Private - Poached, Scrambled and a Job Well Done | Page 2

Savannah openly winced as the mother raptor collapsed. She could hear the labored breathing coming from the beast, the rattling inhale-exhale making the Knight swallow the nerves in her throat. The eggs would be motherless and, if the circle of life had anything to say about it, another predator would probably find them by morning and have a meal out of them. It was sad, yes, but this was how things happened in the animal kingdom.

Imagine her surprise when Luna sidestepped around her and started talking toward the dangerous predator.

Luna luna luna, wait no, not a good idea! Her voice was a rushed whisper, the words tumbling from her lips and colliding with one another in their attempt to reach the other woman’s ears. The girl could only grumble and watch with baited breath as Luna inched forward and extended a hand. Savannah could see in her mind’s eye the creature suddenly rearing up and tearing off Luna’s hand, swallowing it whole and then leaping up to dice up the rest of her.

She was thankful when that didn’t appear to be the case. She was surprised when the raptor actually nuzzled the woman’s open palm. Brows arched, Savanah said nothing as the two communicated, her attention lifting from the slowly dying predator to the canopy and trees around them. Was there anything else in the immediate area for her to be worried about? So far, it didn’t seem like it.

Upon hearing her name leave Luna’s lips, Savannah’s attention returned to the pair, her right hand lifting in a very small wave. Of course, she immediately rolled her eyes, embarrassed at herself. Raptors didn’t understand fucking hand waves.

Whoa whoa whoa, the Death Knight injected, shock quickly working through her otherwise serious features. Mama? I can’t—I don’t know how to be anything’s mama. I don’t even own a goldfish in real life. How in the world… But Luna was telling her to come back and say hello and introduce herself and sure, yes, that was polite manners, but that thing was still a dangerous predator!

A tiny sigh whistled from her lips as she took a few halting steps forward, her legs stiff, her arms tense. She knelt next to Luna and glanced between them before eyeing the creature again. Ah, hi. I’m…Savannah, like Luna said. It…It sucks what has happened to you. Uhm, can she like, I dunno, tell you what happened Luna? Maybe we could get some vengeance for her.​

 

Luna smiled as Savannah finally approached, making a mental note to apologize for making the woman worry more later on, though how exactly she was going to do that was totally a mystery to her. But for now, that particular mystery could wait whilst they had another one that they needed to solve. Savannah did have a point, they could find whatever creature that did this to the raptor and kill that creature for retribution, but at the same time it didn't seem right to Luna. Revenge and vengeance really...didn't seem like the right kind of answer in this sort of situation.

She turned a warm smile to Savannah, totally taking her eyes off of the wounded mother raptor, shaking her head softly. "I don't think we can do that, Savvy. Whatever did this was another creature, maybe one that attacked to defend itself, or its young." A small, soft frown graced her face at the thought of robbing yet another set of young of their mother or father. They couldn't just go out and do that. Maybe if it'd been humans that'd done such a thing, she'd be more welcoming of the idea of vengeance, but in the wild, things like this were sadly all too common.

She turned her smile back to the mother raptor, sniffling slightly as she watched it struggle to breathe, swallowing hard as she realized what she had to do. "Savannah? Please go and grab the eggs from the nest. She won't stop you, I promise. And she promises too." She smiled, lowering her forehead to press against the crown of the dinosaur's skull, letting a stray tear or two drop onto the reptile's scaly skin. Hopefully, Savannah wouldn't see her crying over something like this.

She took a deep, labored breath as she brought her free hand to join the hand on the raptor's head, combining her use of Beast Taming with her Arcanamancy as she mapped out the poor animal's body in her mind, feeling and joining as much as she could with the poor raptor, taking the pain it felt into herself to give it relief as she sobbed, from both the physical and emotional pain she felt, both hers and the dying mother's.

"I'm sorry about this. Please...." She sniffled, choking a sob down and forcing herself to smile as she looked the raptor in the eyes. "...please rest easy now." With a brief surge, she pushed arcane energy into the raptor's body, destroying several vital organs instantly, causing instantaneous death. The whole thing was painless for the raptor, thanks to Luna taking on that pain herself using her Beast Taming, as she suddenly felt the link sever and fade away.

She knelt there for a moment, sobbing into her hands as her mind came down from the awful pain she'd felt, phantom pains wearing at her body and sadness scratching at her mind, before she smiled softly. She'd at least managed to make it so that the mother had died peacefully, without suffering. She stood wordlessly, before immediately wrapping her arms around Savannah, burying her face in the woman's shoulder, where the blue woman would start to feel moisture as Luna sobbed the rest of her sadness away.

