It was a new day. The sun was rising ever-higher in the blue-sky. They had traveled throughout much of the night, with only a few short sporadic stops. Being in the Huckleberry Dutchy, Red did not want to remain halted for so long. It was best to be on the constant move, he felt—not as though Red had much the choice, for the unicorn remained…energetic and eager to move, even more so than usual.

Despite Huckleberry’s apparent reputation for being the embodiment of all ‘archaic’ aspects of these lands, they had yet to be stopped once by pesky clearance-demanding guards… There was little border management in the dutchy these days, it seemed. This was in spite of Antica having been told prior that such clearance checks were rather…excessive within Huckleberry—a testament, indeed, to the…ever biased and often exaggerative nature of local-sourced information, accuracy always…dubious.

Nevertheless, although this apparent absence of clearance checks was rather convenient for travel, it was also a potential sign of…a dubious security presence.

Not that any of them had reason to be concerned, though, for Antica herself had yet to sleep once. Her mind remained attentive in absolute; her ears, never sharper. No matter what condition or environment they were in, she was unable to lower her guard; such was utterly locked in place, almost blindingly so.

Regardless, the only true stop was at a local ‘free village’ called ‘Pebbleberry’—the requesting source of that…cavern affair of theirs the day prior. Red needed to collect his payment—which he had ultimately rejected due to the impoverished state of that settlement—as well as inform them of what had…happened; of what they had encountered. Novea, also, needed to…purchase new supplies—she had been running out of her foodstuffs.

Odd, since Antica was able to tell these adventurers were quite well endowed with supplies, and now that they were formally assets of this…mission of theirs, shared logistics was only the most logical approach and most efficient. Yet Novea was insistent on…being self-sufficient. This was in spite of the fact that Novea had continuously complained of her rather…nutrient-deficient diet the last week and more, and—according to Novea herself—these adventurers clearly had better alternatives.

Yet another reminder that despite Novea being her…associate in this mission of theirs, she was nevertheless…still a denizen with all the expected denizenness. Though, the fact that Antica had to remind herself of such…obvious realities was…odd, in a way, even if she could not yet see it.

Regardless, after departing Pebbleberry, the travel had been largely break-free… Up until now, that was, for the wagon was finally stationary in place, Antica along with it… doing nothing—the dominant state of her existence, truly, it seemed…

Judging from the sounds about, they had halted further from the stone road down which they had been traveling, near a flowing creek or…other related water source of sorts.

No doubt, Novea and Red needed to refill their waterskins, waste expunge, along with…just stretching their legs and such. Indeed, standing once again after such prolonged sitting…was certainly an experience, especially since Antica’s…equipment did not make for a comfortable sitting.

Though, speaking of getting up… Blue had yet to awaken from that so-locally-called ‘mana-fatigue’ sleep she had fallen. Despite all of the many…many hours that had passed since that cavern affair, she was still utterly unconscious. Though, there was no reason to be…concerned. If anything, such a sleep—though, it was hardly a normal ‘sleep’ as much as a forced state of unconsciousness induced by one’s own essence—was for Blue’s own good.

Antica remained right near the wagon, it being directly behind… The unicorn was grazing about, as if nothing had ever happened…

Hearing that unicorn chew upon the grass flashed memories of events prior. It was certainly difficult to see—or hear…in this context—that chimera in the same way after it had so consumed the evidence of both monkey-bat and cyanic residuals alike… That residual exotic matter, in particular…

Indeed, its consumption of such raised quite the questions…

Quite frankly, Antica was amazed that abomination of existence was still even alive… Clearly, despite appearing as nothing more than horned equine, it was nonetheless an incredibly advanced chimera; unlike most encountered prior…

Indeed, in many ways, such a strange chimera fitted in well with this place—an abomination within the domain of that certain abomination. Yet in other many ways, the existence of such a chimera in a place such as here…stood out, begging many questions, for exactly those same reasons…

Though, regardless of that, it was nevertheless clear that such exotic consumptions had effects on that chimera, specifically regarding its energy, activity, and general behavioral weirdness—never mind its…utterly atrocious waste products, potency strong enough to breach her Remnant facemask. Though, neither Red nor Novea seemed to ponder it; Red in particular had long forgone any questioning regarding this unicorn, seemingly.

Antica sighed…as she remained standing, static and still in place… Truly, considering she had spent much of her long-long life standing around and doing nothing, she would have thought she would be beyond used to such. Indeed, compared to everything ever before, this was menial and insignificant… Yet, nevertheless, she was so…bored—a feeling she still struggled to comprehend, as with the rest, in spite of its effects…

Hmm… she tuned her ears, focusing and listening closely. Novea and Red were now talking, she noticed…

“So,” Red began to speak, approaching Novea from behind, “I’ve been heading the direction you’ve wanted… Care telling me now where we’re even going?” he demanded in effect; “The path we’re going is taking us too up north…”

Novea was rinsing her hands within that puddly creek, having just finished…cleaning off all of that soot from her borrowed…revolving-rifle. She was just about to take her mask off and rinse her face, finally, yet was now unable to do so due to the intrusion behind… She stood up and turned, looking; “I asked for privacy, Red.” she simply stated.

