The young witch had been regaling the party with her stories of life with her master, "And one time, Madame Periculum made me fight a drake by myself! Ohhh, that was sooo scary!"
The witch turned to Auria, "Oh, also, that thing you did last night! With the rubies, how did you do that? I haven't even seen Madame Periculum create anything like that!"
Auria just scoffed, as though the question offended her somehow, "That's because it's impossible to create anything,"
"That's not true!" The witch retorted, "Madame Periculum creates a lot of things, gives things life! She does a bunch of stuff!"
Auria glared at the witch, it was an uncharacteristically scary and angry glare, "Nobody, not even the 'gods' themselves, can create anything, only rearrange,"
"Woah, calm down there Crane, don't scare her off now," Senwell interjected, "We're almost halfway there, so at least keep it together until then, please,"
"Sorry, Grenadier!" Auria chuckled, snapping back to her usual self, "Got a bit ahead of myself there!"
"Right… Well, it looks like there's a small lake up ahead, do you guys want to stop by there for a bit?" Senwell asked.
"I'd race ya there, but uh…" Auria motioned to her hurt ankle, "To be fair, it is starting to feel a bit better, kinda-sorta-maybe… But you guys go on ahead, I'll get there eventually!"
Senwell sighed and squatted down, "Come on, Crane, get on, you complain a whole lot, but I doubt you want to just sit back and watch everyone,"
"Pffft, thought you'd be too proud to stoop down to carrying me, Grenadier," Auria teased, "Super shocking,"
"Just get on before I change my mind!" Senwell exclaimed.
Auria giggled as she climbed onto Senwell's back. She wrapped her arms around his neck, almost strangling him at first, though she eventually loosened her grip.
Senwell sighed, "You're like a dim-witted younger sister, I swear…"
Auria blew a raspberry before resting her chin in Senwell's shoulder and closed her eyes, it just felt like the right thing to do.
Auria rested on Senwell's back until the group made it to the lake, Senwell dropped her on the soft ground and smirked, "We're here!"
Auria rubbed her now bruised bottom and used her staff to slowly help her stand, "Very funny, Grenadier,"
Auria wandered to the side of the lake. She removed her shoes and then sat on the lakeside and soaked her bruised feet in the water, she splashed them around a little, but mostly just let the water soak in.
Eventually, Ross, Nicosia, Senwell, and even the witch joined Auria, they weren't exactly prepared to take a swim, they had no swimming attire, so everyone instead opted to rest and relax instead.
"Excuse me, Madame Crane," The witch said, "May I ask you a question?"
Auria glanced over for a moment before turning away, "Yeah sure, I guess that's fine, ask away,"
"I would like to ask again… How did you make rubies appear from your finger? I-I don't mean any disrespect, I'm just curious…"
Auria inhaled deeply, "Rubropoeia," She answered plainly, "That's it, changing something into rubies, in my case, changing my blood into rubies,"
"I see! Can you do anything else like that?" The witch asked.
"Yeah, I can do a few things like that, Sappopoeia, Chrysopoeia, Maragopoeia, stuff like that, Sapphire, Gold, and Emerald, respectively," Auria answered, "Anything else you want to know?"
The witch shook her head, "No, that's about all I wanted to know… Thank you for answering me,"
A peaceful silence sprouted from the group, everyone was enjoying themselves, destressing, calming down.
Without warning, the witch let out a bloodcurdling scream, so loud that it deafened everyone for a moment!
"What is that?" The witch asked, pointing across the lake.
Auria followed her gaze, and there it was! Sitting just across the lake was a snakelike humanoid creature, a snakeperson!
Auria's blood ran cold. She loved snakes, and people weren't so bad, but a snakeperson! Frightening was an understatement.
The snakeperson locked eyes with Auria and as afraid as she was, she surprisingly didn't feel any real malice coming from them, in fact, the snakeperson seemed to be just as afraid, if not more afraid of Auria than she was of it. It was the eyes, the eyes of a being who believed they were dead.
Auria couldn't explain why, but she shed her trenchcoat, tossed down her hat, and dove into the water, though she wasn't able to swim too well with one hand. Her fun was cut short by Ross diving in and dragging her back.
"What the hell, Crane! What are you doing?" Ross yelled out.
"Looked like it needed help," Auria murmured.
Ross gave a frustrated sigh as she dragged Auria onto the shore, "You're insufferable, Crane,"
Auria blew a raspberry, but just laid on the shore, her hat sitting just next to her. She wasn't really angry, though she wasn't happy either.
"We need to change her cast now," Ross murmured to Senwell, "It's all wet and all,"
Auria sighed and sat up, she drew a transmutation circle in the ground and placed a hand on it, instantly drying herself. She drew water from her cast and returned it to the lake.
Auria hopped up and glanced at Ross and Senwell, "It was scared but…" Auria looked back to where the snakeperson had been, "It's gone now,"
Auria went back to soaking her feet in the water, she was a lot less talkative by now, though she wasn't actually that mad.
"Why'd you even try to go swim over there? Towards the snakeperson," Senwell asked, "Seemed reckless, though I guess that's nothing new for you,"
"It looked scared, I wanted to console it, tell it everything's okay," Auria replied.
Senwell and Ross exchanged confused glances before turning their attention back over to Auria, "How could you tell?" Ross asked.
"I saw its face… Its eyes, it had the eyes of prey that locked eyes with a predator… The eyes of a dead man,"
Auria then snickered and heaved a sigh, "Sorry, that got a bit serious," She stood, straightened her clothes, and faced Ross and Senwell, "I'm done here, let's get going,"
"Aww, but I was just getting comfortable…" The witch whined.
