Moon started after Wren and Fleck, when they ran away, but Cooper quickly put a hand to her chest.

'Let them go,' he thought. 'Wren needs a moment.'

Instead, the two of them got to work, moving the injured inside. There wasn't a hospital near the edge of the dome. That would be a safety hazard. But someone had run off to get beds and other supplies when the fighting stopped. Now that the injured had been at least somewhat looked over, them and the exhausted could be moved inside, and not just lay on the ground where the fighting had been. With Moon's size and Cooper's metal limbs, they'd be good at moving people. Although the movement's with Cooper's metal limbs were a bit janky.

'Do we need some rust remover?' Moon thought at him.

It was a joke. If colbbers needed something like oil to keep their own body functioning, well, that didn't sound like a good species design. And Moon knew it, because Cooper knew it. But that was under normal conditions. He had asked a lot out of his body the past couple of days, both the flesh parts and the mechanical parts. And he should probably make sure both were still working properly.

Later. After everyone was inside, and he got some rest.

The literal fighting wasn't the only reason he was tired either. The cult had killed all the slave owners in his town. They'd also killed all the slaves. And the baker's daughter, who liked to slip slaves extra food. That was part of the whole "kill everyone" thing. But, they'd spared him. He'd gotten to live a life of freedom, his own life. It should have been the happiest moment of anyone's life, if it hadn't been after the most traumatic incident he could've lived through. And all this time, he'd wondered the reason, the explanation.

But there wasn't one, was there? He'd been spared on a whim, by someone who didn't know what they were doing anymore than he did, or Wren did. And if there was any part of her that might've been able to tell him more, that wanted to tell him more, that was gone by the time they'd met. It was just. . .tiring.

The elf magic user from early had seen him, and told him to lie down in one of the beds when he was done, since it wasn't like he had a bed of his own in this town. A woman was making a large pot of soup in another part of the building. She was a civilian who hadn't been part of the fighting, but she wanted to express her gratitude. Someone else, a teen who may or may not be related to her, took bowls and passed them out. So Cooper would have someplace to lie down, and something to eat when he was done.

He carried Rasha in last. She'd stopped throwing up, but her eyes were glassy, and she didn't struggle physically or verbally when he picked her up. So he wasn't entirely confident she knew what was going on.

He set her on a bed, and started to move away when her fingers touched his sleeve. To say she grabbed him would be generous, but it was the intent.

"Cooper?" Rasha croaked. "Can I ask you. . .about Harmoni?"

'You can say no,' Moon reminded him.

'Don't patronize me.'

He knew he had a hard time saying no, refusing what people told him to do in general.

Moon was pretty sure Cembra's instructions were few and vague for that very reason.

But he was pretty sure he'd want to have this conversation. Better to do it now.

Was it?

Cooper turned. His leg bucked, the metal plates for his knee and lower leg clanged together, making an awful sound. He quickly sat on a fold out chair, scooting it closer to Rasha's bed.

"Wren," he reminded her. "What is it?"

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Right. Wren. You act like nothing's changed, when you interact with her. I don't think I could do that, even if I wanted to. And I don't know if I do want to."

She turned her head slightly, looking at her pillow. "I ne'er understood her, you know?" she admitted quietly. "She always seemed cold. And distant. I was closer with Fleck than with her, still am in some ways. But she jumped to help me when I needed it, and I liked her when we started interacting properly. I don't want to forget that." She was speaking quietly. Cooper didn't know if she was tired or emotional. She almost sounded ashamed. "But, she was in a cult that kills people. She killed people. I can't just o'er look that, can I? I mean, I don't think I could forget it if I wanted to. But morally it would be bad to do so as well, wouldn't it?"

"People aren't one dimensionally evil," he reminded her, throwing her own words back her.

"And I know that. O' course I do. But, murder's not really small, is it? I can't just ignore it because it was my friend who did it, can I? That would be terribly biased."

Cooper sighed. "Well, I'm not sure I'm the right person to ask. I think you've thought more about morals and good and evil than I have. But. I think everyone's a little biased. And I think that's alright, as long as you admit it. If you start sincerely believing the guy cutting ears off of dogs is worse than a serial killer and then, and then basing any punishment around that biased belief, that's when you have a problem. I think."

Rasha stared at him.

"Look, I can't tell you how to feel about Wren. Our friendships with her are different. And we're different. For one, I never saw Wren as cold. Just shy. But I think you can still be friends with her without sweeping the past couple days under the rug. And I think that's what you want. Because if you didn't want to be friends with Wren, you wouldn't be asking me about this."

Rasha blinked. "Oh."

Cooper nodded. "I don't know what the future's going to hold. But I know I'm still going to be friends with her. And, if I might give you another bit of information? I don't think you can still be friends with Fleck, while hating his rider. I don't think that's how it works."

Wouldn't be how it worked for Moon.

"But, uh, maybe you shouldn't worry about this until after you've slept," Cooper said. "It'll be easier to come to your own conclusions when you're well rested."

With that, he left her to her thoughts.

'Finally!'

He shuffled to a nearby empty bed, dropped onto it, and was asleep before he could even get his face out of the pillow.

~~~

Wren and Fleck stayed up on the dome a little longer, but she came down when it was getting dark. Didn't want it to be too dark when she tried to climb down the ladder.

And she went back to the others. Because Evin had some points. Because Fleck couldn't be happy with her imprisoned (or dead). Because her other friends wouldn't be happy either, and would possibly break her out.

So she went back. Wesles had a flight planned to get them back to Xentron.

"Well, get youguys backto Xentron," he explained. "I havetogo to my parents. They're sortof wondering why I keep buying theseflights. I'll catchup toyou though."

Wren was a little surprised Rasha was coming with them, but it made some sense. She didn't want to go back to Iva, but wasn't going back to her home planet of Morgoue either

"Do you think they have no magical schools there?" she asked. "If that was the only thing I was interested in, I would never have left my home planet. I'll stick with all of you. If-if you'll take me, that is?"

Wesles had gotten them on a public flight this time, not a private ship like the one he'd shuttled the others in on. But he had gotten them in a high class upper level of the ship, as they had dragons, and this floor had more space.

Luckily Aqua was still the biggest of them, and she could coil to fit into smaller spaces.

They walked into the communal area, a round space with curved seats in the middle, and thin fish tanks lining the walls. The fish tanks were a little weird, but maybe it was a way to give people a view, without having to build windows to space.

"Well this is nicer than the ship we came in on," Udo commented.

"The aesthetic is only skin deep," Cembra grumbled. "Just enough to distract you from how otherwise mediocre the ship is." At Udo's look, they grunted. "It's a fine ship, but I certainly wouldn't have used my own money to travel this way."

Once everyone was inside, they were all perfectly content to eat and rest, and do very little. Wren sat at her bed, running her finger along the top of her glass. (There weren't separate bedrooms, but the beds were built into the walls, and you could pull a sort of door down for some privacy.) When she wasn't sleeping or eating, she tried to read a book, or look at the fish tanks.

Cembra had a point. The fish tanks weren't impressive if you bothered to look at them for more than two minuets, the drinks and food were basic, just with little touches like decorative colors to distract you, and the seats looked nicer than they felt. But it was better than her flight to Morivon-

-Fleck would sure hope anything was better than that-

-and better than continuing to mope.

And she tried to prepare for the conversations she knew she'd have to have, once they arrived on Xentron.