The sun rose on a new day, shining on the remains of their previous life.

Shouri slowly returned to the waking world. The harsh reminder of reality hit him hard as his body's pained objections were the natural notification that, yes he was in fact still alive. His muscles weren't alone in the dissent, as his stomach was in knots alongside a lovely headache. The part of him that hurt most was his bare feet which now protested all the lacerations that he had accrued during their marathon split.

It all came back in an instant, and he remembered why he was even lying in the dirt in such a miserable state in the first place.

"Taika!" He crawled over to his Resonator who lay a little ways away. The adrenaline that fueled this feat however was running on less than fumes and he re-collapsed next to his precious partner. "Taika... please wake up." The tips of his fingers found her shoulder, and then he took full grasp of her, desperately shaking her.

"Sho..." She slowly opened her eyes, gently driving away the knot of worry in the boy's heart. "Guuuah..." She curled up as pain delivered its harsh reminder of her continued existence. With her finally awake, Shouri could ease their suffering.

"La Bella Vita, Rubato."

Taika shuddered for a moment longer before her pained grimace eased. She then extended her hands and projected the healing waves onto her Maestro, who similarly basked in the relief.

The pair lay there in the dirt for some time, the quiet ambiance of the morning forest their only company. Taika eventually broke the silence. "Sho, your hair is turning white," she spoke, her voice hoarse.

"Yeah. Rubato does that." "I was meaning to ask what that was." "It's like the Staccato modifier, but instead it gives you free rein to cast whatever you want using my rhythm," he slowly explained.

Guilt rushed in. "Oh. I'm so sorry Sho." "No, it's fine. I needed you to heal us fast."

"Non. I mean for everything. If it wasn't for me..."

Shouri moved himself closer to Taika and wrapped himself around her. "Don't apologize. I picked you over them." His smile was more radiant than the sun, which made her cheeks warm uncomfortably in his brilliance. "Sho..."

Still lying in the middle of the woods they gave themselves another hour to rest their worn-out bodies.

Coming to in Shouri's arms, Taika felt a bit refreshed, but she noticed his hair was still partly white and that concerned her. "Sho, we gotta get up," urged the fox, trying to shake her Maestro awake.

"I know." He squeezed her tighter. Finally, they rose for the first time in hours. "Let's try to find a town," he suggested, pulling out their tuner. Taika closed her eyes, choosing to rely on her ears. "That way." They both pointed in the same direction – a large mountain in the distance.

With a goal in mind, the two struggled to get to their feet. "Even with all that healing, it's still sore," Shouri grunted, barely keeping himself upright. "Lean on me," Taika insisted, having an easier time than her Maestro.

A feeble smile rose on the boy's lips. "Why are you so strong?" he asked. "I was worked pretty hard before you found me." She wrapped his arm around her neck and supported his weight. "If nothing else I have good stamina." There was a little pride carried on that statement.

The duo hobbled along through the forest, relying on Taika's hearing to track their way to their destination. It was slow going, however, and before they knew it hours had passed; the only thing that spared them from the afternoon sun was the blanket of leaves overhead.

They were rewarded for their struggle when a small town came into view. The first building that graced their vision was the familiar sight of the Maestro Affairs Office.

"Thank god." Shouri allowed himself a sigh of relief. "Let's get into the MA office." He pointed his Resonator toward the building in question. They could explore the town after they had a chance to rest and recuperate.

Unlike the Riva Solare MA office, this one was much smaller, only consisting of a singular building. The automatic door slid aside, allowing the pair to drag themselves into the air-conditioned building. They found the building deserted; no one in the lobby, even behind the main desk. Shouri frowned, but had a solution: "Rilevare l'intenzione, Presto," he spoke with a hand over their tuner at his waist.

Taika hummed in disapproval at her Maestro using up more rhythm he didn't have. Regardless it was already spent, so there was nothing she could do. With a small huff, the vixen closed her eyes and cast the spell. She felt two signs of life, albeit they were out of sight. "There's two people here, in the back," she informed him. "Cool."

The presence of staff confirmed, they made their way up to the front counter. Shouri rang the bell.

"Coming!" a shrill voice shouted from the back. "Thank you for choosing the Mount Wynding Maestro Affairs Office how may we-" At that point, the attendant reached her desk, saw the state of the guests, and paled. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay?! What happened?!"

The attendant's Resonator poked her head out from the back, noticed the state of their guests, and rushed to join her Maestro up front if for nothing else but to be nosy.

