The m, Fern woke up first - still slightly before sunrise. It was a surprise, if a wele oo look over and see Ravenna's slumbering face, a tiny little smile on her lips.

  I hope she's having a pleasant dream, she mused with a smile of her own, and carefully slipped out of her makeshift bed as quietly as she could manage. The dark mage surely wouldn't let on even if she was a little drained; she didn't seem to be the sort to show any sign of weakness. At least she hadn't so far.

  Is she being strong for my sake, so I feel safe? Fern pondered as she set up the heating brick to boil some water for m tea. Am I not strong enough for her, is there something I still bsp; Something about my training that's inplete? The thought needled at her for lohan usual before she could shoulder it aside. Everything would e together in time, surely, otherwise they wouldn't be on this jourogether.

  A...

  She was still lost in thought until the kettle whistled its quiet arm, and then prepared the cups of steaming, strong herbal brew. It was a simple recipe, easy to carry, but essential for m energy - or any time that called for it, as she'd found on many occasions.

  The tent fps rustled softly, and Ravenna's still-sleepy face poked out, blinking away the remnants of whatever she'd been dreaming. It was rare to see her like this, and the sight sent all Fern's cares away with a bloom of warmth and adoration in her chest.

  "Good m, beautiful," she said with a soft smile. The flushed cheeks she got iurn were worth everything she'd had to suffer, all the teasing and little inveniences, even the misery before she met this beautiful woman. None of it mattered, so long as she could stay close. "e a your tea while it's hot."

  "Mmh." The dark mage disappeared for a moment, then emerged in bodysuit and boots, foing the rest of her outfit for the moment and sitting down o roext to Fern. "Fot how difficult ms were sometimes," she mumbled softly, taking the offered mug and sipping from it quietly.

  "I do believe this was your idea."

  "Mmh."

  The fallen hero sipped her own tea, indulging irong fvor aing out a soft breath of te before looking over. "And does the taste meet with your approval, Mistress?" she inquired with as i a mask as she could manage.

  Ravenna did not spit out her tea, though she did pause for a very long moment, her eyes going from sleepy half-mast to fully wide open. She turned her head, and stared for another long moment - then turned away, and sipped again. "Mmh. It's... acceptable," she admitted, almost grudgingly. Then her eyes narrowed, a smug little smile curling her lips. "I suppose we could find a maid outfit for you, if you're so i on gaining my approval through service."

  "Th- that's not-" This time it was Fern's turn to blush as her own ploy was used against her. Though... perhaps the idea did have some merit? She hesitated. "... I'll have to think about that one."

  The dark mage's eyes sparkled with delight. "Why, I'm awarding you aar for that, darling. But we should move on." And off she went, bato the tent.

  Aar? The fallen hero shook her head, utterly baffled. But... what did I do?

  Jun stood at the rough terpoint of the retively small pins area serving as the main route of imports for the desert metropolis known as Bckgss Bastion. Various goods arrived in town via the river from Port Finally; they then traveled by road to Pinsgate, over the artificed rails of the mountain tunnel, and finally across the sand duo the Bastion proper.

  The trade routes - and the goods that traveled them - attracted a variety of attention from monsters, thieves, and even some traders who found engaging their petition outside the markets an acceptable affair. So, all told, the pins were a lively pce, and a violent one; and profitable, for those with the skills to ma. And many of them gathered here, at the ter of business - especially the ones who didn't fit in with the generally more servative popuce of Pinsgate.

  By the time the pair made it into the small town, the boost from the m tea had all but run out; and so with a silent, shared uanding, they headed straight for the avern to fill their stomachs.

  Fern had only stopped in Jun a handful of times, especially after she'd started trying to save more money as her missios trended downward, so she didn't reize anything iablishment - not the barmaid, not the wall menu, and not any of the decorations. But she had a partner with her this time, so ck of familiarity didn't bother her as much as it usually would.

  "What's good for breakfast?" Ravenna asked the barmaid, just loud enough to hear over the quiet murmurs of versation. "We've been on the road and need something with some weight to it."

  She sized them up briefly. "Sausage, eggs, biscuits and gravy, toast. For three stars, it'll set yht."

  "I'll do four if you add a couple ugs of water."

  The barmaid nodded. "Deal."

  Fern watched as the dark mage slid a hand into her longcoat and produced four small silver s, eae bearing a star on its fad some writing on the babsp; If they were like the age she was used to, the writing had something to do with the press that produced it - random trivia she remembered overhearing from someone else's versation iavern or another. They all seemed to blend together over time.

  The barmaid's hand scooped up the s quick as a fsh. "It'll be a little while until I bring it out."

  "Sounds good. Table in the back over there?" Ravenna added, turning to Fern. "Looks roomy enough to set our packs down."

