Shelby and Thimble came to a fork in the road about 10 minutes north of Copperglade Village. Thimble pointed to the left and said, "that's where I came from, and I didn't see any villages on the way."

  Shelby nodded, her mini-map was pointing to the northeast, "Right! We're going this way."

  She started walking along the right road and asked him, "when does the other road become destroyed?"

  He shrugged, "a bit farther up. It was intact for most of the way through this forest, but in the plains it was deliberately dug up and littered with rocks and logs."

  "Deliberately... I wonder who did that. Did those traders say when they last came to Copperglade?" Shelby asked.

  "They did," Thimble seemed to be thinking back to something, "maybe 6 months? I think they said something like that."

  He was moody, but seemed to open up as they walked and chatted in short bursts, like their discussion now. He rarely refused a direct question. He was also a great help in fights. The road was mostly safe, but every once in a while a stray fruit rat would scamper towards them from the thick undergrowth walling off the road. Even if the fruit rat was charging Shelby, he always found a way to intercept the attack on his small shield. He also seemed to have an ability to quickly strike back when he was attacked, as if attacking him caused the enemy to freeze up for a moment so he could slash at them. Shelby didn't really need to help him with the nature spirits, but she still did her best to fire an arrow off when she could. She still needed to practice fighting as a team with him and using her Measured Shot in real battle scenarios, too. Shelby earned her third level in Short Bows a few encounters into their journey, but without Plin around she had no idea what it did. It wasn't like she even needed to fire three times in a row to trigger Cutting shot, anyways, so she wasn't even using her second level maneuver.

  Coda had an unshakable fascination with Thimble. The bat wasn't accustomed to walking long distances, so he spent most of his time circling overhead and occasionally attacking an enemy coming up from behind them with his wind attack. But, whenever they paused for more than a few seconds, Coda would land next to Thimble and insist that Thimble pet him by shoving his long nose into Thimble's hand. Thimble seemed more than a little nervous around the bat, who was only shorter than Thimble by a few inches, but after a few repetitions of the interaction, he started to pet Coda without reservation.

  The first hiccup in their day came when Coda was tackled out of the air by another bat. They landed in a tussling heap in the middle of the road, tossing up a cloud of dust like a cartoon brawl. Shelby froze up. She needed to save Coda but she was unwilling to hurt the bat attacking him. Bats aren't spirits. While she looked on helplessly, Thimble rushed forward and swatted the other, larger bat away from Coda with his shield. It hopped back and hissed a bolt of wind into him, driving him backwards and causing him to take 5 points of damage. He shouted at Shelby, "Snap out of it!"

  She blinked, "But, it's... it's like Coda!"

  He pushed another bolt aside with his shield and glared at her, "So what? You think a wild animal would let you live?"

  Shelby knew they wouldn't. Even sweet, innocent Coda had almost killed her. She drew her bow and fired at the bat, who took to the sky to avoid it. Shelby used Unleash, ordering Coda to use his health drain. Coda leapt up 8 feet and caught the other bat by the legs with his feet, then bit into its chest for 8 damage and dragged it back down to the road. A green '4' drifted away from Thimble as he rushed forward and stabbed down at the bat. Coda kicked the bat away from himself and Thimble swung overhead into its back. It was a powerful hit, and the bat bounced back towards Shelby. She fired a Measured Shot into its side and then flinched in regret. Coda followed up by screaming silently into its back. After the dust settled, it was lying still.

  Shelby walked up and kneeled next to it, eyes starting to tear up. Thimble aggressively sighed, then knelt down by her. He put a hand over the bat's face and then muttered something. Shelby caught his eye, "Should we bury it?"

  "It's a wild animal..."

  "But... that could have been Coda."

  "You need to get used to reality," he said firmly, "you're going to have to fight with all kinds of animals if you're going to be an adventurer."

  "I'd rather just fight spirits," Shelby said.

  "What are you going to do if a bat like this attacks your village?"

  Shelby frowned. What would I do?

  Tara spoke gently, but firmly, "These animals aren't real, Shells."

  Yeah, that's right. This is a game...

  With a nod, Shelby stood, "Let's at least cover it in leaves or something."

  Before Thimble could protest further, she began to pull it towards the side of the road. By the time she got to the edge, found a fallen branch with bushy leaves, and came back, the bat was dissolving into little flecks of light. She still put the branch over it, then started walking towards the village again.

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  Thimble jogged to catch up to her, looking uncomfortable, "Is that a Marifleur custom?"

  Shelby looked at him with a puzzled expression, "What?"

  AIDAN whispered, "He believes you are from Marifleur."

  Thimble tilted his head, "Covering up the dead."

  "Oh. Yes, to show them respect, and love," Shelby half told the truth.

  Thimble didn't have anything to say in response to that, and they walked on in silence. Before their awkward interaction could fester for too long, they came upon an overturned carriage. It was flopped over on a particularly large bush and a huge boar was tied to a tree a half dozen yards into the forest. It looked like it had been digging up the area and the tree was covered in long gashes, but it was currently laying in a neat loaf position and sleeping. Shelby gave Thimble a look of interest and he shrugged back. She peeked around the side of the carriage and then deeper into the forest, but didn't see anyone, so she yelled, "Hello? Is anyone there?"

