The sun rose on a new day, shining on the remains of the night prior.

Shouri slowly returned to consciousness; his entire body ached from how hard he pushed it hours earlier. His head pounded and his stomach was in knots. The part of him that hurt the most was his bare feet which now protested all the lacerations that he had accrued during their marathon split.

It all came back in an instant, and he remembered why he was even lying in the dirt in such a miserable state in the first place.

“Taika!” He crawled over to his Resonator who laid a little ways away. The adrenaline that fueled this feat however was running on fumes and he re-collapsed next to his precious Resonator. “Taika... please wake up.” Reaching out, he managed to get a hand on her shoulder and shook her.

“Sho...” She slowly opened her eyes. “Guuuah...” She curled up as pain returned to her as well. With her awakening, Shouri could ease their suffering.

“La Bella Vita, Rubato.”

Taika trembled for a moment longer before her expression eased. She then held out her hands and projected the healing waves onto her Maestro, who similarly felt the relief.

The pair laid there in the dirt for some time. After a sufficient amount of time, Taika broke the silence. “Sho, your hair is turning white,” she spoke, her voice hoarse.

“Yeah. Rubato does that.”

“I was meaning to ask what that was.”

“It’s like the Staccato modifier, but instead it gives you complete free reign to my rhythm to cast whatever you want.” He slowly explained.

Guilt rushed in. “Oh. I’m so sorry Sho.”

“No, it’s fine. I needed you to just overload us with healing.”

“Non. I mean for everything. If it wasn’t for me...”

Shouri moved himself closer to Taika and wrapped himself around her. “Don’t apologize. I picked you over them.” He smiled, and she blushed. “Sho...”

Still lying in the middle of the woods they rested their worn-out bodies for another hour or so.

Coming to in Shouri’s arms, Taika felt a bit refreshed, but she noticed his hair was still partly white and that concerned her. “Sho, we gotta get up,” She urged, trying to shake her Maestro awake.

“I know.” He squeezed her tighter. Finally, they rose for the first time in hours. “Let’s try to find a town,” he suggested, pulling out their tuner. Taika closed her eyes, choosing to rely on her ears. “That way.” They both pointed in the same direction. A large mountain in the distance.

With a goal in mind, the two struggled to get to their feet. “Even with all that healing, it’s still sore,” Shouri grunted, barely keeping himself upright.

“Lean on me Sho,” Taika insisted, having an easier time than her Maestro.

A feeble smile rose on the boy’s lips. “Why are you so strong?” he asked.

“I was worked pretty hard before you found me.” She wrapped his arm around her neck and supported his weight. “If nothing else I have good stamina.” There was a little pride to that statement.

The duo hobbled along through the forest, relying on Taika’s hearing to track their way to their destination. It was slow going however, and before they knew it hours had passed; the only thing sparing them from the afternoon heat was the canopy of the woods keeping them in the shade.

They were rewarded for their struggles when the small town came into view. The first building that graced their vision was the familiar sight of the local Maestro Affairs Office.

“Thank god.” Shouri allowed himself a weak smile. “Let’s get into the MA office.” He pointed his Resonator towards the building in question. They could explore the town they had ended up in after they had a chance to rest and recuperate.

Unlike the Riva Solare MA office, this one was much smaller, only consisting of a singular building. The automatic door slid aside, allowing the pair to drag themselves into the air-conditioned building. Finally inside, they found the building deserted; no one in the lobby, even behind the main desk. Shouri frowned, but had a solution: “Rilevare l'intenzione, Presto,” he spoke with a hand over their tuner at his waist.

Taika closed her eyes. She felt two signs of life, albeit they were out of sight. “There’s two people here, in the back,” she informed him.

“Cool.”

With that in mind, they made their way up to the front counter. Shouri rang the bell.

“Coming!” a shrill voice shouted from the back.

“Thank you for choosing the Mount Wynding Maestro Affairs Office how may we-” At that point the attendant reached her desk, saw the state of the guests, and paled. “Oh my gosh! Are you okay?! What happened?!”

The attendant's Resonator poked her head out from the back and noticed the state of their guests and rushed to join her Maestro up front if for nothing else but to be nosy.

“We took some back roads and ran into some trouble,” Shouri told her, setting his tuner on the counter and sliding it over. “Just need a room, and maybe directions to a clothing store if there’s one here.”

The woman took the tuner and scanned it in. “Of course.” It took a couple of minutes, but she returned his tuner a few minutes later. “You will be in room One, it is the first door on the left when you enter the Maestro’s quarters. Do you need anything else?” she asked brows turned up in concern.

