The moment came sooner than we all thought it would. Only a week later, after Remus left us all panting and bruised on the courtyard ground yet again, he barked out a question.

“Okay then. Do you rats think you’re finally ready for a real hunt?”

I got up off my back, still panting. Everything ached, but I wouldn’t give this less than my full attention.

“Yes, sir!” Bently barked back. “We’re ready, sir!”

“Wrong, you blithering idiot!” Remus barked back. “None of you have a single fucking idea what you’re doing! Yet nonetheless… we’ve got an urgent hunting request that’s perfect for your team’s skills. You’ll all be going out tomorrow.”

Whoops and cheers erupt from our more boisterous members, which is to say Norah and Bently. They high-fived each other as Orville nodded seriously. Even Penelope had a small smile.

“What’s the job?” I ask.

“Burrow hounds,” Remus answered. “They’re mostly a Vermin-class monster, but they can still cause serious damage to forests and structures. They have the potential to grow big as well, though if you’re lucky we won’t meet one of those on our expedition.”

“We’re not lucky,” I say flatly. Remus actually smiles.

“Correct. So you’d best prepare your asses to get stomped on. I’ll be coming with you, but don’t expect me to do shit. I’m your judge, not your lifeline.”

I sigh. Despite his words, he’ll probably step in if someone’s about to die, but even that guarantees nothing. Sudden, instant death happened outside the walls. It’s why the scout was the first line of defense.

“So, what are burrow hounds?” Norah asks.

“They’re small dogs that come up just above your ankle,” Remus says, “or about to Vita’s knee.”

“Hey!”

“The thing that makes them a problem is that they breed like crazy, burrow like nobody’s business, and are very territorial. The colony we found is about two days from the city, but that’s too damn close. If they get into the walls they could endanger hundreds of thousands of lives. We don’t want any of them anywhere near here. Your team is going to find them and exterminate every last one.”

Penelope’s smile widens.

“Which is what you need me for,” she deduces. “I can use my power outside the walls, right?”

Remus nods.

“Exactly so, Penelope. You and Orville are going to be essential for wiping out the colony. Vita will find it and be the one making sure we got them all. Bently and Norah will ensure your weak asses actually make it that far without dying.”

I might take offence if Norah wasn’t basically invulnerable. I do not at all mind my spot in the formation being right behind her. It was pretty much the safest place to be.

“I wouldn’t normally send a team as green as you after burrow hounds,” Remus continued. “They’re weak individually, but they coordinate well and ambush in packs from underground. I’ve seen plenty of people die on jobs just like this. But the lot of you have the kind of skills needed to succeed. Vita, make sure you watch out for movement underground. They’re fast in those burrows. If Vita shouts at someone to move, I don’t care if the rest of you are halfway up a tree or in the middle of taking a shit, you move.”

There were nods all around from the team, which flared a bit of pride up my chest. Penelope was still testy on a good day and outright aggressive on a bad one, but she didn’t argue at practice. Neither of us liked the other, but there was a begrudging respect; I’m the eyes in the back of her head, she was the lifeline that could turn me into an actual combat threat. The rest of my team was downright friendly, though I’m not at all confident that meant they’d keep secrets for me. Norah, at the very least, went to church every so once in a while. I couldn’t help but be a little cautious of her after learning that.

“What else are we likely to encounter outside the walls, sir?” Orville asks.

“Everything,” Remus answers bluntly. “Ecosystems can be created and destroyed overnight if a powerful monster roams through. Expect nothing, be prepared for anything. As for what I expect to find, thankfully not a lot. The area is stable for now, at least so far as we know. Probably a lot of insects, carnivorous plants, solitary predators, and mid-size herbivores. Stuff you can handle, unless you try to handle it all at once. The area in particular that we’ll be heading to is jungle-like, so count on poor visibility and needing to cut our path forward.”

“No problem there, sir!” Bently says, saluting happily.

