That evening Shouri and his merry band of tailed maidens made their way to the local hunting ground. Like some of the larger ones in Lybertera, this one had food stalls, Resonator-wares, and all kinds of other vendors peddling the results of their craft.

It all began in the place every other hunt began, registration.

Pacifica and Rebecca picked up on something as they stood in line; there were eyes on them, more specifically directed at Taika. The two emotionally savvy Resonators huddled around their Lunar counterpart in an attempt to obscure her from sight.

Unlike Lybertera though, nobody said a word to them. None approached. Not even a dirty look. They just stared. Taika almost wished they’d just speak up. Was she wanted here or not?

“Next.”

Now it was their turn. Shouri presented the three tuners in his possession to the registrar. Without any fanfare, they were scanned in. “Main group, map’s updated,” they said with no fuss or commotion, waving Shouri and his Resonators away.

With that out of the way, they did as directed and stepped out of line. “Come on, let’s go,” Shouri quietly urged his Resonators away from the center of attention. Thankfully for their collective sanity, the looks they got as they walked along were of a passing curiosity. The type of "oh that’s interesting" before one went back to what they had been previously doing.

Taika and Shouri didn’t appreciate the attention, joining hands to level one another out. Pacifica and Rebecca stuck close to the outer edges of their group, just to be the dividing line between their group and the general public.

“Hey! Heeeeey!”

Taika perked up, recognizing that voice. Sure enough, leaning on the counter of one of the stands and waving them down was someone only Shouri and Taika recognized.

Making their way over to the stall, they found a certain blue-eyed chef, her crystal earrings glowing with vibrant blue willpower. “Why hello there, I knew I recognized you!” The older woman grinned toothily, her waist-length ginger hair swaying behind her.

“Who is she Sho?” Pacifica whispered to her Maestro.

“She’s Solana Leduc, she gave Taika and me a free meal on our first-ever hunt,” he whispered back.

“Wait, THE Solana Leduc?!” The otter’s eyes widened, snapping her head to the famous chef casually standing before them.

“Lee! Can you man the counter for a bit?” the chef shouted back.

“Yes Lady Solana, right away!”

With her business in capable hands, she stepped out of the booth, allowing a tall bespectacled man clad in lilac with frills adorning the sides of his head to take over counter duty.

“Come on.” Solana motioned for the other Maestro to follow.

Shouri’s group was led over to some picnic tables, and they took their seats. Solana on one side with Shouri and Taika seated on the other side. Pacifica and Rebecca stood behind them

“Your eyes are still beautiful.” Solana wore a melancholic smile. “Your sister came by the day after we met looking for you; what happened out there?” the chef asked.

Shouri and Taika exchanged a bitter glance. “Ran away from home,” the Maestro spoke up. “Our father didn’t like my methods of etuding with Taika.”

Solana nodded solemnly. “Sad to say, I’m quite familiar with that kind of rejection.” Her eyes fell to her side where her own red and blue tuners were clipped.

Shaking her head, she took note of the two additional Resonators in Shouri’s employ. “You’ve expanded your group.” She leaned forward, propping her head up on her elbows. “Beautiful,” the woman tittered. “You have quite the eye for precious Resonators.”

“Likewise.” Shouri’s gaze drifted to the stand where Solana’s Resonators were currently holding down the fort.

“We’re a lot alike it seems.” Solana sat up. “They’re not just names or things, they’re family, right?”

Shouri nodded, just pleased to find a kindred spirit.

“M-Ms. Leduc,” Pacifica spoke up.

“Please dear, just Solana,” the chef corrected the otter.

Pacifica could feel the almost shame Solana’s surname brought her. “Right.” What’s more, there was something else the emotionally savvy otter couldn’t help but notice. “Did you…?” the water element trailed off, averting her gaze.

“Ah, yes. That wonderfully gorgeous rhythm of yours read me like a book.” Solana let out a sigh but maintained a smile, despite how pained and forced it was. “I did lose a Resonator recently. My first one.”

Pacifica gasped. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry I-!”

