"How do they look?" Emilia tilted her head backwards in her efforts to catch a glimpse of her catlike ears, confounding Christoph's own attempts to inspect them. Their single candle flickered on the bedside table as they moved, and the shadows did nothing to help him examine his partner.

"Sit still," Christoph said, grabbing her head between his hands. "I can't see."

The cat-girl wriggled momentarily in his lap, settling down as he tilted her head back into position. Leaning forwards, he rested his chest against her back and looked over her furred ears.

"They're fine." Christoph sighed in relief as he spoke. The bloody wounds she'd suffered from the ice has since healed into patches of hairless skin, but the fragility of her ears had kept them in bandages nearly a week after the incident had occurred.

"Eh?" Emilia twisted out of his grasp, reaching up to touch at the appendages herself. "Something feels weird."

"That's..." Christoph grimaced as he she turned to look back towards him, fingers freezing where they met the newly sprouted fur of her ears. "Hey, it's not that bad, really."

"It's not that bad?" Emilia asked, eyes wide with horror. "It's not that bad?!"

Christoph smiled gently at the beast-woman's expression. While it was true her right ear had almost fully healed, the left currently hung downwards, as some dogs' ears did. The lopsided orientation combined with the missing patches of fur to give her an endearingly cute appearance. His smile threatened to break as he reached a hand up to draw her back against his chest, but she'd already made it clear that she didn't blame him at all. If he spent any more time apologizing, it'd just be self-pity.

"I think it's cute," he said, ruffling the hair on her head. "Does it still hurt?"

"Cute? That's what you said about the bandages," Emilia replied with a frown, before resting her head back under his chin. Reaching down, she drew his arms around her and held them up against her stomach. "They're itchy, but they'll be better soon."

"I guess those healing scrolls really do work, then?" Christoph said, leaning over and ignoring Emilia's cries as they tipped over sideways onto the bed. Loosening his arms around her waist, he let her twist around until they lay face to face.

"When are we leaving?" Emilia asked, stretching out over the bed. "Tomorrow?

"Well it's too late now," Christoph replied, resting his forehead against hers. "Tomorrow would be good, though. Actually, I bought some illumination crystals from the miners, so we could set out tonight if you really want. You gonna drive this time?"

Emilia's unimpressed glare was enough to push the thought from his mind for now. Closing his eyes with a sigh, he let her wriggle further into his chest and reached over to extinguish their candle.

...

"Is that everything you need?" Frederick turned back to his wagon as he spoke. "I don't suppose I can interest you in some work?"

"It's fine," Christoph replied, holding up a palm to deflect the dwarf's request. "We're leaving as soon as she wakes up. It was rough on her, but she shouldn't have any permanent injuries from what I could tell."

"I won't ask what happened between you and the Shield, but I take it that's a no for the job, then?" Frederick asked.

"I'm afraid so." Nodding softly, Christoph passed a few coins to the dwarven merchant. "We aren't going back to the city any time soon, and certainly not with the company you keep."

"Heh." Frederick crossed his arms. "That's rich, coming from someone who saddled up with the Exile. You know what she's up to now?"

"I don't, sorry," Christoph said.

"Well just watch out for her then," Frederick replied. "If she wanted to, she could have half the pirate fleets eating out of her hands. It wouldn't be the first time, either. Any chance I could convince you to drag her off to the mountains as well? She did seem rather fond of you."

"I don't think so." Christoph shook his head with a grim look. "For now, Emilia is my main priority, and I won't drag her into any more danger if I can help it. As for my relationship with Diana, there were... circumstances. Geoff should have let you know."

"He did," Frederick said, clutching at his coins. "Editor, huh? That's not my business, though. If the witch really is planning on uniting the pirates, the entire plains will go to hell. At least the inner city still has some semblance of order"

"Still as prejudiced as ever, I see," Christoph replied with a shake of his head. "Just because she's an elf that doesn't mean she's a pirate."

