Calliope rubbed her hands together nervously as Isran ate, the mouse girl had finished her meal before finding Isran bleeding in her sleep.

  “Do you miss it?”

  “Hmm?” Isran looked up at Calliope.

  She shrugged and picked a spoon to py with. “Do you miss the old world… Palos…”

  Isran hummed—food still in her mouth—then sighed. “Sometimes… but my st memories of Ea—Palos are not… the missing kind…”

  Calliope didn’t press. In fact to Isran’s surprise she decided to talk. Two months and she had missed the woman’s growth, it made Isran’s heart ache.

  “I was… a stupid optimistic child.” She smiled almost sadly. “Thought the world was filled with only joy and love… that if I sung my songs everyone would just… rest.”

  Isran chewed slowly, listening to her.

  “My first run in with a smuggler I saved his life.” She huffed with a strained smile.

  “The elf by his side seemed leaner than he should… more quiet than I was used to… but I was a child… I wished I could’ve saved him.”

  Isran decided not to interrupt to comfort the mouse girl. She would quietly listen.

  “He said he was forming an adventurer group, that a bard like me would be a valuable member… my mother told me he seemed strange… I haven’t seen her in four cycles…”

  Isran swallowed thickly, her appetite fleeing.

  Calliope sighed heavily. “I don’t know if smuggling was such a prevalent issue in Palos when you were alive, so I don’t know if you understand just how many people have been smuggled, what it does to people.”

  Isran swallowed thickly again, dropping her spoon and looking sadly at the mousegirl.

  Calliope huffed a ugh and waved her hand. “I cannot even begin to express how much you mean to me Isran. I don’t know where I would be today if you had not saved me.”

  Isran could feel a blush on her face, she rubbed her right thumb, a numbing feeling blooming in it.

  “I’m gd you’re safe, and here with me.”

  Calliope smiled at Isran’s words and got up to sit beside the rger woman.

  “I pn to stay with you for a long time.”

  Isran tilted her head to look down at the bard. “I’d really like that.”

  They spent the rest of the day together. Went to the market, Isran took a nap listen to a lulby, cooking the evening meal together.

  When Phaedra and Elysi returned from their errands they both smiled at them both but let them have their moment.

  At night when all three women were asleep, pressed against her she fought sleep with all the strength she could muster. She didn’t want to see more of her past, not anymore. It was getting exhausting. Two lives memories, both so vastly different they were so jarring.

  But sleep doesn’t listen to those that it attacks, and soon Isran was falling down a hole of experiences she wished she hadn’t suffered through.

  ==

  Isran hummed as she quietly followed the couple in front of her, the forest had several things that could give out her location, so with small steps she tried to be as quiet as possible.

  She gnced down at her bandaged hand when they stopped with a sigh, nothing where her right thumb used to be. With practiced motions she took her gun from behind her and aimed quietly.

  One breath.

  Two.

  Then… fire.

  Two quick bullets brought her targets to the ground, and after a brief wait she stood and approached the bodies.

  After quickly grabbing what she had come for Isran turned around and was surprised to see a little boy standing before her, his hand trembled as he aim the gun in his hand. Isran wondered if the couple were his parents.

  “G—give m-me eve-everything you-ve g—got.”

  Isran blinked and with a sigh walked towards the small boy.

  “Are you here alone?”

  He stumbled back, fear in his wide eye as his grip on the gun got worse.

  Before he could try to answer Isran tripped him and snatched the gun from his hands.

  He grunted and rubbed his head gently.

  “Are you alone?” Isran asked again, firmer.

  The boy blinked up at her and nodded almost hesitantly.

  Isran listen for any signs of others around, when she heard nothing she hummed and stretched a hand out to the child.

  “Where is your camp?”

  He hesitantly accepted her help and stood. His blonde hair contrasted Isran’s dyed blue but both their eyes shone golden. Though Isran’s golden eyes were a gift from Vycor. Isran wondered if the boy was also a gift, probably to his parents.

  “One of the—the g—gods destroyed it.” His voice got quieter at the end.

  Isran hummed once and let go of his hand before pulling out a ration bar.

  “You’re completely alone?” She asked and started walking, the boy hesitated briefly before following her.

  “Yeah..” He sounded tired, Isran gnced down at his torn and muddy clothes, he ate the ration bar like it was the best thing he had ever had, Isran removed another.

  “What’s your name?”

  He chewed a bit faster and swallowed thickly before lifting his head to answer. “Alden.”

  ==

  When Isran woke up she her hands were numb and she was warm. It was getting cold in Kestin, the winter approaching and the warmth from her companions was soothing.

