For once, Sparrow had a look on their face that was almost sheepish. Theo, on the other hand, was profoundly confused. Between this and the butcher yesterday, his life had taken some turns he would never have expected. Then again, you could say the same of most days in the past month or so.

“So, instead of the brutal training you’ve had me do, every day for the past five weeks, I’m going to go get a drink with you?” Theo asked, trying to clarify what was currently breaking his brain.

“Well, I said we were going somewhere to celebrate. Because…” Sparrow trailed off, trying to find the best way to phrase what they wished to say. “Because, this is the end of your training before term starts.”

“Oh, oka- wait. The end of my training?” Theo’s brain caught up, and made up with overtime, as questions and statements flooded from his mouth.

“You haven’t covered any bard magic. Or music! I’m a singer! You’re literally known for your performances. Surely there’s something you could teach me.”

“I don’t need to cover anything you’re going to learn in class. I just need to make sure you’re able to keep up. Like I said, there was nothing useful in magic that I could teach you in the time we had that you wouldn’t just learn at the College anyway.” Sparrow explained. Theo vaguely remembered something they’d said when he was being tested, but the last month had been a storm to say the least. He was starting to see why Tome of Memories was so useful.

“And I did help your music. The first thing I taught you was Endless Song. There’s a reason it’s called that, it’s for singers. Sure, it helps with being winded, but as you’ve discovered, it’s best put to use when you need to sing for long periods of time. Magical or not.” Sparrow continued, brow furrowing and slowly getting louder. Theo blushed. Between all the exhaustion and Striding Wind, he had forgotten that Endless Song was more than something to keep him breathing.

Sparrow sighed, letting the tension drain from their shoulders.

“I’m sorry. I understand why you’re confused, and it was abrupt for me to. And I should clarify that this is not the end of your apprenticeship. But, I do have an urgent mission that came up, and that’s likely going to keep me busy until the start of term. So I thought I’d open your eyes a little, and show you where you can get help if you need it.” Sparrow reached up, and patted his shoulder.

“You’ll be fine.” They said. Squinting at Theo, Sparrow confirmed. “Yeah, you’ll be fine. Let’s go.”

---

The woods literally parted as they walked through them. Sparrow smiled and nodded at something (or someone) that Theo couldn’t see.

“Enjoying your first time outside the bounds of Union City?” Sparrow asked, over their shoulder. Theo nodded absentmindedly, following behind. It was his first time properly seeing the main gates, and even the first time he saw the woods. He knew they were there, but seeing that amount of living wood was still a surprise to him. He hadn’t seen that many trees outside of the park in the College District, but maybe all wild trees could move like that? He almost ran into Sparrow as he considered the nature of trees (he knew very little about trees in the first place, and didn’t really think about them past being building material, so for all he knew this was completely normal).

Sparrow had turned to face him, and was looking straight into his eyes.

“Okay, before we go in, do not stare. Don’t comment on it. You will be fine. Just, treat it as normal and don’t make a big deal out of it. Understood?” Theo nodded. “Okay, let’s go in.”

Theo was slightly confused as he couldn’t see anywhere to go in sight. Just a bunch of trees. Shrugging his shoulders, he followed Sparrow, and found that the trees started to part, and there was a giant trunk, easily the girth of one of the mansions in the Housing District, and with his Owl’s Eyes-strengthened vision he could see the faint outline of a massive door about twice his height carved directly in front of them.

Sparrow went up to the door, knocked, and sidestepped as it slowly creaked open. Motioning with their head to indicate the Theo should follow them in, Sparrow walked inside. Theo quickly ran after, just in case it closed before he could get in (or worse, closed while he was only half in).

Theo wasn’t quite sure what he was expecting when walking into a giant tree trunk, but a bar that wouldn’t look out of place in Union City wasn’t it. All the furniture was wood and most of the tables were literally grown out of the ground, but that aside it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dark, but it was still lit well enough by what looked like pulsing orange orbs wrapped in branches that were embedded in the walls.

“Sparrow!” A husky voice called out, and a blur almost crashed into the bard. Once the motion cleared, a striking woman with hair that shone like silver was hugging (and nearly crushing, going by the strangled sounds trying to escape their throat) Sparrow. Theo’s eyes widened in recognition.

The Smile of Moonlight, another famous bard. This must have been what Sparrow meant by not staring. Steeling his face, Theo focused on making sure that Sparrow was still alright (and not because it was funny to watch his mentor completely on their back foot).

“Bel, air. I need air.” Sparrow wheezed. She let go, and quietly chuckled, before putting on a mock-stern face and tutting.

“What’s the point of Endless Song if you can’t handle a little bit of lung crushing?” Shaking her head, a grin crept onto her face even as Sparrow’s was as deadpan as a person murdered by a cast-iron skillet. “You ready for the mission?”

The Smile of Moonlight, or Bel as Sparrow referred to her, turned her attention to Theo. “And who’s the greenhorn?” Theo nervously smiled back, trying to maintain his composure.

“He’s my new apprentice, Theo. Say hi, this is Bel, an old friend. Even if sometimes I wish she wasn’t.” Sparrow intoned. Theo nodded and shyly raised his hand in greeting. “That’s why I’m here, actually. Have to cut his training short, so thought I’d show him around, make sure he knows where he can get help.” Bel nodded in understanding.

