The days without work toiled on, it soon turning to the second week of such. The group sat within the confines of their room, living off of pnts and meat that they gathered from the local wilderness. They weren’t the only ones foraging and hunting for food in pce of a ck of payment from the Guild, and the thought of starvation became ever more apparent for every day that passed. It warranted some worry from Dante, him sat at the foot of the bed as Pryderi rested on the floor next to him, cleaning his arrows before he took notice of Dante’s visible concern. The vinnan sat up, him patting on the mattress to gain Dante’s attention, the cleric turning to him from the noise. “Pildel? What’s the matter?” He asked, Dante heaving a sigh. “I… huh? You aren’t worried? We haven’t gotten any jobs in a while. I think we may have done something wrong.” “Well, there are a lot of mercenaries here. Maybe there’s just not enough work to go around.” Dante shook his head, scooting over towards where Pryderi id and bending his body down towards him, waiting for Pryderi to offer his ear as he whispered to him. “It’s not that. Me and Ireishil, while you were getting examined… we captured someone the Guild sent us to bring to an officer. And we let them go.” Pryderi chuckled, leaning back and resting on his hands while he gave his opinion. “Heh, some of them are slippery, aren’t they? But we’re a pretty fresh batch, I doubt they would refuse to give us anything ‘cause of one job.” “No, no, it’s. It’s different. We let them go on purpose.” Pryderi cocked his head in response, putting his arrows down to his side as he inquired of Dante’s reasoning. “...why?” “They didn’t necessarily deserve to get captured. It was a young woman that a Guild officer bought, and she escaped what was pretty much svery. I didn’t have the conscience to keep her after what she said.” “C’mon, Pildel. That’s real nice of you to do, but some people will say anything to get out of custody.” Dante shook his head, his tone growing louder as he tried to defend himself. “But I feel like she was being genuine! She - she had whip marks on her back and everything.” Pryderi exhaled, putting his knee up as he id back down, going back to counting his arrows as he replied in a softer tone. “You should just worry about building up your mana, Pildel. Consider all this some time to rex and train. We’ve been climbing through shit and chasing people down for weeks until now.” Dante chose not to talk on it any further, taking Pryderi’s advice as he walked out into the town rather te into the evening, slowly closing the door behind him. It was somewhat surreal, seeing all the performers pying their music and singing throughout the streets while Dante tried to find something to do. He thought of making a return to the library, looking at its exterior to see nothing but locked doors and dimmed windows. He wasn’t quite sure where Ireishil and Rorburn were, his best guess being that they were at the brothel again, shivering at the thought. Walking more into the center of traffic, he noticed a rge mass of people grouped up outside of the Guild building, some cheering being audible from the group while Dante made ways to investigate further. Upon reaching the edge of the mass, he managed to make out what sounded like one of the Guild officers, an eyepatch-wearing vinnan woman who stood on a wooden podium. Dante tried to focus on her through all the talking, managing to decipher the mixture of shouting and sng she let out. “Right, all of you beggars. Most of the mercs in this city here are moving to Heiwan over the week. You’re not getting any work here, but you’re getting plenty up there. Now get the bloody hell out my fuckin’ building.” Dante walked away, some of the mass breaking off behind him as he walked back towards the room, eager to report the news to Pryderi. With a pip in his step he traveled the paved road along the bustling town, its distance not too far from where he currently was. However, he was stopped by a familiar nitlie, an even more familiar grin pstered all over Rorburn’s face as he looked the Dante up and down. “Well, someone’s excited. You off to the party too?” Rorburn asked, Dante tilting his head as Rorburn looked up at him, his ears twitching while he awaited Dante’s response. “The party? Where is it?” Dante asked, Rorburn smiling widely as he nodded his head back. “Just follow me.” Choosing to invest his trust into the nitlie, he walked along the road behind him, looking down to see the fluffy, fox-like tail wagging behind Rorburn, moving in a rhythmic pattern. Dante was hypnotized by its motions, Rorburn