Day had turned to evening soon later, and evening is about to turn into night. Bawarag, Amni and Sanora all still sit at the same table, several empty bottles on it, paper with crossed out drawings of houses strewn around the table in between plates littered with food scraps.

“So what if we just take this beam and then-“Amni says, pointing her knife at the drawing they are all staring at.

“I already told you that’s a supporting beam, probably. We can’t move it… probably.” Bawarag says and shoos her knife away with his fork. They engage in a cutlery fencing duel over the dominion of the paper.

“Guys please stoooop.” Sanora groans, letting her head fall into the table with a bang.

“This isn’t helping.”

They stop their duel.

“Who would have thought building a house is this hard. I know why I always go for the cave approach.” Amni sighs

“Same here.” Bawarag says, looking the drawing over again.

“But hey, at least we found out that Sanora is pretty good at drawing.” He looks at the sketch of a small log cabin. The lines are all sharp and clear, looking like an actual architect has made it, save for the fact that the structural integrity of the actual house would be... questionable.

“Maybe you guys should stop for today.” Genny comes over to clear the dishes that have gathered on the table.

“You have been at it for hours.” She says, looking at Sanora concerned, who in response looks up at her.

“You know what? That’s the best idea anyone has had this whole day.” Sanora puts down her hands on the table.

“This calls for a ‘we-are-done-for-the-day’ drink!” Bawarag cheers and Amni joins right in. Sanora just laughs.

“You heard them Genny, be so kind?” Sanora smiles at her.

“Be right out.” Genny chuckles and heads back to the kitchen with a stack of dirty dishes. Sanora looks over all the drawings on the table again.

“What a day…” she shakes her head.

The door of the inn, opens and chatter fills the room as a group of villagers come in. Its mostly guards and some other men. The owner of the sawmill is among them too. But Sanora pays them no mind, just resting her head on her hands.

“Don’t make such a long face, tomorrow is another day, and after that there is yet another one.” Amni pats her back and smiles at her. Sanora smiles back at her and they lock eyes. Every time Sanora looks in those eyes, she has to take care not to get lost in them. It almost hurts her to tear her eyes away from Amni’s gentle gaze. They are just so indescribably vast and full of kindness and care. If someone would ask Sanora how she would imagine a big sister, Amni would be her ideal example.

“Been quite busy, have you?” A deep gravelly voice behind her pulls Sanora out of her thoughts.

She turns around. It’s the man from the sawmill, looking over all the drawings and sketches.

“Oh hi. Yeah, been sitting at it all day but as you can see, we made no real progress.” She sighs.

He nods and hums.

“Yeah, looks a bit...”

“Awful?” Sanora finishes for him.

“Not what I was about to say. But yeah, there is some room for improvement. Especially with the horizontal beams here and there. That one there is just confusing and out of place.”

“Wait a second, you can do this stuff? I thought you are a lumberjack?” Sanora looks at the man a bit baffled.

“I am, but in a village this small a lot of people do several jobs. Like Borg who is a hunter and the local innkeeper.” He explains.

“Thank the gods we don’t have to do it after all! This calls for another round!” Bawarag cheers.

“We didn’t even get the first one.” Amni says with a chuckle. But Sanora can see that she too is relieved.

“So, could we hire you for this one?” Sanora asks, and the man nods.

“Naturally. And since we forgot about it last time, I’m Karan.” He stretches his hand out and Sanora shakes it with a smile.

“Sanora.”

“This calls for a-“ Bawarag starts but Sanora cuts him off

“Gods dammit Bawarag we get it!”

And so, for the rest of the night they have a small celebration... again. The other village folks get around to meeting Sanora, welcoming her into their small community and having a toast on her behalf. Indeed, one can say the village hasn’t seen such festivities in a while, and thus the villagers don’t let an opportunity to drink and make merry pass. Sanora knows that the night ahead would be long again, very long.

Again, the hard wooden floor presses against her cheek as she slowly regains her senses. Her head hurts like a horse kicked it, her joints ache and feel as stiff as trees and something heavy is on her chest making it hard to breathe.

