FSE

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Chapter 3

Leaving

The sun is casting the forest in ember and shadow when the searching trio comes across a large pond. Jellies are scattered across the shore and it's exactly what Alice was hoping to find.

Danahlia pans a finger across the far side, "Wow, look at 'em all."

"Whiskers, if we can collect all their cores, we should be able to procure supplies enough to last us for some time," Twinkaleni adds excitedly.

Before Alice can agree, Danahlia starts forward, "Yeah, let's go get 'em."

"Hold on, it's getting late. I think we should find a tree for the night," Alice advises holding a hand over Danahlia's tail as it slides through her fingers.

"But they're right there," Danahlia counters, pointing her stick at a few of the closest jellies, dragging themselves lazily along the shore grasses.

"Don't worry, they'll be there tomorrow. Jellies like moist spots," Alice reminds.

Danahlia raises an eyebrow, though she doesn't have any hair on it, to Twinkaleni, who nods, "I agree with Alice. It would be dangerous and inefficient to find a safe tree in the dark."

Danahlia lifts her arms in concession, "Alright, let's go find us a tree."

Alice always slept in trees at night while in the forest. Jellies couldn't climb and it kept her safe from anything else that couldn't. She heads to the shore, easily avoiding an aimlessly wandering jelly, to top off her water supply and drink.

Danahlia approaches and asks tentatively, "Hey, Alice, so, you think I could try out your sword? I'm startin' to feel kinda like I'm not doing as much as I could, you know?"

Alice's immediate thought is no. In the past, many people, young and old, have shown interest in her prized possession, and in her experience, if she let them hold it, they generally had a hard time giving it back. But Alice knew what Danahlia meant and decides to extend her trust to her new friend.

The Tokala lifts the weapon from over her shoulder and hands Danahlia the sword, still in its sheath, but warns, "Be careful. It's really sharp, and heavier than it looks."

Danahlia's arms drop a bit from the weight. "Whoa, you weren't kiddin'. Wags, thanks, I'll bring it right back," she says, putting the sheath on her back and wielding the weapon in both hands.

Alice watches, a little knot of worry in her gut, as Danahlia approaches a dark green jelly a few yards away.

Twinkaleni takes her attention, pointing out a massive oak tree, "I believe this one should be able to sustain our weight." Alice agrees, admiring the solid trunk and thick low hanging branches that spread wide, nearly parallel to the ground for several yards. "Oh my," Twinkaleni remarks, looking over at Danahlia who whacks away at the jelly, sending dark green smelly goo everywhere.

A few minutes later, the tallest of the girls comes back, a mess of clinging goop, but smiles showing her companions an unblemished core stone.

While cleaning herself and the weapon, Danahlia chortles, "That was pretty fun. You should give it a try, Twinkie."

"I think I'd prefer my magic thank you," the diminutive mouse mage replies and Alice smiles, handing Danahlia her rag blouse to help the goo covered girl wash up.

True to her word, Danahlia gives Alice back her cleaned sword, wet blouse, and the core stone. Alice spots a bit of green slime standing out on Danahlia's brown skin and wipes it off, earning a grin.

After a small meal of bread and water, the girls retire to the safety of the tree. Twinkaleni holds onto Danahlia's back as the larger girl's clawed hands and taloned feet make for an easy assent. Climbing up after, Alice sees behind Twinkaleni's robe that the Murin's pink hairless tail ends in a ragged nub only a few inches from her rump.

"What happened to your tail?" she asks as the other two girls choose the lowest and thickest branch, Alice climbing to the next one up.

"Oh, I lost that when I fled the Order," Twinkaleni explains as she crawls to a Y in the branch to settle down on. "You see, the Order of Thermathrogi is entrusted with keeping the wielders of magic in check. Which generally means keeping us locked away in their great stone fortresses," she yawns but continues, "I fear every day that the Order may use my tail to track me down but since they haven't yet, I can only conclude that the war is taxing their resources sufficiently that hunting rogue magi is not a priority."

"You're being hunted?" Alice asks, making a safety line of the rope she brought.

"Mmm, possibly. It's one of the main reasons we came out to the country," Twinkaleni replies sleepily.

