“Caldo,” Taika complained as they stepped off the train in Wenja.

“It’s not even that warm out,” Rebecca snarked back.

“Not everyone radiates as much heat as you do,” the lunar fox commented.

“Girls behave.” Pacifica inserted herself between the two catty foxes to quell their bickering.

Shouri smiled and shook his head. They were consistent if nothing else. He turned his attention to the map, studying their current location and comparing it to their surroundings.

They had only stepped out of the train station but already found beauty in their new locale.

Wenja screamed “historic”, the brickwork that made up the walkways was well worn, along with the tall apartment buildings that stood proudly across the street from the train station. A large fountain was nestled into the center of the roundabout they found themselves at, with a couple cars hanging out, and their drivers awaiting their passengers.

“We’re going to take a bus to the northern-most MA Office, come on,” Shouri told the group, motioning for them to follow.

The side conversations lulled to silence as the eight-strong group took in the ambiance. The town was quiet, with a few Maestros and their Resonators milling about. Traffic wasn’t bad, but it was evening on a Friday, so there were those leaving their office jobs and heading out for a night on the town.

Crossing a couple of major intersections put the group on a bus terminal and they were soon shuttled off to the north end of town. The bus had a couple of other patrons, most likely people who lived on the outskirts of town or pretty close.

It was becoming clear to everyone in Shouri’s party: they were in a mountain village. The roads snaked up hills and, in the distance, they could make out the striking figures of the Schietto Mountains.

“We’re really gonna climb those, huh?” Pacifica wondered aloud; her eyes locked on the imposing peaks that loomed over the city.

“Yeah. Soot pointed out on the map which mountain we need to climb. We’ll have to approach from the south face for the easiest path up to where Sarayul is,” Shouri informed his otter. “Supposedly,” he added as an aside.

“Supposedly?” questioned the otter.

“Well, from what I could gather, Soot last went up there with one of his former Maestros like 300 years ago. Ethereals tend to be quite finicky, they either stay in one spot forever or drift from place to place,” Shouri explained. “Or so the theory goes. We have plenty of written records about various Ethereals movement patterns, but Sarayul being in such a pain in the ass spot to reach, his records are part of the sparsely recorded Ethereals.”

Pacifica nodded slowly. “I sure hope he’s home then,” she commented.

“You and me both,” Shouri agreed, glaring at the map on his tuner.

“What do we do if he’s not home?” asked Rebecca.

“Curse Sahji and try not to die on the way down?” Shouri offered back. “Not going in with the idea that we’re gonna come back empty-handed?”

“But-!” Taika cried out.

Thankfully Shouri was sitting next to his worried little vixen and silenced her with a finger. “I already told you: no matter what we’re gonna figure this out. This is the only thing we’ve tried so far – it’s too early to throw in the towel.”

Taika nodded slowly, her bottom lip trembling as she fought a valiant battle against the tears that wanted to flow.

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

The Wenja MA Office was like any other the group had visited in the past. It wasn’t nearly as busy as other offices they had been to, but the environment informed the clientele. The bulk of the spread was in water, earth, and fire; elements that would be quite useful in the Schietto Mountains towering over the city. What’s more, the chosen Resonators were on the bulkier side.

“Crushing attributes?” Shouri whispered to Rebecca for confirmation.

“Crushing for sure,” she replied with a short nod.

The trio of smaller girls (alongside Emily’s similarly lean party) broadcast to the perspective climbers: Shouri and Emily were just some tourists.

Oh, how wrong they were.

Thankfully everyone else in the lobby was checked in leaving the front counter free. Shouri, being the gentleman he was, let Emily check in first.

In reality, though, he only let her go first because-

“Ah, Shouri Tomoshibi. We received a package for you this morning. Let me go get it.” The attendant rushed into the back, out of sight.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Oh, I see,” Pacifica commented.

“Hush.” Shouri shot her the side eye.

Taika stared at the Maestro’s quarters where Emily and her Resonators vanished into. “Are we gonna see them again?” Taika wondered, a singe of sadness peppering her voice.