Nicosia's stomach rumbled, "Lieutenant, do you have any food for me? I'm starving…" He rubbed his stomach and did his best to suck up to the Lieutenant, "How much farther?" He complained.
"Two days," Ross simply said, "And here, I have a ration bar," She added, handing Nicosia her ration bar.
Nicosia's eyes lit up, "Lieutenant! I knew you cared!" He exclaimed as he excitedly grabbed the bar and began to eat away at it.
By the time Auria had returned, Nicosia had already gobbled it up, leaving no traces behind, "Ahh, that was great!" Auria exclaimed, "So relieving…"
"What exactly was so important that you needed us to stop?" Senwell asked.
"Had to pee, why do you think you weren't allowed to follow me?" Auria teased, "I don't want you to see that… Too much for your innocent eyes,"
Auria giggled before beginning to walk once more, meeting up with the witch, "Heya, what're you doing?" Auria asked.
"Oh! I'm uh, trying to make a connection with my master, she taught me a spell, but I don't think I remember it completely… I think I'm missing something,"
"Hm, I see… Well, good luck!" Auria said before trotting over to Ross, "Heya Lieutenant, what'cha up to?"
"Just babysitting Nicosia…" She murmured, "Why, you need me to babysit you too?"
Auria glanced at Nicosia, who was wandering around, grumbling about wanting to eat more. She then turned her attention back to Ross, "Mmm, I'd love for you to babysit me, but I'll pass this time,"
"Oh, Crane, how is your ankle feeling now?" Ross asked, "Is it doing alright?"
Auria grinned, "Yep!" She motioned to her ankle and shook it around, "Feeling just fine now! I just got some bruises and stuff!"
"How did it even happen? You even got a broken arm, but I didn't get injured at all, what did you do when I was out?"
"Fell real far, twisted my ankle, but now it's twisted the right way, so we're good!" Auria said, "Oh! Sergeant, don't eat that, that's a pinecone!" She yelped as she trotted over to Nicosia.
After a bit of coaxing and a little threat from Ross which was scary even though it wasn't directed at Auria, Nicosia spit it out and complained again about how he was hungry.
"How are you a Sergeant and complain so much?" Auria asked, "Just find some berries! Or shoot a bear and cook it up! I bet you could do that!"
"That's the Lieutenant's job…" Senwell said, "I… Don't have the heart or guts to do that, so I leave it to her… She likes doing that stuff,"
"Mm… I see, have you ever seen her though? She's real pretty, and she could break my collarbone with her tongue if she wanted to!" Auria gushed, "What a great woman… Hey, Sergeant, you ever think about dating the Lieutenant?"
"Eh, what?" Nicosia asked, clearly stunned, "Oh no no, it could never be like that! She's too… Important,"
Auria chuckled, "There's no such thing as an impossible love, Sergeant," Auria said, "I can see you in the background, helping out the Lieutenant with everything, even when she doesn't ask! You put one-hundred-and-ten percent into everything you do for her!"
"Well… Say I might be interested… This is just theoretical, by the way!" Nicosia exclaimed, "How would I even go about it…"
Auria grinned, "Oh, just let me show you how it's done!" Auria said before trotting over to the Lieutenant and started chatting her up a bit.
"Oh! I forgot something," Auria said.
"Hm? Something else you need, Crane?" Ross queried.
Auria bit her finger! She let blood flow from it and grabbed a clump of blood that became a ruby, "This is for you, Lieutenant, a pretty gem for a pretty lady!" Auria giggled, "And you're a super pretty lady,"
"Ah, thank you, Crane, though I do have to say, you're a bit young for me," Ross replied, "Thank you for the ruby though, I will cherish it dearly," She added, taking the ruby.
Auria snickered, though it soon turned into a full-blown laugh, grabbing the attention of everyone in the party.
"What's so funny, Crane?" Ross asked, "Is there something on my face?"
"Oh, it's just funny that you think it's from me! That's from Nic-" Auria was cut off by Nicosia acting on his instincts and clamping a hand over her mouth.
"Oh, hey Lieutenant, didn't see you the-ewwaa!" Nicosia exclaimed as he reeled his hand away from Auria, "Did you just lick my hand?"
"Yeah, tasted like…" She thought for a moment, "Three-week-old salmon, gross, that's gross,"
"Why you-" Nicosia yelled out, going in to ruffle Auria's hair. He yanked off her hat and rubbed a fist against the top of Auria's head.
Auria yelped out for Ross, "Lieutenant, save me! Ack- My arm, that's my arm, the bad one too!"
All Ross gave was a giggle, the Lieutenant was laughing! It was just as cute as the first time!
"Ah, sorry, sorry, it's just so nice to see the Sergeant coming out of his shell a bit, it's a bit of a relief really," Ross said.
Auria and Nicosia stopped fooling around for the moment to just stare at Ross and eventually Nicosia just let Auria go entirely.
Auria looked between the two a few times before winking at Nicosia and mouthing a reassuring go for it. She then waved them off and met back up with Senwell and the witch.
The two were left in silence, an awkward feeling was further enhanced by the amount of noise the group had been making up until that point.
"So… Lieutenant…" Nicosia started.
"Yes?"
"Would you like to… Go out for a drink, whenever we get back to Central, that is…" Nicosia murmured. He was barely audible.
Ross smirked, "Sure, that sounds nice,"