Blue eyes fluttered open on Saturday the fourth.

Taika found herself wrapped by Shouri. The way he held her was so possessive, though this earned a smile from the smitten vixen. “Essere goloso come vuoi, amore mio,” cooed the fox. She nuzzled her face into his chest and slipped back into slumberland for another hour.

The next her eyes opened Pacifica and Shouri were whispering.

“She was a mess without you,” Pacifica told him.

“From what Emily said, you all were,” he countered.

“F-fair, sleeping without you sucks.”

“Likewise.”

Taika refused to move. This was where she belonged, enveloped in her Maestro and friend’s warmth. Shouri began to stroke her hair. Everything was perfect, life was good.

“Taika, it’s time to wake up,” spoke Shouri gently.

“Mmmph, comfy,” the fox quietly protested, tightening her grip on his shirt.

“Me too, but we have a long trip ahead,” he reminded her.

Unfortunately, he was right.

The inhabitants of the room packed their things and prepared for their departure in relative silence.

It was grating for Taika. What if something happened on the way there? What if those people came back for them? What if she lost control during the climb? What if Sarayul wasn’t there… or worse – what if he didn’t agree to teach her?

“Taika!”

She was snapped out of her thoughts. Shouri held her by her shoulders, his hair and clothes a mess as if he had just come out of a wind tunnel.

Pacifica and Rebecca were laying on the couch, dazed.

“Ch-che?” the vixen squeaked.

“What happened?” Shouri asked.

“I should be asking you that…” Taika trailed off, though she had a nasty suspicion she already knew the answer.

Rebecca sat up in a huff and opened her mouth to answer, “You-mmrrrpgh!” Thankfully Pacifica was there to silence the fire fox.

The poor lunar fox knew better though and deflated. “È colpa mia,” her bottom lip quivered as her head drooped.

Rebecca’s expression softened, as guilt rushed onto her face.

“It’s all my fault.”

Shouri gripped the rueful fox’s shoulders tighter. “Hey,” he whispered. She refused his gaze. “Stop that – one way or another we’re gonna get this figured out and you’re gonna be a hell of a lot stronger for it.”

Though his words were what she needed at the moment, it didn’t appear to help elevate her mood at all.

He leaned in closer, his lips right next to her ear. “If I can’t make you smile with my words, perhaps my lips would suffice?” Shouri whispered breathily.

“N-NON! FARÒ LA BRAVA RAGAZZA, LO PROMETTO!!” she shrieked, closing her eyes tightly. When she opened them however, Shouri was gone.

“Ow…” he groaned, now joining Pacifica and Rebecca on the couch thanks to a telekinetic ejection from Taika.

“Scusa scusa scusa!” Taika rushed over to check on her friends.

“Ow…” Rebecca and Pacifica joined Shouri in the groaning, not having expected to be blasted with their Maestro.

“See? Now imagine controlling that,” Shouri said, getting off of his other two Resonators.

“Just in case, we probably should have her let off some steam in the casting range before we go,” Rebecca advised.

“Good call,” Shouri agreed with that plan.

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One breakfast plus rhythm draining later, Shouri and company awaited the last task before they could set off: saying goodbye to Emily.

It took a couple of annoyed text messages to draw the lunar Maestro and her trio from their room. Even so, they all came out in their pajamas. “Good morning, Shouri,” Emily yawned, her eyes barely open.

Soot held Albarich and Ritika, one for each arm. The golem was the only one wide awake, given the nature of his species.

“Late night?” questioned Shouri.

“Ye, I wanted to see the local hunt scene,” Emily replied with a groggy smile.

“And?”

“They good,” she giggled holding a thumb up.

“Alright, well we’re gonna get going, keep in touch,” Shouri said, slowly turning and departing with his Resonators in tow.

“See you soon!” the other Maestro called from behind.

“God I hope so,” Shouri muttered under his breath.

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“I didn’t think there would be so many people here,” Rebecca commented.

“Well it is mid-summer, the Schietto Mountains peak season,” Pacifica read from her tuner.

“Tourists, great,” grumbled Shouri.

Taika remained silent, clinging to her Maestro’s arm as not to get lost in the shuffle of the crowd.

The quartet stood at a bus stop that was to take them up to a small village nestled in the mountains, from which they could choose whichever mountain they’d like to hike.

From what the Resonators could hear, there were quite a few peaks that the other tourists were eager to conquer, with one exception.

“Nobody’s saying anything about Mount Sinchero,” Taika noted.

“Yeah, that’s weird.” Pacifica furrowed her brows.

“Duh,” a voice cut in. One of the climbers had overheard the group’s observation. “Sinchero is cursed.”

“Cursed?” Shouri raised a brow, turning to the hiker that had addressed them.

“That Ethereal Sarayul will make sure you plummet to your death, best avoid it unless you’re looking for a scenic spot to die,” they warned.

It was at that moment that the bus arrived and boarding began.

Shouri’s group remained rooted in place,

“We don’t have to go,” Taika spoke up.

“We’re going,” Shouri asserted.

“Sho!” the lunar fox barked. Her determined glare crumbled upon meeting Shouri’s. “It’s not worth it,” she mumbled.

He tugged her hand towards the bus. “We’re not getting one guyed – we’re going to see Sarayul,” the Maestro told the fox.

“Just give up, he’s really stubborn about the weirdest shit,” Rebecca advised her fellow fox.

“You know, for a guy with willpower issues, he sure can be bull-headed about some stuff,” Pacifica added with a giggle.

Taika considered that as she was pulled along. She wasn’t being honest with herself – it wasn’t Shouri urging them forward… it was her willpower that fed his. He was only doing this because she wanted to do this.

“Chiedo scusa,” muttered the fox. He squeezed her hand.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Don’t apologize, just trust us.” His smile when he looked back at her gave Taika the strength of an army.