As Alice settles in, she feels something on her dangling tail and peers over her branch to Danahlia. The lizard girl is lying on her belly, her toe talons dug into the tree's trunk while her long tapered tail passes through Alice's as it lazily waves back and forth.

She smiles up at her over her shoulder, "So you live in a village with your parents?"

"Not exactly. My parents are... gone, I live near the village," Alice replies somberly.

"Were they taken by the war?" Danahlia asks, her tail dropping to sag.

"Yeah."

Danahlia looks away, "Mine too."

"How?"

Danahlia sighs, "We were in the wrong place at the wrong time when it started. Yours?"

"My dad was killed in the fighting, my mom died later from grief," Alice explains, trying not to think back to it, and looks over to Twinkaleni, who seems to already be asleep. "What about Twinkaleni, are her parents still around?"

"She doesn't know. She never went back to her home town. Thinks if that Order found out her parents were harboring her or knew anything, they might get hurt."

"That Order, thermothogee, doesn't seem very nice," Alice comments.

"Thermathrogi," Twinkaleni corrects without opening her eyes, "And no, they are not."

"Why did you leave it?" Alice asks.

Twinkaleni yawns again, "A story for another time."

The sun has gone down and Alice can only just make out the others by moon light.

Danahlia extends her tail up to Alice and grins, "Today was fun."

Alice gives her tail a reassuring squeeze, "Yeah. Goodnight, Danny."

Danahlia lets her tail fall away to hang loosely over the side of her branch, "Mmm, night, Alice."

Alice looks to the small patch of crescent shaped light on the mouse girl's ear, "Goodnight, Twinkaleni."

"Goodnight, Alice," Twinkaleni replies.

"Night, Twinkie," Danahlia calls and the mouse mage lets out a heavy breath. Tired, the girls fall quickly asleep.

The next morning, Alice is jolted awake and nearly falls from her branch, only just managing to wrap her legs around it as Danahlia cries, "Ahh, ssssss ahhhh!"

Alice clambers back to her perch and hears Twinkaleni squeak in panic, "What? What's happening?"

The sun is just coming up and Alice peers down to see the lizard girl on her back, holding her tail near its end. A brown jelly wobbles directly below her on the ground.

"That tick was sucking on my tail! Sssss owww!" she cries out, in obvious pain.

Alice dumps water from a skin onto her rag blouse and tosses it down to Danahlia shouting, "Here, clean it off quick!"

Twinkaleni reacts, taking up the wet garment and gently whipping off Danahlia's throbbing appendage.

The poor lizard girl wiggles in discomfort, "Ow, Twinkie, that's tender!"

"I'm sorry Danny, but we must to get this substance off or it'll only be worse," Twinkaleni says, patiently cleaning her friend.

Danahlia grits her teeth and bares it as Alice unties herself to climb down.

The young hunter reaches the ground and unsheathes her swords to dispatch the offending jelly but Danahlia snarls, "No, that one's mine."

Twinkaleni makes one last sweep over the tip of Danahlia's tail with the damp cloth as the lizard girl swings down to the ground, landing right beside the Tokala. Alice offers the angry lizard her sword and steps back just in time to avoid a shower of brown goo.

After a minute, Danahlia reaches into what's left and plucks out the core, "That was for my tail."

Danahlia turns and shows Alice the small brown orb with a smirk, just before the damp rag blouse plops onto her head.

"Clean yourself off before it starts to burn, Danny," Twinkaleni call down to her.

Alice barks a laugh, accepting the core. She wipes it off and places it into her shoulder bag with the others. She then helps the little mouse girl down the tree, Twinkaleni's short arms unable to get much of a grip on the wide trunk, while Danahlia cleans up. The girls eat most of what's left of Alice's bread for breakfast and immediately begin clearing the pond's shore of jellies.

The larger girls trade off using Alice's sword and Twinkaleni offers her magic when she can. The three use their previous strategy of Twinkaleni pushing the core off to the side while one of the others slices it away. This saves them energy and time, so by noon, the girls manage to gather a nice pile of cores in various colors.

"This is more than I've ever had!" Alice announces proudly, giving her nearly full shoulder bag a shake and enjoying the hefty weight.

