The sky was sunny with barely a cloud in sight. The warmth it provided countered the slight humid chill that the breeze carried with it. The visage was equally beautiful, lush green forests to the left just on the other side of the small river, and also to the right. But the road itself was well away from either, and there was not a single tree near the road to provide so much as a speck of shade.

The empty space was clearly man-made, an effort that felt odd if only compared to the dirt road they were walking on. But it wasn’t something that really bothered Rick, because as tranquil as the day might seem, other things were not as peaceful.

A constant growl and a tug from Rick’s left arm kept him all too aware of Monica’s presence. Her eyes would move from looking around and then to Dia. The nurse was pretending not to notice, walking down the road just within arm’s reach, carrying a backpack no woman her size had the right to lug around so easily.

Rick was quite sure that if he had to carry the thing, he most certainly would not be keeping that pace.

“If you focus really, really hard, the sound becomes part of the background. Like the chirping birds or a flowing river.” Kat pipped up with a chuckle, noticing the exasperated look the teacher shot her way.

“If you hear chirping, ma’am, it would be best to stay away from it.” The one to speak up had been Ginny. The Draco, daughter of Major Huge, smiled nervously as she received the focus from the other humans in the group, the maiden coughed, quickly adding. “Normal birds don’t make sounds. It would attract ferals. The only creatures that chirp are ferals, usually ones that use the chirping as a way to communicate or lure prey.”

“Such as feral Dracos?” Tomas pipped up with a slight look of curiosity.

“… yes.” The maiden grimaced, gaze flickering towards Rick and immediately turning away. “Feral Dracos hunt in packs more often than not, and are very smart.”

Rick glanced at her for a moment, watching the young maiden scratch the red-green scales of her wrist. The teacher guessed talking about the ferals of one own’s breed wasn’t the most comfortable subject to focus on. “How much longer until we reach… what was the next place’s name?”

“The town of Seledo, sir. We are still at least a week off.” Freya was the one to speak up, reaching into her bag and pulling out a piece of paper with some scribbled notes. “Though the Major did request we check some settlements along the way.”

Though Rick nodded at the statement, he couldn’t help but notice Dia grimacing and lowering her gaze slightly. It made him want to sigh and shake his head. If he had to guess, the whole fiving coin incident still weighed on her, even if she didn’t want to show it.

He still couldn’t recall the name of the city he’d been born in… as well as that of other places. As far as the Hunter’s psychic had been able to tell, the damage might recover with time. Or never at all.

Rick was just thankful it had been something comparatively minor to what it could have been.

“Good thing gramps’ not slowing us down anymore.”

“Shut it.”

Mr. Gabriel was, perhaps, second to Monica in levels of annoyance.

Because, apparently, he was the only one with a ride.

A Centaur kind of maiden.

And he didn’t like that.

The poor girl, Rose, was about as nervous as Tess, the mousegirl. The equine maiden kept a very healthy distance from Monica, and every time she looked away, her ears would remain firmly pointed at the feline. Mostly because she’d been one of the few who’d survived the Baron’s death and had had a front-row seat to what said feline could do.

Rick would probably also be terrified had he been in her shoes, erm, hooves. Though for the life of him, he couldn’t quite fathom how or why she’d volunteered for this job to begin with. The Baroness likely had been the one to make that choice.

“I smell old smoke.” Ginny spoke up, and the group tensed, the Draco glanced a bit to the side, in the direction the wind was blowing from. “Coal, no active flames.”

“We’re close to one of the settlements.” Freya nodded, glancing at Tomas and then at Rick. “The report mentioned no responses from attempts at communication from miss Miranda, so it was likely overrun.”

“That’s…” He nodded, realizing the words were a warning of what they might find, rather than one for his opinion. “Let’s move cautiously, then. There might be ferals near, right?”

The Elf nodded in return, which felt off on so many levels to him. As if he was the one being considered in charge of the group in some shape or form. With his gaze moving towards Monica as she’d not so much as twitched, he could guess why that was the running supposition.