Solana shook her head. “No dear, it was my mistake.” She paused and mulled that over. “Though if Lee and Vivi caught me saying such things, they’d most certainly take their own share of the blame.”

“I understand,” Shouri spoke up suddenly. “I’ve lost a Resonator too. A very long time ago,” he admitted. Under the table, Taika took grasp of her Maestro’s hand, gripping it tightly.

Solana nodded solemnly. “Does it get easier?” she quietly queried.

“I’m not sure, to be honest, but don’t make my mistake and shut out the people who care,” he replied.

Taking in a deep breath, Solana once more forced a smile. “Would you mind if we accompany you tonight?”

Shouri was taken aback by the sudden request. “Uh, sure, I don’t mind.” He looked at his group. “Rest of team?”

“That’s fine by me.” Rebecca nodded.

“Mhm.” Pacifica wiped some gathered tears away.

“We still owe you for that food,” Taika pointed out.

“Thank you.” Solana bowed slightly. “We’re leaving for Selvica tomorrow. I want to get to know you all a bit better before then.”

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“Famiglio Incendio, Presto Staccato.”

“Fuoco Fatuo, Tenuto.”

Shouri and Solana gave their commands to their respective fire Resonators. Rebecca summoned a trio of flame foxes who spread out around their group, while Solana’s fire Resonator, Vivi summoned a ball of fire to hover around them.

“Hm, cool spell,” Vivi noted, kneeling to examine one of the summons in question

“You think so?” Rebecca asked the other fire Resonator.

“Yeah, they’re kinda cute,” Vivi mumbled the latter part.

“Right right?” Rebecca sang.

The seven-strong group began to move to where the main group had gathered. “I’ve never seen an axolotl before,” Shouri noted, looking over Solana’s water elemental.

“Good evening to you Lord Shouri, my name is Lee. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” The water Resonator bowed slightly to the other Maestro, holding his medical bag back from swinging in front of him.

“Nice to meet you as well.” Shouri chuckled sheepishly, not accustomed to the extremely formal speech patterns of the water element.

“You’re a healer too, right?” Taika asked.

“I am, how did you know?” Lee smiled.

“I read axolotls can only be healers,” she boasted proudly.

“You’re well-read Lady Taika.”

“Grazie mille!”

Reaching the main site of the hunt, Shouri and Solana were mostly ignored as the locals dictated orders and strategized. Shouri’s tuner beeped and checking it revealed the map data had been updated without Taika’s intervention.

“Che?” Taika was confused by this. “I thought you needed a Lunar to update the map?” she whispered.

“No, it’s a basic spell. Null-Elements can use any basic spell of any element,” Shouri quietly explained to his confused fox.

Her ears folded back, expression clouding with a quiet “oh” following. Up until this point they had been the primary map updaters, but now…

Shouri placed a hand on her back and rubbed her shoulders. “Don’t worry about it. Means we can save some rhythm. Besides we can still update our map if needed.”

Taika instantly brightened back up, unable to resist the giggle that accompanied her Maestro’s affection, which also earned a warm smile from Solana.

“Hey, you two!” came a shout. Solana and Shouri perked up realizing they were being called upon. “Any objections to handling the north group? You have some numbers over there,” the lead Maestro requested.

“That’s fine,” Shouri replied, not wanting to argue with these random people. Especially with the previous looks they were getting, he was content with just getting an assignment at all.

And with their destination solidified, they were off.

“I think our plan of attack is Vivi and Rebecca in the front, with Taika and Lee supporting them from behind and Pacifica sticking by us just in case,” Shouri laid out his thoughts for Solana as they made their way through the woods.

“Sure, that sounds fine with me,” Solana agreed.

They soon arrived at the site of their work for this evening. “There are quite a bit here,” Lee whispered, noting the number of Scherzando milling about the clearing.

“They always look smaller on the map,” Shouri mumbled to himself.

Rebecca and Vivi stepped up to bat, with Taika and Lee standing by.

“What’s your thoughts Shouri?” Solana asked.