"Perhaps we should head back to your village and restock our food stores," Twinkaleni suggests, looking at the one piece of bread they have left.

"Yeah, alright. We should be able to get loads for all these," Alice says happily, her tail wagging behind her.

Danahlia asks, wiping down her arm, "Do you think it'll be enough to get us some packs and water skins?"

"It should be, but we'll have to see what's in stock when we get there," Alice replies, gathering up her things.

"Great! Let's move out!" Danahlia orders, pointing east.

As the girls make their way to the edge of the forest, they share what's left of the bread, though a mouth full each does little to restore their strength. Even with their strategy, the morning's battles have worn them all out making their pace slow but steady. They take turns holding the heavy bag of cores, though it hinders Twinkaleni so much that it's handled mostly by Danahlia and Alice. The girls avoid any more encounters, making the trip back to the forest's edge fairly uneventful, except for when Alice watches Danahlia snatch up a rather large beetle to bite off half of it. The lizard girl offers the other half to Alice, but it's still moving legs make her refusal an easy one.

Danahlia shrugs and pops the rest into her mouth, crunching on it with evident relish.

Twinkaleni asks, "Are there other Liguna in your village?"

Alice raises an eyebrow, unfamiliar with the term, "Liguna?"

"Like me. You know, smooth, beautiful, and cold blooded," Danahlia says, running a hand down her side, hip, and thigh.

"Oh. No, you're the first I've ever seen," Alice replies, grinning as the girls near the fields.

"I thought as much. Danny, you'll have to stay here. Alice and I will secure our supplies."

"Right," Danahlia says, slowing.

Alice turns, "Why can't she come with us?"

The mouse and lizard girls look to her in surprise, Twinkaleni asking, "How much do you know about the Blood War?"

Alice looks to her new friends, "The Blood War? Is that the one being fought now?"

"Oh, well, yes. Come now, we should hurry. It would be best not to leave Danny out here for too long." In an unusual show of fervor, Twinkaleni takes Alice by the wrist and leads her in the direction of the village across the open fields.

Alice allows herself to be taken, a little confused. She then considers her water skins have been empty for some time and calls back to Danahlia, pointing, "If you need water, there's a stream that way."

"Alright, good luck guys!" Danahlia waves.

As they leave Danahlia among the trees, Alice asks, "Why can't we take Danny? And what's that have to do with the war?"

Twinkaleni continues pulling Alice along, "Oh, where to begin. You are aware that before the war the prime nations shared a time of peace and prosperity."

"Sure," Alice replies, not really understanding but not wanting to hinder Twinkaleni's lesson.

To Alice, the conflict that claimed her father was simply, the war. She knew very little of it besides the general dislike for the very concept. Her little village, so far removed from it, received very little news and the younger villagers were generally kept ignorant of even that.

"Once the war broke out, people were divided chiefly into two dominate sides, with people of cold blood, like Danny, on one side and those with warm blood like us on the other. Because of this schism, the current war is commonly referred to as the War of Bloods or the Blood War."

Alice stops, forcing Twinkaleni to as well, "But... that means, Danny is... our enemy?"

"No, Alice, it's not as simple as that. Come now, she, our friend, is counting on us."

Alice shakes her head slowly, immobilized as visions of her father being cut down by people resembling Danahlia bombard her mind and then what happened to her mother-

"Alice! Danahlia had nothing to do with starting the war. Her parents were killed because of it too, just as yours were. They had nothing to do with it either, no one we know had anything to do with it or the violence it brought."

"But my dad, he-"

"This war, like any other, has claimed many lives, and will continue to do so. All people like us can do is try to survive it. Danny, you, and me, we were all made orphans by powers beyond our control. We have nothing to gain regardless of who wins this conflict, so why should it matter? We need to stick together. Danahlia is in danger every moment she waits on the edge of the forest for us. Now come along, we need to hurry."

Twinkaleni gives Alice's arm a tug and she begins to follow again, trying to sort through this new information.

"Wha, what started it?" she asks.

Twinkaleni looks back over her shoulder still leading Alice by the hand, "Many things I imagine, peace, chief among them."

"How is... that doesn't make sense."