"We took some back roads and ran into some trouble," Shouri told her, setting his tuner on the counter and sliding it over. "Just need a room, and maybe directions to a clothing store if there's one here."

The woman took the tuner and scanned it in. "Of course." It took a couple of minutes, but she returned his tuner with a smile. "You'll be in room One, it's the first door on the left when you enter the Maestro's quarters. Do you need anything else?" she asked brows turned up in concern.

"Food." he requested bluntly. The desk attendant nodded. "We don't have a proper cafeteria, but we do have some vending machines in the common room stocked with sandwiches and snacks."

Shouri acknowledged their only choice of food with a hum. It was better than nothing. "Sounds good to me, thank you."

"Of course. If you need any further assistance, we'll be here." The attendant and her Resonator both bowed.

Still drained of nearly all of his rhythm, Shouri just wanted to rest; for that, he guided Taika to Room One where they would be staying for the next couple of days.

A scan of their tuner allowed them entry to their assigned room. On first pass, it was as nice as a small hotel room. There was a small greeting area with a couch, a couple of recliners, and a coffee table. A desk was provided complete with a lamp, a notepad, and a pen. A dresser stood opposite the desk with a large flat-screen television.

There was even a small kitchen complete with a stove, microwave, sink, and refrigerator. On the far end of the room was the large, probably king-sized bed flanked by two nightstands, and last but not least was the bathroom with shower set-up.

"Ah, traveling Maestros live the life," Shouri noted with a weary smile. He was rapidly becoming dead weight in Taika's arms. "Ah, Sho?!" she squeaked, not expecting the sudden pull on her side. "Bed please," he managed to get out, struggling to remain standing.

She got him into bed, albeit just barely. Taika herself was just as exhausted, though she was thankful this one time for her birthright. Being a healer in combination with all the manual labor she had done in her life gave her the stamina to keep going where most would fail and the ability to heal their injuries. There was no way they would have made it this far without those traits.

"Taika." She snapped to, looking to her beckoning Maestro. "Sho?" "We should sleep."

Her face flushed slightly. When they were at home there was always the fear of being walked in on, so she never worried about him suddenly getting intimate with her. But now they were truly alone. Nobody would barge in on them. If nothing else the lock on the door would ensure that.

His parents already seemed to think they had done the deed as it were, but how did Shouri feel about that? He seemed to imply that he didn't have a problem getting intimate with Resonators.

"Taika?" he asked expectantly. "B-bathroom!" she squeaked before rushing to the office of the porcelain god.

Sitting atop her personal throne, Taika slowly picked the leaves and twigs out of her tail fur. She didn't smell amazing at the moment given her last shower was over thirty-six hours ago and she had done a significant amount of physical activity since then. But even a shower sounded exhausting right now.

Opting to clean the debris she could see out of her hair, she left the safety of the bathroom. Shouri was fast asleep by this point. While she didn't want to wake him, she did want to be in his arms, so she got into bed and nestled herself next to him, falling asleep almost instantly.

Blue eyes fluttered open. It was dark, but she could feel Shouri next to her and that's all that mattered. "Are you awake?" She heard him ask.

"Yeah," she replied on a breath.

"I'm hungry." "Me too." "Wanna check out those vending machines?" "That sounds wonderful."

And with that, they got out of bed.

"Oh god, it's eleven already," Shouri noted as he checked the time on their tuner. They wandered over to the door and opened it only to get blinded by the hall lights. "Fuck," Shouri grumbled. "I really need to get used to the night vision," he complained.

That comment confused Taika. "Huh?"

"As long as we're linked, I can see in the dark just like you can," he told her. "Wait, that's not normal?" she questioned. "No, non-lunars can't see shit in the dark."

They began walking around looking for the common room they were told about when they arrived.

"Oh, I never realized that since I've always been able to see in the dark," Taika laid out her thoughts for him. "I can even read books too."

"Kind of handy to have, especially since hunts happen at night for the most part." He patted her back. "So thanks for the free night vision." The boy chuckled.

She giggled back. "Hey, it's not free, you gotta pay for me to eat," the girl pointed out.

"Too true."

Speaking of which, the pair found themselves in front of the vending machine of destiny. Their destiny being dinner for the night. "Ooh, Sho, can I please have that?" Taika pleaded pointing at the chocolate bar proudly displayed behind the glass.

Her pouting face was nearly irresistible. "After we eat some real food." He had to put on his adult pants. They were all alone now and had to fend for themselves. Which meant at least one of them had to make rational decisions.