"Huh." The dwarf crossed his arms with a frown. "Those long-eared bandits might be good business for the guild, but you wouldn't be saying that if you were the one shelling out coin to keep them off your wagons."

"Yeah yeah." Christoph said. "Don't forget who it was that took down two ships last journey, now. If that's everything, I should leave before your escort arrives. I've had enough fighting to last me a year."

"That's a shame," Emilia said, prancing through the door to the inn. "Because I just saw a pirate flying into town."

...

Christoph glanced back towards Frederick's receding form, the dwarf hurriedly guiding his horses towards the guild building. The townsfolk would ordinarily hole up in the mines during a raid, but until they could make sure there were no other magma whales lurking inside the earth that plan was strictly off-limits.

"How many pirates did you see?" Christoph asked, stretching out a foot to tap at Emilia's lower leg. He'd followed her upstairs to get a better view from the balcony, but she'd promptly flopped down onto the floorboards and began to bask in the sun.

"Just one," the beast-woman replied, shifting her legs around on the wooden boards. "One skimmer, anyway. You can see them coming from ages away because of the dust."

"Makes sense," Christoph said. "Still, one skimmer could be anything from one to what, four? Four elves?"

"I doubt it." Emilia rolled over onto her front, lifting herself onto her elbows and turning her head to look up at him. "You still can't see them? They weren't that far out."

"Relax," Christoph replied. The skimmer had been obscured by the more densely packed trees closer to the town, but he could still follow the trail of dust they left behind. "Unless they circle around the whole town, there's no way we'll miss them."

"Can't we just let those idiots deal with it?" Emilia narrowed her eyes in distaste. "They owe me some fur."

"I still want to know what's going on," Christoph said. "Normally I'd say that it's just a scout, but the guild clerk said the pirates generally know the trip here isn't worth the loot. Maybe it's a different crew, then? Frederick did say the plains were pretty chaotic right now."

"Too bad for the town, then," Emilia said. "That's what they get for being so dumb. Do any of them even know how to use a spear?"

"Shush," Christoph said, leaning forwards against the balcony railing. "The people here are peaceful citizens and I like them that way, thank you very much.

"Yeah, yeah." Emilia sat up with a wry smile. "You were cuter before you learned how to take care of yourself, you know.

"I'll bet I was." Standing upright, he waved down at where the pirate was guiding his skimmer around the mining town's small houses. "I think I recognise that half-elf."

...

Plume peered over the top of his idling skimmer, hands clenching his crossbow as his feet shifted in the dirt. There was no time now for doubts. He would either complete his goal, or he would die. No, he reminded himself, it was more likely that he would do both.

"Half-elf?" Christoph's voice came floating off the inn's patio, and Plume readied his weapon. "Is that you?"

"Aye, it is," the adventurer replied. "Christoph Smith, I challenge you to a duel."

"A duel?" Stepping through the doorway, Christoph cocked his head. "Duels between Bronze and Gold ranks are forbidden, you know?"

"I'm not a Bronze ranker any more," Plume said, standing to pull his tunic down at the neck. Where an amulet would have sat, the flesh lay bare. "Neither the city nor the guild is looking kindly upon the elves right now."

"Ah, of course," Christoph replied. "The pirates must be having a ball over there."

Plume's fist tightened around the stock of his weapon, and a bolt of energy spat out towards the older man, catching him in the torso. Stumbling slightly, Christoph took a step back and raised his arms to ward of any other attacks.

"That was a warning shot," the pirate said. From the looks of it, the Gold ranker hadn't been more than rocked by the missile. "This isn't a conventional crossbow."

"That's not a crossbow at all." Christoph's words were uttered through his teeth, a hand clutched to his side. Taking a more defensive position, he held his ground and urged his left-hand crystals into some approximation of a shield. "It looks more like a mage's staff to me."

