I had no words to describe what I was feeling.

My heart was frantic. Being pulled every which way and I wasn’t sure which to confront first.

The heart and letter Celine had left for me?

Trek? That quiet man’s humble request?

Angie and the strange threat that had destroyed her home and was possibly assaulting the Society?

Should I focus on those alive, those I called friends, instead of the future and the past? Should I spend time with those who I hadn’t seen in years and may not get to see again for years more?

Maybe I should lure Vim away, to spend some quiet time with him. It’s been almost two months since I’d seen him, and I had so many questions. So many things I wanted to say to him. He was here, not far from me, and yet I felt as if there was a terrible distance. One I wanted to eliminate as fast as possible.

Or… should I focus on the human girl, Cat? The long descendant of my very special friend and teacher, Witch? Someone who was, to me, a miracle.

To think I used to sit and count the moments. Hating them as they came and went without purpose or reason. I used to beg them to hurry. To come and go.

Yet now they were fleeting and I couldn’t hold onto them long enough. They were now so very precious.

Hopefully everyone else would forgive me for picking the one who had the fewest of such moments amongst us.

“There’s a little over two hundred of us now. Though we don’t all live in the same village… we’re kind of spread around the area, now, for one reason or another. But the main village, near the lakes, is still strong! Not only is Elaine there, so too are many more. Almost ninety of us, I think,” Cat happily told me all about her home, a home I used to call home too… so long ago.

I nodded happily, not afraid to let my eyes well with tears. “I remember those lakes,” I said.

Cat grinned happily, blushing a little as she nodded. She looked drunk, and her speech was starting to slur a tad. But who could fault her? She wasn’t just drunk on me and the moment, considering she was now on her third cup of liquor.

We were sitting alone at a smaller table, away from most of the rest. As far as I was aware nearly everyone was here, that was a part of the Society. Even Trek, the man who wished to die, was here. Though he too sat alone, over in a corner while he drank quietly.

The only member who wasn’t here, as far as I was aware, was the Chronicler. And although I wasn’t entirely sure as to the reason why, I knew it was likely on purpose and not because she was late. We’d all been here for hours after all, and it was now late in the night. A few people were even talking about leaving, saying their goodbyes for now to those they had been spending time with.

Little Fizz was one of them. She hurried over to our corner of the room, and I turned a little to greet the young girl. She was just as I remembered her on my last visit, which was a little concerning. Would she remain tiny like this for very long?

“I’m going to bed!” she proudly declared to me and Cat as she slapped the table we sat at.

“Good! Get your beauty rest!” Cat shouted back.

Fizz laughed at her and pointed. “She’s drunk!” she said, as if it was hilarious that a human could get drunk.

“Am not!” Cat defended herself, but with enough of a slur in the voice that anyone who heard her knew the truth.

“Goodnight Fizz. Thank you for earlier,” I said.

“Earlier…?” Fizz turned to me, frowned, and then she realized what I was talking about as she glanced at the human woman who was now taking another drink. She nodded as she understood my meaning, and gave me a smile. “It’s all good! If Vim makes you leave early, please come let me know so I can say goodbye,” she said.

I smiled warmly at the young girl and nodded. “I’ll make sure to do so,” I said.

Fizz gave me a grin and then turned away, hurrying off to say goodnight to the next person. She headed over to Oplar, and I wondered if she was going to say goodnight to everyone.

She and Angie had seemingly tried to become friends, but it seemed it hadn’t gone well. I wasn’t sure the reason as to why, but I’d have ask Link and Oplar later. They had been nearby when they met, whereas I hadn’t been. I had been one of the last to arrive here to the party, though not on purpose.

“I’m not drunk, you know? Really,” Cat defended herself again as she placed her cup down onto the table, and sniffed.

Was she about to cry…?

“Stupid girl. Just because her mom’s so pretty,” Cat mumbled as she turned to glare at Fizz.

Oh…? I mean… Henrietta was pretty, but why did that annoy Cat?

