us and you might just get that chance!" Flare says back.

"I decided!" Watame says from the seat next to yours. "In addition to finding my home with you all I want to use my songs to make people happy, to give them strength when they need it and to make the world a place where everyone can smile together like tonight."

"I think that's great Watame, but what brought that on?" you ask.

"Well everyone else seemed to be so sure about what they were doing. You want to find your birthplace but you also want to figure out what your spellbook is all about, Flare wants to find out about her family and heritage, and Polka wants to be a great performer and have lots of friends. My goal seemed small, so I made it a little bigger. I hope that's okay? You'll help me with that too, right?"

"Watame, I'll always have your back no matter what you want to do. Even if you want to be the queen of the sheep, I'll give everything I got to make it happen. So yes, I'll help you bring happiness to the world with your songs."

"Toast! Toast!" Polka chants while raising her mug.

With an exaggerated clear of her throat Polka begins.

"To be the world's best performer spread smiles all over!"

"To find out about my elven heritage to become the best me I can be!"

"To bring the world happiness with my songs and to find my home!"

"To solve the mysteries of this spell book and to find my home!"

With that you brought your mugs together and each downed whatever was left. What a day. You met some elves, got thrown in jail, caught some thieves, took down a corrupt lord, made a fun new friend, and forged a strong bond with another. Gods are you tired. A full belly makes the idea of sleep more inviting every second.

Will every day be this eventful from now on? It will probably be impossible to avoid attention now with the group of friends you've assembled, but that was just fine. With friends like these, you can't help but look forward to a new day.