Once Rosalie calmed down, Soral filled her in on what had happened, and his plan to bring her back with him. He still had a few things to do before they left, so he took her with him as he walked.

“Are you really willing to take me with you?” Rosalie asked. None of the other things had seemed to surprise her much.

“You and Howler,” Soral confirmed, “I need to make sure he is getting ready.”

“I can do that,” Rosalie told him, “Where should we meet once we are ready?”

He couldn’t have Rosalie meet them in the red house so he had to consider that for a moment. Densooth was also occupying the secret room. “How about we meet at the lake, by the dock?”

“That will work,” she said and headed off to find Howler.

Now that he was alone, Soral made a beeline for the library, hoping Nicholas was there. He wanted to at least say goodbye to him after everything he had helped with. Luckily, Nicholas was in his usual spot, almost as if he had been waiting.

“I heard you came back,” he told Soral with a smile, “I’m glad you look alright. Did… Did he mark you?”

“He did,” Soral confirmed. It was easy to forget that Nicholas was one of that slimy old man’s apprentices, “I am actually leaving pretty soon, though. I wanted to say goodbye.”

“That makes sense. You never meant to come here, so you wouldn’t stay forever,” Nicholas agreed, “Good luck. I will be rooting for you.”

“Thanks,” Soral replied with a smile of his own. He really wished he had time to hear more about Nicholas’s home, but there was another important person he had to say goodbye to. One a bit harder to find. “Do you know where I can find Zinela?”

“Zinela? I think around this time she would be in the greenhouse. She spends a lot of time there during the day.”

The greenhouse? Soral hadn’t even thought to look for her there. “Thanks!” he told Nicholas again and went running off.

There was a slight problem. Soral had no idea which greenhouse she was in. It turned out there was more than one, though most were near the lake for easy access to water. He also found another greenhouse behind the red house. It was smaller and closer so he checked that one first.

Maybe it was his luck, or the proximity to where she lived, but he saw her there right away. Her pearly hair was tied up as she tended to some plants Soral had never seen before. The flowers were pretty and white, but many of the other plants in the greenhouse looked more magnificent.

“Our hero has returned,” she spoke without turning to face him, “Have you come to let me know you are leaving for good?”

“I am,” Soral told her. He supposed it was only natural she would think that. Everyone knew those who defeated Doc would gain their freedom.

“Don’t slack on your training outside,” she told him, “It would be a pity for you to lose everything I taught you.”

“I won’t,” Soral promised. This conversation was a bit more awkward than he had anticipated. He wasn’t sure if he should try to continue or just leave. After a few more moments of silence, he decided to do the latter.

There was one last person he needed to see, and this one was more of a formality. After all, he had to let Oasis know he was leaving. Since he felt a bit rushed, he barged into Oasis’s office without knocking and caught the man with his hat off for the first time. He had ears. Wolf ears, the same reddish brown as the charm.

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“Soral? Are you leaving already?” Oasis asked, unconcerned.

“Uh, yeah,” Soral replied, “I just came to let you know. And I am taking Howler and Rosalie.”

“Alright,” Oasis agreed, “Feel free to visit whenever you would like. You will always be welcome here.”

Soral was about to pass, when he thought better of it. If he stayed on Oasis’s good side he might be able to take advantage of it later.

“I’ll do that,” he said instead, turning to leave the room, and closing the door behind him.

Soral felt oddly conflicted when he was alone on the other side. Oasis was a Wolf? And he hadn’t really been hiding it either. Howler was also a Wolf so it shouldn’t be a big deal if not for one major problem. It suggested that the Black Wolf wasn’t just a title, but a description. Now that he thought of it, other than the one Cat, he had only seen Wolves.

Distracted by that thought, he wandered to the dock to find Howler and Rosalie ready and waiting. Since they had all been slaves just recently, none of them had much to pack. Along with them was a crowd of people who were a bit upset that Soral was leaving without saying goodbye to them too. This crowd was headed by Lala.

“You tried to sneak off!” she accused.

“I figured you would know I was leaving,” Soral said with a shrug, “Oasis said I can come visit.”

“You had better!”

“Good luck,” Sloth told him. Soral especially hadn’t expected him to show up, but it was nice to see him.

After working his way through many more accusations and well wishes, Soral finally made it to his traveling companions. “Goodbye everyone!” he called out, and instantly made them disappear before another word could be said, or thought.

With no better plan for now, they appeared in front of Ruena’s cottage. Soral was hit with an unexpected wave of nostalgia. Everything was exactly as he remembered it, and he had to remind himself that he hadn’t actually been gone that long.

“Is this where we are staying?” Rosalie asked with some trepidation. It was obvious even from the outside there was no room for all of them there.

“I was gonna find another place,” Soral assured them, “You guys can stay at the old castle once I restore it, but I guess you can stay in town until then.”

Ruena stepped outside the door then. “I thought I heard voices,” she said, “I already booked a place for you to stay.”

“You knew we were coming?” Howler asked, and glanced at Soral.

“We kept in touch,” Ruena replied, “Did you want me to take you to town to settle or did you want to get straight to business?”

“Let’s take some time,” Howler decided, “You two need to catch up, even if you kept in touch.”

Ruena had an odd look on her face. “If we go to town there won’t be any time to catch up,” she told them.

“Why? Is something going on?” Soral asked.

“The Belleas Company has been eagerly awaiting your return,” she answered.

Soral noticed something odd in the wording, but asked just in case. “The Belleas Guild has been waiting for me?”

“Them too, but the Belleas Company is here. When I told the Guild you were coming back, word spread quickly. Sibel Toll himself is waiting.”

“Why did you tell them I was coming back?” Soral asked.

“Oh, right. That was part of the deal we made,” Ruena explained, “The Belleas Guild has been providing me with free lessons and materials as long as I kept them updated on what was going on with you.”

That seemed a little disconcerting, but Sibel had tried to rescue him from Oasis. “So we shouldn't-”

Before he could finish his sentence his chest was slammed by a small white fluff ball moving at incredible speeds. As Soral reached out automatically to catch the fluff, it stuck out a paw against his arm, as if resisting.

“Jazz?”

“He’s been a bit on edge since last night,” Ruena told him, “He was fine until then, but whatever happened really upset him.”

Soral gave Jazz a hug. “It kinda upset me too,” he admitted, “Don’t worry. I never want to do that again.”

This made Jazz relax a little, but instead he became incredibly clingy.

“I still think we should go to town,” Rosalie broke in, “If Soral has become a celebrity here, we should take advantage of that.”

“That’s true,” Howler agreed, “And it’s nice to be in a forest again.”

Ruena nodded. “Then let’s get going. Hopefully this won’t take too long.”

The path leading from the cottage to the city was as overgrown as ever, but when they caught sight of the Belleas Guild, it had a far larger swarm of people surrounding it than usual. As they got closer, one in the crowd noticed them and called out.

“Soral’s back!”

The crowd quickly surrounded them and guided them into the street before the Belleas Guild, and another split off to dash into the building. Once he left, the rest of them took this opportunity to bombard Soral with questions.

“I heard you were kidnapped!”

“Who are your friends?”

“How did you escape?”

“Are you not dating Ruena?”

“Did you need help?”

“Are you alright?”

“I heard you humbled the slave trade.”

That was a lot all of the sudden, and Soral caught an odd question in there somewhere. He tried his best to answer most of them, but before he could get to the weird one, Sibel Toll exited the building, drawing immediate silence.