I smiled at her, and knew better than to think her comments were anything but her drunken ramblings.

Maybe it was time I took her back to the house too. If she was this bad already.

“You’re pretty too, Renn. Don’t you worry. You got nothing to worry about!” Cat then said to me, pointing at me as she did.

“Uh… okay?” I nodded at her, and wasn’t sure what she meant once again.

Wait…

I frowned as I realized she had connected Henrietta and me, and then our's looks, all at once in her drunken stupor.

Right… she had spent time with the dog family, for most of the day. While Vim did whatever he had to do before this party she had helped out in the kitchens alongside the dog family.

Maybe Henrietta had said something… concerning Vim and me…

“Really. You don’t need to worry. He loves you so much he hurt me, you know? Broke my hip and everything…!” Cat rambled on, and I couldn’t help but smirk at her.

Yes. She had told me already all about their trip here. How Vim had killed her friends. How he had helped bury them, and how sad he had looked while he had done so. And about how she had teased him, and flirted with him, or at least tried to. She had begged for forgiveness, since as she claimed it wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t known he was mine until later on, so it wasn’t fair to blame her for trying to steal him from me.

I wasn’t sure how Vim dislocating her hip on accident was a form of flirting, but to her it had been so. I’ll need to ask Vim later if he saw it as something similar too.

Earlier before coming to the party she had pulled me aside to tell me about the saint who lived amongst them. The one who had sent her on a quest, and why she had met Vim while doing so. I was glad she comprehended how important keeping such a thing a secret was, but it also interested me how she had made it very clear that Vim had wanted her to keep it a secret too.

She found it lovely that the man I had picked was the type to go against his supposed loyalties, the Society, as to protect and keep safe my own desires and important people.

I found it lovely too.

“Why not finish that last bit, Cat? Then I’ll take you to bed,” I suggested as I pushed her cup closer to her. There was a few drinks left.

“What…? No. You go to his bed, not mine,” she mumbled as she picked the cup up, obediently.

I giggled at her and nodded. Yes. It seemed she was very aware that Vim and I were married… and as such, being special as I was to her, it was very important that he and I didn’t break any supposed rules that married people obeyed and followed.

It was funny, honestly. I’d actually not have any problem sleeping with Cat. She was basically a daughter of my friend… even if she didn’t look like Witch at all. So to me it’d be like sleeping with family. As I'd slept with the kids and Nory, or one of the other society members. Not only would I be happy with it, I knew Vim would understand.

Yet it seemed if I tried such a thing Cat would freak out. Since to her it was wrong… somehow.

As Cat drank from her cup I glanced around again. I found that a few people were leaving the room, alongside Fizz and her family. Hands was joining them, as was Oplar. Several others, like Randle and Mapple, were also tidying up the table they had been sitting at as to leave.

Hm… it seemed the party was over.

It was a little sad, honestly. I had arrived late, and although hadn’t spent the whole party with Cat I had honestly not spent as much time with everyone else as I had wanted to.

But it wasn’t entirely my fault. A couple of the groups had become rather small, and their conversations had wandered into territories I had not wanted to be a part of. Hands and the dog family, for instance, had gone into full blown diatribes about some new kitchen that they planned to build. The conversation had not only been something I had found a little boring, they had been vocal about how they planned to not let the Chronicler or her people work on it. It had felt more like a personal speech against things they didn’t like than anything else.

Oplar and Link, with Angie and Sillti listening intently, had rambled on all night about the plague and the wars. It had been interesting to a point, but hearing about cities collapsing and militaries forming wasn’t just boring it was scary and sad… so I had stopped listening and participating in those conversations as well.

Then of course you had Randle and the rest of his flock. They had been the more quiet table of the room, other than Trek’s of course, but that very quietness had been the problem. The air around their table had felt stiff and cold… as if they hadn’t wanted to be here in the first place. Oddly it had seemed like their tense atmosphere wasn’t because of the surrounding tables and the conversations at them, but rather instead between themselves.

