There are Two Wolves inside you.

[patent portal]

Seven after multiple days of just being brought along for mission after mission, trip to god knows where finally finds a moment to find a quiet place in the Grove to rest. Eventually grabbing an old and broken sword from her bag and setting it in front of her as she sits in the momentary silence listening to the winds carry its weight across the many trees that surround her.

Watching the world slowly pass by she looks up and ponders if what she does is even the right thing, she knows she has problems but is it even right to try and do more good to make up for the bad.. Usually by this time seven would have someone show up and talk to her about a mission or other guild related nonsense, but now she's wondering if the effort she is putting in is worth it.

Self Doubt

Maybe she's just been taking too many jobs lately, or something closer to putting too much on her mind.. If she talked too someone their words would probably be somewhere close to 'dont worry too much about it.' or 'you're worrying too much.'. Kinda hard not to worry when each day is a balancing act of nearly getting killed by some mad man with a god complex.

With all these thoughts in her mind Seven just remains in the Grove listening to the wooshing of wind brushing leaves and trees back and forth, wondering when the next rain will come.

[sturdy bobcat]

As Seven sits at the Grove, the air temporarily grows thin, as magical energy swirls around a point nearby, culminating into a rift in reality.

Returning back from her trip to the elemental plane of water, Ayla steps through the portal, alongside a small wave of water spilling around her. Her clothes are completely soaked, and her hair completely dishevelled and damp. After a second or two passes, the portal closes behind her, leaving the Grove as it was, besides from the new puddle.

Looking around to get her bearings, Ayla notices Seven sitting nearby, calling out to her "Oh Hey! Fancy meeting you here Seven! What's up?"

With a beaming smile on her face, Ayla trots over to Seven, standing above her.

"Do you know where we are by the way? I expected to end up back at the pool, but it looks like I made a wrong turn somewhere!"

[patent portal]

Seven almost stumbles from her seated position as the energy creates a rift, as a defensive position was taken ready to fight if she had too, Necrotic magic reeled in between her hand to throw at a moments noti- and its just Ayla...

Seven sighs with a bit of relief and looks to her now with a bit of confusion "How in the heck..? What even happened to you first of all..? I cant even begin to know what even is going on."

Eventually relaxing herself dismissing the magic and eventually looking back to her "We're in the grove, I was just... having a moment but now you're here." Seven says as she sits back down where she was sat looking off towards a wooded area of the grove once more.

[sturdy bobcat]

Ayla grins at Seven, trying to wring some of the water out of her outfit and hair, not very successfully. "Hey, do you have anything warm? The air is a little chilly around here!"

"Oh, and don't worry about me! I was originally at the pool at the guild 'cause I wanted to go swimming, then I made a new friend there, and then the next thing I know we're at the...what did she call it....? Elemental plane of water? Something like that! It was all dark and watery, with a lot of stuff swimming about! We explored for a bit, before she eventually sent me back here! It was pretty cool, you should come with me next time!"

Ayla focuses a little on wringing water out of her sodden tail, shivering a little.

[patent portal]

Seven sighs watching water get drained nearby and cast prestidigitation on Ayla while speaking softly "I feel like going to such a place would probably not be good for me since I cant turn into the literal elements, and would most certainly kill me. Fortunately for me I can enjoy being on the material plane after several nonsensicle missions in what could only be described as not of this world..."

Seven scratches the side of her head before casting the magic once again to warm her clothes to stop her from catching a cold. "So, how has the elemental being been since I last saw you..? I ended a war, went to go get someones revenge and had a 'godly' figure attempt to suffocate me and some allies to death.. so whats up with you..?"

[sturdy bobcat]

Ayla tilts her head in slight confusion. "Elemental...? Oh! Do you mean me? Well, I feel a bit better since last time I suppose! I had a chat with SiHara and ended up falling asleep with them, then the next day I went to this really hot place where there were a bunch of mean creatures and the floor was kinda squishy...oh, I did watch Carla lift a building over there, that was pretty cool! It was pretty hot though, and afterwards I discovered we have a pool here! Can you believe it? a pool! Anyway, I went over there to cool off a little, and I met this very nice lady called...Naz I think her name was? And she offered to show me around her home! She summoned some tentacles, grabbed me, and the next thing I know I was under water and we went exploring! Once we were finished, she opened a little portal and here I am now!"

