I must have been more tired than I thought, because by the time I woke up, the wagon was already outside, loaded and ready to go.

“The sleeping beauty awakes!” Frank called out as I walked outside, still rubbing my eyes. “If you had slept for any longer, I might have given you a kiss to wake you up!”

Mia looked at him coldly. “Didn’t know you were into that stuff,” she muttered in mock disgust. The rest of the group nodded assent. Even Tsune wrinkled her nose.

Franks eyes widened, looking at the group. “I- I didn’t mean it like that,” he weakly retorted. Then, seeing the wide smiles around him, he relaxed. “Screw you guys, I thought you were being serious for a second.”

Father draped his arm around Frank, laughing. “But, Frankie, if you ever think you might swing that way, you can always experiment with me.”

The banter continued as we all piled into the wagon. Slowly, Ajax picked up the reins of the wagon and set off.

As we traveled down to main road, I caught sight of the alley that I had ran down the night before. All evidence of the commotion was gone, and there was a “for sale” sign right above the door. Looks like the slaver had packed up and left town the moment he realized I was gone.

Then, turning a corner, the great Liru stretched before us. A line of wagons and carts had formed, all queueing up for a turn to be ferried over by large rafts. The rafts themselves were simple affairs, no more than large pontoons. They were fastened to a rope system that stretched overhead, keeping the rafts from floating away in the current.

After waiting for hours in the blazing sun, the line finally reached us. As we slowly floated on the serene waters towards the opposite bank, a thought occurred to me.

“Hey, mom, dad, why were we going to Furness City anyways?”

“Took you long enough to ask,” dad said. “I think you were so excited about going that you didn’t even think about anything else. We’re going to check our new home. Your mother and I are looking to move to the big city while you train to be a hunter.”

“Oh… wow, good for you guys. I’m sure that’ll be nice- wait, move while I train to be a hunter? Aren’t you coming with me?” I looked at my parents in confusion.

“We retired as hunters a long time ago,” dad said. “My skills aren’t what they used to be, and the wildlands are a dangerous place. I’ll be leaving your training in the capable hands of Frank and Mia, if you agree.”

“Of course I do,” I scoffed. It had been a dream of mine to become a hunter since I was young.

“Then, behave.” Mother warned. “Let me enjoy the last few weeks with my baby before I send him off.” I felt a bit of sadness creep into my elation. I would miss my parents, too.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, the pontoon thunked against the bank. The wagon rattled onto dry land once again as we headed closer to Furness City.