I hadn’t spent very much time with Mapple and Randle, but it had seemed like there was an issue between them. Maybe it was related to whatever grievances Randle was having with the Chronicler.

Jelti and Vim had bounced around all the tables, and had been the ones to interject and change topics every so often. Without them I bet several members would have gone the whole night without talking to certain other people. Right now Jelti was saying goodbye to Link, and Vim was walking over to Trek.

I was very tempted to get up and hurry over and join him. But I knew that this might be the first time Vim got a moment alone with Trek since returning… so I kept my butt firmly in my seat.

“Renn…!” Cat drew my attention as she scooted closer to the table, and reached over to me. A strangely dry hand grabbed my arm as she groaned at me.

“You okay…?” I asked. She looked in pain.

“No. I need to pee.”

I laughed at her and nodded.

She really was Witch’s daughter! Only they could be so brazen!

Only they could latch onto me for support without any hesitation.

Standing up I went to grabbing the daughter, or rather descendant, of my friend and teacher. I helped her to her feet, and had her wrap an arm around my shoulder as to keep her from falling over.

“Thanks,” Cat said as I headed for a door in the corner. This large meeting room had not only bathrooms, but a bedroom too… though I wasn’t sure who would ever use it, or why.

I took Cat to the restroom, helped her wobble into it, and then went to standing just outside door to wait for her.

While waiting I waved goodbye and goodnight to Link, Randle and the rest. They all left without saying much… and eventually it was just me, Cat, Vim and Trek.

Thanks to the world suddenly getting very quiet, I was now able to hear the soft whispers from the other side of the room. From the corner where the dead man sat.

Although my ears kept pointing their way, to try and hear better, I did my best to ignore the whispers I was hearing.

Those words were personal. They didn’t belong in my ears.

Though…

Studying the two, I couldn’t help but smile at the way Vim leaned forward and said something with his silly smirk. Whatever he had said made Trek smile too, and then chuckle lightly.

How nice.

The door to the restroom opened, and Cat groaned as she walked out.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Okay. I’m done,” Cat moaned.

I noted the way she had said that. She hadn’t just meant she was done with the restroom, she meant in general.

“Want to go to bed?” I asked.

She nodded stiffly.

Right. Yes. She was done for the night, ready to call it a day. She looked almost sick, somehow.

Although she looked sick and wobbled, she didn’t need my help as she stepped away. I gestured to the door, to which she nodded with a moan and went to follow me out of it.

I didn’t bother Trek or Vim as we left, since they seemed to be in a deep conversation. But as we left the room… I paused a moment and wondered if maybe I should go say goodbye and goodnight to Trek.

I had no idea when Vim would do the deed, after all. What if he did it now? Tonight?

I gulped, but Cat latched onto me. “My head hurts!” she complained as she clung to my arm.

Smiling at her, I decided to just… let Trek and Vim be. Even if I never saw him again, I wasn’t sure if it mattered. Not that I wanted him to die… but… well…

He had not wanted to meet me. Randle had asked, and he had said no.

End of story.

Even if it hurt.

“Not sure what I’d even say to him anyway,” I whispered as I helped guide and half-carry Cat back to where we were sleeping.

“Say to whom?”

I paused and glanced to my left, and then downward.

Angie.

“Hey Angie,” I said. I had thought she had left earlier. Hopefully she hadn’t been in that room this whole time, and I’d just not noticed. The girl was tiny, but usually I was far more perceptive.

“Are you going back to the house?” she asked.

I nodded to her.

“Good. Let’s go,” she said with a nod.

Frowning at her, I nodded and glanced around.

We were alone in the hallway. No one else was around.

Had they all left her here? What about Sillti?

“Link and Sillti like each other, I didn’t want to go back to his place with her. That’s gross,” Angie said with a sigh.

“What!” I startled, and Cat groaned in pain since I had moved so violently.

“Renn…” Cat whimpered and I laughed a little.

“Sorry,” I apologized to her and turned to look at the young bison. “You mean it? Link and Sillti?” I asked.

