Miraculously the cloaks fit.

Freya was surprised that the traveling cloak which fit her as a bird would fit her as a mouse, though River had said it would.

Finding car-sized attire was more of a struggle. Many of the shops in Marwei were closed and didn't want to serve cat customers. Freya didn’t know what her measurements would be in cat form, either. That left the unfortunate choice of an off-the-shelf number.

So it was that Woda passed with the last of his clams. Then, at a place Sela had picked for their meeting, Freya had parted with the rest of hers. Mice loved to eat.

"That you again Grandpaw," Freya said.

The group had gathered at the marina, at one particular second-floor restaurant.

"You could thank me by finding a place that doesn't serve swill."

"The Otter and His D'Otter is an adorable name, how was I supposed to know?" Sela said.

"The mead is passable, but I'm concerned about the number of rafts on the other side.”

The regiment itself was encamped around the town. It wasn’t an occupation, but with checkpoints manned by badgers and raccoons, not much escaped their view.

The town of Marwei wasn’t under siege, but the furrows had been attacked daily.

“Thank the Raven the cats hate water like no other creature,” Crenshaw said.

“Thank Nithe that the river is so wide,” Sela said.

The group looked at Sela.

“What! Nithe is in charge of rivers, oceans, and bodies of water, right?”

“I mean, yes, according to the stories,” River said, “but again, and you know this, I am not a priest. That’s the rest of my family.”

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“Yes, priests and thieves or so I’ve heard,” Sela replied.

The raven gave the otter a bit of a shove.

“If I had a clam for every time someone asked me if I was a Kindness or a thief…”

“You’d be ready to retire,” Sela repeated as if rehearsing a line.

“Is that why you like to spend your time as an otter?” Freya asked.

“It’s a part of it. Now eat your fill, initiate, because tonight, we cross lines.”

Freya didn’t need the reminder. Returning to mouse form after such a long time as a blue jay had left her feeling empty. The terrible food actually tasted good, mostly due to her hunger.

“I’ve got enough fish here for two days,” Sela said.

The otter had spent his first hour in Marwei talking to some connections he’d made. Then he’d gotten some salted river trout pieces in a bundle for the two magic users. Enough, he guessed for about two days. They’d established a dead drop space for the two on the north end of the furrows. The next step was to pass through the bridges.

“How does it feel to be a mouse again, after so long as a bird?” Grandpaw said.

“That’s an odd question,” Freya mused, “It feels so natural to just be myself again.”

The elder mouse thrummed on the gnarled wooden table for a long second.

“I can’t go with you,” he said.

“I know.”

“I meant…”

“I know. You can’t go with me to the Furrows, and you can’t go with me to the valley.”

A weight looked to have passed from his shoulders when she said that.

“I’m strong, but I’m not invincible. I have a few good years left if I play my cards right,” he said, “The… circle will take care of you when I’m gone.”

Freya's whiskers drooped. She might leave for training, and return to pay her respects to a grave. She might not even be sent back to Yellowrock when she finished.

“Oh, please don’t talk like that, you’re going to live forever, Grandpaw.”

“At this rate? Possibly,” he said.

He sniffed the air.

“Freya, you might see things out there…” he began.

“I’m not a pup anymore,” she said.

“Still, I…” he began to be a little choked up, “I know.”

Freya smelled a spicy sort of smell. She could only hope that the meals downstairs were being prepared better than whatever she’d eaten. She recalled eating something, but then didn’t recall what it was at all.

Freya watched River’s gaze linger on them, then fall away once she noticed Freya looking in her direction. River blushed, probably from being a part of such an intimate moment.

“I’m going to come back, and we’re going to ride chickens,” she said, “I swear it.”

“That, means a lot, thank you,” he replied.

“We the clan,” she said, clasping his paw.

“The clan, united,” he replied, clasping harder.

They stayed there for a bit. Neither seemed to want to release first.

Freya allowed herself to hope, letting him go.

Hope would get her started on her assignment.

River would see her through.