Twinkaleni looks back toward the oncoming village as she explains, "During the peace before the war, the prime nations prospered. Naturally their populations grew. More people meant more land was needed for housing, agriculture, and so forth. Those along the border territories would push for more land, skirmishes broke out, these were minor and common but they were where it undoubtedly began. Animosity grew, spreading rapidly, and soon it became dangerous to cross between the prime nations in some places. Those that over saw these lands argued among themselves while steadily amassing arms and support. And then it happened."

"The king died?" Alice breathes, remembering the panic and anger that swept through the village when they had heard the news years ago.

"Indeed. Rumors spread that it was by unnatural causes, after all King Ghadhanfar was still in his youth and healthy at the time. Fingers were pointed and with the increasing tension between the cold blooded and warm combining with the fear and panic of a leaderless nation, old hatreds between us and them were rekindled. Rumors of the king's assassination by the Cold Bloods became the rallying cries for angry mobs that ignited a wave of murder along the border territories. Over the next several months, any Cold Bloods found in Warm Blood territory were hunted down and slaughtered."

"Danahlia..." Alice murmurs, nearly stumbling, having trouble keeping pace with the eager mouse as she takes it all in.

"Yes, her clan, her family, was on the wrong side when it happened. Everyone she knew was murdered. She's been in hiding ever since," Twinkaleni reveals solemnly.

"But... why doesn't she go back, to her people?" Alice asks, suddenly feeling incredibly foolish and terribly sorry for even thinking Danahlia could be an enemy.

"She can't, the borders between the prime nations are battlegrounds now. And if she were caught by our people, she'd be killed without mercy."

"Wha, what do we do?" Alice wonders aloud, her heart filling with worry.

"Now, we get what supplies we can and head back to the forest. She should be safe as long as she stays hidden. I imagine not many people go into monster infested forests these days."

This much was true at least and relieves Alice some as she picks up her pace.

It's late in the afternoon when the girls arrive at the village. Alice leads Twinkaleni to the well first, where they parch their dried throats and fill Alice's water skins. Then they hurry to Ms. Graysen's trading post.

Ashleigh comes running out the door as they approach, "Hi, Alice!" she waves and then falls to her knees before Twinkaleni gushing, "Oh cheese! Who's this?! She's so cute!"

Before Twinkaleni can back away, Ashleigh grabs her up and pulls her into a delighted hug.

Alice can't help but smile a bit as Twinkaleni pushes and squirms, squeaking, "Excuse me! Put me down at once!"

Ashleigh reluctantly lets the little mouse girl go, "Oh, I'm so sorry, but you're just so adorable, I, I couldn't resist!"

"Ashleigh, this is Twinkaleni. We met in the forest. Twinkaleni, this is Ashleigh, her mom runs the trade store," Alice introduces, gesturing to each in turn.

"Oh, even your name is cute!" Ashleigh coos and reaches for Twinkaleni's large ears.

The mage slaps her hand away squeaking, "That will do!" and then readjusts her robe.

Ashleigh groans in disappointment and then seems to remember Alice, "That was a quick trip. You're usually gone for a few days when you take one of your expeditions. Oh wow! You got all those cores already?!" she exclaims standing to peek into Alice's shoulder bag.

"Yeah, Twinkaleni helped. Is the store still open? We need to make some trades," Alice asks, looking into the open door of the shop.

"Yeah, yeah, come on," Ashleigh waves the two girls in, smiling down at Twinkaleni before shouting, "Mom! Alice's back and she's brought loads of cores!"

As Alice steps up to the main counter, she places her bag atop it. A few cores fall out and roll around and she has to stops them with her arms before carefully placing them back on the pile. She then looks around at the newly crowded shelves, tables, wall hooks, and anywhere items can be placed.

Ms. Graysen herself emerges from what Alice knows is a small store room in the back and greets, "Oh, hello Alice, did you bring me more, oh, oh my..." she gasps as her eyes find Alice's new haul. She sets down the covered woven basket she's carrying and hurries over, "How did you get so many?"

Alice smiles and points down towards Twinkaleni, who isn't quite tall enough to be seen over the counter, "My new friend helped."