 

A soft, frustrated sound came from the knight. Her gaze slid from the wounded mother raptor to the darkened forest around them. Why couldn’t they figure out what had decided to pounce on this soul and steal it away to the after life? What if it had been a human? Could they ask for vengeance then? Whatever had done this was effectively killing off three lives, not one, and if it was a human that had done this, they didn’t deserve to live anyway.

At least, that’s how Savannah saw it.

She could only nod at Luna’s request, a sullen quiet settling over her as she slowly stood up and went over to the nest she had spied earlier. Up close, there were plenty of bones littering the nesting area along with deep groves in the ground around it. It was almost in a little pit, maybe an inch or so into the ground. But the eggs were so large, they would’ve easily been spotted from five or six feet away. Kneeling, she lifted one up and then the other, a contemplative sound escaping her at the weight of these things. And they were warm to boot.

Placing them in her inventory, she was surprised to see a counter start for both. She squinted, looking at the numbers begin to tick out from three hours. Savannah blinked, feeling almost dumbfounded. These things were going to hatch? In three hours? Into baby raptors?!?! Surely, this was a mistake. It had to be longer than just three hours from now. Maybe three days, three weeks, hell, three months would have been better! She didn’t know anything at all about raising a –

There was a muted explosion behind Savannah and turned around to see Luna kneeling by the raptor, which was no longer breathing, and crying. Hesitantly, Savannah walked a little closer to Luna, trying to be respectful of whatever she was currently going through while also wanting to be there if she needed someone to lean on. As soon as she got close enough, Luna embraced her and Savannah stood there for a moment, a little caught off guard by the sudden display of affection.

It was the tears that dripped from Luna’s eyes and landed on her clothes that snapped her out of it. Her strong arms came around the life spell caster and held her tight.

Hey, it’s okay Luna, Savannah murmured in a quiet tone, trying to be supportive. The babies will be okay. Ah, according to the game, they’ll hatch in about three hours so we saved them just in time. And the mom isn’t in pain anymore. You did a good thing here, really good.​

 

Luna could only stand there for a few more moments, sobbing as she held onto Savannah like a lifeline, the blue woman being almost like a rock for her in this emotional time. She was so very grateful that the woman was here with her, she wasn't sure how she could've gotten through this whole ordeal alone, even if all that Savannah could really do was be there for her. It was just nice to have somebody to stand with her and keep her stable and supported throughout all of this.

She sighed, the phantom pains dying down as she clearly recalled the pain that the raptor had been in and would've been in for much longer. The poor creature wouldn't have died quickly, it'd have bled out slowly as it struggled to breathe and move in order to make sure its young were safe. Beyond anything else, Luna was glad that she'd been able to prevent the raptor from having to go through that sort of suffering.

Though when she pulled away, she was so glad to hear that the babies were going to be okay and that they would be hatching pretty soon. She smiled tearfully, stepping backwards with an amazed expression on her face. "Wow, a-already!? That's pretty incredible for them to be hatching so soon. We should head to somewhere to set up camp for a little bit and get some stuff ready for them." She smiled, going through a mental checklist in her mind, before nodding to herself.

"We'll need some water, as warm as possible, some space and somewhere to shelter them from the winds." She blinked, before she suddenly stepped closer to Savannah and tentatively gave her a chaste peck on the lips, blushing deep crimson as she stepped back, wrapping a hand around the knight's and leading her in the direction they'd come from. "L-let's h-h-h-head back to where we met up, alright?"

 

Luna was forever doing things that Savannah hadn’t considered or even thought about which left her looking the part of the fool when everything was said and done. The soft pressure of her lips against the Knight’s left said Knight in a haze of mental fog. She blinked once, twice, three times before shaking her head and directing her attention to the lithe figure that had grabbed her hand and was leading the way back to the clearing. Her pink tongue poked out, smoothed over her lips and retreated. She tasted like berries.

The voice within her head was abuzz from this new sensation. Did this mean…well, it must’ve, right? You just didn’t go around kissing people to be kissing them. Or maybe that was customary as a thank you in whatever culture Luna’s actual player was from? A tiny frown pulled at her brow and she opened her mouth to ask her question only to rethink her action and slowly let her teeth click together. If it was a thank you and nothing more, then the Death Knight would leave it as that. She didn’t want to embarrass the Arcanamancer after all.

