“We there yet?” Rebecca sat up, having fallen asleep while relaxing. Sure enough, she was greeted with land approaching in the distance. The fox girl looked around in a daze – Soot was still sitting by her side, meditating as he had been when she fell asleep. Pacifica had long since abandoned her, the chair to Rebecca’s right now vacant.

Shaking her head, Rebecca hopped up to her feet. “Hey big guy, where did our Maestros wander off to?” The vixen asked the golem.

His arm directed her back towards the cabins.

“Uh-huh…” Rebecca nodded slowly. She stood there shuffling her feet, while Soot remained cross-legged on the deck as still as a statue. “You uhh… wanna come with me?”

After a moment, the golem stirred and rose to his feet.

“I’m uh, gonna assume that’s a yes.” Rebecca’s suspicion was confirmed when she received a thumbs-up from the mute Resonator. “Right, let’s go.”

The unlikely duo wandered to the inner cabins of the ferry.

“Hrm…” Rebecca hugged herself. Eyes were on her again; it was still Fire Hero’s Day after all. Soot was with her too, so their presence as fire elements only appeared larger due to that.

She already had one freakout this morning, she had to keep her cool. Thankfully all she was getting from the other passengers was just looks. The reverence she was getting in the MA Office wasn’t there.

The fox was snapped out of her ruminations with a shoulder tap. Whipping her head to her side, she found Soot pointing to a stairwell.

“They went upstairs?” she guessed. A nod from the golem confirmed that fact.

Following Soot’s direction, the two fire Resonators found themselves on one of the upper decks. It was still inside but there were windows all around allowing for an unmarred view of the surrounding sea, and more importantly, the island of Orvata. She shot a glare at the island in the distance, her tail swishing low and fast the more she stared at the approaching land.

Though she perked up upon catching sight of Shouri. She took a step forward, but quickly arrested herself – they were in public still and she had to keep her cool. Her face did redden ever so slightly; her initial thought was to run and jump into Shouri’s arms.

Control yourself, Rebecca, the vixen thought to herself.

“Hey bossman!” she called out to him instead, waving.

“There you are Rebecca, did you enjoy your nap?” the Maestro asked as the pair of Resonators approached the group.

Besides Shouri and the rest of their traveling group, there were a couple of other people in some kind of uniform, it looked like they were talking to Taika about something. She looked really invested in whatever it was they were talking about.

“What’s going on?” Rebecca asked, keeping a watchful gaze on the strangers.

“They’re part of Unwavering Hearts, Taika wanted to ask them about medic stuff,” Shouri informed the fire fox.

“Some kind of hot shots huh?” Rebecca mused to herself.

“They’re a pretty famous humanitarian aid guild. We found out they’re based out of Orvata, which is why there are so many of them on this ferry,” Shouri brought her up to speed.

Rebecca furrowed her brows, eyes stuck on the symbol embroidered into the guild member’s uniforms. “Hrmmm…”

“Thank you for talking with me!” Taika bidding farewell to the guild members drew Rebecca’s attention.

The fire fox watched the pair of strangers leave, her glare not leaving their backs until they were out of sight.

“You okay Rebby?” Pacifica asked.

“Mrrph… I’m fine,” Rebecca grumbled.

Shouri and Pacifica exchanged a glance and a nod. Taika looked between her friends and tilted her head slightly, unsure of what was going on.

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

“Welcome to the Orvata Maestro Affairs Office – how may we help you today?”

“Need a room.”

Shouri slid his three tuners to the attendant as usual. While they were being checked in, he took a moment to look around the lobby. The clientele for this particular MA office was on the sparse side. Besides himself and Emily, there were maybe two other Maestros lounging about.

Maybe everyone else was touring the island? That had to be it, as there were a ton of people on the ferry.

Those thoughts were put on hold as the attendant spoke up: “Thank you for your patience – you will be in room Five. Is there anything else we can assist you with today?”

Reclaiming his tuners, Shouri considered that request for a moment. “Not right now,” he decided.

“Thank you for choosing our MA Office, have a wonderful day!”

Turning around, Shouri found only his trio of Resonators waiting for him. No other Maestros waiting in line or anything. “Hrm,” he grunted.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

“What’s up Sho?” Pacifica questioned.

