“So, what are you planning to do now?” The gruff Meister asked Foxtail and Peepers from beyond his shop counter. Foxtail looked at Peepers, his eyes glimmering like gemstones in the faint morning light, scrawny arms struggling to pick up their bags for their long journey.

“Well, we’ve got some unfinished business to take care of for Foreigner. She looked down at the rucksack in her hands that they’d fashioned from old clothes, the ashes of their deceased friend held within. He deserved a better vessel but this was all they could afford.

“Where are you taking him?” Jin piped up, their eyes transfixed on Peepers with a mixed level of lust and admiration. She was amused by their sudden vibrancy with Peepers around, much to his dismay. His awkward mumbling and stuttering was too endearing on an otherwise composed and sage-like boy.

It made Foxtail a lot happier, all things considered.

“I’m taking Foreigner to his home. Hopefully his family is there and we can make peace for him. If not, just having the ashes buried at his home, outside of the City, would probably make him happy.”

“And what do you plan to do after that?” Meister Aindo leaned in with one raised eyebrow.

“Well there’s nothing for us here. We gave our condolences to Itzhak’s friends,” She turned to Jin, “Thank you, by the way, for helping us contact them.” Jin merely nodded. “Our warehouse burned down and we can’t really expect to live in his workshop the way Jin does. If Foreigners home is uninhabited, we’ll probably live there for a time before seeking out something else to do. If his family is there, I’m sure they’d offer us a place to stay until we could find our own residence.”

Foxtail had spent a week thinking about what the next move was with the aftermath of the Rat King incident and had only come this far. Personally, she wanted to learn more about Foreigner, about his former life as Arenas and maybe get some more answers on what it meant to be Distorted. They weren’t going to find it wallowing in sadness out here.

“What are you going to do if the Banshee comes back?” Peepers asked the Meister.

The old man’s body tensed for a moment then slackened, “I don’t think she’s going to come back. As far as she’s concerned, her job is finished. Her treatment was terrible but not cruel; her task of torture and kidnapping were contractual obligations if anything else.” Peepers mulled over the comment and said nothing else. Foxtail thought she was a coward for running away at the very end, falling back on contractual obligations and terminology to escape having to take full responsibility for her actions and the actions of those that hurt Foreigner.

She wasn’t so certain about whether it was justified to do so, or risk fighting against a god-like figure in Arenas.

“Will you ever come back?” Jin asked in their monotone voice.

“We sort of have to. We promised Roxie that we’d be around if she ever got tired of exploring the sewers underneath the City and reconvene at the warehouse. We aim to keep that promise.” Peepers looked to Foxtail for support and found it, Foxtail agreeing with a firm nod of her own.

“Anyway, we’ve got to get moving. We want to take advantage of the early morning before that first bell rings so this is where we say goodbye.”

They looked at one another for a long moment. Aindo crossed his arms and grumbled “…You can always stay here if you need a place to stay.”

Jin walked out of their counter, for the first time they’d ever seen them do so, and embraced the both of them in a hug.

“Please don’t be strangers. You’re the only friends I have and I’d hate to lose you.” Jin whispered.

“Don’t worry Jin. We’ll be okay.” Peepers replied, stuttering in his voice gone. Jin let go and waved them off, the faint ringing of the workshop bell sending them off on their journey.

You know the Fox is still out there… still hunting and howling… waiting for his prey to return… the wraith hissed into Foxtail’s ear, you can only keep this facade for so long Mina… can only keep him safe for so long before the Outskirts break you and him both.

Foxtail looked at Peepers and smiled. So long as she had Peepers with her, they would keep going. And if he broke, then he would break telling her to keep going, this she knew for certain. She was confident and courageous enough that she knew she could conquer the Fox and any other monster that got in her way.

“Keep saying those things, little voice. I love to keep proving you wrong.” She thought to herself. The wraith had no reply, receding back into the depths it had come from.

They passed through checkpoints leading out of the City with light subterfuge and clinging to the shadows, skulking their way out to the arid landscape ahead of them.

Foxtail dug out the journal from her bag, the last keepsake of Foreigner before succumbing to the will of Samuel Arenas.

The book was thin with the writing becoming increasingly scrawled and rushed the further you read, the ending notes nearly indecipherable, but the opening page was clear as day.

“Thank you for everything, Foxtail, Peepers, and Itzhak. Although it isn’t much, I give to you the coordinates of my home and everything in it, in the event that my family has abandoned it. If they haven’t, I bequeath the contents of my journals of the Outskirts and Ruins. They should help you gain experience in slaying the aggressive denizens of the Outskirts, should you need it. You will also find a device on my desk, a cube with strange runic symbols on it. Decipher its contents with the help of a contact on the desk. I’m sure they’d be interested to hear that there is a reason why the Head was so keen to eliminate machines with the visage of people within the City.”

She stared at the sentences at the very bottom.

“Itzhak. Keep Foxtail and Peepers safe. Foxtail, keep being brave. Peepers, keep being kind hearted. You three were the best friends I could have over such a short time in this world.”

Foxtail took a deep breath. She flipped the page to the coordinates and handed it to Peepers.

“Do you know where you’re going?” Peepers asked, attempting to decipher the coordinates.

“Sort of. Jin gave me something for the job but I’d like you to lead the way. You’ve always talked about what it would be like out in the Outskirts, so here you are. Lead the way, o gracious one.” Foxtail mock bowed and waited for Peepers to proceed.

The two of them walked towards their destination, the crunching of sand and ruined gravel underneath their feet drowned out by the laughter and banter.

They would carve out a place for themselves despite the sufferings of the world. They had the strength to face a world of monsters because they had each other.