“And I asked for answers.” Red countered in kind; “Look, I get I’ve got my ‘need-to-know’, and I haven’t bothered asking obvious questions this entire time, such as who the fuck even is miss purple hexagons over there, but I’ve got a right to know where you’re shepherding me”.

“You are the one who wanted to help us, Red… This is how we operate” Novea frankly remarked; “Besides, I am sure you can figure it out”.

“Listen… If you’re spooked that I was able to figure out all that shit by thinking out my gaping ass, I promise you I’m a drooling moron who doesn’t know what the fuck I’m even doing half the time, so…why don’t you just tell me? You mentioned a town, and I want to know. I’m the one taking you there” Red stated, his voice…respectful in its belligerency.

“I mean, you might be a drooling moron,” Novea began to state, “but the issue is when you do start thinking… This is just the beginning of our…association, so forgive me for being cautious. And I am not going to tell anything I have yet to tell her…” Her mask-obscured eyes glanced to Antica standing afar…

“Ah, so you haven’t told her shit either, huh? Despite being your cloaked buddy… That means she ain’t formally Bureau or a bird, then, huh?” Red thus began to infer; “Fancy hexagons and weird cloak, fancier than fancy gear and outfit underneath from what I’ve seen, and not to mention the fact you obviously don’t want her speaking… all of that already said enough, but she’s something else entirely… A new tool, maybe?” he so remarked; “And I know unpredictable danger when I see it, and I bet you bunch don’t trust her one bit…”

Novea sighed; “See what I mean, Red?” she simply said… Indeed, once again she was not careful enough with her words.

Red, realizing, ahemed… “And see what I mean? My mouth runs its teeth into the ground—I’m an idiot; if I was smart, I wouldn’t have blurted that but kept it to myself” he said.

Novea sighed again… Ugh, she just wanted to wash her face in peace…

“If it’s one thing you should know about me, Bureau-bug,” Red spoke further, “from all the things you’ve heard, is that I don’t backout or backstab… Once I say my word, I stick to it until the very end” His voice was firm and sincere.

“For better or worse…” Novea’s breaths simply remarked… “Fine, fine… Upperberry; it should have been obvious, but…Upperberry” thus she finally…revealed.

“Upperberry, huh?” Red’s attention withdrew momentarily; “Ah’of course… Remote, detached, and…in the highest north of the dutchy… Far from the alliance in the south, and the frontlines of the war… Smart pick” he remarked.

“The Huckleberry Guild branch also has a presence there, and it’s about that time where monthly cross-branch briefings begin; so, we can inform them about…what we found yesterday” Novea said.

“Hm. Sure, but…that’s the case with most major towns… And if reporting yesterday’s cave fuckfestive is your main concern, then you’d think we’d be stopping at the closest Guild hall—which is in Grassberry” Red so remarked.

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“I am sure you can figure it out” Novea simply said.

“Yeah, Upperberry’s the perfect place for the Bureau to stage shit from, and it ain’t just the Guild you need to report to… You’ve gotta tell someone you’re alive and finally here” Red replied.

“Regardless, from there we will either continue to Grandberry or…maybe somewhere else; it depends.” Novea stated, voice deliberately vague.

“Of course…” Red muttered… “Though, you should’ve told me this yesterday; that way I could’ve gone down a better fucking route… You clearly haven’t spent enough time in the ‘great’ dutchy…”

“Upperberry does not have many routes—there is only one road connected to it” Novea stated.

“Yeah, but the routes leading to that route aren’t the same, and the one we’re following will lead us right into a fuckfest…” Red countered.

“…what do you mean?” Novea inquired.

“…lady, I don’t know when you were last updated about Huckleberry’s condition, but right now things aren’t healthy… The war’s about to escalate from what I’ve heard, the Duke in Grandberry’s practically starting to wear the Crown of Smiles, many random nobody vassals caught in between it all are starting to enforce sovereignty—” Red was explaining, yet…

“I am aware of the situation, Red, which is why—” Novea was interrupting, yet…

“Yeah, sure” Red counter-interrupted, “But I don’t think you’re aware just how demon-fucked I am talking about… We’re in the contested areas, so you’ve got separatist and rebellious realms of Dumblefuckberries ahead, alliance and loyalist exclaves flipping all over the place, with underpaid mercs, bandits, and even greenies rampaging in between… And we’re about to pass through Seventhberry—which just imploded on itself recently from what I heard” Red explained; “The path to Upperberry ain’t as clear as it was even a week ago, but I know a lot of ways to get us there safe…”

“But I need to get there fast… We have been delayed too long enough…” Novea…bluntly replied.