“Food.” he requested bluntly.

The desk attendant nodded. “We don’t have a proper cafeteria, but we do have some vending machines in the common room stocked with sandwiches and snacks.”

Shouri acknowledged their only choice of food with a hum. It was better than nothing. “Sounds good to me, thank you.”

“Of course. If you need any further assistance, we’ll be here.” The attendant and her Resonator both bowed.

Still drained of nearly all of his rhythm, Shouri just wanted to rest, and for that, he guided Taika to Room One where they would be staying for the next couple of days.

A scan of their tuner allowed them entry to the room, which by all accounts was as nice as a small hotel chain’s room. There was a small greeting area with a couch, a couple of recliners, and a coffee table. A desk was provided with a lamp and a notepad with a pen. A dresser stood opposite the desk with a large flat-screen television.

A small kitchen was also provided complete with a stove, microwave, sink, and refrigerator. On the far end of the room was the large, probably king-sized bed flanked by two nightstands, and last but not least was the bathroom with shower set-up.

“Ah, traveling Maestros live the life,” Shouri noted with a weary smile. He was rapidly becoming dead weight in Taika’s arms.

“Ah, Sho?!” she squeaked, not expecting the sudden strain.

“Bed please,” he managed to get out, struggling to remain standing.

She got him into bed, albeit just barely. Taika herself was just as exhausted, though she was thankful this one time for being born as she was. Being blessed as a healer kept her on her feet longer in addition to healing their injuries - there’s no way they would have made it to this point if she lacked those traits.

“Taika.” She looked up and saw her Maestro beckoning for her.

“Sho?”

“We should sleep.”

Her face reddened slightly. When they were at home there was always the fear of being walked in on, so she never worried about him suddenly getting intimate with her. But now they were truly alone. Nobody would barge in on them. If nothing else the lock on the door would ensure that.

His parents already seemed to think they had done the deed as it were, but how did Shouri feel about that? He seemed to imply by his own admission that he didn’t have a problem getting intimate with Resonators.

“Taika?” he asked expectantly.

“B-bathroom!” she squeaked before rushing to the office of the porcelain god.

Sitting atop her personal throne, she slowly picked the leaves and twigs out of her tail fur. She didn’t smell amazing at the moment given her last shower was over thirty-six hours ago and she had done a significant amount of physical activity since then. But even a shower just sounded exhausting right now.

Opting to clean the debris she could see out of her hair, she left the safety of the bathroom. Shouri was fast asleep by this point. While she didn’t want to wake him, she did want to be in his arms, so she got into bed and nestled herself next to him, falling asleep almost instantly.

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

Blue eyes fluttered open. It was dark, but she could feel Shouri next to her and that’s all that mattered. “Are you awake?” She heard him ask.

“Yeah,” she replied on a breath.

“I’m hungry.”

“Me too.”

“Wanna check out those vending machines?”

“That sounds wonderful.”

And with that, they got out of bed.

“Oh god, it’s eleven already,” Shouri noted as he checked the time on their tuner. They wandered over to the door and opened it up to get blinded by the hall lights. “Fuck,” Shouri grumbled. “I really need to get used to the night vision,” he complained.

“Huh?” Taika was a bit confused by that comment.

“As long as we’re linked, I can see well in the dark just like you can,” he told her.

“Wait, that’s not normal?” she asked.

“No, non-lunars can’t see shit in the dark.”

They began walking around looking for the common room they were told about when they arrived.

“Oh, I never realized that since I’ve just always been able to see in the dark just fine,” Taika laid out her thoughts for him. “I can even read books in the dark too.”

“Kind of handy to have if I’m being honest with you, especially since hunts happen at night for the most part.” He patted her back. “So thanks for the free night vision.” The boy chuckled.

She giggled back. “Hey, it’s not free, you gotta pay for me to eat,” the girl pointed out.

“Too true.”

Speaking of which, the pair found themselves in front of the vending machine of destiny. Their destiny being dinner for the night. “Ooh, Sho, can I please have that?” Taika pleaded pointing at the chocolate bar proudly displayed behind the glass.

Her pouting face was nearly irresistible. “After we eat some real food.” He had to put on his adult pants. They were all alone now and had to fend for themselves. Which meant at least one of them had to make rational decisions.

“We’ll have these.”

He vended out a simple dinner for them:

2 Sandwiches

2 bags of chips

2 bottles of water

and of course, the chocolate bar Taika had been pawing the glass for.