Instead, she cleared her throat and glanced around the dense forest that they were passing. She hadn’t seen a stream or a lake or any real body of water since they had agreed to meet up here. So where they would get some was anyone’s guess. Shelter, warmth; the latter would be easy as Savannah could make a campfire in less than ten minutes. The shelter thing…well, she did have her axe. Sure, it wasn’t the best for cutting down trees or chopping timber, but you had to do what you had to do.

I can make us a campfire, she said after a moment. To keep the eggs warm…or should we just, I dunno, sit on them? Stuff them down our shirts? She glanced down at her breast plate and gave a small shake of her head. Actually, that was dumb. The image was funny in her head though.

I…I dunno about shelter though. We could…find a cave maybe? Or a hallowed out tree? I guess we could make something really quick, but…ah, I’m not sure if it will hold up for three hours. Maybe we should take them back to Lucia’s camp? We could hole up inside a spare tent for a while?​

 

Luna wasn't exactly sure what had possessed her to kiss Savannah on the lips, whether it was a simple thank you or a gesture of something more substantial was totally up for debate, even to Luna herself. She did however find that she honestly didn't mind the gesture, that maybe she would actually like to repeat it again, even if it'd only been the briefest of pressures against each other's lips. But that was nothing new. She was definitely improving on the bravery front, but things like this would always take time for her to work up the courage for, or she would have to rely on being lost in the moment and running off of her baser thoughts. The things that drifted through her mind beneath the anxiety and embarrassment that was usually there somewhere.

Luna smiled as they made their way through the forest, even more so when Savannah suggested that she build them a fire to keep the eggs warm, glad that the woman was willing to help, enough so that she would even offer up her own ideas. Though, the suggestion of stuffing the eggs into their shirts did make her giggle a little bit, hiding her mouth behind the palm of her hand as she smiled warmly. Whether it had been an intentional joke or a case of Savannah's mouth and brain running away with something that wasn't quite a sensible solution, she still found it slightly amusing.

She was about to respond, before Savannah came up with a better idea. Going to Lucia's camp would be an even better solution than anything they could probably do by themselves and it wasn't all that far away either. Plus, the woman nearly always set up camp close to water so it would solve their water problem. "U-Uh, yeah I think that would be the best idea! T-then we can fetch some water from the nearby stream too!" She smiled, looking around for a moment, before leading the way to Lucia's camp.

 

At the decision to return to Lucia’s camp, Savannah stopped and glanced around them. She wasn’t sure what direction Lucia’s camp was from where they stood, but if they made it back to the clearing, she could navigate back to ‘home base’ with relative ease. Not only were the coordinates a favored place on her map, but she had made herself learn to navigate home whenever she was out in the wild. It was a second sense for her now.

Alright, we’re gonna head North from here, Savannah told her companion, remembering the cold chill that often covered the camp and the morning fog that wrapped around her calves from time to time. I don’t think it’s been moved in the last week, so we should be okay. It’ll be a hike though. She glanced at Luna with speculative eyes. It wasn’t that she thought the mage weak, far from it, but the hike was at least a two hour journey from where they stood. It was easy for someone like her, but casters normally had low constitution scores.

Hopefully this wasn’t the case…

If you get tired, I don’t mind carrying you. It wouldn’t be hard either. She cleared her throat and pointed off in the direction they were supposed to go. A glance toward the sky had her estimating that it was nearing noon. When they arrived at Lucia’s camp, it would probably be that if not a little later. ​

 

"North it is then!" Luna smiled sweetly and nodded, letting Savannah take the lead and following just behind the woman. Her mind was still vaguely distracted by pondering whether or not she'd meant anything by the kiss and whether or not she wanted Savannah to think she'd meant anything deeper than thanks by the kiss. She'd already admitted to the woman that she could see herself falling for the knight, her bravery and loyalty already such incredibly attractive and favorable qualities that anything else she found only made it less likely that she could only see the blue woman as just a friend or maybe the closest thing she'd have to a sister.

"I honestly don't mind a hike. I'm more athletic than I might look, thanks in large parts to acrobatics." That was a mastery that was tiring to use for long periods of time. Jumping and tumbling around an area to get around or dodge attacks made it difficult to stay fresh and well rested for any longer than a moment or two. Not that she would ever trade it away for anything in the world, she genuinely loved having this sort of athletic ability that she wouldn't ever be able to obtain in reality. It was almost as fun as being able to wield genuine, real, tangible magic as her weapon. Speaking of weapons.