I believed Bently on that, we would probably be fine. Bently’s a great fighter, but rather than being particularly strong or fast tough, the thing I can’t help but notice about him is that he never gets tired. He’s not left a panting mess after training, he doesn’t slow down as a fight drags on. He just keeps going. I suspect the whole team was happy to leave him the task of cutting through the underbrush. The spell Penelope calls “hypermetabolize” was basically perfect for him; it pushes his body to its limit and beyond, but burns energy reserves like crazy. Bently barely seems to notice; Penelope once commented she’d try keeping it active on him all day if it wasn’t literally illegal.

Sometimes I wondered which one of us Rowan would find creepier. ...I hoped it was her. I’m not trying to be so weird!

“Anyway, you’re dismissed,” Remus says. “We leave tomorrow morning, and each of you may never come back. Get whatever you need to get ready before you go.”

I did some quick mental math.

"Sir? The colony is two days from the walls, so that's a four-day round trip at least. I've not been taught to keep watch in my sleep."

Remus raises an eyebrow.

"Bold of you to assume you'll get to sleep, Vita."

I open my mouth, close it, then open it again.

"...Was that a joke, sir?"

"No. Sometimes on jobs you'll need to stay awake for days on end. But hopefully, this will not be one of those jobs. We'll be making camp well before nightfall, and you will sleep during the day. If you're able, it would be best if you hold the entire night shift. The difference between your senses and your team's will be even more staggering in the dark. But if you can't stay awake all night, be sure to get someone to take your place, understand? Know your limits."

I nod. He nods back, and makes his exit. The team continues to sit on the grass, due to exhaustion from most of us and solidarity from Bently.

"Let's make sure to do this perfectly," Penelope says seriously, sitting up into as regal a position as she can manage. "I'm tired of being coddled by the old man."

"Easy enough of a thing to say, P," Norah answers, flat on her back. "I agree, though. I'm stoked for this. Being our own hunter team, getting strong, making the big money? That's where it's at."

Getting strong. It came as a surprise to me to learn how much of my team held that as part of the reason they became a hunter. It’s true that hunters who lived were incredibly powerful, but I hadn’t really thought about that. I plan to do the same thing, after all, but have a completely different way I’m going to go about it.

However, I am stronger, even without eating any souls since joining the guild. My soul was just a tiny bit bigger than it was before. Same with the rest of my team: all-natural growth, no blasphemy… although I suppose I’m making assumptions about their soul-eating habits. People just got stronger when they got better at stuff, I supposed. Which made sense. Babies and children tended to have much smaller souls than adults, after all.

"I'm surprised Remus heard us talking earlier about dispersal, Penelope," Orville comments.

"Yes... I also assumed that was what he meant when he said you and I would kill the hounds. It is true that aeromancy would be ideal for pushing a biological agent down through a series of tunnels. Perhaps that is why our team was recommended so soon."

"Not to mention our omniscient little Vita!" Norah says, cackling.

"Quit calling me little!" I protest.

"I'm sorry, Vita, but you're like the smallest fucking thing, and it's adorable," Norah says, starting to get up. "Like, all y'all are small compared to me, but Vita is just tiny!"

"I'm growing! Probably!"

"Speaking of," Penelope butts in, "I should give everyone a checkup. If you're less than your best it will reflect on me."

"And we can't have that," Orville mutters.

I laughed, enjoying the banter. It continued for a while, but eventually people started to break off. Bently ran home to talk to his family, Norah went to get some food, and the rest went back to their rooms.

I trudge up to my room after Penelope. I’d eat in a bit, but if she’s giving checkups I want to talk to her while it was just the two of us. I’ve been stewing over a few things I want to say to her, but I’m just not sure how.

Once inside, however, Penelope surprises me by being the first one to speak.

"Vita. Perfect. Come here, I’ll need to check you out the longest."

"Um, okay?" I approach and stand next to her, wondering what this was about.

"Do you have a general practitioner, Vita?" she asks, turning her chair around to face me.

"A what?"

"Do you see a biomancer or mundane doctor on the regular?" she clarifies impatiently.

"Uh, no. I've talked to a biomancer other than you... once. Ever."

Penelope takes an annoyed breath.

"Okay. Have you spoken with your mother recently?"

"No, I'm still an orphan. Why are you asking me this stuff?"