Ms. Graysen leans over the counter top and spots the mouse mage, who looks up smiling as pleasantly as she can, "Oh, hello little one."

"Good evening, madam," Twinkaleni starts, "We wish to barter for some of your goods and we are rather pressed for time. Your assistance will be greatly appreciated."

Ms. Graysen's eyes widen a bit, "Why, yes, yes of course."

Meanwhile, Ashleigh had been rummaging through the cores and pulls one out, "Look mom. They even have red ones."

Ms. Graysen's eyes widen a bit more at this, "Goodness, you girls_have_ been busy. Well, what do you need? Paxon came by this morning so we have a decent stock."

Mr. Paxon was the traveling merchant Ms. Graysen dealt with most often. Too old for war, the Caprican made his living traveling from town to town selling and buying goods.

"Looks like you cleaned 'im out," Alice says looking at all the new stuff.

The mother opossum joins her saying, "We did alright. He really likes your cores. Whiskers, is he going to be pleased when he comes back. So what is it you're looking for?"

Twinkaleni tugs on Alice's hand, "Aside from food, we need to replace the items we lost to the jellies, plus clothes and packs to carry it all."

Alice nods and the girls begin searching and asking for the necessary items. Meanwhile, Ashleigh counts the cores, including their various colors, to give her mother an idea of how much Alice's haul is worth. Ms. Graysen starts stacking supplies on her counter for them and while they work, Alice notices the usual sounds of the village getting steadily louder.

By the time their business is done, the girls have, among other things, three backpacks, a traveling cloak, some assorted extra clothes, a few new water skins, and all the food they can carry. As they try to figure out how to fit all their backpack and water skins straps on while still being able to walk, the noise outside has reached an angry pitch.

"You girl's be careful." Ms. Graysen says when she goes to peer out the front window and then mumbles, "Now what is going on out there?" A few seconds later she murmurs loud enough for them all to hear, "Oh no."

"Momma, what's going on?" Ashleigh calls from the floor where she supposedly helps Twinkaleni adjust her pack, but instead seems more interesting in fondling the small girl's large ears.

"Stay in here, girls," Ms. Graysen orders as she leaves the shop. The urgency in her tone and departure alerts them and they all gather at the window. Many of the village's residents have gathered in the street, and Danahlia is held struggling among them.

"Who's that?" Ashleigh asks.

Twinkaleni squeaks, "Ticks! Alice, we must do something!"

"Oh, no," Alice gasps, "She's a friend, Ashleigh, we have to help her!"

The trio race out the door to a chorus of angry and fearful shouting just as Ms. Graysen approaches the small group surrounding Danahlia.

"What is all this?" the Didel demands.

A worried squirrel woman tells her as the girls gather around, "Oh Linda, they found this Liguna girl near the stream. They say she's a spy."

"She is no spy!" Twinkaleni asserts.

"She's our friend, Ms. Graysen," Alice adds.

The opossum mother turns toward them, "I thought I told you to stay inside!" She then shakes her head, "I'll deal with this," and marches into the growing crowd, Ashleigh following on her heels. More shouting erupts as they hear Ms. Graysen try to bring some order to the scene.

"She's a spy!" someone cries.

Ms. Graysen counters, "She's just a child!"

"I've heard the Cold Bloods use child spies!" another voice shouts.

Then another jeers, "You'd believe it if you heard frogs had wings!"

"If word gets out that we're harboring a Cold Blood, we'll all be hung for treason!" a panicked voice cries fearfully to a general agreement.

"They'll burn the village!" Another adds.

"We must turn her in to a guard patrol!" shouts another.

This is countered by, "When was the last time you saw a patrol? We need to deal with this ourselves!"

"And what is it exactly you purpose we do?!" Ms. Graysen's voice rings again.

"I say we kill the Liguna and be done with it," roars who Alice believes is Ms. Duncan.

"I'm not being part of any murder!" the panicky voice screeches.

As the adults argue, Alice and Twinkaleni work their way around the crowd trying to find a way through to Danahlia.

Shifting elbows and pressed bodies keep them from making much progress until Ashleigh reappears, "Guys, my mom said you have to get your friend outta here. The village is going nuts! She can't keep 'em distracted forever!"