She smiled as she sped up slightly, until she was walking side by side with Savannah, brushing her right hand across the flower over her eye, playing with the petals gently as she hummed. "Oh, by the way Savannah, I have a sword now that we can practice with! I left it with Natiri at Lucia's camp, so I can show you when we get back and settled in. Um, i-if you want to, anyway?" She was kind of excited to learn from Savannah, even if she was fairly upset that she hadn't been all that good of a teacher herself. Savannah hadn't tamed a beast, even if they were now looking after raptor eggs.

 

I keep forgetting that you took that mastery, Savannah replied after a moment, her head nodding more to herself than to the conversation they were having. Perhaps the practice that Luna had done with the mastery had also given her a boost in stamina. It should have been her much more mobile, of course, which meant she would be fast on her feet. Perhaps investing in something similar would be beneficial for the Knight. Though, with the weight of her weapon, she honestly doubted she would see a change in her own speed across the battle field.

Is it an iron sword? Savannah asked, glancing at her from the corner of her eye. If it’s wooden, that’s fine too. If it’s iron, I’ll just have to wear protective padding. No big deal. I have some in my tent, I think. Well, it was there when I left. Who knows if anything might’ve happened to it by now. She sighed and rubbed the back of her neck, seemingly embarrassed about something. I don’t know which citizen it is, but someone has taken to straightening up my tent when I’m not around so all my things get moved around and I can never find them until I just stumble upon them.

It wasn’t something that was major enough for her to bring up to Lucia, but Savannah found it annoying all the same. If anything, the Dark Lady would be ecstatic to know that her creations were taking on more aspects of autonomy and acting more like regular people.

Hey Luna, ah, I don’t wanna embarrass you, but I was wondering…about the, uhm, the kiss you gave me earlier. She stared straight ahead as she spoke, her eyes looking for familiar markers once they cleared the forest that would point them toward Lucia’s camp. It was a long trek uphill, mostly, with a few sparse areas that were covered with trees, but a lot of it was open field.

We don’t gotta talk about it, if you don’t want. I just, uh, was that how…you say…like, your culture, they say thank you or something like that? And she was trying so hard not to blush…​

 

Luna giggled, waving her hand as Savannah mentioned forgetting that she had acrobatics as one of her masteries. "I think a lot of people do, since I don't really look like the type to do acrobatics or climb trees or walls." She admitted, though she could never deny how fun it was to climb a tree faster than she was able to run in real life, or perform some incredible maneuvers that she wouldn't ever be able to even dream of accomplishing in reality with her actual body, so much smaller and less agile than the form of Luna Avalbane.

She did find her self laughing out loud at Savannah's struggles with her stuff being moved around by some of Lucia's undead friends and servants, the thought of them messing with Savannah's stuff because they'd started to discover their own OCD tendencies was actually super amusing to her. "Haha, I'm sorry I laughed. I really shouldn't have." Even then, she giggled slightly, slapping her hand over her mouth. "Ah, but I have both an iron sword and a wooden one. The person who gave me them sells them as pairs to inexperienced swordsmen and women." That guy had been really nice too, it was a shame that his business was starting to struggle some.

As for the blue skinned woman bringing up the kiss from earlier, Luna blushed and shuffled slightly even as she continued walking, having not expected the woman to bring it up any time soon. Sure, the woman was giving her the perfect excuse, that it was just something that they did in her culture and that it wasn't anything to get all that worked up about, but Luna really didn't like to lie.

She swallowed, blushing deep crimson as she looked down at her feel, poking her fingers together awkwardly. "I-I um...it w-w-wasn't a c-c-culture....thing. I-I uh, I-I-I just did it....w-without thinking. L-like it was n-natural..." She admitted, feeling dumb and weird about it all. "U-umm, w-why do you ask?"

 

Ah, no real reason, Savannah muttered, giving a smalls shrug of her shoulders. She wanted the motion to look easy, but the action appeared stiff and forced. I just…I dunno. I just don’t want any misunderstandings between us, you know? She could vividly remember one misunderstanding between her and Lucia which would have spelled death for the knight. Little did she know that might’ve done the same for her Ladyship.

I’m not…I don’t really…ah, how to say this without sounding like a loon. A self-depreciating chuckle escaped her control and she forced a frustrated hand backwards through the long black locks that hung to about the small of her back. Usually, she had her hair tied up in a tight bun and hidden beneath her helm, but since she had gone sans armor today, she had also decided to let her hair down. It felt good.