“Awww!” Taika immediately returned to pouting when Shouri took possession of the chocolate bar.

“After you eat your sandwich,” he spoke sternly.

“Hrmph.” She folded her arms across her chest and turned away with a huff.

Heading back to their room, arms filled with their simple dinner, Taika looked about the hallways. Simple, but kept clean, it seemed they’d be living in buildings like this from now on. Her ears twitched. It was quiet. At least at this Maestro Affairs Office, there wasn’t much in terms of clientele.

Dinner was had and Taika was allowed to finally snack on her chocolate while Shouri braved the shower.

It was warm, soothingly so. In all honesty, this was probably the best shower he had ever taken in his short life. He wanted to soak in it forever, but he didn’t want to take too long since Taika was waiting. Grabbing the tiny bar of soap, he washed the dirt and grime from his body and washed out all of the collected debris from his hair.

Finally clean after his marathon through the woods the night prior and subsequent crash, the exhaustion crept back up. He wiped away the fog on the mirror and stared at himself. The tips of his brunet locks were still white. He hadn’t even gotten halfway done recovering his total rhythm yet.

But with food in his system and a comfy bed waiting outside the bathroom door, he’d be fine by morning.

“Shower’s great Taika,” he told her, walking out of the bathroom.

“Sounds good.” She paused, regarding the current state of her clothes. Her face contorted to a grimace. “I wish I didn’t have to put these back on after though.”

Shouri took inventory of his own attire, which was adorned with dirt, dried sweat, and grime. He agreed with her. “We don’t have much of a choice right now. We can get some pajamas and new shoes tomorrow so we can wash this stuff,” he laid out their itinerary for the next day.

“That sounds nice.” She yawned, stretching out her tail as she did so. “Still so tired after sleeping so much,” the vixen complained.

“Me too. I’ll wait till you’re done before going to bed.”

Like Shouri, Taika too enjoyed the soothing heat provided by the shower. Unlike Shouri though, she took longer to wash up as she had an extra appendage that was covered in thick hair. It always took so long to wash, but took even longer since the shampoo provided wasn’t specifically made for her tail.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Exiting the shower, there also wasn’t a nice tail brush waiting for her either. It was just another amenity that had gotten quickly taken away from her. Even her original caretakers had tail brushes readily available for her.

She shook her head. Even missing some of the basic things she had become accustomed to was fine! She was with her dear beloved Maestro, that was the only thing that really mattered. Even if they found themselves camping in the wilderness, she would strive to remember that.

Leaving the bathroom after her extended stay, she found her Maestro watching television. Joining him in bed, she cast her gaze towards the idiot box. “What are we watching?”

“News.” He kept his eyes glued to the screen. “Seeing if we’re in the headlines.”

“Ah.” Thinking about it logically, Shouri was the heir to a fortune himself, an altercation and vanishing in the night like they did should be a news story.

But they watched the entirety of the hour-long broadcast and it was never brought up. Shouri yawned. “They probably aren’t going to report it to the police or anything,” he decided. “They don’t want it to get out that I’m an embarrassment to them; they’re gonna keep it a private affair.” Turning off the TV he rolled onto his side.

“And honestly, I’m fine keeping it that way too.” He got comfortable.

“Doesn’t your tuner say your name?” Taika pondered aloud as she got comfortable herself.

“It already doesn’t show my last name. Tuners have always shown how you identify yourself. I bet my last name dropped off as soon as that man shouted that he was disowning me.”

“I see.” Taika huddled close to Shouri.

He draped an arm over her. “I just need you. They don’t matter to me,” he whispered, causing the girl’s cheeks to warm significantly.

Night passed to morning, and with it, the worn-out Shouri and Taika were allowed a restful night’s sleep.

Shouri awoke first that morning. He spent some time laying there, just watching his Resonator sleep. She wore a serene smile, her face free from any worry. Reaching up, he stroked her hair, ending up scratching her ears.

“Sho... continua così... lo fai bene...” she let out in a pleasured voice. Shouri pulled his hand away, face unbearably warm. He didn’t need to understand what she said to get the implication. He slipped out of bed and went to take his second shower in the past twelve hours.

Taika sat up, hearing the shower going in the bathroom. “Che? Another shower?” she spoke groggily to herself. At any rate, she got up and stretched her stiff limbs. To say she slept hard was an understatement. With nothing better to do, she decided to allow her curiosity to run amok and explore their room in more depth.

