Emily threw herself back into their office chair in the PTRS main office.

"That man is gonna be the death of me," sighed the princess wearily. It had been two days since the surprising text message from her fellow guild lead.

Shouri: "Taking in an injured horse. Move Vince's stuff to room 10 for now." 11/22/18 12:45 PM

She was nothing but dedicated to the cause, so the rooms were swapped that afternoon with no real fuss. Later on, she got the details on the situation.

Some hotshot Maestro got his Resonator injured and didn't think to get the poor guy medical attention, so his condition worsened to the point where he couldn't even walk without being in pain anymore.

"I don't get it…" she whispered to herself. "Hm? What's up, Emmy?" asked Ritika, who had taken over cleaning duties in Taika's absence.

Emily snapped up, looking her loyal cat in the eyes. Curiosity brimmed from the Resonator, telling the Maestro that any dismissal wouldn't suffice.

"I just don't understand terrans sometimes," she admitted. "Oh, the whole 'Resonators are tools' thing?" Ritika guessed, leaning on her broom. "Yeah, do they even preach the teachings of the Seven Heroes down here? Surely, they know of Clarisse the Brave or Viola the Adventurous? They sought their partners and walked hand in hand with them. How did things get so wrong?" More than anything, Emily's disappointment dripped from her voice.

Ritika didn't know how to answer that and didn't.

"Shouri is wasted on this world," Emily huffed. "Or maybe not. They need someone like him, us," Emily's gaze lazily drifted to the laptop screen where the information on Dancer, their second resident, was already populated. She sighed loudly and closed the laptop.

"He's gonna be back soon. I'm sure after all that's happened, he's gonna wanna chill," said Emily. "Poor guy, can't catch a break." Ritika, too, sighed. "I get why he's bitching all the time; he has to have earned Sahji's attention." Emily shrugged.

Ritika shivered, clutching her broom tightly. "Don't even joke about that Emmy," the cat hissed.

Shouri allowed his line of sight to drift to the rear view mirror. In the reflection he caught Dancer, the horse they had saved from Luis.

The earth element had relaxed significantly in the couple of days since they had taken him in. He wasn't used to having access to his tuner – that much was obvious by how he regarded the device, holding it and ignoring all of its functions.

With time, just like all of the others. Though, this was going to be their first real test as a guild. They needed to figure out what would be an appropriate home for a former battler like Dancer. Taika, Pacifica, and Rebecca's appraisal of him was bleak.

"His legs are really messed up. His right leg is pretty bad too," was Taika's diagnosis. "I'm not really good at this, but yeah, the rhythm in his legs is all wrong," Pacifica advised. "Wild Hunt is a bitch of a trait. Horses get really good stamina and other goodies, but their legs become huge targets, not as well protected as the rest of their body," Rebecca had explained.

Chaos becomes order. Dancer must have been injured and the damage set in before a healer got to him. Luis probably pushed him to keep going and ignore the pain. Shouri gripped the steering wheel tightly thinking about it. Maybe he should have swung on the other Maestro after all.

At any rate, he would have Cheryth look into an abuse or negligence case. What mattered now was helping the one who was hurting in their custody.

Taika was deep in the books, figuring out a care routine. Prospects were looking good though. It'd take a while, yes, but they could at least get Dancer to a point where he wasn't in constant pain. His battling days were behind him, they were certain of it. Pacifica wanted to get second and third opinions from Colette and Miro before confirming that call.

Either way, this wasn't going to be easy.

Before Shouri knew it, the roads had become familiar once again. They were closing in on their guild hall. After nearly a week away, they were once again home. The guildmaster could only hope that Sahji would leave him alone long enough to be able to get work done here instead of being whisked away to some other exotic locale for another round of bullshit.

As the van approached the guild hall a sense of silent relief overtook the occupants, as they all shared the same thought.

"Thank god we're home."

Dancer was a bit suspicious of the kind of operation being run here considering the illustrious guild hall was a repurposed motel. Though those fears were assuaged when a young woman with vibrant blonde hair stepped out with her squad of Resonators, carrying a pair of crutches.

Maybe they could find him somewhere to belong. His grip on the brown tuner in his grasp tightened with a small amount of hope in his heart.

"It's bad." Colette stood up straight. "Recoverable," Miro noted. "With time," the Natural added. "I was reading he needs lots of rest, and to keep him off his feet as much as possible," Taika told the other two. "Maybe we should get a wheelchair?" Pacifica asked. "Si! Good idea!" Taika agreed.

"Your battling days are done though," Rebecca spoke up, a distance away from the quartet tending to Dancer.

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He gave a sullen nod, though the loss in his eyes was evident.

