Taking the loss, they continue to trek through the forest and find several actual birds, some of which they successfully shoot.

They return with a small bounty, enough to at least vary up people’s meals today, and set to plucking and gutting them which draws in most of the camp that’s setup nearby. They chat with those that come near, despite them clearly trying to butter the pair up to get more in their meals, until Luke and the elf arrive with their own bounty of vegetables which becomes the cue to start pulling out every pot they own.

After roughly cooking the food and handing it out, Roxie then gathers as many people who are interested and starts lecturing them on monsters, going starting with goblins, explaining their threat and various quirks. By the time she's finished, everyone is looking tired but are still at attention, some are even taking notes as Roxie finishes running through everything.

“Phew, any questions?” Roxie looks over everyone as her tiredness catches up with her.

Wolf asks from besides the board "Yeah. Why would they actively search out people?"

"For their souls" As Roxie answers, a silence falls over the camp. Even those who were only barely listening pause what they're doing.

Kizzy breaks the silence "It's Long past bedtime. Ok everyone to bed, questions can wait” she then weaves her way to the now perpetually yawning Roxie “Well done, I hope you will be ok to teach tomorrow too”

“Sure. Just speak up next time I go too long” Roxie chuckles as she pulls herself off her chair.

“No promises” Kizzy takes her by the arm and helps her limp to her bed.

“What about him?” Roxie points to the dead asleep elf.

Kizzy was about to call to wolf, but Zark instead picks the elf up “I’ll take him” then walks off through the camp.

SECTIONCHANGE

“Finally!”

Someone screams this as they cheer the arrival of the researchers, their boat a hub of activity as they dock.

Roxie keeps herself off to the side as people rush back and forth from the boat and the clearing, hauling supplies and collecting belongings. She pulls herself up and limps her way to the boat, leaving Luke behind.

“Here” The dwarf rushes besides her and offers a hand.

Roxie smiles as she takes her hand to help her up the ramp “Thanks Jeshka”

She smiles and chuckles “Surprised you're not still mad at me”

“Oh, I’m still pissed you'd do that to me” Roxie pushes her away as she chuckles herself.

“Oh, come on, I'm not joining anyone’s team” she then shrugs and raises her hands “If they want to join me, that's different”

Roxie leans over the edge of the boat to look down at the others “But fucking Zark and Lazrus”

“Hey, I need a bit of arm jewellery when I reach A rank before you” Jeshka raises other tiptoes and looks over the edge with her.

Roxie ruffles Jeshka's hair “Yeah fucking right”

She swats Roxie's hand away and starts walking back down the ramp “You're one to talk. Nicking Luke and S'tance, the abyss”

Roxie leans on the railing and shouts “Hey, it's not my fault I got a better eye for potential than you!”

“Fuck off and sit down will ya'. And don’t forget, when that leg heals, I’m kicking your ass” She points up to her as she smirks.

“Like to see you try” Roxie starts limping away from the edge with a smile on her face.

Roxie makes her way to the bow and settles herself on the railing with a book in hand to pass the time, occasionally glancing at the various people unloading supplies.

When they arrive back to maria, taking a large cart instead of walking, the group makes a stop at the guild building so those who are working away from home can be given accommodation before everyone splits, each heading different directions throughout the city.

Roxie quickly notices that their lodgings are organised by the newly formed teams, evidenced by the fact that Luke and S’tance are currently following both her and maps they were given. Rolling her eyes, Roxie slows down and begins leading them through the city streets, only getting lost once on their way.

Luke opens the door for Roxie and S’tance and as they walk through who stop as Roxie Notices five interesting people currently waiting for them.

“Kitten!” Tiltain leaps at her to then starts nuzzling against her.

Roxie reciprocates, hugging and nuzzling back as Meladon guides the other three closer; one of which is the an Aqrabuamelu child that is currently peeking out from behind her.

The other two however immediately rush past Roxie and barrel into Luke who has kneeled to accept them in a hug “Damien, Dacia, what are you two doing here?”

“We got adopted, we got adopted” they both cheer in unison as they jump up and down.

He gasps “That’s awesome”

Then Dacia explains “Yeah, people came in and adopted everyone”

Luke’s face turns to concern “What people?”

“Like them” They then turn around and point to Roxie and her parents.

Roxie pushes her dad away enough to talk without getting a mouthful of fur “Yeah, us beasts have a habit of adopting things”

Luke's face relaxes into a vacant stare and open mouth as he slowly looks down “What about mother?”

Dacia is the first to respond “She's living with us in the village”

“Yeah, they gave her a house and she's helping us learn things with mom” Damien turns again and points to Meladon who has padded closer.

“She actually wanted us to pass a message to you” she then turns to look into a bag at her hip which opens, and a letter floats out that Luke accepts.

As he reads it, Roxie and the others sit down, leaving Luke and the twins to read the letter in private.

“So, when did you get mana?” Roxie asks as she resumes cuddling with her dad.

“About two weeks after you left, the adventurers found a mana beast and gave the core to the village as thanks for our hospitality” She leans her head to the side to show that a small portion of her neck has been coloured a crystalline blue.