  The fallen hero just nodded, and they made their way over. Carefully of course; it wouldn't do to upset the proprietor by breaking or knog something over, especially before the food came out. But despite the little bit of fatigue that had already set in, the ti bit of sensory extensio her be pletely spatially aware as she walked; and she had no doubt that the dark mage was doing something simir.

  Both lowered their packs and pushed them uhe table, then sat down with almost identical sighs of relief.

  "Still holding up alright, darling?" Ravenna asked first, gazing across the table at her partner.

  Ferhat look with one of her own. Sm, no; but there was an iy to it that from anyone else would have been unfortable, to say the least. But of course, this wasn't just anyone. "Hungry, certainly," she admitted with a wry smile. "But I've had worse days than this. Worse food, worse sleep. Far worse pany." Her smile softened into a more fortable one. "I daresay that's the greatest improvement of all. But what about you? Haven't you been, well, alone for awhile? Apart from your-" She paused briefly, eyes gng around. "-usual pany."

  It wouldn't do to let the world knoell-off the woman across from her was, after all. Maids were for nobles, and nobility meant money; and even the perception of having money made you a target.

  Ravenna got the hint, if she hadn't already uood from the beginning (which seemed more likely). "Well, that's what a full-time partner is for," she returned with an answering smile, "someoo share the road and all its... experiences. I've worked with others before, but not on a long-term basis." She rested her on one hand. "If I'm being ho, it's turning out rather better than I expected."

  "I'm gd to hear it. I just-" She felt the warmth in her cheeks. "I don't want to let you down."

  The dark mage just giggled softly. "I see~. Well, the most pressing issue you have is simply inexperieh your retly trained skills - and that will e in time, darling, there's o fret."

  That certainly put Fern more at ease, just in time for the barmaid to arrive with an armful of steaming, heavily den ptes and two mugs, setting them down with practiced ease. "Careful, the food's hot," she cautioned with a friendly smile, then stepped away - and the moment her back was turned, both of them seized their utensils and practically dove into their meals.

  Sure, it wasn't the gourmet level of Sapphire or Crimson; but it was hearty fare, and just what two hungry travelers needed.

  "Told you it'd set yht," the barmaid murmured with a fident little smile as she collected the empty ptes and mugs.

  "That it did. I'll remember this for the ime I'm in the area," Ravenurned with a smile of her own.

  Fern nodded along. It had been good - better than she'd expected, sidering how she'd been utterly spoiled by the maids, and even fact in the spice that huself provided. Four stars wasly a bargain, but it was reasonable enough for a breakfast feast for two. "Anything else we o take care of in town, or are we ready to go?"

  The dark mage tapped her fingers against the table in thought as the barmaid walked away. "I believe we're good, though a stop by the filtratioer might prove educational. You've been doing a little reading oheric devices, haven't you?"

  She nodded, pulling her pack out from uhe table and hoisting it up to get it situated. "It's iing stuff, but I've got a lot to learn - and most of the things in the- er, the things around me are a little too plex for me right now, I think." Avoiding all mention of the tower where any number of unknowns could overhear her seemed like a good idea.

  Ravenna mirrored her movements, a little more fluidly as was ever the case, and shouldered her own pabsp; "Practical experience is the order of the day, after all; and of many days to e."

  Off they went, back out into the te m sunshine and down the main street of Jun. The boardwalks oher side of the hard-packed dirt road were lined with all sorts of stores, a veritable buffet of anything and everything an adventurer (or a merary) might need. Any other time Fern might have sidered stopping to browse for a while, but simply knowing her ck of experieneeded corre - knowing her partner cared about that issue more than anything else right now - sufficed to keep her mind on the road ahead.

  The filtratioer was he norther of town, the ohey were heading for anyway. They took a moment to leahe fence, and Ravenna murmured quietly about how the devices iook the ining water aracted the unstable aether that its passage through the Wicked Wild Woods wove into it. "In the past, I'm told, the area downstream wasn't nearly so fertile as it is today; no river delta, no fields to enrich the trade routes. Too mustability disrupts the flow of nature itself." She stepped back, and started walking again. "That's why the more power you gather to yourself, the more the world pushes back against you. The cultivation of life requires bance - or at the very least a gentle rhythm, not wild swings between drought and downpour."

  Fern mulled over this as they tinued on their way. Once again she'd been given something to sider. "Is that why you hate the nobility? Because they don't follow that sort of... natural w, I guess? Sino one really pushes back against them."

  The dark mage just ughed softly, her boots stirring up little puffs of dust. "Oh, people do push, darling. Quite hard, sometimes; but the little powerless pawns like you - well, like you were, rather - are never allowed to learn of it. What do you think they'd do, after all, if they found out that the aristocracy could be toppled if you just knew where to strike it, and when?"

  Her eyes widened. "... Oh."

  They kept walking without a ge of pace; but Fern's mind had engaged gears she hadn't even realized were there, and they refused to stop spinning.