“I think our formation is fine. What does Vivi have in her spell list?” Shouri inquired.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Solana flashed Vivi’s tuner and the accompanying spell list. She allowed Shouri to scroll up and down the list. “Oh, interesting hmmm…” he mused to himself. “I do see some waters in there,” he chuckled, noting the presence of a particular spell.

The chef smirked back. “Oh, you are a sneaky boy, aren’t you?” she chuckled. “It has a bit of wind-up so if you trap them, I’ll treat you with that dish.”

“Say less.” Shouri grinned, ready to get to work. Flipping on the talk button for Rebecca’s tuner, he spoke the plan to her. “We’re going to corral the Scherzando together with Anello di Fuoco, Tenuto Rubato.”

With his rhythm linked to her, Rebecca dug her feet into the dirt, heels sparking and ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Vivi took note of her fellow Fire element’s position of Icarus’ ala. “Good taste in wings,” the linsang commented.

“Thanks.” Rebecca smirked back.

“Lady Taika, is it safe to assume your group’s fire element-” Lee began

“-gets herself into trouble with that? Yeah.” Taika nodded.

“Fire element things I suppose,” the axolotl chuckled.

“Go, Rebecca!” Shouri declared. The fire fox ignited her heels, darting away in a blaze of glory. She quickly began to throw up a wall of flames, rapidly surrounding and trapping the Scherzando within.

“Vivi, Saldatura ad Arco, Legato!” Solana called out.

“Oh, I get it! Coming right up!” Vivi shouted, pulling back a hand. Electricity began to gather at her palm, slowly charging.

Rebecca, having completed her entrapment of the Scherzando, caught sight of the other fire element’s spell and became enraptured with its form.

Thrusting her palm forward a violent bolt of lightning arced from Vivi, licking the ground and glassing the ground as the arc slowly made its way towards the trapped beasts. Finally making contact, the bolt melted through the Scherzando’s ranks, taking out a good chunk of them before the spell wore off.

The devastation from the attack dispersed Rebecca’s firewall and allowed the surviving Scherzando their freedom.

“Taika, get over to Rebecca, Luce Lunare, Rubato!”

“Lee, Ghiacciolo, Forte Staccatisimo!”

The healers rushed in to back up their respective fire companions, throwing balls of Lunar and Water. The pair of fire maidens however weren’t helpless damsels in distress, each utilizing their footwork in combination with the fire at their heels to deal with any frisky Scherzando that came their way.

“Pacifica, Ghiacciolo Rubato, stay with us,” Shouri told his otter.

“You know I’ll never leave your side Sho,” she tittered.

Once more, Shouri had earned a pleased smile from Solana.

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

“Whew. Way too fucking many of them.” Shouri wiped the sweat from his brow as he leaned back against a nearby tree.

The battle had gone well and they had managed to annihilate all of the Scherzando in the area they had been assigned to with minimal difficulties.

“It was fun though, thank you for taking us out here tonight.” Solana maintained her smile. Pacifica frowned, feeling the heartache behind that fake smile.

Meanwhile, the healers were dealing with the fires. “You didn’t have to push yourself this hard,” Taika complained, her hands glowing with warm healing light while addressing the burns on Rebecca’s feet.

“It became a race at some point, dunno how.” Rebecca shot a dirty look at Vivi and Lee.

Taika too observed the other pair and noticed something odd. Rather than using his healing magic, Lee had his medical bag out and had a couple of jars out. “Here we go Vivi, this should help.” He uncapped a jar and scooped out a small bit of cream from within it.

“Uhg is that the mint stuff again?” Vivi grimaced at the lotion Lee rubbed between his hands.

“Yes, just don’t kick me again, please,” Lee spoke with his usual gentle voice, though one could sense a certain sternness to his request.

Taika crawled over and sat next to the other pair. “What’s that stuff?” the lunar healer asked as she watched Lee work the strange substance into Vivi’s burnt legs (the linsang trembled the entire time).

“Ah, have you not looked into traditional medicine?” the elder Resonator asked, having quickly finished his task and wiped his hands clean.

“I sort of did. When Rebecca got Rekindling illness I made a soup to help her recover,” the lunar replied.