She didn’t discover anything too wild, but was impressed by the appliances – they were quite new upon observation. So either they were replaced frequently or not many people used these rooms, she couldn’t tell which one it was.

Her exploration was interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door opening. “Sho!” The fox-girl rushed over to her Maestro, her tail wagging joyously.

“Good morning Taika.” He averted his gaze, face a touch bit red. After a moment of Taika just staring at him, he decided to hide his face by drying his hair. “We should go into town and get some shoes, and also stuff to lounge in while we’re in these rooms,” he laid out for his foxy companion.

“That sounds good to me.” She smiled.

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

The town they ended up in was small. That much they knew. Most of the people who worked in the few shops that were in town commuted in from various homes in the forests and mountains. At least that was the assumption based on the lack of housing surrounding the settlement.

The first stop was the town’s general store, where they picked up some changes of clothes, but most importantly they were able to get themselves some socks and shoes and finally were able to walk around normally without concern of stepping in something awful.

Shouri also picked up a backpack to stash their spare change of clothing while traveling. As a bonus, the bag came with an attached water bottle, something that would get some good use if they were to be traveling around the world.

Finally, they took a break at a little café that was near the opposite edge of town and had a small brunch before ultimately deciding to return to the MA Office they were staying at.

“Now what?” Taika asked, their primary chores done for the day.

“We’ll probably join the Scherzando hunt tonight. We spent quite a bit of money today,” he told her. She nodded.

They were both a bit nervous in all honesty. Aura and Damian weren’t there to bail them out if anything went awry. They were truly on their own now.

At the very least the pair attempted to unwind. They ended up taking a nap together until it was time to head out to the hunt location.

It was already dark by the time they had arrived at the hunt location, the surrounding mountains shielding them from the actual sunset. The difference was immediate: this town wasn’t like the Riva Solare hunt spot at all. There weren’t any food stalls or even any stalls outside of the single registration booth. There wasn’t a line either, just a bored-looking older gentleman. “Uhhh, we’re here to help with the hunt,” Shouri spoke up sheepishly.

“Eh? Sure.” The man wrote something down.

“Do you need my tuner?” Shouri questioned, holding the black-bodied device out for the man.

“Oh right right.” The man accepted it, scanned it, and handed it back to Shouri without much fanfare.

Nothing further was said, which concerned Taika and Shouri, but they decided to just get to work. They saw a couple of other Maestros and Resonators wandering off on their own, with no real organization to them, most carrying varying sources of light. Notably, a few were utilizing Fuoco Fatuo, the tiny fireball utility spell, for light while others had more traditional flashlights and even lanterns. “I guess they do things differently here,” Shouri whispered to Taika. The vixen nodded; brows turned up in concern.

Even with only ever experiencing one hunt, they already preferred that one experience over this one. “We’ll just do enough to cover our expenses for today and head back to our room,” Shouri decided.

“Sounds good to me,” the Resonator agreed.

“Rilevare l'intenzione, Lento.”

Taika closed her eyes, detecting everyone around them. Shouri’s map was updated with where the Scherzando were. “There’s... not much here,” he noted. Taika peered over his shoulder also seeing a lack of Scherzando.

“There’s not many people in this town,” she offered as an explanation.

“You’re probably right, yeah. Let’s go over here.”

They tracked a Scherzando that was relatively close to their location. It took a bit of looking, but they found the beast – an elk-shaped shadow with icy horns and spikes coming from its body.

“Luce Lunare, Piano!” Shouri commanded. Taika stepped forward, lobbing a ball of shadowy energy at the beast. The attack hit head-on, but this one was stronger than the previous Scherzando they had fought and didn’t immediately fall to their solitary attack spell. Now fully alert, the beast retaliated with a spray of icy needles.

“Sho!” Taika side-stepped and held out her arms, shielding Shouri from the attack.

“Taika!”

“Don’t worry about me! Next spell!”

“Luce Lunare-!”

Before he could finish the modifier, he was tackled by Taika, who had saved him from the charging beast.

“Luce Lunare, Piano!” With Shouri's command and rhythm, Taika threw the next ball at the beast, which dealt damage to it, but still didn’t fell it.

More needles. Taika jumped back onto Shouri, taking several dozen in her back. “Ow...” the fox whimpered.

“Are you okay?!” Shouri asked, looking up at the girl shielding him.

“Fine, I’m fine, the jacket is stopping the needles from sticking in me. Spell!” she got out quickly while scrambling back to her feet.

