Star and Salem arrive back at camp not long after sundown. The sun having just fallen behind the horizon when they emerged from the tree line to find Opal curled around the site, having returned to her proper size. Her head rested on her paws, and her eyes were closed, but as soon as she heard the duos approaching footsteps she snapped her head up, looking from her resting place to see them standing not far off.

Opal let out a happy, whistling chirp, bouncing up and barreling towards Salem. She slammed into her, throwing both of them to the ground. Opal’s body completely covered Salem’s, crushing her under her weight. She didn’t seem to notice this and proceeded to release a series of chirps and whistles at Salem, still being crushed beneath her.

Star stared at the scene with a vacant look in her eyes, there wasn’t a thought in her head.

“Grret efoff me.” Salem’s muffled voice barely reached Star’s ears.

Star blinked as Opal was lifted and thrown to the side a few feet away from her. “I said get off me!” Salem huffed, standing up and brushing the dirt off with a clearly irritated look on her face, “Bad girl, bad!”

Opal whimpered, curling into herself while looking up at Salem with big, sad puppy dog eyes.

“Don’t be mean to Opal!” Star scolded, “She’s was just excited. Weren’t you~” She said the last part to Opal cooing in a baby voice.

Opal brightened up at that chirping back. Salem watched on with mild annoyance, rolling her eyes. She huffed, turning away, “Right well, she can come to town with us then. Its time for dinner is it not?”

Star paused her petting at that, “Oh yeah! It is isn’t it. I didn’t even realize I was hungry…” She giggled nervously.

Salem rubbed her temples, “Right, well Opal, shrink.” She commanded.

Opal did so, looking back to Salem with the same sad puppy eyes she been giving her earlier. Salem gave her a small pat on the head, “Good girl. Lets go then.” She called back to Star, looking back to her briefly to ensure she had heard.

“Right!” Star bounced on her feet, “Where should we eat at?” She asked, strolling through the woods by Salem’s side.

“Hm, well I was thinking we could go to a sea food place. We are next to the ocean.”

Star brightened up at the proposal, “Seafood prepared by someone else? Count me in!” They’d been eating seafood prepared by her and Salem and them alone, new recipes her she comes.

“Just remember to pull up your hood when the food arrives, we don’t need anyone looking at us with our masks down.” Salem reminded, stuffing her hands in her pockets as they neared the town.

“I won’t forget, your just paranoid.”

“...Right.” Salem didn’t sound like she believed her.

The two plus over sized dog entered town. Given the sun had just dipped behind the horizon and the moon still hang low in the sky the street lights and shop lights were still lit, unlike the night before when they arrived rather late into the night. The streets were far less busy then they had been earlier that day. There were still plenty of people wondering about but not enough that the streets felt crowded in any why.

“What sushi place should we go to?” Star questioned, look off to the row of shops and restaurants to the left.

“I don’t know,” Salem replied with a shrug of her shoulders. “What about that place?”

Star followed Salem’s gaze, spotting the a lit up restaurant sign not far from where they were, “All about sushi, huh? Well that sounds promising for sure.”

The duo walked closer to the shop, Opal trailing not far behind. As they grew near they peered through the windows of the place to see it moderately packed. Star smiled at this and slid her hood off her head, preparing to enter the restaurant. Salem did the same, before pulling the door open for Star and Opal.

“After you.”

“Thank you.” Star smiled, stepping into the building. The sounds and smells of the place hit her hard. The chatter of the place not quite, but not terribly loud either. The sent of cooked fish filled her nose as she breathed in. “Well that smells good.”

Salem steeped in not far behind her, “That it does.” Opal chirped by her side, fluffy tail wagging slightly.

Together they walked up to the receptionist waiting patiently at the counter. “Hello and welcome to all about sushi! How many?” The man behind the counter asked, obviously trying not to give them an odd look and failing spectacularly.

“Just two.” Star replied.

The man grabbed two menus before exiting from behind the desk, “Alright follow me this way please…” he began walking towards a nearby table. “Here you go.” He stopped at a small table for two.