Which was quite frustrating, considering the Elf had at least two decades on him in years alone, even if she didn’t show it. And she definitely had infinitely more experience in what one ought to do under these circumstances. The cultural norms made those things moot, however, and Rick was left feeling as if he was walking on eggshells.

“Monica.” He called out, her head snapped down to look at him, ears perked, growl instantly gone. “Hurt?”

He pointed in the direction the wind blew, and the feline took a long sniff. “No hurt.” She proclaimed, calmly keeping his arm in her fluffy grip. Her ears rotated slightly and her focus shifted to the side. “Yes hurt?”

“I’m not sure why she’s asking.”

“Likely someone was wounded, but they’re dead now.” Mr. Gabriel spoke with a grunt, shaking his head.

Another sniff, and Monica’s ears perked, her whole body straightening slightly, eager smile spreading fast. “Food!”

And she very nearly let go of Rick’s arm, taking a whole step away from him before she suddenly realized the hand she was holding was still very much attached to the rest of him. The maiden hesitated, looked at Dia, at the others, and then ahead. “Ride?” She repeated, hopefully at him, lifting her arms in that ‘bridal-carry’ gesture he had become familiar with.

“No, no rides.” Rick quickly replied, shaking his head emphatically.

Monica’s ears drooped, shoulders slumping as she sighed. The Sabertooth could only really keep herself walking at his own pace, a pout on her lips as she kept her gaze in the wind’s direction. At least her focus on Dia had evaporated. The maiden’s ears kept rotating this way and that.

And she kept licking her lips.

“Food rationing is not a meal-plan Monica agrees with, huh.”

More than one set of eyes shot Kat a glare.

“It is quite rough, ma’am.” Ginny spoke with a nervous chuckle, keeping her gaze slightly downwards. “Though we can survive eating as much as a human would, for maidens such as Dracos and… Sabertooths, it’s…”

“Not ideal,” Tomas said.

There were more than a few questions Rick preferred not to ask regarding details over the whole food situation. Instead, he just kept quietly doing his best to avoid getting dragged by the increasingly eager feline.

It didn’t take them long to find the aforementioned settlement, or more like the debris of what was left of it. The road dipped down the slope, and between where they stood and the debris were dozens of dirt walls that had crumbled, wooden stakes splintered or burnt, and all of it leading towards the remains of a sad dozen wooden houses that had either been knocked down or burnt. There were signs of there being a wall around the place, and a couple farms on either side, but overall the whole place felt like it had lost all signs of life for at least a week if not more.

“I will scout ahead.” Freya spoke, pulling out her bow and nocking an arrow. “In case there might be-.”

ROAAAAR

Rick had flinched as Monica unleashed the blast of sound, the proclamation loud and clear. And suddenly there were no less than a dozen figures bolting out of the debris and making a run for the forest up the hills and through the farms.

Freya grunted. “Ferals, one and all.” She confirmed, preparing her bow.

“Food?” Monica smiled at Rick, watching the figures and then Rick, and then the running figures again, a lofty grin that went from ear to ear, her tail moving back and forth excitedly in a slow rhythm.

He looked over to the other maidens, Freya and Ginny in particular, and cursed at having given them the chance to put up a stony, blank face. They’d clearly been trained on how to avoid letting their emotions show to their superiors.

Kat and Tomas, though, grimaced.

“No food.” Rick shook his head. This was not something he wanted to make a habit out of.

And yet the Sabertooth let go of his arm, still looking thoughtful rather than disappointed as she abruptly leapt down the hill and towards the nearest likely target. “WAIT!” Rick shouted after her, but she paid him no mind, speeding off faster and faster. The human frowned at the feeling of eagerness he could sense from her, it was clear she would not come back any time soon.

“Let’s check the place for signs of survivors.” He called out to the others, keeping Monica in the corner of his eye. “And… see what we do from there. Let’s be safe about this.”

“Yes sir!” Freya and Ginny tightened their shoulders. They shared looks, and the Draco broke into a sprint towards the settlement while the Elf stuck to the group.

Just as Rick was about to sigh, a warm hand slipped into his grasp, fingers entwining with his own. Dia quietly smiled up at him as she leaned into his shoulder.

KINGDOM MAP