Angie frowned up at me as she nodded. “Yes. Didn’t you notice? They were flirting the whole night,” she said.

Oh my…! I hadn’t noticed! At all! All I had noticed and heard was Oplar and Link’s ramblings about the wars and stuff…

“That’s adorable,” I said happily. It was too bad I hadn’t noticed or got to witness any of it. How had they flirted? Link was a giant of a man, and so timid… I wonder how he had spoken and acted around her. I bet it had been cute.

“More like gross. He’s a lizard,” Angie said.

Ah… he was. “More grossed out over that than his size?” I asked.

“Yeah…?” Angie nodded as if it was obvious.

Hm. Interesting.

Wait… “How old are you, Angie?” I asked.

“Old enough to know not to intrude on them… but young enough that they should have at least made sure I was able to get back home,” Angie said with a huff as she crossed her arms.

Giggling at her I nodded. “Right…! Oh… does that mean you can’t open the gate?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No. I can’t.”

Huh… That was odd. I had been told that a bison was a large and stocky animal. Strong and stout.

Though I suppose she is tiny still… though Fizz wasn’t much bigger, and she was perfectly capable of opening and closing that gate…

“Your friend looks like she’s going to throw up,” Angie warned.

“Yes. I feel her muscles tightening, so let’s hurry,” I said as I picked up the pace.

Luckily we weren’t far from the house. A few hallways, a couple corners, and then through the gate we were.

I opened and closed the front gate, and Angie opened the front door for me as I carried Cat into the house.

“Mind grabbing a bucket for her, Angie?” I asked as I carried Cat upstairs. My human friend was now barely walking on her own feet.

“Mhm.”

Going to the far room, the one that had multiple beds in it, I laid Cat down in one of them. I wasn’t sure which she had slept in last night, since they had all been freshly made, but I suppose it didn’t matter.

Once we had put her to bed, with a bucket and a pitcher of water for support, Angie and I left the poor girl to sleep off her drunkenness.

“You seem fine,” I noted as Angie and I headed downstairs. She had drunk as much as everyone else had.

Though not the exact same liquor, she had still drunk alcohol all the same. It bothered me for some reason, but it seemed completely normal… and I knew that Angie even if what we considered young wasn’t actually as young as she appeared. Plus she really did seem perfectly fine.

“I’m not human,” Angie stated.

Right…

I’d say the same about myself, but I hadn’t drunk anything other than the berry smoothies Vim had gotten for me.

“Should… I go clean up after everyone, you think?” I asked Angie as I thought about it. Although we hadn’t made much of a mess, I could remember the tables in that room. They had been littered with plates and cups.

“No? Jelti said her people will clean it up later. I asked,” Angie said as she went for the kitchen.

Hm…

Standing near the fireplace and table, I wondered if I should light it or not. It was a little chilly, since winter was drawing close, but was it cold enough for a fire just yet?

Would Cat need a fire…? She was human… I’d hate for the poor girl to get sick. Thanks to this house being in an open courtyard it did sometimes get a little chilly during the night.

“Renn?” Angie called out for me, so I turned and hurried down the hallway.

Finding her in the bathroom, where the bath was, I frowned at her. She was kneeling on the ground, in front of the cubby where you would make a fire to warm the water in the tub. She had gathered some wood together, but was struggling with lighting it, it seemed.

Stepping into the bathroom, I kneeled down to help her. Instead of just lighting it for her, I made sure to show her how to properly use the fire starter stick. It was an elongated stick, that when struck against a type of flint rock caused sparks. This one though only really worked when you struck it from an angle, one that was almost as if hitting it from upside down. It was a little deceiving in purpose.

“Thank you,” Angie said as the fire grew in strength and she went to adding the larger logs to the kindling.

“I’ll help you gather water,” I said as I stood… and then realized something.

“Bucket is upstairs,” Angie said.

