It was several days later that they saw the town.

Several days for Charlie to get used to walking without tendril support.

And several days where Charlie nearly drove Evelynn over the brink of madness.

"Yes, Charlie. We're finally here."

"But are you sure? Maybe all the humans in this town are like the eight that tried to hurt us. We should hurt them before they can."

Charlie offered the suggestion solemnly, with tendrils trailing from the edges of her robe, fully prepared to defend their safety.

Evelynn glanced at her and promptly ignored her.

Charlie's face fell as she scuffed her shoe on the dirt road. Evelynn always somehow managed to see through Charlie's well-crafted poker face, and just continued to dismiss her wild ideas.

This time, Evelynn didn't bother speaking and just straight up ignored Charlie's outrageous opinion of carrying out a preemptive massacre.

Grumbling under her breath, Charlie tried to figure out how Evelynn saw through her. After wracking her brain for a solid ten seconds, Charlie still couldn't figure out the answer.

If Evelynn cared to answer her, she would have told Charlie to keep the mischievous grin off her face.

As they walked closer to the town, Charlie's eyes widened in wonder.

Charlie was told that a town was a place filled with over a thousand humans living side by side in wooden houses. From afar the town didn't look like much, being only a drab cluster of brown homes. It was missing the vibrant colors of nature, and the houses were nearly identical.

However, now that she was closer, Charlie could see countless humans hurrying to and fro. They were carrying packages, leading horse-drawn wagons, or standing in the center of town, displaying a large array of merchandise.

There were so many people!

Charlie skipped right up to the gate made of thick tree branches that was set in the town's ten feet dirt wall.

There was a human man standing guard at the gate, giving everyone who passed a cursory glance.

"Hi! I love your town!"

She strolled right past the blinking guardsman, and entered the town while leading the blank faced Evelynn.

Charlie pranced into town, jumping and exclaiming over all the amazing sights she was seeing. Sure, it wasn't as shiny and clean as the facility, but there were actually humans in this town.

Snooping around, Charlie caught snippets of conversation, a peek into the humans' daily lives. Strolling by, she saw little humans playing in the street, waving wooden swords around as they slew an imaginary tentacle monster.

And... she also smelled the aroma of cooked venison wafting from a butcher's shop.

Charlie skipped right in.

"Excuse me! Can I please have some meat?"

Charlie turned her puppy-dog eyes on a burly human man currently chopping a side of ribs.

The butcher looked up and put away his cleaver.

"Hiya, miss. Which of my choice meats would you like to buy?"

Charlie spread her arms wide to encompass the entire shop and all its of racks of sustenance.

"All of them!"

He stared at Charlie's beaming face, and looked her over, not seeing a money pouch.

Before he could say a word, Evelynn walked forward.

"I'll buy the backstrap and ribs of that deer."

Evelynn motioned to the cooked deer that was hanging over the fire to keep warm.

"Awww. Evy, could I have a bit more?"

"No."

Bluntly refused, Charlie glumly looked at the meat she wouldn't be able to eat. Some backstrap and ribs were nowhere near enough for her.

However, Charlie's petulance showed its cracks when she scented the aroma of cooked venison. She smelled something a little different about the meat this time. There were hints of crushed herbs and a jolt of spice in the aroma. Charlie's mouth salivated as she stared at the glistening cuts of deer meat. She was so distracted that she didn't really pay attention as the butcher cut off some chunks and wrapped them in some dry leaves.

Evelynn left a silver coin, and walked out of the butcher's shop with Charlie already gnawing on her armful of food.

And yes, it was an actual armful.

Some humans walking by did a double-take as they saw her nomming a third of her body weight.

And that didn't even account for the occasional crunch of breaking ribs.

With Charlie momentarily preoccupied, Evelynn hurriedly bought some stale bread for her dinner, made some inquiries, and fast walked into the town's guard barrack/ adventure guild.

Licking her fingers, Charlie looked up at her surroundings.