“I should stop charging you for the room, considering you never sleep in there.” She hears someone say. She slowly opens her eyes, looking at Genny from under a table, again.

Sanora just groans.

“Are you alright? You drank so much I started wondering where all of it goes.” Genny raises an eyebrow.

“I’m… alive.” Sanora just grumbles and looks down to see the weight on her chest is the sleeping Amni’s head.

“If you keep going like this, you’ll be more ale and beer than girl in a saint.” Genny shakes her head with a sigh while Sanora wriggles out beneath Amni. She gets up, just to fall right back onto the bench. The rest of the inn doesn’t look different. There are several people scattered around, sleeping on tables and benches. But most of the villagers seem to have already left.

“Genny could you- “, Before Sanora can even finish Genny holds a big mug under her nose, filled with water.

“Thanks, you’re a dear.” Sanora grateful takes it and downs it in one go, the cold water soothing her from the inside. She lets out a satisfied and relived sigh and sets the mug down.

“Hey Genny, you know where Karan is?” Sanora calls over to Genny who has returned to the counter. He isn't around the room, and whenever she tries to remember anything from last night her head just hurts. So, she has given up on finding out herself.

“Yes, he left sometime at night yesterday and went home. By now he is probably working at the mill already.”

“Alright, thanks.” Sanora says and looks for Bawarag. She already knows Amni is still sleeping right in front of her feet, but she hasn’t seen the flesh mage around.

“Hey Genny, where’s-“ Genny just points upwards. Sanora follows her hand, looking up. Bawarag is sleeping on one of the support beams right below the roof.

“How did he even?- Actually no, don’t tell me.” Sanora pinches the bridge of her nose.

“Just tell him I’m at the mill when he wakes up.” Sanora sighs and shakes Amni by the shoulder.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“Mhhhh ey where’d my pillow go?” Amni mumbles and rolls around, stretching her arms.

“I am already up. Wanna come along to the mill?” Sanora says, a yawn escaping her, but suddenly Amni freezes.

“Oh no.” She opens her eyes and stares at Sanora.

“Did I sleep on you? Sorry I guess I was really out of it yesterday.” She crawls out from under the table too.

“It’s alright, so was I.” Sanora waves her off.

“Hope it was cozy at least.” Sanora looks down at her modest chest with a pouty frown.

“Don’t worry, it was great. And don’t make such a long face, what the gods saved up there they put on your hips.” Amni winks at her, causing Sanora to blush a bit. She looks at Amni’s chest which is even flatter than Sanora’s. As mean as it is, it cheers her up a bit again.

“Thanks, and… right back at you.” She smiles at Amni before getting up and walking towards the door.

“Aww thanks… hey wait a second.” Amni furrows her brows after thinking for a moment but Sanora is already out the door. Amni jumps up and picks up the pursuit.

A short round of catch through the village later, they finally arrive at the sawmill, both still laughing as Amni carries Sanora over her shoulder.

“You can let me down now.”

“No way. I caught you, you’re mine now. That’s what you get for being so sassy.”

“Hey, I learned my lesson! Let me down you evil fiend!” Sanora feigns desperate shouts and lightly hits Amni on the back.

“Muahaha! I have won and the delicate princess is all mine! I will take you to my… evil wizard tower where I shall do the unspeakable to you!” Amni says in her best diabolical impression, which is quite frankly awful.

“Good heavens! Can’t a great hero come and save me!” Sanora places the back of her hand against her forehead. Finally, Amni sets her down again.

“Bad news, he’s sleeping on the roof beams of an inn.”

“Who says it has to be a him?” Sanora wiggles her eyebrows at Amni who just blinks at her a few times.

“Gods, you’re hopeless.” Amni snickers.

“Hey, you’re finally awake.” They both turn their head to see Karan come around the mill, pulling a cart filled with chopped wood.

“Good morning, Karan.” Sanora says and raises her hand in a quick wave. Amni does the same. He comes over, lowers his head briefly at Amni and goes right to business.