“Yeah, well, Fortune likes being a used-up whore… So, don’t bother to worry about running late since I guarantee you we’ll be running into dogshit smeared on the way that’ll delay us no matter what route we go” Red frankly stated. “You said yourself, lady, you aren’t an adventurer—I am, and you should trust my expertise” he added.

“Yeah, I am not stupid, Red.” Novea simply retorted; “And I am not consumed by pride; I know when to defer… You are helping us, and I plan on using it. It is just…we have procedures.”

“Yeah, well, so do I… And from now on, just tell me exactly where you need to go, and I’ll direct the aim on getting there, got it?” Red so replied; “Believe me, I won’t fucking ask”.

“Fine. Acceptable…” Novea acquiesced.

“Also, we’re stopping at Grassberry… Like I said, there’s a road smeared with dogshit ahead, and waiting until Upperberry to tell the Guild about that cave shit is—”

“A very stupid idea…” Novea…completed, admissively.

“Yeah… And there’s not even a guarantee the Upperberry branch is being maintained, considering it’s Upperrberry we’re talking about…”

Antica’s ears continued listening in as the two continued to go back and forth, gathering as much as she could…only to learn nothing new about this…mission of theirs she still…had insufficient knowledge of—something she did not necessarily like deep down within, truth be told…

Until finally, Novea was finished with this talk. Walking off and away, she approached Antica and stood next and near, before swiftly sighing; “What a cumbersome man to discuss things with… I wasn’t able to wash my face, uck…” she muttered, her breaths unwinding. “I assume you were listening in, rightly? You got all of that?” she asked.

Antica nodded; “Yes. It was gotten” she acknowledged with faint whispery breaths.

“Goodly heard” Novea replied, her voice more…warm and cordial; “I know you’ve been wanting to know more… Once we are in Upperberry, I will brief you in better detail…”

Suddenly, grumbly…murmury…waking breaths reverberated throughout the air around, alongside the sounds of smacking lips. “Neugh… My head…” such groans could be heard emanating from the wagon behind. Blue, rubbing her groggy eyes, popped her head up and out of the wagon’s edge…looking around, processing her existence…

Yet, as soon as she had done so… “Blue!” Red hailed from a distance, having noticed she was waking; “Finally! Get out and do your business, quickly! We’ll be leaving as soon as you’re done! I’ll catch you up on the road!”

“…” Blue had just woken up, and she would not be afforded any…processing time.

-||-

Once again, the wagon was now in motion… They were back on the road, the unicorn indifferently…through its own imperative…strolling forth.

“Hrrm…” such grumbling vibrated throughout the air around. The source of such, of course, was Blue. She had just been explained, mostly, all that which had transpired since her mana-fatigue induced sleep.

Red glanced his eyes behind; “I know those grumbles… You pissy about the Pebbleberry thing?” he asked.

“To the contrary, Red, I thought that was really cute of you, to reject Pebbleberry’s payment…because of how much they were struggling; besides, we have just been paid for many months ahead… Why would I be upset about that?” Blue…grumpily replied.

“So, what’s with the Gods’ fucked growls, then?” Red asked.

“Oh, I do not know… I can only wonder! Maybe it was because you made a very major decision without my say or consent!” Blue waved her fist, now even more…grumpy.

“…well, I didn’t think you’d have a problem” Red said.

“Yes, certainly, but I would have loved to know that we were now going to be helping these…these…”—Blue paused, realizing—“I STILL do NOT know…who-what they even are! Or what this ‘business’ of theirs even is! You did not mention anything!”

Red sighed; “That might honestly be for the best, Blue…” he frankly said.

“Hrrmm” Blue merely grumbled more. “If we are helping them, then I should know…who they are and what we are now helping them with” she stated; “And also, yes, you are correct: I might not have a problem with helping them, but I would sincerely appreciate it if you at least included me in those conversations involving decisions regarding the both of us, being your partner and such, you know?”

“Yeah, yeah… What was I supposed to do? Wake you? You were having that…mana-fatigue sleep—you slept for more than fifteen hours, Blue…” Red said.

“Fifteen hours, and I have such a mindache and I feel so…exhausted still! My eyes are burning, neugh…” Blue’s mind began to shift to more…general complaining; “I have exerted myself far worse than this… I did not think I used that much mana… Stupid freaking goblin magic, siphoned so much of my own… Hmph…”

Such grumpy irritability and elevated affect were common immediate symptoms following this ‘mana-fatigue sleep’, in addition to the mindaches, persistent drowsiness, lack of energy, sensitive eyes, and general…misery.