"There's plenty more you can do though. Your life isn't over," the fire fox spoke, silencing the four surrounding the horse. "Consider a hobby. You have a lot of time on your hands now," and with her piece said, Rebecca took her leave.

This hadn't been the first time she had watched a Maestro's stupidity end a Resonator's battling career. It was something she had grappled with in the back of her mind for a long time. Thoughts that used to swirl in her head such as:

"What if that happened to me?" "What if I was injured like that?" "What would I do if nobody wants me?"

Horrible, debilitating thoughts that robbed her of many nights of sleep in the past were exactly that: a thing of the past.

She recognized how blessed she was to not only have Shouri, but Taika and Pacifica too. People who cherished her no matter what happened. People she could confide in. It only served to bolster her pride in what they were.

The vixen entered the office, Shouri and Emily allowing their conversation to come to a lull.

"How is he?" asked Shouri. "Prognosis is bleak as a battler, like we originally figured. Pacifica thinks a wheelchair would do him some good while he recovers," said Rebecca. "I'll get it ordered then," Emily spoke up, being the one behind the laptop. "Will also head out to do some hunts tonight. Elijah's been nagging me daily on your spending while you've been out," she told Shouri.

"I'm gonna make that man work the fields," Shouri grumbled, getting up from his seat to go tear into the Klein heir.

"Give him a break," Emily stopped the guildmaster from his tirade. "Why's that?" he questioned. "He's been kinda cagey for the last week. I think something is going on at home." "Klein Foundation drama?" "Probably. He is working here now instead of for the company he's supposed to be inheriting," she pointed out.

Rebecca hummed thoughtfully. That was a good point. How long would Elijah stick with PTRS? Getting the guild established was already enough community service, so he could be turned loose at any time.

Though… she did sense he truly believed in their mission.

"What's up, Rebby?" asked Shouri, snapping her out of her thoughts.

She shook her head to focus on her Maestro. "Just thinking about a lot," she admitted. "We probably have to go back on the interview grind again, don't we?"

Shouri hummed and nodded. "Probably. We gotta find Dancer a good home. I don't think any of us are ready to take another Resonator into our rosters," he pointed out.

Rebecca nodded. "Right, you and Emily are at capacity." "Klein wouldn't be a good fit. No offense to him, but I think he can only handle the one Resonator with his condition," Emily pointed out.

Shouri grunted and quickly shook his head. "Colette is a no go as well. She needs a particular personality type to work with and I haven't figured that one out yet," he mused aloud.

"Either way, we're going to find someone for him outside the guild. If for nothing else but to test our ability to trust the public with our residents," said Shouri.

"Right," Emily and Rebecca agreed in tandem.

"Back," Taika announced as she returned to their room.

Shouri, Pacifica, and Rebecca had already changed into their pajamas for the evening. They decided as a group to take the next few hunt nights to themselves to recuperate after the past month or so of non-stop work and travel.

They couldn't call it a true break or vacation with Dancer's situations weighing on their minds. Plus, the poor horse couldn't cook for himself and movement was still rough.

Thankfully, Taika had already volunteered to help with his recovery process, it being good practice for not only physical therapy, but also caring for an injured patient.

"Remember to take breaks for yourself," Shouri called out, noting Taika took up reading at the small desk they had in their room.

The lunar vixen jumped at being called out. "Io…" she trailed off. "I can't stop thinking about it. What if I'm doing something wrong?" she asked. "What if it's not enough?"

Shouri and Rebecca exchanged a concerned glance. Pacifica however, got up and stepped over to the worried fox. "Come on," the otter urged, pulling the lunar away from her studies.

"Ma pero-!" "But nothing, Taika. You've been reading ever since we took Dancer in. You gotta give your brain a chance to unwind, or you really will make a mistake in your fatigued state," the otter spoke gently. "B-but…" Taika protested again.

Pacifica lowered herself down and pecked the vixen's lips. "Come on Taika, we miss you," she whispered.

"S-si…" Taika couldn't help the flustered smile. "Go get changed and come watch some movies with us. Dancer is fine, he's comfy and we're doing our best to care for him," Pacifica assured the worried healer.

Taika finally gave in and nodded, taking to the bathroom to shower and generally freshen up.

Pacifica returned to the bed with Rebecca and Shouri.

"Way to go Paci," Rebecca said with a titter. "Yeah, thank you," Shouri smiled warmly. "Of course, it's my job!" the otter boasted with a proud grin. Her expression clouded. "We gotta keep an eye on her," she said, quieter as the shower turned on in the other room.

Shouri nodded, his expression grim.

Taika's stubborn willpower, while it was powerful enough to make him a completely different person than he was without her, could be a double-edged sword.

If she set her mind to something, she'd pursue it fanatically…

…even to her own detriment.

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