She then turns and bites a woman on the waist making them jump, screaming, and knocking into another, creating an opening. Alice charges in, shoving as hard as she can to push to the center of the crowd, while Twinkaleni, too small and encumbered to make any headway falls back.

Two women, a Caprican and a Houdain, have Danahlia by her arms and keep her still while the shouting continues.

"Let her go!" Alice snarls as viciously as she can, baring her canine teeth.

The dog woman looks at her in surprise, "Go away, Alice, this has nothing to do with you."

"Let her go, NOW!" Alice screams.

This attracts the attention of Ms. Duncan who turns from her argument with Ms. Graysen, "You! My boy said he saw you coming out of the forest with the Cold Blood!"

"I don't believe any of us here are foolish enough to believe a word that slips from your cubs mouth!" Ms. Graysen counters, retaking the bear mother's attention.

"I notice you've always been the one to defend this, wild child." Ms. Duncan roars back, pointing an accusing claw at Alice, "Now she's brought a Cold Blood spy into our village and you still defend her! I say you're a traitor to us all!"

Alice takes the opportunity bought by Ms. Graysen to draw her sword, despite the encumbrance of her newly acquired supplies, and swings it awkwardly at the women holding Danahlia hostage. The goat woman screams in surprise and fear, letting go and falling to her butt as Danahlia rips free from the other. Together the girls shove through the shocked crowd and find Twinkaleni waving them down the street.

Ms. Duncan roars from behind, "We can't let them escape! Get them!"

The massive Urock leads a portion of the gathered women in a chase to the edge of the village until her enormous girth taxes her too greatly to continue. The trio flees the halfhearted mob into the fields and heads straight for the forest. Danahlia takes most of Twinkaleni's newly bought gear so the overburdened Murin can keep pace as they run across the grassy plan between the village and the forest. Alice looks back to see only a few still chasing with a widening gap between them and their pursuers. The girls slow to a jog but keep it up until they reach the trees and no one is following.

Twinkaleni collapses to the ground as they all try to catch their breath, lungs burning with every inhale.

"Wha...What...what happened?" Alice manages to gasp.

"I... was thirsty... so I... went to... that stream," Danahlia huffs.

Alice takes a drink from a water skin, coughs as some finds its way into her heaving lungs, and passes it around.

Danahlia takes a drink and tries to explain, " I didn't... think anyone... saw me. And then... wham... it just happened... so fast... next thing I knew... I was being dragged into town."

"You fool! You should have waited for us... to return." Twinkaleni squeaks angrily after rising enough to take a drink.

"I know, I know... I'm sorry. I was just... so thirsty."

The girls rest a while, keeping watch over the fields for anyone approaching. The sun is setting and Alice feels sure no one will be after them in the dark.

"I'm so sorry, Alice," Twinkaleni says, shaking her head, "I never wanted to get you so deeply involved in this."

"Yeah, sorry Alice," Danahlia adds.

"It's alright," Alice says, still looking out across the dimming field.

"No, it isn't," Twinkaleni goes on, "We disrupted your entire way of life. Because of us, you may not be able to return to your village."

Alice considers this and knows it's probably true. Now that she was seen aiding a Cold Blooded "spy" she might not be able to set foot in Toki for a good while. The thought didn't bother her as much as she felt it should have, but the possibility of never seeing Ashleigh or her mother again, to see if they were alright, and most of all to thank them, weighs heavily on the young fox's heart.

Danahlia hip bumps her lightly, "Hey, you saved my skin back there. Thanks."

Alice smiles and then gets yanked off her feet as the larger girl grabs her up in a tail assisted bear hug.

Alice gasps and Danahlia rubs her cheek all over Alice's surprised face until she laughs, "Ok, ok! You're welcome."

"I think it would be prudent to seek a tree for the night," Twinkaleni advises as Danahlia lets herself be pushed away.

Alice returns to her look out, "Right, you guys find one. I'll meet up with you later."

Danahlia peers between Alice's pointed fox ears, "Why? What're you waitin' for?"

"I wanna get my tent. Here," Alice takes off her pack, water skins, and even her sword, handing them to Danahlia. She wants to be light and quick, the time she's been waiting for was almost here.