“Plants are extraordinarily powerful in healing, which is why you can find Scherzando feasting on them in the wild. Unfortunately, melopomorphs have so much more rhythm we’re just far more appetizing,” Lee explained.

The healing fox hummed in thought. “They’re kind of slow though,” she noted.

“Depends on the brew. Here, I’ll let you try a sip of this.” Lee reached into his bag and uncapped an opaque jar, handing it over to Taika.

It had a strange aroma to it, a certain distinct sweetness hitting her. Hesitantly she brought the jar to her lips and took a small sip.

A sweet flavor invaded her mouth and it took everything in her power to not take a larger gulp of the drink. What’s more, from her mouth down her throat into her core she felt a certain rush.

It was the same kind of rush she felt when receiving Shouri’s rhythm. “What… is this?” Taika managed to get out looking over the amberish, almost golden liquid.

“Give Rebecca a taste,” Lee urged.

With a slow nod, Taika handed the jar to Rebecca, who like her fellow fox took a small sip. “Woah, what the heck?” Rebecca’s eyes widened.

“It’s from an extraordinarily rare fruit called an apple. Apples are the only known fruit that can significantly restore rhythm,” the axolotl explained.

Rebecca gently handed the jar back to Lee, catching the hint that it was an expensive concoction they were just allowed to sample. “Other fruits and herbs can heal effects such as singing, frostbite, and the like. Apples restore rhythm with frightening efficiency. The problem is they’re very expensive because Scherzando hunt apples with as much ferocity as they do melopomorphs,” he explained.

“That little jar of apple juice put us out a grand,” Vivi told the other two.

“Grand?” Taika raised a brow, not familiar with the term.

“That’s a thousand notes,” Rebecca informed her fellow vixen.

“A THOUSAND?!”

Lee and Vivi shared an amused grin. “Apples are grown in top secret underground greenhouses built of Vatonium to keep both Scherzando and thieves alike away,” the water-healer explained to his lunar counterpart.

“Apparently they only send out a shipment or two a year to make various healing products.” Vivi chimed in.

Now it was Taika and Rebecca to share a look, though this one was of continued shock. “Why then?” Rebecca asked.

“Such a precious drink.” Taika shook her head slowly.

“It’s okay Lady Taika. I just wanted to show you the power of traditional medicine.” Lee smiled warmly.

Rebecca stared at the axolotl man. Behind that smile was a deep darkness; the words carried a weight that slammed into the fire fox like a ton of bricks. It was mentioned earlier they had lost a comrade. Did this man consider their teammate’s death blood on his own hands?

“If we fuck up and you get rhythm burned, healing and support spells with stop affecting you. We have to be smart with how much and how often you’re healed to make sure you can be healed when it matters.”

Shouri’s words from earlier in their time together resurfaced at that thought. Healing magic was not absolute. Despite being called magic, it had real tangible limits in what it could accomplish and this man had to experience those limits in a real situation.

“It’s okay Lady Rebecca,” he whispered. The fox flinched. Taika raised a brow, not sure of the unspoken conversation between the water and fire Resonators.

“Lady Taika, I have a couple of books to suggest you look into if you want to read more into traditional medicine,” Lee addressed his fellow healer.

“Si! Definitely!” The lunar Resonator eagerly nodded.

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

Returning to the hunt site, they stopped by Solana’s little stall she had set up. “Once again, thank you so much for tonight, Shouri - we needed this,” said the chef.

Pacifica was still uneasy with the emotional mask Solana was wearing, but she couldn’t find the courage to speak her mind. It felt so inappropriate to try and console someone who was hurt so deeply.

“If you ever need anything, even just to vent, hit me up.” Shouri waved his blue tuner as he said this.

“Of course,” she chuckled, similarly waving her blue tuner back.

And with that, the two Maestros parted ways with their respective Resonators.

“She was really nice,” Pacifica finally spoke, trying to dig herself out of her feelings.

“Sho, there’s some books I want to get,” Taika chimed in.

“I hope we see them again. That Vivi chick is fun to hunt with,” Rebecca said, glancing back at the other group from over her shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m glad we could take their minds off their troubles even for a few hours,” Shouri agreed with his trio.