A Quest for the Stars

Our young heroes departed from the keep after Tizoc offered to spend the night there as a show of good faith for the former Blue Jays, who had recently deserted their organization. Alistair offered to stay with him, but Tizoc turned him down, urging him that someone had to look after the women and promised he would be okay. They were not far from Ezmestli anyway, so if Alistair suspected trouble, he could arrive on horseback in no time at all.

Lenoria, Clara, and Alistair stumbled back to the humble little inn during the late hours at night. Alistair stayed outside for a while longer to park the wagon, but he also believed the girls would need time to change out of their battle outfits into something more comfortable, so he took his time looking for a suitable parking spot for his wagon before removing his banded mail and tying Chestnut on the side of the building on a wooden pole. Once he bid his trusty steed good night, he went back inside. The young paladin locked the door to the inn once he was inside and went to the room.

"I better knock first." He knocked once. "Ladies, may I come in?"

No answer. He knocked two times.

"I'm coming in. Pardon me." Alistair gently opened the door. The simple adobe room had a single window, and the walls were painted in pink. The beds had been arranged in an X-shaped pattern, one bed for each corner. Clara snoozed sitting up on her bed, while Lenoria snored with her body sprawled on her bed. Her yellow duster, now back in the form of a chain shirt, had carelessly been placed on the floor next to her bed. Two empty beds remained, presumably for Alistair and Tizoc.

"I'll clean this up on the departure date. I'm beat." Alistair stretched his arms and took a better look at the girls. Neither one had bothered to clean up or take off their shoes, they had gone straight to bed. Knowing just how hard they fought earlier, he took a moment to first wrap a blanket around Clara. She already seemed comfortable in her current position, so he did little else before moving on to Lenoria.

He started off by removing Lenoria's boots and setting them down on the ground next to her armor. Next were her fingerless gloves, which came off surprisingly easy despite how well they had been adjusted in her hands. Her legs and arms were hanging off both sides of the bed, and Alistair positioned them so that the girl lied on her side. Lastly, he pulled the blanket up to her shoulders, and tucked her in properly.

"Tomorrow's a new day. Rest easy, you two." Yawning softly, Alistair lied down on the empty bed opposite of Lenoria and slept the rest of the night away.

***

21st of Cobre, 10:24am, 1659 (164 days before Starflower's trial)

In the later hours of the morning, the sun's rays coming from the window pushed Lenoria to wake up. Sitting up with messy hair dangling off the front of her face, the girl rubbed her eyes only to find herself in a room devoid of people.

"Al?" She yawned groggily. "Clara?"

"Hey, mister," Lenoria heard the innkeep yell from the other room, "she's awake."

"Don't get up just yet, Lenoria!" Alistair could be heard yelling from the other room, and his words were soon followed by loud footsteps which were getting closer and closer. When the door swung open, Alistair strolled in with a wooden tray in one hand.

"A-Al, what is this?" A wonderful aroma filled the air when Alistair set the tray down on the bed. It contained a plate of scrambled eggs, toasted bread, and a clay mug of a familiar drink. Lenoria's stomach grumbled, urging her to have a bite.

"Please dig in. I made breakfast. The innkeeper said I was allowed to use her kitchen free of charge as long as I fed her, too." Alistair sat down at the foot of the bed. "Oh, right. I was able to make a non-spicy variety of xocolatl. I know you'll love it."

Not one to refuse food, Lenoria rubbed her hands together and ate away. She took a sip of the cold chocolate drink, and after the taste settled in, she immediately took a big gulp. "You're right, it's not spicy at all. Here, have some."

"It's alright, I should get back to-" The rim of the clay mug was shoved to his mouth. Feeling the frothy drink splash on his lips, Alistair drank up as a courtesy. "L-Lenoria, I made this for you, not for myself."

"And I want to share it with you. What's wrong with that? Besides," Lenoria smirked, "you just drank out of that same mug. It's kind of like an indirect kiss, if you think about it."

"I-I-I, er..." Alistair was too blindsided to stop Lenoria from grabbing the mug and finishing the rest of the drink. The girl's point proven, Alistair sat defeated while Lenoria squeezed one of his cheeks playfully.

"You're so fun to tease. But I guess sharing shouldn't be the only way to show my gratitude. How about an actual reward?"

Panic set in the flustered boy. The girl had already set her tray aside and was inching herself closer for whatever this reward entailed. Not wanting to stick around to find out, the boy thought of an excuse to pull himself away.

"I-I just remembered, I also have to clean up the kitchen." Pretending to hear the innkeeper, Alistair quickly rose to his feet just as Lenoria got close enough to lean on him. She plopped on the foot of the bed as the young paladin quickened his pace to leave the room. "C-Coming!"

Unamused, Lenoria sat up and sighed. "He was so bold that night at the Butterfly Plains." She had thought that night was magical and a great turning point in their relationship. Was it only a one-time thing?

***

Once breakfast was done, the trio marched back to the keep to check up on Tizoc. To their relief, the Jaguar warrior was going over some military-like drills with the former Blue Jays in an effort to get them into shape. With the latter being farmers and having experience in the fields, they did an outstanding job handling the stamina-depleting exercises they were given, such as push-ups, pull-ups, and several laps around the bailey.

Alistair set up some dummies for them while Clara sat down to read a book Tizoc had lent her, Music of the Jaguar Lands. It held an array of folk songs that typically used flutes, recorders, accordions, brass instruments like trumpets and trombones, and cymbals and drums.