Right…

“Why’s there only one bucket?” I wondered as I looked around for another. Usually there were a couple in such bathrooms…

Actually why did we need a bucket at all? Why hadn’t Vim built this house like he had those in Lumen, where water could be drawn from those pipes he liked to make?

Wasn’t Telmik older? And hadn’t he helped build it too? Plus I could have sworn he had mentioned he had recently rebuilt this house not too long ago.

Another thing to ask him about once I could.

If I didn’t get the chance to spend time with him soon it’d take months just to ask all the questions I kept gathering, wouldn’t it?

Angie found one in the kitchen, and a few moments later we had filled the bathtub up for her. The young bison didn’t even wait for the water to fully heat up before getting in.

She let out a deep sigh as she laid back in the bath, sounding far older than she looked and was. It made me smile at her.

I let the girl bathe and relax, and left her alone. It wasn’t long after I lit a fire in the fireplace that the front door opened, and Vim stepped into the house.

Standing up quickly, I resisted the urge to run over to him and wrap him in a hug.

He had returned alone, with no one on his back or accompanying him, but he had a jug in his hand and a bag in another.

“Here you go,” He handed me the jug, which I found was the leftovers of my berry smoothie.

Happily accepting it, I wondered why I had forgotten it… and also how I had left any for there to be leftovers in the first place. Hadn’t I emptied the two jugs he had given me…? I could have sworn I drank all of it long before Cat had finished her third cup of alcohol.

As I poured some into a cup, I realized this wasn’t leftovers at all. The smoothie was too smooth. Too clean.

This was fresh.

Feeling oddly warmed by Vim’s strange ways of displaying his love for me, I listened as he climbed the stairs. He entered our room, and I heard him put something down onto the bed… and then he went farther down the hallway.

There was a tiny creak of a noise, likely a door opening, and I realized he had peaked in on Cat.

A few moments later he returned downstairs, and glanced down the hallway.

“Angie’s taking a bath,” I warned him, before he decided to check on her too.

I wasn’t sure if Angie would be offended or not by Vim seeing her naked, but there was no point risking it.

“Hm… I’m glad all is well then,” he said after a moment.

I had many questions, countless concerns, and a terrible desire to wrap him in a hug… but I held it all back, locking it all away for now. Instead I simply placed the pitcher down; I tapped my cup a little and then lifted it. “Want some?” I offered.

Vim smiled and shook his head, and instead stepped over to me.

I stood up straighter at his approach, and suddenly all my questions and concerns disappeared.

Staring up at him, I felt a strange sense of comfort. My shoulders slouched a little. My tail stopped swaying heavily, and the whole world just suddenly seemed…

Calm.

“This is the second time now. Isn’t it?” he asked gently.

“That we’ve met since you’ve been back? No. We’ve seen each other three times,” I told him. Did he forget we had said a few words to each other when he had introduced me to Cat? Outside of Randle’s office?

He frowned for a moment as he pondered my words, but then he shook his head. “No… I mean this is the second time we’ve spent time apart,” he clarified.

Oh… I couldn’t help it, I smirked happily and gripped my cup tighter. So he too had noticed it. “Technically also the third.”

“Really…?” his frown deepened.

I nodded. “Just recently. Lumen, and Ruvindale. We separated for a few weeks when you left. Before… all the chaos,” I reminded him.

“Ah. That is true, isn’t it,” his frowned softened as he nodded, understanding what I meant.

Here I’d thought he’d argue that didn’t count since we hadn’t been close back then. Not as we were now.

Yet it seemed he had not only understood my meaning, but had agreed with me. That somehow made me happy.

Shifting a little, I glanced down at the rest of him. He wore proper clothes now. Ones not riddled with holes and burn marks. Though I didn’t care much for the… “Hm…” I paused a moment as I realized he was wearing a very cheap set of clothes.

“What is it?” he asked as he glanced down at himself.

Reaching out, I grabbed his shirt. He had tucked it into his waistband, as if he was actually someone who lived and worked here in these saintly walls of stone. Somehow it ill-suited him. “Where’d you get these clothes?” I asked. They felt very rough, and prickly. Definitely not something I wanted him to wear to bed.

