Sweat dripped from her fur, but he would not get the better of her this time. Keith lunged and pounced with speed and accuracy that would have pinned anyone else in seconds, but she was different. She knew his every trick, his every move, even sometimes before he did. But for as much as she knew about him, he knew everything about her. Feinting right, she swung her leg out, hoping to trip him, but he was light on his feet, and even while falling, was still able to catch her chest and bring her to the ground with him. They fell to the ground hard, and somehow she still ended up being pinned beneath him. "I got distracted." Natani said dismissively, knowing that he would not believe her.

"And that distraction ended up with my knee in your chest. Why does this happen so often I wonder?" Keith smirked as she lay there, panting. "Perhaps you like when I win?"

"Maybe I'm just trying to get you to let your guard down." Suddenly, Natani began thrashing, kicking wildly in hopes of catching anything, but Keith knew all of her tricks, and had one of her legs pinned, with the other unable to reach him. After a few minutes of struggling, she finally sighed. "Fine. You win this time."

Rolling off of her chest, Keith lay on the floor beside her, his arms and legs bruised. Trace had let them turn an unused room into what had started as a sparing hall, but it quickly turned into a full training room, with straw dummies and targets, punching bags and weights, a wide open floor, racks of weapons, even a padded ring for proper wrestling. "We should see if anyone else wants to join. We know each other too well."

"Who? Maddie? No thank you. I've saw her fight, she's a menace."

Keith nodded and smirked. "She's certainly something. What about Sythe? Didn't Zen say he would teach Sythe how to defend himself?"

"Yeah, but they haven't started yet." Natani said, staring at the ceiling. A few minutes passed with them laying on the floor together, still panting and letting their adrenaline calm down. "I really was distracted. The way you feinted, it reminded me about Barret. Zen used that move against him when we first met."

Sitting up, Keith looked down at her. "He'll be back."

"I know, but when? I really miss him. It would be like if Trace or Flora left, I'd miss them. He's family."

"I get it. It's not the same without him. He always knows what to say, but he's so calm. I never thought someone like him would have such a lasting impact on our lives, but in just a few short months he really became part of our weird little tribe. And… I admit that I really miss his cooking."

Natani grinned as she chuckled. "Remember when he found the kitchen?"

"How can I not? I didn't eat for two days after that feast!" Laughing, Keith stood up, pulling Natani with him. "When he gets back, we should all make a feast for him."

"A feast, a party, something to celebrate his return. We'll swap stories, tell him all about the wedding, and he can tell us all about what sort of magic he learned!"

Keith laughed and smiled with her, but then his smile vanished, his laughter stopped. "What if… what if he didn't find anyone?" His voice was quiet suddenly, and Natani fell silent too. "What if didn't learn anything? What if his whole trip was a waste of time, or worse, what if he's not coming back?"

"If he doesn't come back, then we will go find him. When we can, we will see him again." Natani walked over to the window as she spoke. "Who knows when that will be? This war has already gone on long enough, but it will end. We will see him again. Fate won't keep him away from us forever. He never said his last goodbye, and Flora might kill anyone in her way if it means seeing him again. I'm a bit surprised she hasn't tried to leave and find him."

"You just don't pay enough attention to her." Keith joined her by the window, the partly cloudy sky casting strange shadows across the woods. "I've come across her a few times in the past few weeks pacing in her room, an open bag on the bed. She's seriously considered going after him. I think the only reason she hasn't yet is because of Trace. He keeps her busy here, keeps her focused on what's going on in Edinmire, and keeps her from running off into the wilderness after Barret. Honestly, it's impressive that he's kept her in check for so long, but the more and more time passes, I find myself wondering if she's right."

"You wouldn't be the only one to leave." A voice drew their attention to the doorway. Karen walked in, cautious as she looked at the array of weapons laying around. "Richard would leave in a heartbeat to get back to Raine. I would too. I miss her and Haelith."

"I forgot you were here still." Natani said, wiping the sweat off of her arms. "What have you been up to? I saw your sister cooking a few days ago, but haven't seen you in a while."

"I've… I've been trying to stay out of the way." Karen walked over to the window next to Keith, her ears and tail drooping. "I feel so out of place here. Maren has been keeping busy, helping Mike with general housework and stuff, Sythe has been doing stuff with you, Zen is still hurt, even Maddie has been gone. I want to stay with everyone else, but I can't fight, I can't cook, I don't clean, I just feel… useless. Even Eric has been keeping busy, but I just feel in the way." Natani and Keith glanced at each other, both silent as Karen spoke. "I normally just try to go with the flow and mess with people, but with the stress of everything, no one seems to notice anymore."

"Just because we're busy doesn't mean you have to stop talking with us." Natani said, putting her arm on Karen's shoulder. "If you ever feel useless, just remember that we wouldn't all be here if it wasn't for you harassing Sythe in the first place!" Karen smiled, but only for a moment. "You've done plenty around here. Even if you don't think so, you really have. You make our days brighter. Your smile is… [contagious]… It makes everyone else smile too. So never think that you're useless."

"Thanks. I just… it's been hard trying to stay busy here. I've been going down to Edinmire for the last few days to help Keiren with a small project."

"Wait, really?" Keith suddenly became very intrigued. "What sort of project?"

Karen's face lit up as she smiled, reaching into her dress. "It's a game! It took him a few weeks to figure it all out, but we're testing it now. One person creates a world, and everyone else interacts with it however they feel like. When you want to do things, you have to roll dice to see what happens." She held out a half dozen different dice, the sound of wood bouncing together was oddly satisfying, making everyone smile. "Last time we played, me, Maeve, and one of the town guards named Danvers were exploring a cave, and I found a chest full of gold! It was all pretend, but it was still super fun to imagine we were somewhere else, going on a grand adventure."

"And here I thought he would be making a serious game about strategy and combat." Smirking, Keith took one of the dice from Karen, the twenty sides each marked with different numbers. "Maybe we should join you next time, or you could have them come up here. I'd love to see what sort of game Keiren came up with."

Natani smiled widely as she leaned against the window. "See? You aren't useless. You just do things differently. See things for how they might be rather than what they are. And never feel like you're in the way. I promise, a conversation with you makes anyone's day brighter."