Shouri decided to break out the big guns. “Magifiamma, Legato!” Immediately, he felt his heart stop as a massive amount of rhythm was violently torn from his body. It was a good thing he was already on the ground as he would have dropped like a rock from the sudden sensation if he hadn't been.

Taika similarly felt an odd sensation course through her alongside her Maestro’s rhythm that flooded into her. It felt like there was a fire in her heart, but she had to focus and keep it under strict control otherwise it would go wild and burn her from the inside.

Seven balls of purple fire appeared around her and she urged them into a flurry of icy needles cast by the elk Scherzando. The first ball of fire easily absorbed the ice attack, with the remaining six successively hitting their marks one after another. After the final ball of fire burst, they witnessed the elk Scherzando fall and fade into rhythm once more.

“Whew.” Taika fell to her knees. That took way too much effort for a single enemy. Just how strong were these Scherzando out here to warrant that intense of a battle from a single one?

The Scherzando would be the least of their worries as without warning a flashlight was turned on them. “HEY!” an angered roar pierced the silent mountain woods. The startled pair turned to see a couple of Maestros standing in a nearby clearing with their Resonators. “What the fuck do you think yer doing?!”

“Fighting Scherzando? We signed up to hunt,” Shouri replied curtly, confused at the vitriolic tone they were receiving from these total strangers.

“Fuckin’ city kids,” the older Maestro spat; his face contorted into a violent grimace. “Don’t you know this is my territory? Git! Git out!”

Once again Shouri wanted to rebel. He wanted to put these people in their places. He couldn’t hide the anger on his face. But-

Taika clung to him; her ears folded back trying to hide behind her Maestro. She was afraid and hurt from the battle they just had with the Scherzando. Even if it was wrong, even if he wanted to, he simply couldn’t pick a fight with these people.

“You’re right, my bad. I didn’t know,” he acquiesced. “Sorry for the trouble.” With that, they quickly left the local Maestros to their ‘claims’, trying to ignore the glares on their backs as they did so.

“That was awful Sho.” Taika trembled as they trudged back towards town.

“I know Taika. We’ll move on tomorrow morning.” He grabbed her hand and held it tightly.

If he had to be honest with himself, he had been scared too. People were just so cruel. It was fortunate that they didn’t seem to notice what element Taika was; otherwise, he feared they might have just outright attacked them.

The only silver lining of this whole experience was that the one Scherzando they did manage to fell was worth a decent sum of money. Not enough to cover all of their expenses like he had hoped, but they were still comfortable for the moment. That’s all that really mattered.

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

Arriving back at the room, Taika immediately collapsed on the bed. “You took a beating; I should heal you,” Shouri said, reaching for his tuner.

“No!” She sat up. “Sho I’m fine!” She insisted, her eyes fixated on the white that was invading Shouri’s hair. “I’m just tired.”

The pair glared at each other for a moment. Shouri broke the deadlock to glance down at his tuner.

Status: Ready

Rhythm: 51%

She had lost a significant amount of her own rhythm during that fight. Truth be told, he could see a touch bit of white in the very tips of his bangs. That last spell he used did a number on him as well.

He relented to his Resonator’s claims. “Fine. If you need it though-”

“I’m fine really!” She remained firm. “Maybe a bit hungry,” came the admission.

Shouri simpered, putting his hands on his hips. “Okay okay, wait here, I’ll get you some treats for doing so well today.”

Taika squealed in joy, tail wagging excitedly at the prospect of delicious snack foods. Leaving the room, Shouri wandered over to the vending machine and got a small handful of snacks for their consumption.

Returning to the room, he dumped the pile of food onto the bed and the pair enjoyed their small feast of sweets, watching television.

Before he knew it, Shouri was alone, with Taika contentedly asleep next to him. He reached over and gently stroked her hair. He decided to retire for the night himself, but first, he wanted a nice tall glass of ice water.

For that, he would need to go to the common room and get some ice out of the ice maker. Slipping his shoes back on, he walked to the door, pausing while his hand hovered over the knob. Glancing back, his tuner laid on the nightstand. “It’ll be fine,” he decided.

Making his way to the ice maker, he plucked a bucket from the stack next to the machine and filled it to the brim with ice chips. Happy with the amount he had, he closed up the machine, lest he get yelled at for leaving it open.

THWACK

His eyes opened wide as his body seized up and he lost control of it, plummeting to the ground. Right before his vision faded to black, he heard a voice.

“Fuckin’ city kids.”