  It could have been a coincidence… that a child she had met back on earth had the same name as the man she had befriended who she was pretty sure was from earth as well.

  Isran didn’t fall back asleep.

  Later in the day Isran found herself being stared down by four people. Two gnomes who Isran guessed were twins from their likeness, a rather tall dwarf woman with a shortly trimmed beard and an impassive looking ox man.

  For the first time since most of her memories had been returned to her, Isran felt very nervous.

  “Hi.” The ox said impassively. He didn’t seem very much interested in what was going on but considering the way he stood with his arms crossed Isran knew he was part of the intimidation.

  “Hi.” She answered back simply.

  “So you’re Isran.” The dwarf said. Isran wondered if she was part human, it was weird to see a tall dwarf—average for a human but she was tall. The only one she could remember was the axe wielder she had met in the tournament. Darvin? Isran couldn’t remember.

  “Yeah.” She responded, her throat dryer than usual.

  The gnomes spoke in unison, which almost made Isran take a step back.

  “You’re tall.”

  After a few seconds of blinked down at them she nodded hesitantly. “Yes, I am.”

  Calliope opened the door with a basket of a pastry that resembled cupcakes but Calliope had called echles. They were aparently meat filled.

  Isran took one first—since Calliope brought the basket to her—and inspected it apprehensively. She was worried about the mix of sugar and meat. It was warm and she could smell some meat almost vaguely.

  She but into it and after a few chews hummed in surprise.

  “Good, huh?”

  Isran blinked up at her and nodded. It was good. The icing was barely sweet and the soft dough around the spicy meat with the icing that was more or less just cream mixed extremely well together. Isran would have to ask Calliope to teach her how to make it—if she knew how since she had bought the echles she was passing around.

  “So I hear you won the tournament.” The dwarf spoke again, seemingly the most talkative of the bunch.

  Isran hesistated slightly. “I wouldn’t say I won…”

  The dwarf nodded. “I heard there was an accident or something, they had to end it early.”

  Isran nodded. “Yeah.”

  Calliope skipped over to Isran and shooed the dwarf away. “Leave her alone Kg.”

  Kg smiled softly at the mouse girl and shrugged.

  “Hey! We gotta know who you’re hanging with.”

  Isran blinked at the other three who were quite literally swallowing the echles and paying them no mind.

  Calliope lifted another to Isran’s lips and she gingerly took a bite, putting her hand beneath her pastry to prevent crumbs from falling.

  She hummed down at the woman with a smile, chewing slowly.

  Calliope reached up and wiped some icing from her upper lip.

  The dual voices of the dwarf came from behind Calliope.

  “How sickeningly sweet.”

  Isran blinked up to see them both smiling at them, their tone having been pyful.

  The ox grunted, “No kissing in public.”

  Isran blushed lightly at the statement.

  Calliope ughed lightly and rolled her eyes, she seemed so comfortable in their presence, almost at home.

  The rest of her time with Calliope’s friends was spent eating echles and a warm milk that tasted faintly of orange and getting to know them and the pce Calliope had found her voice again.

  Isran felt honored to be able to witness her in her element.

  When they finally made it back home it was dark and Elysi and Phaedra were in the kitchen.

  Isran hesitated slightly before dipping low and kissing Calliope softly.

  The mouse girl blinked in surprise before smiling and pulling Isran back to deepen the kiss, much to Isran’s delight.

  She moaned quietly into her mouth as the kiss deepened, Isran discovered that the mouse girl had slightly rger incisors as her tongue trailed over them.

  She briefly wondered if Neos also had bunny girls.

  Elysi cpped loudly to get them to split appart, a small trail of saliva connecting their lips, she had a sly smile on her face.

  “Food time.”

  As they ate Elysi hummed. “Adrianna said she gave you pink powder?”

  Isran blinked and tried to think hard about what Elysi was talking about. “Oh yeah, when we were moving… what does it even do? Actually where even is it?”

  Phaedra swallowed her food before answering.

  “In a jar in the wardrobe… I didn’t know what it was and when we were moving your things around I transferred it into a jar for safe keeping.”

  Calliope answered their questions. “It is an aphrodisaic. Quite expensive actually. The only temples that make the good kind are in elvencarth.”

  Isran blinked up at a smiling Elysi but was not surprised.

  “Uh… right.”

  Calliope and Elysi ughed while Phaedra stuffed her mouth, a blush on her face.

  “So… want to use it tonight?”

  Isran could tell Elysi was teasing, more specificly teasing Phaedra who looked like she was going to die from embarasment.

  Isran chuckled lightly. “We can save it for another day… how was both your days?”