“Thank you.” Star and Salem thanked in unison as they man placed their menus down and back away slightly.

“Before I go I just have to ask, what kind of dog is that?” He sounded genuinely confused.

“He’s a large breed.” Salem explained lamely, they needed a better excuse.

“Right…” The receptionist backed away farther, “Well a server will be right with you.” He stiffly walked back to his place behind the welcoming counter.

“He seemed nice.” Star commented.

“If by nice you mean incredibly awkward then yes, he was quite nice.”

“Don’t be mean, he probably has social anxiety or something.”

Salem hummed, “Perhaps.” As the duo talked they failed to take notice of the server approaching them until she was already at the table.

“Hello, my name is Wendy. What can I get to drink for you today?” Her voice come at smooth, but her eyes kept darting from their masked to the dog.

Star and Salem snapped out of there conversation, looking to the new person.

“Hi!” Star chipped, “I’ll just take a water.”

The server nodded, staring intently at her notepad and pointedly not at them as she wrote down there order.

“Also water.”

The server wrote that down to, “I’ll be right back with that.”

Star and Salem sat in silence for a few moments, “Do you think its Opal?” Star questioned looking down to Opal who looked back up at her with a happy puppy look.

Salem too looked at Opal and her adorably dumb face.

“Definitely not.” They both concluded.

Opal continued wagging her tail in blissful ignorance.

“Anyway,” Star grabbed her menu looking it over. “What are you getting?”

“I’m not sure yet.” Salem replied glancing over her own menu.

The two contemplated there choices for a few long minutes. Long enough for the waiter to come back with their drinks, setting them down in front of them.

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“Can I get you anything else?”

“Yeah I’ll take a Tamago sushi and a bowl of rice.”

“I’ll get a dragon sushi roll and a bowl of rice also.”

“Alright that will be right out for you.” Wendy said with fake cheer, quickly fleeing form the table.

“Anyway what should we do after this?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well we had our fill of the ocean right? Where should we go next?” Star elaborated.

“Hmmm, well we do still have that invite to the capital.” Salem pointed out.

“Right we do, but do you really wanna teach magic?”

Salem shrugged her shoulders, “Not really, but I don’t have to, we could just check it out, see whats all happening there, maybe we’ll find something interesting to do.”

“Alright the capital it is then.” Star nodded, tapping her fingers on the table, “When’s our food going to get here?”

“We ordered five minutes ago…”

The duo continued to converse as they waited for there food to arrive. Mainly they talked about the capital, and what they would find there. Star suggested a zoo or aquarium or museum. Salem thought about a library or a magic arena of sorts. Both had high hopes for the capital of… what was this place called again? Star suddenly realized she’d forgotten the countries name. Oops. Before she could ask Salem the waiter came back with several plates of food.

“Here we are, two bowls of rice, a dragon sushi roll dish, and a tamago sushi dish. Enjoy.” The server quickly took her leave before Star or Salem could say a word.

“This look good!” Star cheered digging in without a second thought, completely forgetting what she had been thinking about. It probably wasn’t important.

Star and Salem ended up ordering a few other dishes once they finished off the first. More and more they ate trying each out, deciding among themselves which was the best. An hour passed then two and before either knew it the restaurant had began to grow quite as people trickled out.

“Man that was really good.” Star complemented, leaning back away from her plate. “Anyway when do you think we should head to the capital.”

“I was thinking we could go in the morning.” Salem shrugged, “How long did that kid say it would take us to get to the capital again?”

Star froze, trying to think back, “Uh, which way even is the capital…”

Salem paused at that, “I thought you knew?”

“No? Here I’ll ask, hey Wendyyyy~” Star called waving one hand in the air as she called over the waiter as she passed by.

Wendy visibly froze, tensing and turning pale as she looked back to Star and Salem, “Y-Yes?” She stuttered a strained smile on her lips.

“I was wondering if you had a map to the capital! We’re going that way.”