“I’ve already started with some plans of the base structure. We just need to review them, you point out what you want and if all goes well, we can get to building in a few days, if you still want a simple log cabin that is.”

“I still do.” She nods. Something that Sanora has been set on since the beginning is a log cabin. There is just something about the aesthetic that spoke to her. And that aside, there are plenty of trees around. And since it gets frigid around the mountains and the village during winter, a log cabin is preferrable with how warm they are. Sanora already has a few things in mind, and she’s looking forward to finally set things into motion.

They follow Karan into the small building attached to the mill where they sit down in a small but cozy room, the creaking of the waterwhell everprestent even inside. They spend almost the entire day discussing and planning how to build the house, what Sanora needs and wants, options for future extensions. The discussion of a small cellar was quickly brushed off by Amni with a “let me handle that” and a smug smirk. After a day of talking they finalize the rough plans. They end up with a small house consisting fo three rooms and a cellar.

“Thank you again, I’ll be back tomorrow.” Sanora waves back at Karan, who nods at her with a smile as she and Amni walk out of the building.

“Feels like we just came here and now its already this late.” Sanora looks up at the orange sky.

“Oh no we haven’t been here that long, we just slept in until afternoon.” Amni says.

“We really need to stop doing that before it becomes a habit.” Sanora laughs, shaking her head.

“So we do. Although I will miss having so much fun with you.”

“Now now, I didn’t mean that we stop entirely, but rather that we cut back a little at least.”

“Aren’t you easy to persuade.” Amni laughs.

“So you just tested me! Already plotting your fiendish plans again, are you?” Sanora jumps away and points at Amni.

“Hark! Our Heroine has unveiled my true intentions at last!” Amni Spreads her arms wide.

“Now I must get rid of you, heroine, lest my plans to take over the world will crumble!”

Sanora looks around hasty and quickly picks up a small stick from the ground.

“I shall put and end to you!” She points the stick at Amni who just laughs theatrically.

“Ho ho ho! Foolish girl! You have a long way to go until you can triumph over me! Give it your best try.” Amni gets into stance.

“You asked for it!” Sanora takes the stick with both hands and charges right at the grey haired woman. But Amni just smirks. Before Sanora can reach her she trips over a small stone that she swears hadn’t been there a second ago. She falls and Amni takes a step to the side to catch Sanora before she falls down, looking her right in the eyes as she holds her.

“Oh my, the young pup of a heroine has fallen right into my arms.” She says with a smug grin, but Sanora just squints her eyes.

“You just used magic to trip me, didn’t you?” She says in a sharp voice.

“I may have, I may have not.” Amni giggles and heaves Sanora back up.

“No fair.” She just pouts and walks on.

“Everything is fair in love and war. And I daresay we just had one of the greatest wars ever seen.” Amni laughs takes a few quick steps to catch up again.

“Well, we did. I shall forgive you this once.” Sanora says, holding back her smile

“Thank you, o’ great heroine.” Amni bows exaggeratively.

Sanora looks at the woman, a warm feeling spreading through her stomach as she gives in and smiles brightly.

“You know Amni, this might come a bit sudden, but sometimes it feels like you’re the big sister I never had. I mean maybe I did but I couldn’t remember. But if I did have one, you’re exactly how I’d want her to be.”

“Is that so?” Amni asks with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

“Yes! I mean, you’re always down for fun and with you around I do nothing but laugh and smile. But you can get so serious too, and you’re so strong. I just know I can always count on you, but at the same time have fun. And your eyes are just…” Sanora looks over, locking eyes with Amni who is smiling back at her warmly.

“They are just so full of kindness. So warm and vast and gentle and... what I’m trying to say is basically, I’m glad I met you. And Bawarag for that matter. Had it not been for him I would be dead. And had it not been for you I might be sitting around in my room lamenting what I don't even remember all day. I might not know who I am, but I’m still glad I’m me right now.” Sanora smiles at Amni broadly. But Amni’s eyes have gotten quite wet.

