"Why? Adeline has been working with you for months now. She-"

"You plan on going on another hunt soon. I want in," Alice interjected.

Devon stood up straighter, his awkward posture sloughing off. "You can ask Adeline to take you on one. You need time to-"

Alice slammed her fist down again; this time, the counter shook with enough force the pitcher fell over, spilling water all over the stone floor. "You're the one who keeps reminding people to prepare. That as Grimms, we should do whatever we can to stay alive."

Devon's fingers twitched. "You don't need my guidance, pup."

The escalating argument halted, giving way to an intense staring contest. I glanced at Astra, silently mouthing a question. She responded with pursed lips and a subtle head shake. Then, with a shrug, she bent down to retrieve the fallen soup cup.

I decided to throw back my hood and close my eyes. The cloak gave off a slight tingling sensation, and I decided to think of it as a happy reaction.

Pseudo-sentient cloak or not, I'm happy I got you on my side. Thank you for protecting me during the hunt.

I waited, but the cloak remained silent.

I internally sighed and tried to tune out the low sounds of snarling from the other side of the room.

The peace didn't last long, less than a minute.

"Fine," Devon ground out.

"Really? That's it?"

Another low growl reverbed around the room. "If you're ill fit for the hunt, I'll leave you behind. Is that understood?"

"Yes."

"You follow my orders, whatever they are."

"Yes, unless they are to get me killed. You were the one to tell me that a Grimm learns to listen to themselves first."

"I swear…" I could almost hear him grinding his teeth. He groaned and dragged his hand down his face. "Fine, but you will respect me as an elder."

"Yes."

Devon cracked his neck and turned around. He looked at me. "Rest for today. Go to the mess hall; you need food. Astra, can you stay with him?"

"I will," Astra replied.

He stared for a second longer and then approached the far wall. He placed his hand and disappeared without another word.

And now we're down to three.

"Hey, you," Alice called out.

She walked up and stopped next to the couch.

"Yeah?" I asked.

She held out her wrist. I stared at it and then at her face. Her brows furrowed, but she kept her smile thin.

Huh.

I reached out tentatively, shaking her hand. She flinched yet didn't pull away. A look of confusion crossed her face. Releasing her hand, I glanced at Astra, who raised an amused eyebrow.

"What? What did I do wrong?"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Ah, Cain. Is that how you shake in your world?"

Yeah?

I looked at Alice, but she had already retracted her arm and now stared at me with narrowed eyes.

"It's customary to grasp each other's wrists when you shake. Grabbing someone's hand is usually seen as dangerous and potentially a threat," Astra explained.

Right. I think they used to do that in the old days.

"Sorry, I'll remember next time."

"I'm going to go prepare my things," Alice replied.

She went to the room's exit wall. "Afhjúpa."

The wall faded away, and she left with the stone reappearing behind her.

Once only Astra was in the room, I relaxed and slumped backwards. "Please don't tell me I'm about to get murdered in my sleep or something."

Astra chuckled. "No. Despite her rough edges, Alice wouldn't murder a fellow Grimm."

Images flashed in my mind of a large axe held to my face. I shivered as I remembered how the dim torchlight made the edge shine in the darkened tunnels.

I'm not convinced that's true.

"So what now? What do I do."

"Relax. You should relax. We should get you food soon, but we can spend a few clicks in here if you'd like."

I sat up and shook my head. "No, it's alright. I think I can feel the hunger coming in." I hesitated but decided to ask anyway. "Can you tell me exactly what I did? I still only have the vaguest idea of what happened."

Astra put on a sympathetic smile. Her eyes looked sad, but I couldn't tell why. "I wasn't there for the initial encounter, but from what Devon told me, you came barreling down the hall in your shifted form. You sent Alice flying, broke her rib, and cracked another while you desperately tried to get at Devon. Honestly, you were stronger than you should have been for your first shift. Pups usually don't have the kind of strength you displayed."

"Wait, what do you mean? I have seen what Devon can do. That doesn't seem right."

She shrugged. "He held back. Otherwise, you'd be missing a few limbs, but you still struggled more than should have been possible. At least now we know why."

I waited, but she said nothing and winced. Reluctant to press her further, I stood up and stretched. Only after I raised my arms did I realize just how bad my clothes were. Then I stopped and stared down at my hole-ridden hoodie.

"Hey, Astra…"

"Yes?"

"Why do I have my clothes on? Shouldn't they be in tatters somewhere?"

This time, she burst out into deep laughter. She placed a finger on her lips and smiled. "You know, we used to have an old betting board. Every time we got asked that question, the person who guessed the correct amount of time before the next question would win. I may have to find it again; it's been a few years."

It seems like a perfectly valid question to me. What gives?

She began walking to the wall. "Sorry, we know of transformations that do just that. You transform your body, grow, and goodbye clothes. Thankfully, our strain doesn't have those issues."

I stopped behind her. "You're saying that our clothes… what? Poof away and come back when we're done?"

That's ridiculous.

"The real nitty-gritty details of the shift are a little confusing. But yes, our clothes poof and come back. I don't know why people want our clothes torn to shreds. I've heard that complaint from a few hunters before, and I'll never understand it. I like my dresses too much for that."

She placed her hand on the wall, and it opened without a word. After stepping through, she raised her arm, and I took it. Together, we walked our way down the hallway.

We continued making small talk, so I retold her some of the details of my first hunt. When we got to the mess hall from before, several people were sitting down for food and conversation.

I suddenly didn't feel like dealing with the crowd, so I stopped in place.

Astra turned and regarded me before nodding and gracefully turning me around. "How about we have some food in the Archives?"

"Yeah, that sounds great. Do you mind if we make a stop somewhere first?"

"Oh?" She asked. "Where would that be?"

"I think I want to revisit the room."

----------------------------------------

I stared at the suspiciously clean-looking firepit. Not even my cooking supplies were still there. When I checked, they sat inside the wooden box in the corner of the cave just like I first found it.

After scratching my head, I looked at the sack of dried food and my axe resting on the ground on one of the grass squares. Astra returned from the pond and joined me in staring at the firepit.

"I've checked, but I can't go further into the woods. A wall of trees pressed together blocks deeper access," she said.

"I swear I remember running through the forest. I'm sure of it. And this firepit definitely had a fire in it," I replied.

"Don't worry, I believe you.,. Haven Four is one of the numbered rooms. I only have information in the archives for the six to ten. Numbers one to five are completely unknown to us."

My foot nudged the sack, but it didn't react.

Probably for the best.

If my food sack came to life, I might start pinching myself. There is only so much fever dream I could handle.

I hoisted the sack over my shoulder after sliding my axe back into its sheath. To my relief, none of the jars of preserves broke during my absence, but suspiciously, all the fresh meat was gone.

"Alright, I'm ready."

"Oh, we can discuss more about incantations if you like. With your aptitude for pyromancy, you might be able to shorten it soon," Astra replied as she hooked her arm in mine.

A chuckle escaped my lips. "Oh, yeah. About that."