"We'll have these."

He vended out a simple dinner for them:

2 Sandwiches 2 bags of chips 2 bottles of water

And of course, the chocolate bar Taika had been pawing the glass for.

"Awww!" Taika immediately returned to pouting when Shouri took possession of the sugary treat. "After you eat your sandwich," he spoke sternly. "Hrmph." She folded her arms across her chest and turned away with a huff.

Heading back to their room, arms filled with their simple dinner, Taika looked about the hallways. Simple, but clean; it seemed they'd be living in buildings like this from now on. Her ears twitched. It was quiet. At least at this Maestro Affairs Office, there wasn't much in terms of clientele.

Dinner was had and Taika was allowed to finally snack on her chocolate while Shouri braved the shower.

It was warm, soothingly so. In all honesty, this was probably the best shower he had ever taken in his short life. He wanted to soak in it forever, but he didn't want to take too long since Taika was waiting. Grabbing the tiny bar of soap, he washed the dirt and grime from his body and washed out all of the collected debris from his hair.

Finally clean, the exhaustion crept back up – the shower couldn't fix what he had done to his body the night before. He wiped away the fog on the mirror and stared at himself. The tips of his brunet locks were still white. He hadn't even gotten halfway done recovering his total rhythm yet.

But with food in his system and a comfy bed waiting, he'd be fine by morning.

"Shower's great Taika," he told her, walking out of the bathroom. "Sounds good." Before she committed to the shower, she regarded the state of her clothes. Her face contorted to a grimace. "I wish I didn't have to put these back on."

Shouri took inventory of his own attire, which was adorned with dirt, dried sweat, and grime. He agreed. "We don't have much of a choice right now. We can get some pajamas and new shoes tomorrow so we can wash this stuff," he revealed tomorrow's itinerary.

"That sounds nice." She yawned, stretching out her tail as she did so. "Still tired after sleeping so much," the vixen complained.

"Me too. I'll wait till you're done before going to bed."

Like Shouri, Taika too enjoyed the soothing heat provided by the shower. Unlike Shouri though, she took longer to wash up as she had an extra appendage that was covered in thick hair. It always took so long to wash, but took even longer since the shampoo provided wasn't made for her tail.

Exiting the shower, there also wasn't a nice tail brush waiting for her either. It was just another amenity that had gotten quickly taken away from her. Even her original caretakers had tail brushes readily available.

She shook her head. Even missing some of the basic things she had become accustomed to was fine! She was with her dear beloved Maestro, that was the only thing that mattered. They could be lost in the mountains and as long as she was with him, nothing else mattered.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Leaving the bathroom after her extended stay, she found her Maestro watching television. Joining him in bed, she cast her gaze towards the idiot box. "What are we watching?"

"News." He kept his eyes glued to the screen. "Seeing if we're in the headlines." "Ah." Thinking about it logically, Shouri was the heir to a fortune himself; an altercation and vanishing in the night like they did should be a news story.

But they watched the entirety of the hour-long broadcast and it was never brought up. Shouri yawned. "They probably aren't going to report it to the police or anything," he theorized. "They don't want it to get out that I'm an embarrassment; they're gonna keep it a private affair." He shut the TV off and rolled onto his side.

"And honestly, I'm fine with that," he decided, getting comfortable in the sheets. "Doesn't your tuner say your name?" Taika pondered aloud as she got comfortable herself. "It already doesn't show my last name. Tuners have always shown how you identify yourself. I bet my last name dropped off the second that man shouted that he was disowning me."

"I see." Taika huddled close to Shouri. He draped an arm over her. "I just need you. They don't matter to me," he whispered, causing the girl's cheeks to warm considerably.

Night passed to morning, and with it, the worn-out pair were allowed a restful sleep.

Shouri awoke first that morning. He spent some time laying there, just watching his Resonator. She wore a serene smile, her face free from any worry. Reaching behind her head, he stroked her hair, ending up scratching her ears.

"Sho... continua così... lo fai bene..." she let out in a pleasured voice. Shouri pulled his hand away, face unbearably warm. He didn't need to understand what she said to get the implication. He slipped out of bed and went to take his second shower in the past twelve hours.

Taika sat up, hearing the shower going in the bathroom. "Che? Another shower?" she spoke groggily to herself. At any rate, she got up and stretched her stiff limbs. To say she slept hard was an understatement. With nothing better to do, she decided to allow her curiosity to run amok and properly explore their room.