She was in another wooden structure, but one where nearly every human was wearing armor and carrying weapons. Most of the equipment were fairly mundane, but she could sense that some eldritch material had been incorporated into a sword that human man was carrying, and the chainmail that human woman was wearing.

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"Yes, I'm registering both of us as adventurers."

Evelynn said while pointing to Charlie. The pretty human woman behind the counter looked them over.

"Would you two really be able to handle yourselves? You look like a good fighter, miss Evelynn, but miss Charlie doesn't have a single weapon on her."

Evelynn's lips quirked a little.

"We'll be fine. Here's the registration fee."

Evelynn handed the human woman six silver coins, which she accepted with a shake of her head.

"Well, there aren't many threats around here. As long as you don't wander too far to the east you'll be fine."

The human woman handed Evelynn two shiny bronze badges.

"The east?"

"Yes. A hunter heard a loud noise to the east a few days ago. When he checked, he saw a large part of the forest was razed, like a large abomination had cut its way towards the road. All mister Smith found were eight bodies, killed in a weird mix of variety."

"...I see."

"Worst of all, some of the bandits were stripped of their clothes, and their money pouches were gone! This abomination must be intelligent, since it tried to disguise the slaughter as humans hunting down the bandits."

Charlie opened her mouth to say that there was no need to worry. After all, she was the one who tore up the forest!

Evelynn silenced Charlie with a glance.

"Too bad the bandits weren't killed by adventurers. There was a seven silver bounty per member of the notorious bandit gang. The rest of the gang will probably lay low for a while. "

Evelynn froze for a moment, and a glint of avarice entered her eyes.

She tapped her coin pouch, and could barely keep the grimace off her face.

"I'll keep it in mind."

Charlie was pulled along as Evelynn left the guard barrack/ adventure guild. She was given one of the bronze badges, and she spent some time admiring it. The bronze badge was a little dirty, but after Charlie polished it on her robe, the bronze glinted in the sunlight.

Copying Evelynn, Charlie fumbled the badge before pinning it to her robe over her heart. Charlie was happy to follow along, but she was a little curious of what Evelynn was doing.

"Um, Evy? Why did we become adventurers? Didn't you say it was suicide to go on quests?"

"The badges are to prove we can fight."

"But why would we need that?"

"You'll see."

Charlie scratched her head, but followed Evelynn anyways as she walked into a stable.

There were so many horses here!

Charlie ran up to a white mare that snorted and reared her head when Charlie tried to pet her.

Charlie paused, and decided on a calmer approach.

Bottling up her glee, Charlie slowly extended her hand and waited for the mare to sniff. Before long, Charlie was patting the mare's flank as she watched Evelynn respectfully greet a grey-bearded human man. He was wearing a red shirt underneath a cream vest, and matched with dark brown leggings.

Behind him was a wagon full of colorful textiles hitched to two brown horses.

"Good afternoon sir. I heard that you're heading to Glennworth to sell your goods. My companion and I would like to render our services and help guard your cargo for the journey."

The older human looked at both Evelynn and Charlie, focusing on their bronze badges.

"And you say that you'll be able to guard my wagon all the way to Glennworth?"

"Yes mister Johnson. We are Bronze rank adventurers, so we can handle ourselves in a fight. It would be a bargain to pay us seven silvers for such a long trip, especially since you wouldn't have to feed us."

Mister Johnson raised a brow while still appearing disinterested.

"Really now? But I would be helping you out, providing you valuable transportation."

"I admit it would be a great help, but this is a week long voyage. Hiring two Bronze ranks for such a long trip around the dangerous Roaming Eyes would usually cost ten silvers. And need I remind you that my companion and I would be hunting for ourselves?"

Mister Johnson broke out into a grin.

"Well, you certainly did your research. Seven silver it is, and I'll be leaving tomorrow at the crack of dawn, so both of you get your rest. Also, I should learn the names of you two fine ladies."

"My name is Evelynn, and my companion is called Charlie. We'll be here at dawn."

Evelynn shook the older human's hand, and turned to leave the building.

She stopped and blinked.