  The door to the carriage, the one facing skywards, popped open and a small man stuck his round, adorable head out. He swiveled around until he saw Thimble and Shelby and let out a surprised, "Hah!"

  Shelby waved at him. It was the pika she had seen last night headed north on the main road. With alarming inelegance, he scrambled out of the carriage and stood on the side of it, speaking with a high and pompous voice, "Ho there, what a fortune to be stumbled upon at last. I've been huddled here all night and morning."

  "It looks like you need some help!" Shelby commented.

  "Yes, exactly so. I was derailed by a pack of creatures darting across the road last night. They frightened my poor Elizabeth and she ran right into this depression!" he gestured to the lip of the road where the wagon had clearly fallen over.

  "Oh no! Is she okay?" Shelby asked in alarm.

  "I'm afraid not. Her dainty hoof was twisted in the pandemonium. She is in respite, as you can see."

  The boar was snoring gently, and her long, shaggy fur fluttered as she exhaled and inhaled. The pika continued, "it is truly fortunate that we were not set upon by the creatures. Elizabeth is strong enough to protect us most times, but I feared they would take advantage of her delicate condition."

  "I am glad too!" Shelby agreed, "By the way, what is your name? I am Caramel and this is Thimble."

  She held her hand up in Thimble's direction and he glared daggers at her. The pika bowed stiffly at the waist. He was wearing an overcoat and vest that were form fitting, and the pika seemed to struggle to move in the garments, "I am Diao-so-clay, of the Clay House! I was travelling north to visit my betrothed and arrange our marriage in the fall."

  Shelby clapped. She had no idea what season it was. Thimble bowed back to the pika, seeming to know some custom Shelby wasn't aware of. Is Clay House a noble house?

  She quickly followed suit, then rose, "Well, sir Diao, maybe we can right your carriage so you don't keep your lovely bride waiting?"

  "I would be forever in your debt! I am already several hours late!" Diao's round cheeks dimpled as he smiled down on them.

  Shelby held her arms out and said, "Come on down then, and we'll pull it free!"

  Thimble looked on in horror as the pika took a clumsy few steps and jumped down into Shelby's arms. She caught him with an "Oof!" and swung him to the ground. Diao dusted himself off primly and gave Thimble a nod, as if he hadn't just been caught like a child. Shelby motioned to Thimble and it dawned on him that she intended for him to push the carriage over. The two of them went around to the top side of it and looked at the bushes being crushed under it. They thankfully weren't lousy with thorns, and the carriage was resting at a 30 degree angle on top of them. Shelby clapped her hands, "That doesn't seem so bad. Should we give it a try?"

  Thimble shook his head in disbelief, then put his shoulder under the carriage's frame. She joined him, then mouthed, "one, two, three, go!" and the both shoved upward. It took a few rounds of rocking to get the carriage to swing towards the road, but it was surprisingly light and eventually rocked forward and fell back onto its wheels with a creak. Diao cheered from the other side of the carriage, "Oh excellent!"

  Within a few minutes, Elizabeth was woken and limped back onto the road. Her front left ankle was swollen and red skin was visible through her dense fur. Shelby positioned herself by one prong of the carriage's boxy yoke and gripped the wood with both hands, looking at Thimble expectantly.

  He crossed his arms, "I'm not pulling a carriage."

  She pleaded shamelessly, "Elizabeth can't do it. Her ankle is hurt."

  "No."

  "I don't think I can pull it myself, Thimble."

  "Absolutely not."

  Shelby sagged, "Well... maybe Coda can heal Elizabeth. Coda, come bite me until Elizabeth is healed."

  Coda tilted his head at Shelby, but approached slowly. Thimble's patience was thinning rapidly, "That boar isn't in our party, it won't be healed."

  Coda toothlessly bit Shelby's upper arm with a pensive look, and Shelby patted him mindlessly, "Do you have a way to cure Elizabeth? Some boar potions?"

  "I obviously don't!"

  "Then what are we gonna do? Leave poor Diao out here while his fiancé worries over him?" Shelby gestured at the pika, who was unprepared to be dragged into their fight, and went through a series of expressions before settling on downtrodden.

  Thimble slowly looked over the three characters staring at him and took a step back, gazing towards Copperglade Village and thinking. He huffed, "This is beneath me. I'm... a mercenary, not a beast of burden!"

  "It's not beneath me!" Shelby offered.

  "Clearly!" Thimble shouted, then marched up to the yoke and lifted it, "just stop talking and lets get this over with."

  Coda climbed up onto the driver's seat next to Diao and they slowly advanced down the road. Elizabeth was able to make do on three legs, and the road was gently sloped downward, so pulling the carriage was not very difficult. Shelby pried into Diao's personal life as they travelled, finding out that he was the son of a lord to the far south of Copperglade, and that he was to marry the daughter of the only other lord on the peninsula, who lived just north of the farming village they were headed to. Their conversation seemed to rankle Thimble, who was mostly silent and wore a mask of deep annoyance.

  Shelby was just getting the details of Diao's fiancé, Tira, if they had met, whether it was true love, and so on, when they crested a small hill and caught their first sight of the farming village. A haze of ash and smoke was spilling out over small wooden walls and most of the hay thatched buildings contained within were writhing with flames and dancing embers. Thimble dropped the yoke with a thud, and sprinted towards the village without a word. Shelby was right behind him.