Haley had put some comfortable clothing on that Shirley handed her as Haley had learned, the collar also prevented her from accessing her inventory. She had put on old wide jeans, along with a white shirt. Haley smiled, “Thanks for allowing me to have some of your clothes, and cutting a hole in your jeans.”

Shirley chuckled, “No worries at all, I found most of my clothes. I am an outcast.”

Haley nodded and pointed at a couch. Shirley nodded. Haley did a step forward but grunted in pain, Shirley walked over, “Here let me help you, you probably have broken your left leg.” Haley let Shirley help her to the couch. She sat down and Shirley put a chair down for Haley’s left leg.

Shirley smiled, “And why did you not fly? You have wings after all.”

Haley chuckled, “I still need to learn to fly or float. It might have been a bit dumb of me to jump out of that airship. My dad learned to me to have patience and wait for the right moment. I think, I might have acted prematurely. Why don’t you tell me more about yourself Shirley?”

She sat down next to Haley, “Alright, I am a princess. Well, I used to be one, since Boluga does not exist anymore. My city, along with my mom and dad, have been wiped out by the void. I just wish, I could see them again. Or even explore the world below.”

Haley sighed and nodded, “It sounds bad, I can relate to losing people to the void.”

Shirley sighed, “The void, is it evil?”

Haley shook her head, “No, I don’t think so.”

Shirley got up, “Are you hungry? It is dinnertime soon, I can open some canned soup, it is only a few years past the expiration date.”

Haley laughed, “Yeah, some tomato soup would be nice.”

Shirley nodded and walked to her kitchen. Haley looked around, there was a dining table with a few comfy chairs, some scavenged materials. A broken television with a huge crack in it. The room is very clean, and her bathroom seemed to be a good one. Haley called out, “Why is the king not coming after you in this house?”

Shirley looked into the room, “He knows I live here, and that I am in the capital. He does not see me as a threat, there is no Bolugan army anymore, my mom and dad are gone. I am just an orphan that is living in an abandoned house, and I banned by the society.”

After a while, Shirley had warmed up some soup and gave it to Haley. They drank their soup in silence. After they were done with eating, Shirley cleaned up. Haley looked at Shirley, “Can you get a message to my dad?”

Shirley looked at Haley, “Sure, where is he? In the city?”

Haley shook her head, “The last time I saw him, he was near the ruins of the dark river. He has wings like me, ethereal wings. The king ripped one of his wings off. Brent also hurt my mom. There were two friends who traveled with us, a woman and an Insectine.”

Shirley nodded, “Give me a second and I will be right back.”

Shirley walked over to Haley and took her hand, “Are you going to be fine while I am gone?”

Haley nodded and smiled, “Yes, I will be fine.” Shirley nodded and left the house.

Haley sighed and looked at her left arm, Shirley had patched it up nicely, just as she had patched up her left leg. Haley sighed, this is going to take some time to heal up. Especially without using energy. Haley leaned back for a moment and closed her eyes. After a while, Shirley walked into the house and Haley looked at her, she had a cage with a towel covering it. She put it down on her dining table, along with some pen and paper.

Shirley showed her some tools she did not recognize. Haley pointed at the cage, “What is that?”

Shirley removed the towel. Haley chuckled, “A pigeon?”

Shirley looked at the bird, “No this is a dove.”

Haley nodded, “Alright and what is this dove going to do?”

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Shirley grabbed the pen and paper and put it next to her on the couch as she sat down next to Haley. “You can write a letter and the dove will bring it to your dad, if you put it in the casing around his neck.”

Haley smiled, “Damn that is neat.” She put her right hand on Shirley’s leg, “Thank you so much for this.” Haley leaned towards Shirley to grab the pen and paper. Shirley leaned in and kissed her. Haley backed off, “Woah, hold on cowboy.”

Shirley shot up, “oh my god, I am so sorry! I am very awkward with people, and you leaned in, and oh my god I totally misread that situation. Don’t get this wrong please, I am not wanting to take advantage of you. It is just you grabbed my leg, and you leaned forward, and I completely forgot I had put the pen and paper there. And I am helping you and I saved you and I thought, oh my god am I rambling?”

Haley held up her hand, “Please calm down Shirley.”

She panted and looked at Haley, “Please don’t be angry.”

Haley laughed, “It is alright, the way I am hearing it, that was an honest mistake, but it is good to know, you are into women.”

Shirley paced back and forth, “I am sorry!” “I have never been in a relationship, or had a friend for that matter. And now I go and ruin it by totally misreading every signal.”

Haley kept holding up her hand, then she grabbed the pen and paper. “We are fine Shirley, you are not the first person to accidentally kiss someone, and you won’t be the last. Now, let me write this note for that white dove.”

Shirley came closer, “Look, you need to let me apologize, I will cook whatever you want, I have favors I can cash in. I will go out there and gather the ingredients for you.”

Haley had a sparkle in her eyes, “You don’t have to, but if you insist, this is a long shot, but I would love some pizza if you know what that is?”

Shirley gasped, “You even know what pizza is?”

Haley nodded, “My dad and I used to eat it a lot, with lots of cheese, got me so constipated sometimes, sorry, being too honest. My mom wasn’t a huge fan, but she enjoyed it occasionally.”

Shirley smiled, “Once that dove is away, I will get the ingredients for tomorrow.”

Haley nodded, “while I keep on writing, tell me why you are into ladies, or do you also like men?”

Shirley shrugged, “I am not sure, I have never really had the chance to develop these skills. I have always been a loner.”

Haley cracked a grin for her, “I understand, you never had a mom and dad that raised you. I truly need to thank you for helping me by tending my wounds. I was about to collapse in that building, pushing through the pain had gotten unbearable. Without you, Brent would have captured me.”

Shirley smiled, “It came naturally to me, you seemed like a girl in need.”

Haley gave the letter to Shirley, she rolled it up and attached it to a casing on the dove’s neck. Then she went on to give it instructions. It flew through the window. Shirley smiled, “I will be back with ingredients before you know it. Bolugans used to be famous bakers. Oh, and we had a lot of technology,” she pointed at the television. She grabbed a bag with books, they had plenty of recipes and lore on Boluga. Haley asked for them and Shirley put the bag down next to her.

Haley grunted, “I think I have never hurt myself this bad.”

Shirley walked over to Haley and kneeled in front of her, “How come that you could handle even that much pain? Did your dad beat you? The way you talk about him, it does not seem like he hit you.”

Haley shook her head, “My dad does not hit me, and he loves and respects me a lot. I hope you can meet him soon. However, I have been trained from the day I turned six.”

Shirley gasped, “What, that sounds horrible!”

Haley shook her head, “I enjoyed training, my mom, and dad always gave me an out, we even had safe words. We never truly broke any major bones while sparring, maybe some minor ones, but those could be healed with energy. I never broke major bones like this, I think I needed to start with those flying lessons earlier. If that airship had flown a bit higher, I would have been fucked.”

Shirley sighed, “I am just glad you are not dead.”