looking back at him as he began to talk. “Aight, we’re almost there… are - are you staring at my ass?” He asked, Dante snapping out of his trance and regaining his composure, quickly marching forward and catching up to Rorburn’s side. “Uhm, no, I… s - sorry, I was only distracted by your tail.” Choosing to not tease Dante about such a thing, Rorburn’s reaction instead was to give a simple shrug, turning back to walking down towards where the party was held. In the same direction they walked were countless people traveling ahead of them. The location of the party appeared to be within the entrance of a quarry, with some of the mining equipment still present on the rge, ft surface. “Yup. Here it is.” Rorburn spoke, stretching his back as he stood in front of the roofed opening. Dante walked around the corner, looking it up and down now that it was in more visibility. It seemed to have been retired as a quarry not too long ago. A wide tunnel burrowed into the earth was where many of the partygoers were, with wooden supports tactically pced around to ensure the stone above them didn’t colpse. “Is it really… here, of all the areas they could’ve chosen?” Dante asked. “Was the only pce that really had enough space for all us dirty hired killers.” Dante stood still for another minute or so, gathering the nerve to toss himself in to the middle of something that grand scale, before walking forward with some forced pip in his step. “Okay…” Dante inhaled deeply, building confidence within himself while he walked. “Let’s go!” Dante cheered out, Rorburn following him closely, hollering out as he walked into the crowd alongside the tovron, navigating quickly over to where the drinks were served. Deeper into the shaft were some people casting fire as a means of entertainment, countless yells and cheers after every trick. The noise was a bit overwhelming, but Dante adjusted rather well while he sat upon one of the chairs by the bar, Rorburn sitting alongside him and chatting with some of the passersby. All Dante ordered was some water fvored with sliced fruit, not holding any desire to get inebriated yet. Suddenly, an amia girl hobbled over to Dante, smiling wildly as she approached the timid d. “Woah, sup dude? Is this ring r - real?” She asked, grabbing his hand while she admired the ring bestowed to him by an amia chief, Dante sitting up as he tried to respond. “Uhh… yes. I used to, er, live near a tribe, and their chief gave it to me.” She suddenly banced herself onto the boy’s shoulders, Rorburn whistling as he and the dendriko he was talking to turned to Dante. “You got this.” Rorburn quietly encouraged, the nitlie leaning over the table and scooting closer while Dante stared up at the girl. His face was contorted with both discomfort and anxiousness, Dante failing to speak his protests to the strange woman touching him. “That means you…” She hiccuped. “You did something good for… for our people. Maybe I should do something good for you, too… hehe…” “Right, I healed their soldiers after a rough encounter with some wildlife. Thanks - ” The amia woman brought her head forward and pressed her forehead against his. He scooted backwards, her stumbling and nearly falling as he moved away from her. Dante brought his hands onto her sides to help with her bance, squirming in his seat slightly as he spoke. “N - No thank you, it’s fine! I was - the chief, he - he greatly honored me with this ring.” She shrugged, getting up and walking away. Rorburn gently smacked Dante against his shoulder, the dendriko ughing out loudly before he left the table. “Man. Are you only into other guys or something?” Dante turned back towards Rorburn, putting his fingers together as he tried to answer, still shaking. “I don’t know, I don’t… think it would’ve been okay for me to do anything with her, she was obviously under the influence.” “Pff. Yeah, whatever. You probably just aren’t into Amian pussy. Guess I can’t bme ya, those things get loose from all the eggs they y.” The tovron sat up straight, shaking his head as he plopped his arms on the table. “I d - don’t want to do any of that! What’s so hard to understand? You can enjoy your strange, casual sex, but it - it’s just simply not for me.” Rorburn turned his head, scooting over close to him as he further inquired his feelings. “What’s the matter with you? Did ya get the bad touch as a kid or something?” “That’s such a gross question, n - no!” “Then why are you so weird about this shit? Seriously, I know your vilge was all uptight about fucking, but it’s really not that deep.” Dante defensively held his arms around his chest, thinking for