“I guess they were given the empty houses we had in return” Roxie smirks as Titan gives up nuzzling and settles for resting his head atop hers.

Melon lowers the cup she levitated to her mouth to speak “Naturally, we weren’t using them”

They sit in silence for a bit as Roxie adjusts her dad’s head and Meladon tries to make the Aqrabuamelu comfortable, until Luke steps closer.

“Roxie, can I speak to you” he then motions for her to follow him.

She throws her dad head off, which causes him to moan in disappointment “Sure” then sets to following him.

They both step to another table, the others dotting over Damien and Dacia silenced by its enchantment.

Luke stands front of Roxie but doesn’t meet her eyes “Sorry to say this but I have to quit”

Roxie doesn’t say anything for a moment before shouting “What!”

Luke shies away from Roxie who limps closer “With everyone adopted, there's no reason for me to do this. I was just in it for the money to get them into homes”

“And you're just gonna leave me and S'tance in the lurch. What the abyss are we gonna do for a third teammate” Roxie throws out her free hand, getting everyone’s attention as she does so.

Luke continues to shy away from her “You could ask one of the others”

“And poach people from other teams, leaving them with the same problem I have?” she shouts again as Tiltain starts to approach.

“You'll be fine, right?” he asks innocently.

Instead of responding she instead slams her fist onto the table, causing it to jump off the ground a bit from the recoil, then limps out of the inn without another word.

No one follows her out for a time, instead leaving Roxie to stand outside at the edge of the path, overlooking the sea.

After a while, S'tance is the first to approach “Hey” he stands at Roxie's side, not making eye contact even as she looks over to him.

“Hey” she tiredly responds.

“So, aa, what do you think our first job should be?” he smiles as he says this, despite it clearly looking Fake but gives up when he doesn’t get a response “It's not that bad”

“You say that, but Ox warned me that it could sometimes take months or even a year for team members to be replaced” Roxie hobbles around to look at S'tance properly.

“Right” he looks down, again avoiding eye contact “But were strong enough to work with just the two of us”

Roxie shoves a finger at him “I’m not risking it, there’s too much shit out there that could wipe the floor with us, even with three, abyss, even a ten-person team at our level wouldn't win against some of it”

“Oh” his shoulders sag as she says this. finally mustering the courage, he turns and looks at her “But, you didn’t need to be so angry at him”

“Why not, I asked him, and he accepted, now he's going back on that—” Roxie's hands clench visibly “We haven’t even done a single job yet and he's already backing out”

“Kitten, you know that a person who has no reason to fight will be more of a hindrance than an aid” Titan comes up and sits behind her.

“I know but” she turns and looks up to her dad before hugging him.

“Come back in, the nice lady at the bar brought over our food” He nudges her back towards the inn.

She settles down with everyone around the table, which is just big enough with Roxie's new younger brother and sister sitting on Luke’s lap and the Aqrabuamelu sticking close to Meladon.

The evening passes pleasantly despite Roxie refusing to look at Luke whenever they talk but it is cut short by the barkeep announcing the time to the group, causing Meladon and Tiltain to start rising and ushering the children out.

Roxie follows them to the caravan that’s waiting a few warehouses down and gives each of them a hug and a kiss before they leave, waving them goodbye as they board and are driven off.

“Visit again soon!” Roxie shouts and waves as they rumble down the road.

She waits for them to ride out of sight before returning to the inn where a new person has joined the table in her stead. He's a large Tebrien man with roughly clipped antenna and two patches of pale flesh on each side of his face between his jaw and cheeks standing in contrast to his dark gold coloured carapace.

“About time” the man turns to face Roxie “So you're the one my idiot student is following”

Roxie looks between him and S'tance “Who the fuck is this?”

“He's my master, the one who taught me how to fight with a sword” S'tance explains with a gesture to him.

Roxie slowly lowers herself down onto a chair “Right, what's he doing here?”

The man raises one of his crosses arms “I got a letter informing me that my idiot student got trapped on an island and so naturally I came over to get him”

Roxie frowns at him “It's been a month”

He pauses and lowers his arm back down before eventually saying “I got to the realm and couldn’t commandeer a boat”

The conversation lulls before S'tance speaks up “Are you going to take me back” S'tance's antenna droop.

“Of course not, why would I do that, I have trained you as much as I can, you need real world experience now” he then looks between Luke and Roxie “And a smart team”

“Well he's hasn’t got the last bit now” Roxie quips this as she slumps back and glares at Luke

The man nods and holds a hand to his chin “Hmm, I can see that you two are particularly stupid looking”

“What!” Roxie bolts upright and shouts at him.

“You are currently broken, and he doesn’t look like he has a shred of will” He points at Roxie then Luke as he makes his points.

“R-Roxie, please, he doesn’t mean it. At least not like that” S'tance sits up and raises two of his hands.

“And what does he mean by that” Roxie twists to glare at S'tance instead.

S'tance wilts under her gaze “It's how, how he says that he doesn’t have confidence in our abilities”

“I highly doubt you would survive any combat encounter at your current states” the man offhandedly says.