Taking in a breathe after her long monologue, she sits down next to Seven. "Sounds like you've been just as busy though, you should invite me along next time! Oh, thanks for that by the way, I feel way better!" Ayla flashes a warm smile at Seven.

[patent portal]

Hearing the first part about Sihara and Ayla falling asleep together her eye twitches slightly but eventually relaxes herself speaking softly "I mean just taking missions whenever I am able, so If you're not nearby I cant take you on deadly missions where creatures want to siphon your breath and call themselves a god... something like that. "

Seven closes her eyes and lays back onto the grass looking up to the sky between the trees

[sturdy bobcat]

Looking down at Seven, Ayla's smile fades a little. Standing up, walking over and leaning over Seven a little, she asks "hey, are you alright? You have that tone in your voice that usually means you're feeling a little down. Am I wrong?"

"Usually I try to go do something I like doing when I'm feeling a little down, and that usually cheers me up! Now that I think about it, I don't know too much about what you do for fun, we're usually going places that I like! So...whatcha like? I'm sure we can find somewhere that'll make you happy!"

[patent portal]

Seven shakes her head "I'll be fine, just exhausted.. been doing alot lately to catch up with you. Cant have you being too far ahead of me because then I cant save you if you get seriously hurt on a mission.. As much as I should put my trust into other people I rarely find that many people who actively put their time into healing people at the higher ranks of this guild so im just making it my mission to make sure I can help people where I can.. the best I can."

Seven looks up to Ayla "I needed a quiet space away from the guild to calm my own nerves and you showing up was more or less an unexpected surprise." Seven reaches over and boops ayla on the nose "But how can someone expect you."

[sturdy bobcat]

Ayla tilts her head in confusion. "Hmmm, I'm not sure! I think someone like Matti might be able to, he's pretty good at the whole time magic stuff. It all goes over my head though! Not that I'd want to understand. Who wants to know everything that'll happen tomorrow? It's more fun discovering it all at the time, right?"

"And...catching up? What do you mean? I'm not going anywhere! Well, unless you want me to. I can leave you alone if you want if I'm bothering you! But dont worry about me getting hurt, I can take it! I'm supposed to protect everyone else anyway! Better me getting hurt than everyone else, right? I even learned some new healing magic for that, like the one I did on you the other day, I hope I helped!" Ayla gives a big smile and boops Seven back.

[patent portal]

"Probably because I put too much weight on my shoulders that I feel too needed around the guild, often find myself bandaging and healing up newcomers after their first adventures since I haven't seen too many missions, not as much as when I started out. Seems there is only so much need for gold ranked adventurers."

Seven relaxes for a moment and reaches into her bag of holding grabbing a small bag of variety field snacks and takes a bite of whatever she grabbed before looking back to Ayla "I dont understand all that kind of magic, Its all just gibrish to me, tried reading a scroll I found the other day but I couldn't even understand it, Was like I was trying to read celestial only I know celestial is a very direct form of writing-.. Its nothing like translating a language its like deciphering a mystery.." She sighs "I really should've stuck to schooling longer then I did."

[sturdy bobcat]

Resisting the urge to ask Seven for snacks, Ayla replies "I never went to a school, and I'm fine, right? Well, I think I am. Am I fine?"

Pondering the question for just a se ond, she continues on "Anyway, I'm sure we'll find something! I discovered that there's more shiny badge thingies that the guild uses! My sis got a new one, although it looks like silver even though it's apparently not silver which is weird. Naz also had a different one that's apparently even better than the one my sis has so clearly there must be other places for us to visit and explore! Well, either that or I still need to get stronger so i can protect you ans everyone else better!"

[patent portal]

Seven reaches into the bag of holding once more pulling a piece of Dino meat from their last venture into Acrelund. holding it out to Ayla as she speaks up "I kinda figured you'd want something so I kept something from being a walking bag of holding for people so they dont have to carry things, its the bag of holding tax... heh~" Seven chuckles to herself awaiting Ayla to take the meat from her hand so she continue with her trail mix

"We're definately not at the top of the pecking order here, somewhere closer to the middle.. maybe slightly above? not too sure.. gold seems to be a strong middle point in my opinion despite it being an already soft metal."

[sturdy bobcat]

With a sparkle in her eyes, Ayla snatches up the meat and shovels it into her mouth.