Indeed, the weapon in Plume's hands bore little resemblance to those of his youth. No string, no bolts, not even a cross piece adorned the bow. Instead, a crystal-wood stock was inscribed with runes on every surface, an inch-thick cord trailing from the end into the side of Plume's skimmer.

"It's called a Longstaff," the pirate said, pointing the staff towards his opponent. "And the output can be much higher than that. This isn't a duel between adventurers."

"This isn't a duel at all."

Rushing forwards, Christoph rammed the skimmer with his shield, rocking it in midair and pushing the half-elf away from the craft itself.Because of how the weapon was attached to the ship, Plume found the wooden stock pulling itself from his grasp as he stumbled.

Shifting his right leg behind him, Plume moved towards the craft and swung the weapon around once more. Fingers tugging on the trigger, he felt the skimmer's energy converge in the longstaff for a moment before it was released, soaring into the sky above.

"Give it up." Christoph tightened his grip on the staff, keeping it pointing skywards as he pushed the pirate to the ground. Looking over the weapon, he turned to study the vehicle for a moment before tossing the staff into the saddle. "It's a nice ship, but it's not enough to beat me."

Moving back around the skimmer, Christoph waved Emilia out towards their own transport.

"Done already?" Emilia asked, right ear twitching as she pranced out over the patio. "You aren't going to kill him, then?"

"Not this time," Christoph replied. "If you want to, then go ahead."

Narrowing her eyes, Emilia hopped up onto the skimmer and tapped at the saddle impatiently.

"Move up," Christoph said, stepping up behind her. Pushing the cat-girl towards the steering bar, he ignored her protests and reached around her to activate the ship. "You still aren't allowed to sit in the back seat."

"Hey." Plume stared up at the couple, his voice seeming to disappear beneath the rhythmic pulse of their vehicle. "I'm not done yet, I can still-"

"Yeah yeah," Christoph said, steering the skimmer westward as it rose. Looking back, he sighed down at the dumbfounded half-elf. "Snap out of it, kid. I really don't want to have to kill you too."

Wriggling around in her seat, Emilia waved a hand back towards the young man as they sped from the border town towards the forest.

...

Plume sat back against his skimmer, longstaff resting across his legs. All this way... He'd come all this way for nothing. After Manitas and Bastias had destroyed half of the city, the pirates had swept in from across the Plains to terrorize the adventurers and citizens alike. The combined might of the Guild would have been enough to stand against them in an open battle, but guerrilla warfare and indiscriminate violence gave the elves an edge in the city streets.

Roethus had done his best to protect the populace and the city while directing the adventurers to sweep the pirates away, but public opinion of the Council had fallen in the aftermath of the tournament, and plummeted with Manitas' next actions. Not only was their Lord instead a God, but to level so much of his own city without regard for the public was simply too much for many to take. Rioting and vigilantism became equally commonplace, pirates lurking around the corner at all times. The city had become a dangerous place, and it was only worse if you were an elf. Left with nothing in his newfound home, Plume had commandeered a skimmer and set out to accomplish the one thing he thought he could.

"Don't move."

The straight blade of a longsword hovered before Plume's chest, and he raised his head as he was brought back to the present.

"A pirate, I presume?" The speaker was some sort of knight, fully helmed in shining silver armor. "Make a move with that longstaff, and I'll kill you."

"Not a pirate," Plume replied, leaning his head back to knock against the side of his craft. "I'm an adventurer, Bronze ranked."

"I don't care," the knight replied. "I have business elsewhere."

"Oh?" Plume glanced down, seeing a group of similarly attired knight gathering behind the first. One of them was unhelmed, a pallid looking face staring blankly through the half-elf. "Are you looking for him, then?"

"A young man and a beast woman passed through these parts on an elvish skimmer recently," the knight said, ignoring Plume's words. "Which direction did they leave in?"

"Which direction?" Clambering to his feet, Plume let the longstaff fall to dangle in the dirt below. "I can do better than that. I doubt any of you guys can track a skimmer better than a former pirate, right?"