“Seems quiet here,” he noted.

The otter spun around. “Yeah, it looks like it, doesn’t it?”

“We’re on an island, right? Maybe there aren’t a lot of people here?” Taika offered.

“But there were a lot of people on the ferry,” Pacifica challenged the theory.

“Oh yeah…” Taika nodded.

Shouri placed a hand on the two girl’s backs. “Let’s think about this in the room,” he spoke wearily.

The quartet shuffled off to their room without much fanfare. Like every other MA Office they had visited the Orvata branch had the same room layout, furniture, and amenities; a real home on the road.

Pacifica immediately attacked the shower while Taika sprawled herself out on the bed, taking a breather from their whirlwind of a morning.

Rebecca meanwhile…

The vixen curled up on one of the recliners, hugging her knees while wrapping her tail around herself.

“Hey.” Shouri sat up on the armrest of the chair. He placed a hand on her head and gently stroked her hair. “What’s eating you up?” he whispered.

“…Mrrpgh.”

“Will you tell me if I guess?”

She gave no acknowledgment, remaining quiet.

“One of your old Maestros was an Unwavering Heart.”

Rebecca whipped around, looking at Shouri as if he was a ghost. “Pretty easy guess.” The boy grinned. “Wanna talk about it?” he offered.

The fox stood up, telling the Maestro her answer.

“We’re going on a walk, be back soon!” Shouri announced to the rest of the room. Taika gave a wave from the bed, remaining in her supine position and Pacifica shouted something unintelligible from the confines of the bathroom.

Shouri and Rebecca left the room and wandered through the halls of the MA Office. “There’s really like no one here,” Rebecca mumbled; her ears twitching as she listened for any other guests.

“Not too surprised. If most of the people traveling here are part of Unwavering Hearts, they probably just stay in the guild quarters,” Shouri hypothesized.

“Yeah, makes sense.”

The duo continued their walk, eventually stopping in front of the fitness center. A sense of déjà vu washed over the vixen as they stood in silence looking through the window at the unused exercise equipment.

“She was my third Maestro. I hadn’t gotten my ad-Lib yet. She always demanded so much out of us, not just me,” Rebecca began. “It wasn’t as if she wasn’t doing her fair share. She kept drilling us so hard because she was aiming for some promotion or some shit.”

Shouri grunted, taking in the story. “Did she make it?”

“…no.” Rebecca visibly trembled. “She… died.”

The Maestro’s eyes widened. “What? How?” he asked on a reflex, quiet.

“From what I overheard; she had an undiagnosed heart condition. She pushed herself too hard and none of us noticed until it was too late.” Rebecca ground her teeth.

Shouri studied his fox, furrowing his brow. “There’s something else,” he guessed.

The fire element grunted, lowering her head further, refusing her Maestro’s gaze. “I just… when she passed… I…”

“You don’t have to-” Shouri tried to stop her.

“No! Let me try…” Rebecca cut him off. She took in a breath and attempted to re-compose herself. “…I was relieved when she passed.” She had to stop again. It was taking everything in her power not to vomit on the spot. She felt like slime even having that thought from all those years ago.

“Her first though, he was devastated. He blamed Unwavering Hearts for her early death. He kept saying things like they worked her too hard and they took advantage of her kindness,” she said, her voice low.

The two returned to silence; Rebecca in her feelings, Shouri unsure of what to say.

Rebecca made the first move, stepping forward and taking hold of his shirt while burying her face in his chest. “I’m sorry,” she squeaked.

Shouri gently took her in his arms. “For what?” He questioned.

“I’m a horrible person.”

“No, you’re not.”

She pushed him back but kept a grasp on his shirt. “Who is relieved when someone dies?!” she shrieked.

“Who treats a person like an object?!” Shouri retorted, matching her volume.

The fox stared, eyes wide while tears streamed down her cheeks.

“I’m not saying she deserved to die,” Shouri added, his voice returning to its normal cadence “But, there’s something inherently wrong with a lot of people out there,” he mused. “And I don’t know why some people end up like me and why some end up like Lyle.”

“I dunno.” Rebecca shook her head. She pulled herself back into his embrace. “I prefer this. I don’t want to go back to how I used to live.”

“I won’t let it happen.” He squeezed her tightly, earning a smile from the fire fox.