"Because you're going to start menstruating soon and I am daring to hope that I won't have to be the one to teach you about how to handle it. No such luck, I suppose. Take your armor off and lie down on your bed, let's get this checkup over with."

I... don't really have a way to respond to that, so I just do as instructed. Stripping down to my undershirt I lie down, letting Penelope poke and prod at me. It's silent and awkward, so I let a little bit of what I were planning to say slip out.

"...I, um, really am kind of interested, you know."

"Hmm?" she murmurs.

"In your research, I mean. How has that been going? I’m sorry I don't know much about it. I never knew about that kind of stuff before. That doesn't mean I'm not interested, I'm just..."

"You're just ignorant," she finishes, her hand slowly passing over my leg as she pushes magic in to scan. "You say that as if you expect it to be an endearing quality. It isn't."

I hold back a hiss of annoyance and press on.

"I just mean... it got me thinking. If your work disproves that the brain links the body and the soul, then what does link the body and soul?"

"I couldn't tell you. That's outside the scope of my research."

I scowl.

"Come on, a guess at least?"

She scowls right back, but thinks on it.

"...I don't know," she says. "If you had asked me before I started my experiments, I would have agreed that the brain was likely the link between body and soul. There doesn't seem to be anything else that could do that job. It's the most obvious link to make. Only creatures with a nervous system or nervous system equivalent are known to have souls, or so the church says. We have to take that information for granted, of course, as methods to view such interactions ourselves would require at least basic animancy, and that's a door no one wants to open. But if having a brain is a requirement for having a soul, then logically, the soul being linked to the brain seems like a very reasonable hypothesis."

"...But when you remove the parts of the brain said to link with the soul, nothing seems to happen. What if something happened and you just can't see what it is?"

"Well, that's what more research is for. I'll need a new batch of rats after our outing."

Nodding, I let her get back to poking and prodding. Was that a successful conversation??? I winced as she jabbed at my chest, which hurt like a motherfucker. Come to think of it, I should probably ask the team doctor about that.

"Do I, uh, have a nipple infection or something?"

There was a brief pause, and then all of a sudden Penelope burst out into uproarious laughter. It startled me so much I almost jumped off the bed. I’ve never heard her laugh before!

"Aaaahahaha! I'm sorry, it's just... Hahaha!"

"What?" I ask, blushing. "What's so funny?"

It takes her another ten seconds to calm down, though she eventually answers me.

"No, Vita, you do not have an infection. It's just puberty."

"But it hurts!" I protest. "A lot!"

"And that's completely normal," she tells me, still chuckling a little.

"Why is that normal???"

"Because breasts exist for the purpose of torturing women," she says flatly. "Now turn over, we're almost done here."

"This is taking way longer than the first time you scanned me," I complain, though I do as she says.

"Yes, well, I'm not putting a few bruises back together this time. I'm looking for chronic problems, of which you have... many."

"Uh. What? How many are we talking here?"

"Orville mentioned you were raised malnourished," Penelope comments. "And the deeper I look, the more issues I find. I should have been treating you nightly as of weeks ago, but I suppose we'll have to start when we get back."

I blink.

"Wait, really? Nightly biomancy treatment? This isn't gonna be mega-expensive, is it? I'm already in debt."

"Of course you are," Penelope answers flatly. "But no. I need you alive. You're harder to replace than meatheads like Bently."

"Aww! You like me!" I coo.

"Not particularly. I simply didn't realize you were really as poor-off as you are. I've failed my duty as the team's biomancer, and that... rankles a bit. So I'd appreciate you not telling anyone about my lapse."

"I can do that, sure!" I promise. That's a cheap price to pay for daily biomancy!

She nods.

"Well, that's all I can do for now. Go find Norah and send her up next, would you?"

"Okay," I agree, getting up to put all my armor back on.

"Oh, one more thing." She rummages through her cabinet for a short while, then tosses a few soft rags at me.

"About... nine days from now, start putting those in your underwear."

"Why would I..." I start to ask, but she just gives me this look and I shut up.

“Do you need me to explain it, or can you ask someone else?”