a second while Rorburn stared up at him with his amber eyes, watching as Dante tried to speak. “I… I don’t know, I just didn’t really… see much of it, until now. My family always told me I should only really do it when I wanted to have children, but here, it’s just treated so casually.” Rorburn lit up at the end of his sentence, as if the answer had already been clear and that only now did he get it. “Oooh. You have shame about it. I get it. That makes so much fuckin’ sense now.” “You get it, do you?” “Yeah. Sort of thought you bumped into the wrong priest as a kid, but… being raised all reclusive and shit would do it too, I guess.” As this subject was brought up yet again, much to Dante’s dismay, he then thought back about his earlier interaction with Ireishil. He felt guilty about his behavior causing turmoil for others, sighing as he looked at the nitlie sitting alongside him. Scooting closer to Rorburn, Dante felt his words stuck in his throat for a moment, Rorburn looking over at him with a raised eyebrow as he waited for him to speak up. “Do you remember yesterday? When I… you know, got upset. I - I sort of upset Ireishil as well, she - she thought she… slighted me somehow.” Rorburn, visibly surprised at the idea that she got emotional with him, leaned over towards Dante, now only a foot of space between them as he responded. “So..? What do you want me to do with that information?” “I want to… get over it. I don’t want to do anything sexual, I only want to, like,” “Not be a fucking weirdo about it? Yeah. I ain’t exactly the teaching type, but I can try straightening you out. Stand up.” Dante stood up, Rorburn following just in front of him as he put his arms up, looking up at Dante while he gave him further instruction. “Put your hands on my hips.” Squinting his eyes shut, Dante inched his hands onto his sides, smacking his palms gently against the nitlie’s slender waist as he forced himself into the contact. Rorburn put his own hands on Dante's shoulders, using the embrace to lead him a short distance away from the table, some people stepping out of the way to make space for the two. “Just pivot around. Do it slow. Look into my eyes. Realize we’re both living, breathing beings, with our own pasts and dreams ‘n shit.” Dante inhaled deeply, his breathing getting more erratic as he very slowly danced with Rorburn, the nitlie moving closer to his chest while Dante stared down at him. “There you go. It’s not that hard, right?” Dante nodded in response, his face looking slightly less flustered as he moved around, his feet occasionally bumping against Rorburn’s. Suddenly stopping in pce, Rorburn leaned more into Dante’s grasp, his hair brushing against his chin. Dante’s breathing blew hot air onto Rorburn’s fluffy ears, the contact causing Rorburn’s ears to flick, earning a bit of irritation from the nitlie. “Stop doing that.” Rorburn ordered. Dante turned his head upwards, taking his eyes away from the nitlie long enough for him to pnt a quick kiss along his chin, Dante immediately freezing up and darting his head back down. “H - Hey! What is wrong with you?” Dante asked, his words stumbling over each other as Rorburn looked up at him, smirking slightly. “What, are you gonna melt from one little peck?” “No, just… just tell me before you do that.” Rorburn chuckled, standing up on his toes to level his face with Dante’s. “Okay. I’m gonna give you some sugar, then.” “Wait, wait - ” Dante didn’t manage the strength to back away when Rorburn pulled the tovron in, pressing his lips against his for a few seconds before Dante pried his face away, spitting out while Rorburn let go of him. “See. Did that hurt?” “Why did you do that?!” Dante shouted, wiping his hand at his mouth while he looked down. He only now realized that he had never gotten that physically intimate before, the thought of his first kiss being with some random man he only knew for a couple weeks saddening him somewhat. “C’mon, rex. If you wanna stop being such an oddball about all this, you gotta push it.” “I’m starting to think you have feelings for me, with how willing you are.” Rorburn shrugged in response, sitting down while Dante remained standing next to him, still frowning while he crossed his arms at the nitlie. “What can I say? I’m a pretty open minded guy. It’s not love or whatever the fuck, I just like a good y.” Dante sat back down, resting his head on his arms as he finished off his drink. “Whatever. Don’t kiss me or otherwise touch me again.” The nitlie nodded in agreement, going back to helping himself to the rather cheap drinks provided while Dante slowly eased up to the party.