With her mouth still full, she mumbles out "Well, not that it matters too much right? Doesn't matter what piece of metal they give us, as long as we get to go out and have fun together, right? Whatever we're wearing doesn't really get affected by that! I even got to go to this ship the other day that was like really far up and wasn't in the water but it was like really dark and sparkly outside the windows! They even had lots of tasty food up there! You should have joined me!"

Slightly choking on her and tapping her fist against her chest, she swallows her food, and sits down, then lies down next to Seven. Settling down and getting comfy, she relaxes and closes her eyes, whistling a little tune.

[patent portal]

"I've been.. mostly recovering because everytime I seem to go out there just seems to be something else ready to kill everyone around with little effort.. But I guess that is the name of this game right..? stop the madness and such..?" Seven sighs joining ayla in laying back and speaking up "You know i'd join you if I was there around before you ran off, you just tend to gather people quickly and venture off before anyone realizes.. Like I saw you one day and I was gonna go out and talk too you after I had cleaned up but the second I got back out you were gone, I had assumed you went off to hunt and would be back in an hour or so but.. Then the hour turned to multiple days-"

[sturdy bobcat]

"Well, I say if you're nice to others and give them a chance, maybe you'll find someone who's nice back, right? Better than just attacking everyone on sight! That's what bad guys do and we aren't bad guys!"

Adjusting her position, she muses Sevens statement. "Hmm, I think I did go out at some point and maybe took a different turn than usual and then eventually I ended up in a really sandy place, you think that's what you're talking about? Anyway, you should just come and talk to me next time! You could come exploring with me! It can get boring just hanging around here, so I try to make the most of my time by heading out sometimes!"

[patent portal]

"Literally had just got done saying I was going to go talk to you but you're sporatic and do things by the moment, I cant help when you disappear in the time it takes for me to get changed, kinda harder to do so when I dont have a private area to clean myself.. I need my own home.."

[sturdy bobcat]

Opening her eyes again, looking across at her friend, Ayla says "Well, we do have the pool a bit further inside the guild. You could use that! Although there can be other people there too. There's also the place me and Canna live, although that's quite far away from here so I usually fly over there so you'd probably not want to live with me over there. Oh, and sorry if I run off sometimes! I didn't know you were around! Normally you're off on your own adventures having fun! At least, I think you are."

Shifting her weight so that she's lying on her side, she continues "Hey, do you have a goal or something like that here? I was talking with a few other people around here and a lot of them seem to have some sort of plan, or something they wanna do once they've gotten strong enough. Is it weird that I don't really have anything like that?"

[patent portal]

Seven shakes her head "I am not cleaning myself in a pool, that just ruins the pool for everyone and they would have to clean it more and more each time someone does that, So no I will not.. also theres some weird magic stuff in the water to keep it cleaner then it would be if it was just water but that doesn't make it any better... plus I hate cleaning around other people and theres always people walking around the guild. makes it difficult.

"I may see about snagging a place from somewhere if the occupant turns out to be some weird guy who doesn't deserve it... Not sure how I go about it.. or something- Oh a goal..? I mean I never really thought too hard about it, its kinda hard to have a goal when you're not off on a full adventure- I mean I'd probably want to help out where I can as much as I can."

Seven pauses for a minute trying to think before speaking up "Probably get in a relationship and enjoy life- kinda hard to do when im adventuring and dont know if I'll take a job that will lead to be getting eaten by a giant bird or something insane- so maybe my goal is to live long enough to maybe see if I can speak with my sisters spirit and see if she would want another chance at life... then I can spend a bunch of time training her up to be just as strong as me. "

[sturdy bobcat]

Grinning, Ayla says "ooooh, having another Seven around could be fun! I'm not very good at the whole dead people magic stuff, never had the opportunity to really try either. Although I think that's a good thing? Probably, anyway! You're pretty cool for being able to do that!"

Tilting her head quizzically, she then asks "by the way, what's a relationship?"

[patent portal]

"I mean it probably wouldn't be another me- Theres enough nonsense in the world for one of me so two of me would probably be too much.. I would prefer to stay hands off on her learning experiences of the world just being the.. technically older sister at this point- that and she would probably need to grow up a little before she joined the guild anyways. not sure what the age requirement is to join the guild but it'd probably be long after we're at the top ranks."