She didn't discover anything too wild, but was impressed by the appliances – they were quite new upon observation. So either they were replaced frequently or not many people used these rooms, she couldn't tell which possibility it was.

Her exploration was interrupted by the sound of the bathroom door opening. "Sho!" The fox-girl rushed to her Maestro, her tail wagging joyously.

"Good morning Taika." He averted his gaze, face a touch bit red. After a moment of Taika just staring at him, he decided to hide his face by drying his hair. "We should go into town and get some shoes, and also stuff to lounge in while we're in these rooms," he laid out for his foxy companion.

"Great! Let's go!"

The town they ended up in was small. That much they knew. Most of the workers commuted in from various homes in the forests and mountains. At least that was the assumption based on the lack of housing surrounding the settlement.

The first stop was the town's general store. They picked up some changes of clothes, but most importantly they were able to get themselves some socks and shoes. Finally, they were able to walk around without earning perplexed looks for their lack of foot coverings.

Shouri also picked up a backpack to stash their spare change of clothes in. As a bonus, the bag came with an attached water bottle, something that would be useful if they kept traveling.

Finally, they took a break at a little café that was near the opposite edge of town and had a small brunch before ultimately deciding to return to the MA Office.

"Now what?" Taika asked, their primary chores done for the day. "We'll probably join the Scherzando hunt tonight. We spent quite a bit of money today," he told her. She nodded.

They were both a bit nervous in all honesty. Aura and Damian weren't there to bail them out if anything went awry. They were truly on their own now.

At the very least the pair attempted to unwind. They ended up taking a nap together until it was time to head out to the hunt.

It was already dark by the time they had arrived at the local base camp, the surrounding mountains shielding them from the actual sunset. The difference was immediate: this town wasn't like the Riva Solare hunt spot at all. There weren't any food stalls or even any stalls outside of the single registration booth. There wasn't a line either, just a bored-looking older gentleman.

"Uhhh, we're here to help with the hunt," Shouri spoke up quietly. "Eh? Sure." The man wrote something down. "Do you need my tuner?" Shouri questioned, holding the black-bodied device out for the man.

"Oh right right." The man accepted it, scanned it, and handed it back to Shouri without much fanfare.

Nothing further was said, which concerned Taika and Shouri, but they decided to just get to work. They saw a couple of other Maestros and Resonators wandering off on their own, with no real organization to them; most carried some source of light. Notably, a few were utilizing Fuoco Fatuo, the tiny fireball utility spell, for light while others had more traditional flashlights and even lanterns.

"I guess they do things differently here," Shouri whispered to Taika. The vixen nodded; brows turned up with concern.

Even with only a single hunt under their belts, they already preferred their previous experience over this one. "We'll do enough to cover our expenses for today and head back," Shouri decided. "Sounds good to me," the Resonator agreed.

"Rilevare l'intenzione, Lento."

The lunar element closed her eyes and let her spell loose – the wave of energy washed through the woods as she became cognizant of all who wandered through it. Shouri studied the map provided by the spell. His lips tugged down as he scrutinized what was available or the lack thereof. "There's... not much here," he noted.

Taika peered over his shoulder also seeing a lack of Scherzando. "There's not many people in this town," she offered as an explanation. "You're probably right. Let's go over here."

They tracked a Scherzando that was relatively close to their location. It took a bit of looking, but they found the beast – an elk-shaped shadow with icy horns and spikes coming from its body.

"Luce Lunare, Piano!" Shouri commanded. Taika stepped forward, lobbing a ball of shadowy energy at the beast. The attack hit head-on, but this one was stronger than their previous encounters and remained standing in the face of the basic spell. Now fully alert, the beast retaliated with a spray of icy needles.

"Sho!" Taika side-stepped and held out her arms, shielding Shouri from the attack.

"Taika!" "Don't worry about me! Next spell!" "Luce Lunare-!"

Before he could finish the modifier, he was tackled by Taika, who had saved him from the charging beast.

"Luce Lunare, Piano!" With Shouri's command and rhythm, Taika threw the next ball at the beast, which dealt damage to it, but still didn't fell it.

More needles. Taika jumped back onto Shouri, taking several dozen in her back. "Ow..." the fox whimpered. "Are you okay?!" Shouri yelped, his line of sight forced to witness the pain his fox tried to push down. "Fine, I'm fine, the jacket is stopping the needles from sticking in me. Spell!" she stammered quickly while scrambling back to her feet.