"Maybe we should go with you," the Liguna suggests.

But Alice darts out of the tree line tossing back, "No, I'll be fine, we'll meet up in a little bit."

Alice flies across the field at her top speed. She'd been waiting for the moment when the sun would be low enough that she wouldn't be spotted with the dark forest at her back but there was still enough light to see by. She makes it to the top of her hill under the tree to her tent without hearing any alarms being raised in the nearby village.

Still, she moves cautiously, freezing when she hears a sound, and then Ashleigh calling softly from inside her tent, "Alice? Alice is that you?" The opossum girl pokes her head out and grins, "Alice! I was hoping you'd come back tonight."

"Ash, what're you doin' here?" the surprised fox asks in a hoarse whisper, embracing her friend as she emerges from the tent.

"I wanted to say goodbye. After today I didn't think you'd be able to come back for a while," Ashleigh says over Alice's shoulder.

Alice sighs, "Yeah, it looks that way. How's your mom?"

"She's fine. Nearly everyone lost interest when you got out into the fields."

Relief floods over the young hunter, "I'm so glad to hear it. Thank her for me, and thank you." The two hug again and then Alice begins taking down her tent.

"How are your friends?" the opossum girl asks, untying the bit of twine Alice sometimes used to dry her clothes on.

"They're fine thanks to you. They're waitin' for me in the forest."

Ashleigh tucks the rolled up twine into one of Alice's trouser pockets, "That's great. What are you gonna do now?"

"I'm not sure. We'll have to figure something out," Alice says, hoisting her folded up tent under her arm.

Ashleigh laughs a little, though with a hint of sadness, "I always knew you'd go off on some grand adventure one day."

"You can come too, if you want," Alice offers, but she can see Ashleigh's shadowed head shake.

"I can't, my mom needs me. So... you have to have enough adventure for both of us, ok? Promise."

Alice does and they share one last hug. Ashleigh gives Alice a tight squeeze and they whisper their goodbyes. Then Alice sprints away back to the forest's edge. She looks back once, seeing Ashleigh's silhouette standing beside her tree on the hill and is gland its dark. She never liked anyone seeing her cry. As she races for the safety of the trees, she makes a vow to return one day and repay the Didels for everything.

By the time Alice is once again in the forest, it's too dark to see much of anything at all. She feels her way around, slowly and cautiously, hoping she won't have to make camp alone in pitch blackness.

"Alice?" Twinkaleni whispers from somewhere nearby.

Alice opens her eyes as wide as she can but it's of no help, "Yeah, where are you?"

Then the mouse mage calls, "Estraleete."

Something that looks like a star appears above the fox girl. As it drifts down to her, she sees that it's a tiny bluish white light that effectively illuminates the immediate area.

Alice watches it in wonder and raises a hand to touch it but Danahlia calls down, "We're up here, come on."

Alice follows her voice and sees them both on the thick branch of an oak, similar to the first one they spent a night on but a bit higher off the ground.

Their eyes glow in the faint summoned light, Twinkaleni holding her hands out toward the tiny star while Danahlia uses her tail to point, "There's a branch that should hold you right here."

Alice asks, "Why didn't you go deeper into the forest?"

"We wanted to wait for you," Danahlia calls down and Alice smiles up at them.

She can just make out Danahlia grinning back before Twinkaleni calls in a straining voice, "Please, hurry. I can't maintain this spell for much longer."

Alice only has one free hand and searches for a way to climb until Danahlia extends her tail down to her, "Here."

Alice is just tall enough to place the tent on the Liguna's long appendage. Danahlia wraps around it and brings it up as Alice quickly climbs up to a branch off to their right. The tiny light goes out with an exhausted huff from Twinkaleni, just as Alice settles on the branch.

Something bumps her shoulder and she feels around to Danahlia's tail wrapped around something small, "It's some bread and water."

"Thanks," Alice says to the darkness to her left, accepting the items.

All the excitement of the day has left her ravenous and she quickly digs into her dinner.

As she does, Danahlia comments, "So it looks like you're comin' with us."

"Looks like," Alice agrees.

Then she hears the joy in Danahlia's voice, "Welcome to the team."