“Si!”

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The bus ride was long but quiet for the quartet. Each mountain they stopped at some number of climbers departed. Finally, Shouri and his trio were the only ones remaining.

“Where to kids?” they asked, tilting the mirror back to get a good look at the last remaining group.

“Mount Sinchero!” Pacifica shouted.

“You serious?” the driver asked.

“Deadly!” the otter replied.

“If you say so…” the driver mumbled but did as he had been instructed.

Taika frowned, looking at her Maestro.

“Not being two-guyed,” he replied with a huff.

“I think at this point not many people have a high opinion of Sarayul and/or Mount Sinchero,” Rebecca noted.

Shouri rolled his eyes. “Remember what I told you about lunars?”

“Yeah?” Rebecca raised a brow.

“Sarayul is a lunar Ethereal,” he pointed out.

“Hmmm…” the fire element hummed, considering the implications of that.

Regardless, the bus continued on, traveling another hour or so before reaching its final destination. “Enda the line kids!” the driver shouted, opening the bus door.

Rebecca was the first on her feet, pulling down their two bags from the overhead storage. “Let’s get going!”

Shouri was the next on his feet.

Pacifica was looking out the bus window at the mountain they were supposed to be climbing. “Uhhh, it’s kinda big, isn’t it?” she asked, her voice cracking.

“Biggest in the chain, supposedly,” Shouri replied, his attention focused on Taika.

“We don’t have to,” the lunar fox asserted.

“We’re already here, we might as well,” countered Shouri.

“Mrrrpgh…” Taika folded her ears back and begrudgingly rose to her feet.

Pacifica, seeing how she wasn’t getting out of this either, also stood up.

The four left the confines of the bus and stood before Mount Sinchero. Besides the road, there was a path trailing up the side of the mountain. One curiosity was the large mailbox sitting on the bottom of the sign marking Sinchero Trail. A cold breeze blew down from the mountain, earning a small yelp and shiver from Pacifica.

“Alright,” Shouri took the clothes bag from Rebecca. He set it on the ground and pulled out a set of heavier clothes. “Put these on,” he held out a jacket and pants for the shivering otter.

The otter stared at the thick clothes with disdain. That’s what he was doing with the clothes bag last night, she realized. Pacifica stepped in place for a moment, continuing to hug herself. “F-fine,” she gave in.

One equipping of pants plus jacket later, and Pacifica was mostly ready to tackle the elements. “Shoes too,” the Maestro held out a pair of socks and shoes for the otter.

“You’re so mean to me!” Pacifica whined, but did as she was told. She traded out her favorite sandals for a rugged pair of shoes.

Satisfied that Pacifica wouldn’t immediately freeze to death, the Maestro handed the bag back to Rebecca and faced the mountain. “Well, let’s get started.”

The quartet began their trek up the trail. “Hmmm…” Shouri studied the path they were following.

“Whatcha thinking bossman?” Rebecca asked.

“This path seems pretty well walked despite the rumors we heard,” he noted.

“I thought you said you weren’t trusting what those guys were saying,” she pointed out.

“I mean yeah, they’re probably full of shit one way or another, but rumors start for a reason.”

“Ah.”

They continued to climb, the path winding around the mountain. Winds blew around them, occasionally forcing them to stop and wait it out. To keep their energy up, Shouri had made sure to stock them up on plenty of small snacks which they consumed during these breaks. The sun slowly made its way across the sky and eventually headed toward the horizon.

“We’re pretty high up,” Rebecca noted, before biting into a granola bar.

“Yeah, but there’s no sign of anything up here,” Shouri grunted, kicking a rock down the side and watching it tumble down the face of the mountain.

The path ahead didn’t seem to go any further up, it tapered off. Climbing the rest of the way up appeared to need actual mountain climbing gear – of which they brought none.

“Is the guy actually even here?” questioned the fire fox, holding out the other half of the bar for her Maestro.

He accepted the bar, but did not immediately eat it. “He has to be, there wouldn’t be as many rumors about him otherwise.” Shouri looked back down the road they had traversed to get to this point. “And why the hell is this path here if nobody is up here?” he mulled over this thought while polishing off the half of the granola bar Rebecca had started.

The two stood in silence for some time, watching the sun vanish into the west.

“What do we do?” Rebecca turned to Shouri.

“Probably summon some foxes and huddle around you and them for warmth while we sleep,” he suggested.

“Sho!”

Rebecca and Shouri turned to find Taika and Pacifica running up to them.

“What is it?” asked Shouri.

“We found a cave!” Pacifica shouted.

“Oh!”

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“Yep, this is a cave alright.”

The quartet stood inside a small opening in the mountainside. It appeared to go deeper, but at this point the crew was so exhausted they silently agreed to rest up first before exploring it tomorrow.

“Thank god, my feet hurt so bad,” Pacifica sighed, reclining against the wall in front of a small pile of warming flame foxes.

“Thank you Rebby,” Taika cooed, similarly appreciating the warmth.

“This is nice,” Rebecca yawned.

Shouri threw several more granola bars out to the resting Resonators and sat down with one himself. “Rebby and I can keep the cave warm with the rhythm foxes, so we can use our clothes as some make-shift bedding,” he told the group.

“It is really toasty in here,” Pacifica pointed out.

“Sho and Rebecca could be in the middle,” Taika suggested.

“Oh, do I want Sho for rhythm or Rebby for warmth? Choices,” the otter wondered aloud.

A pile of jackets (and Pacifica’s winter pants) made up their bedding. The group settled together, with the flame foxes also curling up nearby to keep their summoner warm (but keeping alert in case something decided to go bump in the night.)

Such a long day and trek up the mountain left the group so exhausted they easily slipped from consciousness to sleep with little fuss.