“Yeah, she was going to see us off tomorrow,” Shouri told the fox, patting her head.

“Here you are,” the attendant said, sliding a box across the counter for Shouri.

“What the heck did you get?” Rebecca wondered seeing the size of the box.

“Already told you: replacement clothes,” Shouri snarked back.

Rebecca huffed and pushed Shouri out of the way. She picked up the box, which obscured her vision given the size of it.

“What are you-?”

Rebecca cut him off. “I’ve been trained to move around blind, also you gotta open the door to our room,” she reminded him.

“Fair, I guess,” he grumbled, accepting his three tuners back.

“You’re in room seven – thank you for choosing our MA Office, have a wonderful day!”

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

“Ahh, it feels so nice to be in fresh clothes,” Pacifica cooed, having changed into her replacement outfit first. She pinched the fabric of her vest and hummed, her lips curling down.

“What’s wrong Paci?” Taika asked, sliding her jacket on.

“It feels a bit different,” the otter noted.

“So, it’s not just me,” Rebecca chimed in as she adjusted her tie.

Shouri emerged from the bathroom, feeling it safe to do so. He sat on the side of the bed with their clothes bag stuffing one final set of clothing into it. “Gonna be a tight fit,” he mumbled to himself noting how packed the clothes bag was between all of their outfits.

“Elijah pointed me in the direction of some tailors who work on the outfits for tournament officials,” Shouri told the group, tuning back into the conversation.

“Ah.” Rebecca understood in an instant. “These have higher rhythm resistance than even the high-grade stuff we were wearing before,” she said aloud for the sake of her uninformed companions.

“Oh really?” Pacifica glanced at her outfit. It did feel heavier on her body, but in the same respect, it also seemed sturdier. A pinch and pull of the fabric confirmed this fact.

Shouri flopped backward on the bed. “Yeah, I figure we need to be at the top of our game given who we have after us.”

The room fell to silence.

“W-well you said that Whistler woman was blown to pieces, right?” Taika hesitantly offered.

The Maestro grunted, frustration creeping onto his face. “If she’s a sprite like I suspect, she’s functionally immortal.”

“Huh? How?” Pacifica blinked.

“Oh…” Rebecca lowered her head. “Like when Soot was badly beaten, he turned into that crystal. I think sprites are the same way,” the fire fox guessed.

“Bingo.” Shouri pointed to Rebecca.

“So… like when Emily and Ritika made Soot a new body, Whistler could get a new body too?” Taika questioned.

Shouri sighed loudly. “Yeah. She can,” he said. “Maybe if I thought about it or not dying at the time I would have looked for her crystal to keep it,” he grumbled. His gaze shifted towards an empty spot in the room. “Anyway,” he spoke after a moment.

“Ho fame,” Taika whined. Rebecca rolled her eyes.

“Let’s go get dinner, we have an early day tomorrow,” Shouri said, getting up.

“’kayyyy!” sang the three girls.

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

Sometime after dinner, Taika found herself alone in one of the back hallways of the MA Office. She sighed as she stared out at the lawn from one of the back windows. It was already dark out, the stars shimmering in the nighttime sky. Normally she enjoyed a bit of star gazing, but her mind was rife with possibility. Her ears were folded back as she gave her eyes a brief reprieve, slowly closing them and sighing once again.

“Hey.”

“EEP!”

“Ow…” Shouri groaned, flat on his back.

“Scusa! Scusa! Scusa!” Taika yelped, rushing over to help her Maestro up.

“You’re fine, just didn’t expect to get thrown across the room, my bad,” he said with a chuckle.

The pair stood there for a moment alone. Taika lowered her gaze, fidgeting with her jacket zipper.

“Scusi…” the fox mumbled. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there wallowing in her thoughts but snapped to when she was suddenly enveloped in warmth.

“Sho…” cooed the fox, resting her head against his chest.

“I told you it’s gonna be okay,” Shouri whispered.

She couldn’t help the tears that began to flow. “Me lo auguro…”