You know how people hug and kiss and, I dunno, hold hands and stuff. Just, you know, physical…stuff with other people? I don’t really…I mean, I guess I kinda miss cues for that stuff? She frowned and immediately shook her head. Okay, well, not exactly. Like I understand it, but…I’m not, uh, used to it. My…real life family aren’t—er, wasn’t—really keen on physical affection. She hated the words as the tumbled from her lips, but there was a sincere undertone to them. She was embarrassed as well, her eyes glancing here and there, anywhere but Luna’s face.

Luna probably thought she was a freak…

She cleared her throat and clapped her hands together before interlacing her fingers and popping her knuckles, the sound drowned out by them tromping over grass and dirt in their walk back toward Lucia’s camp.

So, ah, don’t…don’t think it’s not, wanted? I guess? Um, I just don’t know…how…geesh, I sound crazy, don’t I? She gave another shake of her head and licked her lips. Maybe a conversation change was in order.

That’s smart though, whoever gave you…both weapons. We can practice with either. It’ll be…really good for you. Well, and me. Some of the citizens like sparring, but they’re often too afraid to hurt me for some reason.​

 

Luna could understand that Savannah didn't want any misunderstandings between them, especially considering the slightly bizarre situation that both of them found themselves in with Lucia and Vivian and each other, but at the same time she was slightly concerned by just how rattled that Savannah seemed to be from a simple display of affection. The woman really must've never received a whole lot of affection before now, which she found confirmed as Savannah mentioned her family never really doing the whole touching and physical affection thing. They probably came from totally different walks of life, it was hard to see a point where maybe they were similar.

She smiled warmly, a hand placed gently upon Savannah's shoulder as they walked, as a silent act of support for the woman who was clearly struggling to speak the things that were on her mind. She really couldn't do much to help besides offer her presence and support in this way. She wasn't nearly wise or experienced enough to know how to help somebody that was going through these issues in any sort of deeper or more meaningful manner. In truth, she found herself feeling pretty useless for this whole thing. There had to be something that she could say or do to help Savannah more, right?

"I-I um, I don't t-t-think you sound crazy. I-In truth I'm a-a-also not used to this s-sort of thing, a-at least outside of p-parental love." She confessed, that warm and gentle smile still spread across her lips as she stepped a little bit closer to Savannah, letting their shoulders press against each other as she let the woman slowly get used to having her close by, the same way that they'd been close whilst travelling to deal with the Bandit King, only this time for an entirely different reason.

"I-I just thing...t-to get used to something, y-you've got to b-be exposed to it more. M-makes sense, right?" She queried gently, nudging the woman softly, before letting Savannah change the topic so that she could be just a little more comfortable. "Y-yeah, I-I can't promise I'll b-be the best training partner s-straight away, but I'll try my best!" She smiled, rubbing shoulders with the woman. "A-and I-I think it's b-because they're scared of w-what might happen i-if they hurt you badly and L-Lucia found out. S-she can um, b-b-be really scary at times."

 

Parental love. Savannah was very careful to not let Luna’s words have an outward effect on her face. She nodded to her words, silently agreeing, even though she couldn’t say it was the same for her growing up. Really, it hadn’t been. The memories of her parents had been reduced to pictures and stories and a fuzzy tune that she assumed was a lullaby that her mom used to sing to her. Her grandpa didn’t talk about them and Addison didn’t ask.

She cleared her throat, forcing those thoughts from her mind. She didn’t want to dwell on them, especially not within TerraSphere. This was her escape; while her real life crumbled into nothingness around her, TerraSphere remained a safe haven that reality’s troubles could not touch. She wanted to keep it that way.

Yeah, I guess you’re right, the woman responded, glancing toward Luna with a small smile. And, you all have been – well, except Vivian – very, ah, careful and respectful so I think I could get used to it. I just…I dunno. Like I said before, this is all really new. And I told Lucia that I’ve never…been in a relationship before. Not even with a boy. So, I’m pretty liable to fuck this up. She grimaced at the words, a low hiss of agitation escaping her control.

Don’t hate me if I fuck things up, okay? I promise I won’t mean it.

That was probably her biggest fear; her inability to display physical affection for people she cared about and her absolute ignorance about normal relationship dynamics would doom her. She would say or do something that upset any of the other members of their little…group and then she’d be out, banished, and she’d be left alone.