Blue let loose a lamenting breath; “And here I was all those days ago looking forward to the transition festives… But we just had to venture into another cave full of more things beyond our wantings, and I just had to fall into a mana-sleep for the entire day and night!”

“…uhuh” Red…mumbled, his voice becoming more…awkward. To be honest, he had completely forgotten about…any of that.

Blue…knew that voice of his… She glared into him; “Red… You remembered that I wanted to go the festives, rightly?”

“…” Red was silent initially; “Listen… Considering all that shit fuckery we just went through in that cave yesterday, the festives were the last thing in my head” he finally replied.

Blue grumbled quite; “Red, I told you I wanted to stop at a town or city for Summer’s End…”

“Yeah, well…you never bothered to remind me… You brought it up like once in Sparklewater and never mentioned it again, not even yesterday or two yesterdays ago” Red bluntly stated.

Blue glared at him, her nose wrinkling; “Oh, I absolutely did mention it more than once! You must not have been paying attention!” Blue countered, now quite argumentative.

“I was paying attention, and you hadn’t mentioned it again, I am telling you; you are just misremembering…” Red retorted, his voice also becoming…argumentative in kind.

“Well, I should not have even needed to remind you…” Blue grumbled…

“Besides,” Red continued forth, “what was I even going to do if I stopped somewhere? Like it has been said: you were in a mana-sleep!”

“You could have at least…tried to wake me…” Blue muttered, before letting out a frustrated sigh; “…you know how long it has been? I was unable to do anything in Sparklewater… One or two months may not be long for you, but it is certainly for me… I have needs too, and it does not help that we barely—”

“Ah, so that’s why you’re so mad, uh?” Red cut her off; “Of course, you just wanted to fuck around and about in celebration…”

Blue…stared at him, bewildered at first though…such turned into a scowl; “I have the power to freeze your blood; I hope you know that, Reddy.” she so stated, her voice as cold as her coldest spells. “Considering the number of times you have nearly gotten me killed for quests that I only do because that is all you ever want to do, and considering the number of times you have embarrassed me over and over and over… the least you could do is show that you actually care about my needs and wants…” thus she so spoke…

Red’s eyes shifted down… He went quiet.

“If you had told me today that you had at least tried to wake me up before deciding to not include me in decisions that affect us both, I would not be so upset… Least then I would know that you cared enough to consider me…” Blue’s breaths were turning more somber than angry; “And no, Red, I did not want to fuck around… I wanted to spend time with you in a manner that was not this for once…”

Red sighed a cooling breath; “Yeah, yeah… I know, I know… Listen, I am sorry… I’ll try to make it up to you…” thus he…apologized.

Blue, cooling in kind, puckered; “Good…” she spoke; “It is as I said yesterday: you, specifically, owe me a good time… Otherwise, I do not know what my mouth might do… It may start speaking the dirty things or start…sucking the dirty—”

“Gods’ sacred, alrightly; I get it, Blue…” Red interrupted.

Blue sighed; “You know, for such a womanizer of a man, you really are abstinent to the one closest” she remarked, her breaths calming.

“Hey, that was all years ago, and I ain’t the one with the demonically overcharged drive here, lady…” Red countered.

Novea and Antica, sitting next to each other, both had been staring on—or listening…in the case of the latter—blankly while these two were going back and forth.

Indeed, Novea especially could see that these two were truly partners…with such romantic bickering. “…alrightly then,” she…finally ahemed interveningly, “I think you two have had enough…”

Blue, hearing, froze… Her eyes slowly turned to the two sitting near and front, realizations taking hold… “Oh…” Indeed, her cheeks became quite the blushing red; “Oh, Trinity! S-s-sorry! Deepest apologies…for making you witness that—ahem—…My attitude became ahead of me, and that was…absolutely unbecoming of me” she immediately and swiftly apologized, quite embarrassed indeed.

“Not you, both of us…” Red…interposed; indeed, such applied to him too.

“I have heard…stranger conversations” Novea frankly replied, voice reassuring enough.

Blue let out a simmering breath, the utter embarrassment having taken her out of that moment… Indeed, it was unbecoming of both a lady and man to have such an open…squabble; though, more especially a lady.

She glanced at Novea, staring almost as she evidently pondered within…before glancing at Red…and then back to Novea…

In many ways, Blue did not appreciate the fact that Red was keeping the details of what he had agreed to help with…ambiguous, never mind who these people even were… Obviously, he must know; he was just not telling her… Questions wanting to be answered yet unable to be asked; she remained silent, keeping such within.

Blue’s eyes shifted back to Red; “Well, then… So where are we now going, at any event?” she inquired, smiling.