"My bard training is nearly complete. I just have to find the right tune and-"

Her train of thought was interrupted by an explosion outside the keep. Tizoc remained alert while Alistair and Clara lowered the drawbridge and rushed outside. To their dismay, they witnessed Lenoria and Owen covered in soot while the former held her firearm firmly, still red hot from overheating.

"L-Lenoria, what happened here," asked a worried Alistair.

"Target practice." The artificer licked her thumb and index finger to put out a tiny ember that lit up on her hair. "Owen's providing the fire for the explosives."

"Explosives?" Clara locked eyes with Alistair and shrugged to each other. "You only need gunpowder or alchemical reagents for that pistol of yours, Lenoria."

"Right. I've been brushing up on my alchemy and figured out a way to fire some alchemical shots using Owen's power."

"It's simple science, really," Owen commented. "I simply use a tiny ember as the catalyst and infuse it with one of her shots. It takes very little of my power, allowing her to use it multiple times."

"Watch and learn, you two." Lenoria loaded another bullet into her flintlock pistol and aimed it at a burnt dummy a couple of dozen feet away. The dummy was set on fire by several tiny embers and its hay limbs had already been reduced to ashes, leaving only the head, the torso, and the wooden pole it was embedded on.

"I better warn Tizoc so he's not alarmed." Bowing politely, Clara excused herself and ran back to the keep.

"Clara, you're gonna miss the fireworks!"

"I'm still here," Alistair assured her. "Go ahead."

"O-okay," Lenoria said before nodding to Owen.

With a snap of his fingers, Owen made the barrel of the gun red hot once again. The scruffy boy took a couple of backward steps and covered his ears, and when he shouted "Fire!" Lenoria pulled the trigger and kept her hand steady from the sudden recoil of the explosive shot.

The loud bang of the gun nearly overshadowed the sound of the whistling bullet, a prelude to the explosive impact that blew the rest of the training dummy to smithereens. The resulting shockwave set a wayward tree ablaze, and the ashes that came from the brittle bark covered the two with even more soot. Seeing the fires spread slowly, but still at an alarming rate, the young couple had the same idea and ran back to the keep.

"Tizoc!"

***

Fortunately for the rainforest, its local guardian and the young paladin made a joint effort to put out the fire by filling up buckets of water with their magic and splashing the trees with them before it could spread further. While a couple of trees were too burnt to be saved, none of the wildlife was affected, albeit just a little frightened.

After a job well done, everyone went back to the keep. Calling her experiment/training regimen a success, Lenoria sat down and brought Hayate out. She reached into her toolbelt for a screwdriver and spent a good portion of the afternoon fiddling with Hayate's wiring.

"And now to turn this on..." Lenoria closed the lid to Hayate's wiring. A pattern of lights turned on around the tiny robot's spherical body before its single eye lit up like a bright candle. The light show attracted everyone in the bailey, including Alistair, but most of them decided to admire from afar.

"Could Hayate always do that?"

"No, but I'm glad he does now." Lenoria lifted the tiny robot and placed it on the palm of her free hand. "How are you feeling, little guy?"

"Good as new, mistress. Our bond is stronger than ever, and all systems have been improved."

"Good. Get some rest." Pushing a button on the robot's back, Lenoria waited for Hayate to become a metallic sphere before pocketing him back in her pocket. "I had to use a drop of my own blood on him. Now he's officially bonded to me, and he functions more like a familiar now."

"None of the other artificers could to that, Lenoria." Clara approached from behind. "You might be the first to come up with something like that."

Lenoria frowned. "It would have been available for all the other artificers, but Starflower made sure such knowledge didn't go outside the Guild. I even found a way to make construction cheaper, but he never bothered to spread the word."

"And because of the way he treated you, he's currently rotting in jail, awaiting trial." Alistair, taking initiative, grabbed Lenoria's hand. "We have nothing like this in Thule. I know people will love it."

Comforted by Alistair's words, Lenoria pulled herself away from him and picked up a book she had left on the grass. Clara and Alistair noted that the title was Artificer: The Path of the Inventor, but what surprised Clara was the name of the author.

"Lenoria, this was written by Starflower."

"I know. When I decided to take my studies seriously again, I not only wanted to break away from the stuff Starflower taught, but I wanted to find my own path. That's why I made Hayate. I thought, if I could make him, I could also make other things. But I realized I was wrong." Lenoria put the book away in her bag of holding. "I tried doing things my way, until I realized Starflower was more experienced in that field than I was. I can't forgive him for what he's done, but even I will admit the man's a genius. So, I decided to change my way of thinking, and do things his way for once. I'll read up on what he's written during our free time and add my own touch here and there."

"That's...actually very humble, Lenoria," Alistair commented. "I stand behind your decision."

"As do I," Clara said.

Lenoria knew she had their support regardless, but it was nice to hear them say it. Starflower knew what he was talking about, and she was looking forward to using his teachings to make a name for herself across the border. Her hope that this would spite the headmaster in jail was just the frosting on the cake.

"Thanks, guys." Lenoria grinned. "Okay, who's ready for a sparring match? How about you, Clara? I think you could use a self-defense course."

"Eh?" Clara quickly drew her quarterstaff. "I should be fine with this, right?"

The elven woman, however, did not have a grip on her weapon, which was proven when Lenoria knocked it off her hands with a harmless smack to the wrists.

"You weren't ready. Let's try that again."

"D'oh...."

(Lenoria's new sheet, made in Roll20.)