Seven looked back to Ayla trying to figure out how to answer this "A relationship is kinda like a friendship, you know how you have people who say they have husbands and wives, its a bit of the step before that. Usually you date someone and spend happy days together before deciding to marry them. Only a relationship is more- personal between the two people who love each other romantically... Ideally its someone you'd want to spend the rest of your life with and work through issues thick and thin and hav- actually I think i'll let someone else handle the bees talk."

[sturdy bobcat]

"Well, people do sometimes confuse me and my sister, so I figured if your sister was here then she'd probably look like you! I'm sure you two would do great!"

Listening on to the rest of the reply, Ayla tilts her head in confusion, "bees...huh? I don't really get it. I wanna spend a lot of time with all my friends though, does that count? 'Cause I like going exploring and most of my friends aren't with me all of the time when I'm doing that cause they're more interested doing other stuff."

Beaming a big smile, she continues on "anyway, you said you want one yourself, right? So, do you know someone to do that with? I can help you find some friends here if you'd like!"

[patent portal]

"See thats the thing, My sister- was a child of another mother.. my dad wasn't exactly loyal to her and that caused some minor tension when me and mom learned of what happened, I accepted her but I had a feeling mom was just put into a corner because of how quickly I pulled her in.. Probably which is why she took the.. more disasterous route of life."

Seven shakes her head "Its probably easier to explain like this, Moms and dads are considered in a relationship.. Im not saying I want to become a mother...." Seven thinks for a moment realizing how chaotic a child of hers would be before shaking her head "Its probably easier if I just handled the searching myself, plus I still have a whole lot of saving lives I have to do in the guild and that takes priority."

[sturdy bobcat]

"Hmm, still don't get it, to be honest. Mums and Dads are like, the people who look after a kid when they're young right? Must be nice, although I had all my friends back at my den so I never really needed one! So if I started looking after someone would I be a mum?" Giving a small chuckle, she jokes "I guess that makes me a mum to everyone here that I try to keep safe, right?"

Adjusting her position slightly, Ayla says "I suppose you're right though! You're pretty good at the whole magic thing and the healing and stuff, and I see people come to you after they get scratched all the time, so I guess you won't have too much issue getting people wanting to spend time with you!"

[patent portal]

Seven thinks for a moment "Its... Complicated.. You can adopt but it is alot of smart people work and Im not smart enough for that.. I dont want people yelling at me for caring for someone when I save their lives." Seven shakes her head

"Not the way I wanna go about that but whatever.. Its not too big of an issue for me now, Still have many years to stress about that.. im still young-ish... 25 is young... right..? or was it 27?"

[sturdy bobcat]

"hmm, I dunno! I've never kept track of my age. I'd just keep walking and exploring and meeting new friends until I eventually ended up here! I never really thought to keep track of how many days it's been since back in the day. Although, not like it matters which one of us is older, right? I'm just me, right? that doesn't change."

[patent portal]

"Some places kinda requires you to atleast be an adult for your species, Not saying that you're not but the idea being that you should atleast be aged enough to experience life before you do something that can be harmful to your health." Seven shakes her head "Anyways, Whats been going on with you..? Its been me me me all since you've gotten here."

[sturdy bobcat]

Ayla tilts her head in confusion. "Hmm? I thought I already told you? I fell asleep with SiHara, went for a bath with Naz, then ended up in that watery place for a while, then appeared here! Was there anything specific you wanted to know?"

[patent portal]

Seven shakes her head "No I mean other then the immediate things that just happened to you, like you were looking for that guy.. You know I can prepare some magic to help you look for him, or at least see what he's up too.. You seemed to be pretty close to them and it would be wrong of me to knowingly know how to do this magic and not at least offer it.."

[sturdy bobcat]

Ayla blinks a few times "Oh, I suppose there's not too much going on for me, I guess I'm pretty simple compared to all the smart people around me. No parents to worry about, and my sister is a part of the guild here so it's easy to me to look after her! Is it bad to have a big goal to work towards?"

Latching onto Seven's words, she continues "oh, Aether? I had figured that if he wasn't around he didn't want to be found! But I suppose if you know how to do that then that could be cool, I can introduce you two!"

[patent portal]

She tilts her head for a moment "No I mean I can look for him, you said he hasn't been at the guild so one could only assume he's out doing something or just in hiding for a reason, which means you'd have to go and save him.. or something." Seven shrugs "Give me a day in the future and I can cycle my magic around towards divining where he is and such, If its something you really want."