Charlie was sitting on the back of a white mare while feeding handfuls of hay to a grey horse in the next stall. She was happily chatting to the grey horse, describing the fine taste of seasoned venison and comparing it to the hay she sampled.

"Come, Charlie."

Charlie perked up and looked at Evelynn. With a pat on the grey horse's snout and a last mouthful of hay, Charlie slid off the white mare.

"Are you done, Evy?"

"Yes."

Charlie gave the white mare a quick hug while the horse gave her a nuzzle.

"Okay, bye Whitey! Hope to see you again!"

With a jaunty wave, Charlie exited the stable and went after Evelynn.

They toured the town for a few more hours, making some purchases like a new sword for Evelynn, before they checked into an inn.

When Charlie saw the fluffy blankets and pillow, she immediately jumped on the bed. Sinking into the velvety softness, Charlie rolled around, wrapping herself into a cocoon.

Nevermind that she was wearing a robe and a set of clothing underneath, Charlie set out on a mission to hog all the blankets.

"At least remove your shoes."

Charlie poked her head out and whined.

"But, why?"

"It is dirty."

Burrowing back into her blankets, Charlie was surrounding by a soothing darkness. She was entirely covered, so the only thing that could be seen from outside was a heap of blankets and embedded pillows.

A moment later, a hand rose out of the fluffy mass and plopped a pair of shoes beside the bed.

There was the sound of another pair of shoes hitting the ground, followed by a creak as a weight settled down on the bed.

After the shifting had stopped, Charlie stayed in her fortress of fluff.

Charlie waited for a while before stretching out on the bed.

She snuggled in her heap of blankets and counted wooly abominations.

As the seconds and minutes ticked on in her head, and sleep refused to claim her, Charlie burrowed out of her blankets.

A weak beam of moonlight drifted in through the window, lighting up the single room with a single bed that was all Evelynn was willing to pay.

The shadows clung to the corners of the room, and the moonlight was only enough to cast the room in a murky twilight.

Even in the faded light, Charlie could still make out Evelynn curled up into a ball on one side of the bed.

Looking at Evelynn's slumbering form, Charlie thought about Evelynn's initially frosty attitude. During those few hours after their escape from the facility, Evelynn was distrustful, and kept on rebuffing Charlie's attempts to become friends.

Charlie was honestly hurt, but to her surprise, Evelynn changed.

Evelynn had suddenly become so much more caring.

Lightly stroking Evelynn's hair, Charlie thought about her whining over the past few days. Over how Evelynn was always patient, even when Charlie's actions were getting on her nerves and continued for several days straight.

Charlie thought about how Evelynn would always give her the first bite of food. Even when her stomach was gurgling with hunger and she knew that Charlie was mainly eating for the taste.

Charlie smiled as she thought about how Evelynn was willing to buy a silver's worth of seasoned meat for her, while she made do with a copper's worth of stale bread.

"You cheap miser."

Charlie mumbled as she looked at Evelynn huddled up in a corner.

Once again, Evelynn gave all the blankets to Charlie while she settled for sleeping in such as cramped manner.

Charlie shook her head and gave Evelynn a tender smile.

She unwrapped her blankets, and shuffling forwards on the bed, Charlie laid the blankets over Evelynn.

Charlie wrapped the blankets around her, and tucked it under her chin.

Reaching out, Charlie stroked Evelynn's soft brown hair, and listened to the gentle rise and fall of her breaths.

Everything was so peaceful, just the two of them together.

Watching Evelynn sleep, Charlie could almost imagine herself stroking the hair of another Evelynn as they cried together in a dark cell. Alone except for each other, waiting for their end.

Charlie blinked and shook her head.

What was she thinking? That had never happened.

She snuggled closer, extending her arms and tendrils to hug Evelynn.

But before she could, she shrank back.

No, that was a bad idea.

Charlie did not know why, but she trusted in her instincts.

Sadly, Charlie shuffled to the other end of the bed.

Lying down, now it was Charlie's turn to curl up into a ball without blankets.

At least she still had the pillows.