The water rolls over the shoreline in gentle waves, dashing upon the rocks close to the city walls as sand gives way to sparkling meteorite. Along the shore stroll Hope and Amadeo, and she sighs as the cool water brushes past her bare feet. "This is well needed. Thank you, Amadeo, for coming with me."

"Thank you for helping me carry everything we needed to buy. Figure the least I could do was walk the beach with you."

"Yeah, well, you didn't have to throw in the hat." She grins, holding one hand to the top of the wide brimmed straw sun hat as a breeze blows through the air, nearly knocking it off her head. She ties it down with a little blue ribbon to prevent further escape attempts.

"Eh, I thought it completed the outfit." Amadeo kneels, picking up a shell in the sand and rinsing it off in the tide.

Hope sits down further up the shore, dipping her toes in the waves as they rise and fall. Amadeo soon joins her, sitting with a small pile of shells he collected along the way. She chuckles and picks a small one up. "Those poor clams."

"Hey, you abandon your house, I can find a use for it." One of the shells he snatched wiggles, the hermit crab inside scuttling across the sand to safety. Amadeo laughs and watches it go. "Run, little shelled homeowner! Be free of rent and taxes! Just make sure you get a place where there's no landlord!"

"Do your parents have a landlord?" Hope asks, the bizarre statement sparking curiosity.

"They used to. He charged them so much that they just went to the mayor and convinced him to give them the land on the basis it would pay for itself by lowering prices on wheat, and thus bread. And for twelve years, it did just that. We weren't wealthy by any stretch, but we had enough to pay our workers fair wages and make some decent food for a good amount of the village. Then last year, a bad drought came and the crop suffered. We've also been dealing with pretty bad land, but that was mostly held off by my folks hiring a druid to help influence plant growth." Amadeo sighs and lays back in the sand. "We've been struggling to get everything back in order, but it's been difficult. We're not flat broke yet, but we're...Well, we're getting there."

"Is your family alright without you?" She runs a hand over her tail, face moulding with concern, but he shakes his head.

"They're fine. It's not a lack of money they're afraid of. Misery has much bigger problems when night falls."

Hope looks over at him, narrowing her gaze. "You said before that you studied ghosts." Her eyes glint with a sort of mild fascination mixed with genuine worry. "Why is that?"

"Because-" Amadeo starts, closing his eyes and taking a breath. As his lips open to speak again, a screech crosses the sky, and he looks up. "...What in the Hells is that?"

Soaring through the air is a dark shape, larger than a horse, silhouetted against the sunlight as it glides over the city walls. Hope stands, the color draining from her face. "No...There's no way."

"Hope, what's wrong?" Amadeo stands, his companion's fists clenching.

"I know that shape. I'd know it anywhere. More importantly-" She turns to the city, breaking into a sprint. "I know its master."

Amadeo follows post haste, much of their day's shopping still laying in the sand, including one fine woodcarving kit.