Shouri decided to break out the big guns. "Magifiamma, Legato!" Immediately, he felt his heart stop as a massive amount of rhythm was violently torn from his body. It was a good thing he was already on the ground as he would have dropped like a rock from the sudden sensation if he hadn't been.

Taika meanwhile also got a taste of a new sensation; alongside her Maestro's rhythm that flooded into her, there was a fire kindled in her heart. This flame required focus to keep it under control otherwise she feared it would go wild and burn her from the inside.

Seven balls of purple fire appeared around her and she urged them into a flurry of icy needles cast by the elk Scherzando. The first ball of fire easily absorbed the ice attack, with the remaining six successively hitting their marks one after another. After the final ball of fire burst, they witnessed the elk Scherzando fall and fade into rhythm once more.

"Whew." Taika dropped to her knees. That took way too much effort for a single enemy. Just how strong were these Scherzando out here to warrant that intense of a battle?

The Scherzando was the least of their worries, as without warning a flashlight was turned on them. "HEY!" an angered roar pierced the silent mountain woods. The startled pair turned to see a couple of Maestros standing in a nearby clearing with their Resonators. "What the fuck do you think yer doing?!"

"Fighting Scherzando? We signed up to hunt," Shouri replied curtly, confused at the vitriolic tone they were receiving from these total strangers.

"Fuckin' city kids," the older Maestro spat; his face contorted into a violent grimace. "Don't you know this is my territory? Git! Git out!"

Once again Shouri wanted to rebel. He wanted to put these people in their places. He couldn't hide the anger on his face. But-

Taika clung to him; her ears folded back trying to hide behind her Maestro. She was afraid and hurt from the battle they just had with the Scherzando. Even if it was wrong, even if he wanted to, he simply couldn't pick a fight with these people.

"You're right, my bad. I didn't know," he acquiesced. "Sorry for the trouble." With that, they quickly left the local Maestros to their 'claims', trying to ignore the glares on their backs as they did so.

"That was awful Sho." Taika trembled as they trudged back towards town. "I know Taika. We'll move on tomorrow morning." He grabbed her hand and held it tightly.

If he had to be honest with himself, he was scared too. People were just so cruel. It was fortunate that they didn't notice what element Taika was; otherwise, he feared they might have just outright attacked them.

The only silver lining was that the one Scherzando they did manage to take out was worth a decent sum of money. Not enough to cover all of their expenses like he had hoped, but they were still comfortable for the moment. That's all that mattered.

When they arrived back at their room, Taika immediately collapsed on the bed.

"You took a beating; I should heal you," Shouri said, reaching for his tuner. "No!" She sat up. "Sho, I'm fine!" she insisted, her eyes fixated on the white that was invading Shouri's hair. "I'm just tired."

The pair glared at each other for a moment. Shouri broke the deadlock to glance down at his tuner.

RHYTHM 51% 51% STATUS Ready

She had lost a significant amount of her rhythm during that fight. Truth be told, he could see a touch bit of white in the very tips of his bangs. That last spell he used did a number on him as well.

He relented to his Resonator's claims. "Fine. If you need it though-"

"I'm fine really!" She remained firm. "Maybe a bit hungry," came the admission. Shouri simpered, putting his hands on his hips. "Okay okay, wait here, I'll get you some treats for doing so well today."

Taika squealed in joy, tail wagging excitedly at the prospect of delicious snack foods. Leaving the room, Shouri wandered over to the vending machine and got a small handful of snacks for their consumption.

Returning to the room, he dumped the pile of food on the bed and the pair enjoyed their small feast of sweets while watching television.

Before he knew it, Shouri was alone, with Taika contentedly asleep next to him. He reached over and gently stroked her hair. He decided to retire for the night himself, but first, he wanted a nice tall glass of ice water.

For that, he would need to go to the common room and get some ice out of the ice maker. He slipped on his shoes and walked to the door. His hand hovered over the doorknob as he took pause. Glancing back, he regarded the tuner that lay on the nightstand. "It'll be fine," he decided.

Making his way to the ice maker, he plucked a bucket from the stack next to the machine and filled it to the brim with ice chips. Happy with the amount he had, he closed up, lest he get yelled at for leaving it open.

THWACK

His eyes bugged out and his body seized up as he lost control of it. His vision faded as he plummeted to the ground.

The only companion he took to unconsciousness was a gravelly voice, "Fuckin' city kids."

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