“I, uh, don’t?” She trembled in place, “But! The welcoming office will. Its just down the road, can’t miss it. They’re closed for today though, so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow…” She trailed off.

“Alright no problem, thanks!” Star turned back to Salem, “Problem solved.”

Salem shock her head with a fond smile, “I suppose it is.” She said standing up from her spot. “Lets head out.”

“Ok,” Star stood as well, “Oh wait! We gotta leave a tip.” She quickly rummaged through her back before pulling at a gold coin, “This will do, right?”

“Yeah, I believe that's good. I don’t understand money anymore but I remember gold is valuable.” Salem turned on her heel and walked off.

“Awesome.” Star placed the coin down on the table and skipped off after Salem.

By the time the duo had left the sushi place the restaurant had gained enough money to see a family of three through a winter. Needless to say the server’s and receptionist were utterly confused and grateful all at once. What a day this was.

Star and Salem returned to their little camp outside of town with full stomachs and weary minds. It’d been a long day and time for a little bit of rest. They fell asleep on a full sized Opal, cuddling up in her fur to keep them warm. Opal was the perfect heater, truly.

The next morning came all to quickly and Star found herself waking hours after the sun had risen. She groaned as she stretched out popping like a glow stick. She relaxed once more, blinking her eyes open. She had to squint as the blinding light of the sun invaded her eyes.

“Ugh.” She looked down to shield her eyes

“Your awake.”

Star turned her head to see Salem holding out a map, looking at it intently.

“Yeah.” Star hopped off Opal’s back, making her way to Salem, “What are you reading?”

“A map.”

“You already got the map?” Star blinked, realization hitting her. “You didn’t wake me up!”

“I saw no need.”

Star pouted, “But I wanted to explore the town some more.”

“You still can you know, we don’t have to leave for a while now.”

“Oh yeah? How do you know?”

“The capitals only an hour flight from here on Opal. We can leave any time really.”

“Huray!” Star cheered already pulling a new outfit from her bag, “Give me a second to change.”

“Take your time.”

Star quickly undressed before throwing on a nice shirt and skirt. “I’m ready~” She sang, bouncing to where Salem rested.

“Great, Opal shrink.”

Opal grumbled and huffed and did not shrink.

“Now.”

Opal shrank.

“Lets be on our way then.” Salem stood closing her book and tucking it away in her pocket dimension.

The duo arrived no more then a few minutes after they started there walk. Upon seeing the town once more in the daylight, Star was sent into a flurry of action. She practically race up and down the streets checking out everything that was available to her as quickly as she could manage. She bounced from shop to shop browsing their wears with bundles of energy.

“There’s so much to see! Salem look at this!” She called holding a small lamp that had animated fish swimming around in it. They didn’t look real, but they did look cool.

“Neat.”

“Oh this to!” She turned to a sculpture of a whales, eyes sparkling, “Isn’t that a whale.”

“That is a whale. What we saw yesterday was not.” Salem reminded her, shuddering at the memory of what lurked in the depths of the ocean. “If we have to travel over the ocean we’re flying as high as Opal can mange.”

Opal turned to look her masters way as soon as she heard her name, her fake dog ears bouncing as she chirped. Her chirp caught a few people’s attention, there heads turned their way as they look at Opal in blatant confusion. A dog doesn’t make that sound.

“Yes, Opal your a good girl~” Star sang, scratching Opal behind the ears.

They wondered the shops for a few hours, scanning each a picking up random knickknacks they liked. By the time they left that town the same evening the towns net worth had increased by 115 percent. They did not know how money worked.

Salem and Star sat on Opals back as she took to the skies. After they finished wondering town they headed back to camp, packed up the last of their things, and left without leaving a trace. Star sighed as she laid back looking up at the blue sky, the clouds weren’t far below her, in fact her feet were growing a little wet from trailing down into them at times.

“Its so nice up here.” Star mummered absentmindedly. She truly did enjoy her time in the sky.

Salem hummed in agreement, “Much better then the ocean.”

Star huffed, “You just hate it because of the thing in the trench.”

“And I’m right.”

Star laughed.