“Yeah, The Woods are probably the safest place if he needs help.” Bel turned back to Theo. “Your mentor’s going to diffuse a volcano!” Sparrow managed to somehow both splutter and sigh at the same time, as they massaged their temples.

“…I guess either I tell you, or she tells you for me.” Sparrow rubbed their face, hands cradling it as they continued. “There’s a…political incident waiting to happen, and we’re part of the mediation team sent to try and stop a war breaking out.”

“The incident is a dragon!” Bel helpfully supplied. Sparrow fully facepalmed. Theo tried to suppress a giggle, looking around the bar and taking in the rest of the-

“Holy shit it’s a dragon!” Theo blurted out. Sparrow groaned deeper into his hands.

“I’m a drake, not a dragon. And you’re lucky that you’re Sparrow’s new project.” The drake corrected, in a surprisingly reedy voice. They were covered in ruby-red scales (that might as well have been rubies) and seemed to glow in the orange light. They re-adjusted their wings, and sat back down on their cushion.

“Thank you for understanding, Askavel. I am deeply sorry, all the same.” Sparrow said. Askavel inclined their head in acknowledgement, but did not speak another word. “Theo, Askavel is one of the many mana-touched that live in or around The Woods.”

Before Theo could ask the question that immediately popped into his head, Sparrow continued, voice lowered into a half-whisper, half-aside. “And we call them mana touched. There are more monsters wearing clothes than in The Woods.”

“Anyway,” Sparrow loudly continued, “the reason I brought you here is that this is the Guild of Magic. This is the hub of all mana-touched in Union City, and where requests and missions are posted. It is also a bar, with a good wine selection.” Theo bit his tongue. Maybe it was time for him to get a taste for wine?

“Where’s the coin I gave you?” Sparrow asked. Theo brought it out – he always knew where it was. Even if the warmth it gave off didn’t make its presence known, it was such a precious thing that he couldn’t help but keep it on himself at all times. Sparrow nodded in approval.

“If you ever need help, just come to The Woods holding that coin. You will be safe.” There was a moment of silence, as Theo processed everything that was just said and done. He was startled out of his contemplation as Sparrow clapped their hands.

“And that’s all the serious stuff out of the way! I brought you here to celebrate, and I mean it.” Sparrow smiled, before looking at the bar.

“Eva! Some wine, thank you.”

Theo didn’t expect the decision to try wine to be made for him, but if Sparrow was the one paying, he had no complaints.

---

Wine wasn’t half bad, Theo concluded. He had only drank the one glass, just in case it affected him much worse than beer normally did. It was sweet, but not too sweet, and the tartness was nice once he had a few sips. It had been a while, and while it was lovely chatting to Sparrow and meeting new people like Bel and Askavel, this wasn’t his place. Theo would take The Pub any day over here, even with all the famous Practitioners and mon-mana touched.

One last thing was on Theo’s mind, and he brought it up as Sparrow and Bel were arguing about something that had happened years ago.

“Sparrow?” Their head turned, eyes meeting his as their eyebrows quirked, while they continued their conversation with Bel. “When do you want the butcher package by? I presume you’re leaving soon.” Sparrow held up his hand to Bel, considering what to say.

“If you don’t manage to get the package from him, I’ll just get it this time. I want you to talk to him again, but I need to leave tomorrow so I’ll come with you and let you try one more time.” They got up to leave, hugged Bel goodbye, and walked to the door.

“Ahem.” Eva loudly proclaimed from the bar.

“Tab!” Sparrow shouted over their shoulder as they left, not missing a step, Theo sheepishly waving goodbye as he followed.

---

“The key is to be polite, but firm.” Sparrow said, giving him a thumbs up as he took a deep breath.

Theo stood once again in blood, as he entered Frank’s Meats. Sparrow was waiting just outside, within shouting distance if things went wrong.

“Excuse me?” Theo called out. He soon heard the sound of steel on stone, and squelched his way towards the same embodiment of anger issues that was there yesterday.

“Tell them to pick it up themselves.” The butcher said, still chopping.

“Is there any way I could pick it up?” Theo asked. The man stayed silent, separating a ham hock.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Theo asked. No response.

He was about to leave and ask Sparrow to come in, when he had an idea. He pulled Sparrow’s coin out of his pocket.

“Does this mean anything to you?” Theo asked. Looking up from his work, the man saw the coin, and his cleaving slowed. He squinted, looked carefully at it, then sighed. The butcher put down his blade, rummaged around in the back for a while (making a loud racket, mainly from all the swearing) before returning with a slightly bloody package wrapped in twine.

“There you go. Now leave.” Theo smiled, almost running as he left behind the butcher. He called out a thanks, more out of gratefulness that he no longer had to stand in cold, coagulating blood than actually thanking the butcher.

He handed the packaged to Sparrow, who looked mildly surprised.

“How did you manage it?” Sparrow asked.

“I just showed him the coin you gave me.” Sparrow paused, eyebrows furrowing for a moment, then shrugged.

“Eh, that works.”