Roxie starts to move out of her chair but is stopped by the barwoman putting a hand on her shoulder and guiding her back down where she then places a coffee in front of her, the woman also puts down drinks for both Luke and S'tance before walking away.

Roxie starts reluctantly drinking and the others follow suit, except for the man who glances between their drink and the barwoman who eventually sashays over with a roll of her eyes and takes his order.

They settle into relative silence, except for the few times the man starts telling embarrassing stories about S'tance, like the time he crawled through a secret hole into his room and got stuck with his rear outside the house.

The drinks are finished and the barwoman arrives to start picking up cups “Whilst I’m happy that you came to visit me first, I think you really should visit mother M's temple” she gives a big smile, but that turns blank as everyone gives her confused looks “Oh dang, y'all from out of kingdom?” everyone nods “Right, well mother moon is all about healing and rest so you head over to their temple and they'll fix you right up best they can”

Roxie stands to her feet “Fuck yeah, thanks uhh? What's your name?”

“Oh, it’s Maggie, my hubby in the kitchen—” she waves to the Tebrien staring through the window in the wall “Is Mickali”

“Huh, thanks” Roxie smiles and starts limping her way out before turning back “How do I get there?”

After short bout of directions and a hug, Roxie makes her way out of the inn, with Luke following shortly.

Luke runs up besides Roxie “Hey, umm, doing alright?”

“I’m fine” Roxie's tersely responds.

Luke looks away but says “Sorry about—”

“You have nothing to apologise for—” Roxie pats him on the shoulder “I’m just frustrated. I want to get out there and finding a replacement for you is going to be a pain in the ass” Roxie grinds her knuckles into his cheek.

“Oh, right” Luke turns around to look at her.

“But I can’t stay mad at you forever, you are my brother now” she finishes by flicking him on the nose.

Luke moves away and rubs his nose “What?”

“Well Damien and Dacia are my siblings, they're also yours so we’re brother and sister now” Roxie grabs him by the shoulder and holds him in a headlock.

“Oh” despite his position, Luke smiles as he pulls himself out of the hold.

They carry on making their way to the temple, S'tance eventually catching up with his teacher reluctantly joining him.

Whilst the city itself never had a particularly loud din, any and all noise from the outside of the area marked by a particularly shallow moat is silenced as they approach the temple. The building is split in two parts, with one taking two thirds of the total and is made with simple smooth stone walls riddled with windows across its ten stories; the other side is only a little more decorated, with large glass windows depicting a figure completely covered in robes caring for various sick and ill and simple arches carved into it to frame them.

They walk into the simple half and enter an empty waiting area where a man behind the desk opposite them perks up “Hello there. Perchance are you miss Altflight?”

Roxie pauses for a second before moving closer “Yeah? How'd you know that?”

“The guild had informed us of your injury and requested that healing be prepared” He then stands and quickly peeks through the door behind him before holding open the double doors besides the desk “Please go through”

Roxie limps past and gives him a nod as she makes her way through the large corridor, she pays a quick glance to her entourage who are stopped at the doors, then calls for Luke to follow and for S’tance and the other to head to 'Glass nails’ forge' in the upper residential district if they get bored waiting.

Luke wraps Roxie’s arm over his shoulder to replace her crutch.

“What are you doing?” Roxie tries to pull her arm back,

But Luke keeps a firm hold onto it “Helping my sister walk”

Roxie gives him an amused look before shaking her head and starting to walk up the hallway where one of the doctors is waiting, holding the door open. Roxie and Luke are brought in and she is laid onto a raised bed with two, non-matching, tables placed either side for her wings to rest on.

Luke sits on a chair off to the side as the doctor pulls up the porcelain mask hanging around his neck and starts looking at Roxie's breaks, twisting and moving them as much as he can without getting her hisses.

“Looks like I will have to commend Kizkrala again for her good work, just have to sure up the breaks and remove the casts mainly” the man idly says, his voice muffled by the mask “This won’t take long” he then removes a thick pen from his top pocket and checks the batteries attached to the hip of his leather robes before slowly running it across the casts, cutting them in half on both sides.

When they’re off he picks up a paste that he rubs over the breaks one by one, covering the bruises that have faded to only the shadow of Kizzy’s hands, causing Roxie to take a sharp breath as he touches the sore spots.

After it’s applied, he then places his hands on either side of the wound and begins muttering which is followed by a golden light that sinks into her leg that instead of giving a reassuring and ‘healing’ feeling that Roxie expected, just leaves her feeling tired. The process overall takes half an hour, in which Roxie takes a little nap only to be woken by a gently shaking.

“Is it done” Roxie speaks through a yawn before pushing off the bed and starting to stomp her previously broken leg on the floor.

“Uhhh” the doctor looks to her in surprise “I would recommend not doing that”

Roxie ignores him and proceeds to leave the room, then poke her head back in “Thanks!” then leaves again.

The doctor raises a hand to say bye and looks to Luke who's up and following Roxie.

He catches her just as she's pushing the doors out open for him “Feeling better?”

“Fuck yeah—” Roxie finishes with a massive yawn “-just really tired. C'mon, I want to get my gear and sort things out with the guild before napping”