“I can ask someone else,” I murmur.

“Then leave.”

I quickly head downstairs to tell Norah it's her turn, trying not to blush too hard.

Norah is just finishing up her meal when I head down to see her, shoving the rags into a pocket.

"Hey, Norah!" I call out, waving. "Penelope wants to do a checkup on you."

"Ooh, that sounds... not fun!" she answered, taking a sip from a mug. "You survive it?"

"It wasn't that bad," I answer. "A little awkward, but not bad. I think I might be getting through to her."

"Oh yeah? Well, I hope somebody does. She and Orville should fuck, they both need to lighten up."

I scratch my head. Not what I was expecting to hear, but okay.

"Would that really help?"

"Ehh," she says, taking another swig with one hand and twisting the other in a so-so gesture. "Seventy-thirty on chilling them both out verses making them both even more fuckin competitive. Orville has this thing about seeing everyone as an obstacle to overcome, and P is high on that list. Dude has a complex about natural casters, I tell you. Meanwhile, P is starved for attention pretty much constantly, so she can feed off of his constant need to measure dicks with her without worrying about actually losing to him."

I blink. That was a lot.

"...Are you saying Penelope has a dick?"

"Well she's a biomancer, so maybe. But no, I don’t think so. It's a figure of speech, Vita. To measure dicks means to hold a contest for no reason other than pride."

"Oh, okay," I say, making a note to remember that.

I head over to grab some food, quickly piling my plate high before returning.

"So, how do you know all that stuff, Norah?"

"I just watch people," the huge woman answers, shrugging. "Humans are interesting. We're all crazy complicated, but everyone still has the same set of levers, you know? If you pay attention to someone's habits, you can figure out where they fall."

I frown, nodding.

"So, what's up with Bently?"

"Salt of the earth," Norah says simply. "I don't know why the heck that dude's a hunter, but I bet you it's something dumb like 'I really like fighting but don't want to hurt anyone!'"

I laugh a little as she imitates Bently's cheerful candor.

"Seriously though," she continues, "he's a good guy, but... something's missing in there. I think his kindness comes from believing that everyone is like him. He's gonna get real hurt someday when that bubble pops, but I guess with a personality like his he'll have plenty of people to help him get over it."

She shrugs.

"And me?" I ask, a little hesitant.

She glances me over, taking the time to figure out how much to say.

“...You give me whiplash, Vita. Most of the time you’re an adorable little baby kitten who looks terrified of the whole world and also herself. Looking so damn scared makes me wanna take an arrow for you, you know? It’s precious. At least until something actually scary comes along, and then all of a sudden you’re in the fucking zone. Completely on top of it. It’s surreal.”

I frown, munching away on some bread-soup thing. It was so tasty.

"...My whole life is pretty much just a huge string of things that are probably going to get me killed," I eventually answer. "Of course I’m afraid. If I was the type of person who hesitated just because something dangerous happened, I’d be dead."

"...Well, first of all Vita, that sucks and it's no way to look at life. I'm your shield now, yeah? You can let me take some of that burden. I’m tough."

She flexes, making me chuckle.

"Second of all," she continues. "It’s not just your competence, it’s your attitude. I don't even know how to describe it. Disdain, I think? The look you get on your face when Remus starts kicking the ever-loving shit out of you... I dunno, Vita. What kind of person looks at the boot coming to knock her teeth out like it’s a worm to grind into stone? It's pretty fuckin' spooky. You're a spooky girl."

"Oh," I murmur, shrinking down a little. "Sorry."

Norah laughs, getting up and gathering her things. She walks over and jostles my shoulder a little.

"Hey, you may be a spooky girl, but you're our spooky girl. I'm glad you're on the team, Vita, and don’t think otherwise. See you 'round! I'm gonna head up before Penelope decides to give me a rash."

"Hey, wait!" I protest. "What about you? What's your... you-analysis?"

Norah flashes a lopsided grin.

"Me? I'm just a small-town gal with nothing to lose."

She exits the mess hall, heading upstairs. Thinking quietly, I lap up the last of the stew in my bowl and head the opposite way. It was time to go home.