“Are you cry-“Amni pulls Sanora into a side hug before she can ask and ruffs through her hair.

“And you’re like the second little sister I never had.” Amni cries. After a moment she lets Sanora go again and they walk back to the inn, not needing anymore words, both smiling ear to ear.

Once back they find Bawarag still sleeping on the beam. Sanora just sighs and decides to call it a day and get some proper sleep in a proper bed for once. Amni bids her goodbye for the night, retreating to her home after insisting to pay Genny for the two nights she slept under the table.

After a quick and tasty dinner Sanora heads to her room and lets herself fall into the bed exhausted. She hadn’t slept well on the floor, and she immediately feels the lack of proper sleep hit her like a carriage. She is out like a light.

A knocking on the door pulls her from slumber.

“Hey lass, time to get up.” Bawarag calls out from the other side of the door. Sanora groggily looks out the window. The sun is already up, the light of dawn falling into the room.

“Gimme a minute.” She calls to Bawarag before yawning.

“I’ll be waiting. And put your gear on.” He says before she hears him walk somewhere else. She sits up on the bed and rubs her eyes. She gets out and stretches, her joints crack all throughout her body and her back aches a bit. Sleeping in the floor has taken its toll on her it seems. She fixes her hair as best as she can without a mirror and changes into fresh clothes before putting on her gear. The weight of the armor pulls on her shoulders, making her realize how little she missed it. She fixes the sword to her belt and heads out.

Bawarag is sitting at the table holding a small parcel wrapped in cloth.

“There you are. Alright let’s go.” He nods and beckons Sanora to follow. She shoots Genny behind the counter a confused look, but she just shrugs as well. Sanora decides to just tag along and take it as it comes.

“So, what are you up to?” Sanora asks as they walk down the road.

“Well Amni told me how hard you lost that fight against her-“

“Fight? Wait does she mean when we were playing?”

“-and so, I figured we need to get you in shape.” Bawarag says, holding his finger up. Sanora furrows her eyebrows.

“We do?”

“We do! And I had a great idea. While your house is being built, we will spar next to it. This way you can oversee it and at the same time train.”

“But do I really need to train? What’s the point if I will just be living here?”

“Think back to when we met Bok. After you had no more fireballs to sling around, what happend?” As the words leave Bawarag’s mouth the unpleasant memories force their way back into Sanora’s mind. The fear, the bloody teeth about to tear out her throat, the helplessness. Her expression grows somber.

“Point taken.” She says quietly. Bawarag nods.

“Very well, then let’s get you in shape.”

They make their way over to Sanora’s new land, Bawarag cursing as they wade through the cold river. They take the trail leading there, cutting away some of the overgrowth. Sanora is amazed how her sword just glides through the branches and bushes. She barely feels any resistance as she swings. They soon reach the clearing.

“So that’s where it is huh? Pretty close to Amni’s isn’t it?” Bawarag looks around.

“It is yeah. Hey, can I ask you something? You and Amni go way back right?”

“We do. And you will do pushups now.” Sanora groans as Bawarag orders her to exercise. She reluctantly gets down and starts.

“Can I take the armor off?” She asks after doing one pushup with shaking arms.

“Absolutely not. So, ask away.” Bawarag says and sits down on one of the tree stumps.

“So, when I was at her place I saw an old painting, but when I asked her she…” Sanora goes quiet, afraid that she is being rude just telling Bawarag about this sensitive topic.

“She started crying.” Bawarag says with a sad face. “You must know, the war took a toll on everyone involved. Few survived it, and even fewer were unscathed afterwards. Mentally and physically. Amni is one of those. Her injuries were not bad, she even got a title and land. But what she lived through, what we lived through, no amount of money or praise can fix. I got over it well somehow, but Amni never did. I had hoped that she would be better by now, but it seems it still weighs on her.” Bawarag tells Sanora who plops on the ground after about 10 pushups, her arms to weak for another one.

“So. . . that’s what happened.” She says between panting.

“And what about her sister? Is that the girl on the painting?”