[sturdy bobcat]

Ayla suddenly sits up, with a slightly worried look on her face. "Wait, saving him? Do you think he's in trouble? Should I have tried looking harder for him if he's in danger? What if he's still waiting for me? I did promise I'd keep him safe like everyone else, am I being a bad friend?"

Scrambling to her feet, she brushes off the dirt from her clothes and looks down at Seven "Well, if he's in danger we should start looking right now, right?"

[patent portal]

Seven shakes her head "I dont mean danger in the sense of impending doom.. It doesn't make you a bad friend if that friend wanted to take something on alone and fate has chosen otherwise, it is the cycle of life and death.. sometimes its just better to let people rest when they have fallen, sometimes they werent ready and thats when we ressurect them.

Seven grabs a small book from her bag and recites something

"I mean, they say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time." Even if he had died, the fact that you remember him is something more then what most people get, Some people are just quickly forgotten and thats when they will never be brought back to life... Aether still life in your ability to remember him.. If he was dead and wished to tread the mortal plane once more then thats a different story.. perhaps he died saving thousands of people from a danger that we hardly know or perhaps he's living in seclusion and seeking solace and restitution for past sins.. Some clerics do that... wait was he even a cleric..?"

[sturdy bobcat]

Ayla shakes her head violently "no, no, no, he's not dead, that wouldn't happen, he's too strong for that! You shouldn't have bad thoughts like that Seven!"

Sitting back down, pulling her knees to her chest and looking away from Seven. "Uh, I dunno. He could cast spells, that's about all I know about him. I know there's a name for what kind of fighting you do but I've never really remembered it."

With a slight pause, she asks "Hey, is there something else you wanna know?"

[patent portal]

Seven shakes her head "I know he's important to you, but you also have to know the possibility is there... But you also know if he is gone then there is always the possibility to Ressurect them. Death is not always a final point, where someone doesn't ever come back.. We just have to prepare for it is all.. Mind you if he has been gone for more then a year now its gonna take a greater toll on whoever casts the spell to bring him back from the other side."

Seven looks down "Im not even saying he's dead.. Im saying there might be a possibility."

[sturdy bobcat]

"Stop it. Please."

[patent portal]

Seven Goes to start talking but quickly cuts herself off as she frowns slightly "I just dont want you to have false hope.. thats what makes the heartbreak worse.." Seven pushes herself up off the ground "I am going back to the guild hall.. maybe theres a mission I can take to take my mind off this."

[sturdy bobcat]

Without turning around, Ayla says in quiet, quivering voice "Alright. Let me know how it goes. Hope you have fun."

She lies back down, staring upwards at nothing in particular. Practically whispering, unsure if Seven can even hear her, she murmurs "...Sorry for bothering you"

[patent portal]

With that Seven walks off misty stepping away to gather distance as much as she could, perhaps thats why she doesn't use it that often despite having easy access to it.

2 Weeks Later

Seven walks back into the grove once more after the argument, however time mends things- usually.. And now she stands alone in the grove once more.

[sturdy bobcat]

Seven feels a slight disturbance in the ground underneath her, as the earth and dirt beneath her feet gets dislodged. Burrowing through the ground, Ayla pokes her head above the surface to see whom the tremors she was sensing belonged to.

Staring up at and recognising Seven, she pipes up "Oh, hey Seven! Fancy seeing you here! Whatcha doing up there? It's been so long!"

[patent portal]

Seven fidgets as the internal "Fight or Flight" response kicks in, she soon realizes she doesn't have to do either as Ayla pops her head out of the ground as she blinks confusedly "Why are you crawling through the earth like a Fennec Fox..?" Seven questioned to aylas head before looking around and back to ayla.

"I was meditating- I think, potentially going to the astral plane to enjoy the empty silence and have a quiet place to return too so I dont immediately get overwhelmed by everything going on like I usually have too when I do it on a mission... more training my mind to be ready.. if that needed to be a proper answer."

[sturdy bobcat]

Ayla tilts her head in confusion "Fox? No, silly, you're thinking of my sister. It's me, Ayla! Did you know there's a bunch of tunnels down here that the little dragon people made? I've been exploring them for a while but they yelled at me to get out so I made my way here!"

Climbing out of the earth, Ayla shakes the dirt off of her, and looks down at Seven "Oh, is this a bad time? I dunno what that astral place is, If you wanna have some quiet I can just leave you alone..." Shifting her gaze, she trails off a little awkwardly.