“Randle. I told him you’d complain about them,” he said.

“Hmph,” I huffed as I stopped messing with his clothes and stepped back a step… both to stop myself from wrapping him in a hug, and to get a better look at him.

Vim tilted his head at me, and I noted the way he smiled at me.

“I’ll not hug you while you wear that prickly stuff,” I said, doing my best to not grin at him.

“Then I better ask Randle for many more sets, I think,” Vim responded.

My tail twitched, and I felt stupid. I had walked into that one.

I’d lose terribly if I didn’t change the topic a little, then.

“Did… did you grant Trek his wish already?” I asked quietly, and mentally kicked myself as I did.

Why change the topic to something so sad and depressing, Renn!? The atmosphere just now had been wonderful! I had just tossed a perfect chance to tease him a little.

“No. It was going to happen tonight, or rather he wanted it done during the sunrise… but he’s decided that he wants to meet you. So he shall stay alive for one more day,” Vim said, completely unbothered.

My chest tinged with pain. “Really…?” I whispered, no longer upset over having brought it up.

He nodded and smiled at me.

“Why…?”

“He saw you sitting with Cat. A human. He asked about what was going on, I explained it to him. At least the general story. He found that very interesting, enough to stay alive another day,” Vim explained.

I smiled at that. “So he found that more interesting than me being your wife?” I asked.

He nodded, and then frowned. “Right… that is true, isn’t it? There are many members who are friendly with the humans, so I wonder why it interested him,” Vim said as he thought about it.

“No matter. I look forward to talking to him… should I go see him now?” I asked.

“No. It’ll be sunrise soon, let him enjoy it. If you talk to him now, before sunrise, he might ask me to fulfill his request today so…” Vim said.

“Ah… right. Yes,” I nodded quickly, agreeing with him.

It was a little manipulative but Vim was right.

Even a single day more was precious.

“Renn.”

Looking up, I startled a little upon finding Vim right in front of me.

“What…?” I leaned back a little, and gripped my cup tighter. A little bit of the contents had spilled out of it upon my earlier jump, and was now running down the back of my hand.

I ignored it as I stared into his eyes.

They were very focused.

“I missed you,” he said softly.

My arms went weak, and I startled once more. This time because I had dropped the cup. I hadn’t needed to panic though. The cup had landed safely, and cleanly, into Vim’s hand. As if he had expected it all along.

I groaned at him as he chuckled and returned the cup to me.

Taking it back, I sighed deeply at him as I took a drink. The first drink since pouring it. I had done so to hopefully calm my nerves, but it barely worked.

I should have partaken in alcohol with everyone else.

“Gross.”

I jumped again, but not as sharply as before. Vim turned a little, and we both watched as Angie stepped out of the hallway. She now wore only her shirt, which slightly clung to her body. She hadn’t dried off completely.

“Gross? Really? I’ve not even gotten a kiss yet or anything,” Vim said to the young bison, unafraid to challenge her accusation.

“That’s exactly what’s gross about it. Don’t you two be gross too…” Angie mumbled her complaints about us.

Although her grumbling seemed completely serious, I couldn’t help but smile and laugh at her. “I wish we were!” I said.

Vim sighed at me as he went to sit down at the table. “Let me guess you didn’t like your mother’s favorite pass-time,” Vim said.

Hm…? I glanced at Vim and noticed the smirk he had. Was he teasing her?

“It’s not wrong or anything… just don’t do it out in the open! Is that so hard to ask?” Angie complained further as she too went to sit at the table.

Vim chuckled as I put one and two together.

I see. So her parents had been what Vim called frisky. Maybe that was why she found flirting and stuff so disagreeable.

Hurriedly taking a seat, to join the two at the table, I happily smiled as Angie reached out for the pitcher. “What’s in this?” she asked.

“Renn’s favorite,” Vim said as I went to get her a cup.

Angie sighed. “Gross.”