Luna’s touch brought her back from those dark thought and she found herself releasing a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. Her tense muscles relaxed a bit under the steady pressure of the girl’s fingers.

They don’t have anything to worry about, Savannah said in reply, gently shaking her head in disagreement. Sometimes you get hurt when you spar and as long as my head remains attached to my shoulders, I won’t go complaining to anyone. It’s…nice, sure, that they understand I’m not like them and could die, but at the same time, if they’re holding back because they’re afraid to hurt me, then I won’t get stronger. And if I’m to…ah, well, be with…everyone, I need to make sure I’m strong enough…to protect everyone.

She glanced at Luna with a sincere smile and passed her an almost flirtatious wink. Pressure creates diamonds, fire refines gold.​

 

"I wouldn't hate you if things went a different way." Luna smiled, shaking her head gently as she listened to the woman seemingly place her faith in the idea that she would, as Savannah had put it, fuck things up. "I'm just as inexperienced as you in this, Lucia is my first love and I'm dating Vivian now too. I-I-I um, I honestly f-feel a bit l-like I'm d-drowning in all of this sometimes. L-like I've bitten off m-more than I could chew." Despite that, she still felt like it was all worth it, the happy times that she'd gotten to spend with Lucia and Vivian, the fact that those two had let her meet Savannah herself. Yeah, no matter what happened in the future, everything had been worth it.

Still, she was really glad for the topic change to come around, smiling as she listened to Savannah's explanation of why she'd rather the citizens not take it easy on her during spars and training. She could definitely agree with that sort of mentality, Lucia hadn't taught her to fight by keeping her absolutely safe and coddled all of the time after all. It wasn't possible to grow as a fighter and as a protector without having to experience and be subjected to some sort of danger or pressure. It just couldn't be done.

She caught Savannah's wink, blushing a light pink as she giggled, poking her index fingers together awkwardly. "T-t-they sure do. W-what s-s-sort of pressure d-did you go through? B-because you're the s-shiniest diamond I've e-ever seen." She tried to flirt back, rubbing shoulders with the blue skinned woman gently. Her flirting was choppy and awkward, but she was slowly, painfully slowly, improving as she went along.

"I-I-I'll h-help you get stronger a-and get stronger with you." She smiled, leaning into the woman and resting her head on Savannah's shoulder for a moment. "I-I'll watch your back too."

 

Savannah found reassurance in Luna’s word. She hadn’t had this talk with Lucia yet and she didn’t think she’d ever get around to having it with Vivian, but to know that she at least had Luna in her corner was a boon in her mind. She was…awkward, with all this, and she didn’t really know what she was doing and she would probably second guess everything that didn’t involve swinging her great axe at enemies and rushing in to deflect attacks. But if Luna knew this, perhaps she could back her up if the other two ever felt slighted?

At least, that was Savannah’s hope.

Well, if you ever feel overwhelmed, I don’t mind if you want to just hang out with me. A small blush crept up Savannah’s throat, but it didn’t manifest within her cheeks thank goodness. I can’t promise I will always have some riveting conversation for you or even something to do, but I do like fishing a lot so if you just want to, ah, laze about on a river bank with no expectation whatsoever, I’m your girl. To solidify her comment, she offered the white-haired girl a thumbs up.

And though the Knight heard Luna’s comment, she was saved by their sudden ascent of a hill, the air around them dropping a few degrees. She smiled into her chest as she took long steps to cover as much ground as she could, a huff exiting her lips as she moved. They were getting close to the camp, if the drop in temperature was any indication.

Everyone should be strong, Savannah replied after a moment, allowing the ground to even out under their feet before she started speaking again. Her cheeks were flushed, and her chest was moving up and down a bit more rapidly, but she didn’t look too worn out. A little winded, but there was a light to her eyes that signaled that there was adrenaline winding through her.

Everyone…loves Lady Lucia and you protect the things you love, even with your dying breath. So…if not for our own sake, then at least for hers, we all must be strong. She gave a determined nod after her words met the air, her lungs inflating with a heavy breath. Slowly, it left her as did her next words. I’ve actually been thinking a bit since…the whole thing with the Bandit King. And, I might need your help with something very important soon. It’s…it’s going to be a little dangerous, but it’s going to help me be stronger in the long run.

She gave a sideways glance toward Luna. I know I’m being vague and I apologize for that. But, ah, do you think…you would be willing to help? Even though it would be…dangerous?​