  Dante’s party, aside from Ireishil, were all currently attempting to rest in their respective sleeping positions. Though Dante had his own bed and Pryderi had his own cot, Rorburn had to y at the foot of Dante’s bed, curling up while staying snug under a smaller bnket. It was fairly te at night and, as with nearly every night leading to this point, Ireishil did not show up until everyone was asleep. She swung the door open with little regard to her comrades’ state of rest. Slowly shambling out of their sheets, Dante and Pryderi looked towards the source of the light, Rorburn being the first to speak as he turned towards Ireishil. “...yeah?” He asked, Ireishil looking down at him as she spoke. “As you have probably heard, we are being reassigned. We will move tomorrow morning.” Rorburn turned back over onto his side, pulling the bnket back onto him. “Yeah, we did. Thanks.” Rorburn replied. Ireishil shrugged, walking over to her bed as Pryderi looked around, visibly surprised. “Huh? Noone told me.” The 3 of them looked over at the vinnan, him tilting his head while Dante was the next to speak. “I thought you would’ve found out while you were outside.” “Eh, I was only really going out for a drink. I wanted to join you two at the party, but it looked sort of like you were… doing something a little private, I didn’t want to be a bother.” Dante was initially confused at what he meant, fring up once he realized, Rorburn starting to ugh while Dante sat up. Dante’s mouth opened for a second, stammering to himself before he started yelling defensively. “Whuh - what? It wasn’t like that! Rorburn, he - he - ” Ireishil id down, looking over at them, being the only one not knowledgeable of what happened. Rorburn id down over at the foot of Ireishil’s bed, giving a bit of ughter before speaking. “Haha… yeah, it wasn’t anything serious. How the fuck did you see us through the crowd, anyways?” “Wouldn’t be very good with a bow if I had poor eyesight, would I?” Hoping that the conversation stopped, Dante plopped back down onto his back, burying himself into the sheet as the murmuring ceased, finally a bit of respite to get enough sleep for the very long day ahead of them.

  Still half-asleep, Dante sluggishly followed the others to the briefing, where they were assigned alongside another party a carriage. In attempts to mitigate the sudden loss of avaible mercenaries, each soldier of fortune was made to travel together on the quickest route possible. Due to the distance to travel, and the amount of people traveling at once, the journey was expected to take… “Really? Two weeks of sitting in a cart?” Dante asked, Pryderi nodding as he held his belongings up to his chest. “Mhm. We’re a pretty decent distance from Heiwan.” Dante sighed, resting his hands on his sides, Dante hoisting his bag over his back while he looked around at his party. “It doesn’t seem very sustainable… are we to hunt and forage for our food, and hope for running water when we need to bathe?” “Aww, is princess Dante not gonna be able to wash his elegant locks for a little while?” Rorburn teased, Dante narrowing his eyes at the nitlie. “Are you really so much of a wildling that bathing is alien to you, Rorburn?” “Look, buddy, I bathe. But you got a whole routine going. All putting good-smelling herbs in it and shit.” Rorburn clicked his tongue, tapping his finger on Dante’s long, soft hair, poking the bands tying the tuft at the end of Dante’s hair. “...I’m sorry I put an effort into my appearance?” “Wow. You got a tight little cunt between those legs, too?” “Oh my forces.” Dante groaned, Rorburn snickering and going to grab Dante’s hip. “What? I wanna know. Maybe give it a try - ” “S - Stop it, you moron!” Dante shouted and swatted away Rorburn’s hand, Pryderi chuckling to himself while Ireishil mostly ignored the exchange. As they stopped in front of the carriage, a small group of people in white, hooded cloaks were huddled around the front of it, them in what looked like to be a prayer. Ignoring such, Dante went to sit with the others, the group of athorists sitting down across from them. Very shortly after everyone was ready, the cart took off, the lot of them jolting a little as they started speeding down the road, closely following the line of gefyl-led transports in front of them. It was a quiet first day, them only stopping once every few hours to hunt and relieve themselves. There were few interactions between Dante’s party and the athorists, it mostly being Rorburn trying to converse with them to no avail. On the first stop they made, Pryderi went to assist with hunting as Rorburn sat alongside one of the other party’s members. “Heya. Name’s Rorburn.” He stated, sticking his hand out towards the silent vinnan, them begrudgingly returning the handshake, not speaking a word in response afterwards. “You good? Got a vow of silence or somethin’?” He asked, them shaking their head as they pulled their white cowl over their head. The back of their hood was embroidered with the sigil of Atharot: a basic, humanoid shape with 2 arms, 2 legs, and a single, round, featureless head. “...oooh kay.” Figuring he wasn’t going to get any further conversation from them afterwards, he scooted away, sitting patiently as the road trip they were on toiled further.