Every incredible journey began with a humble first step. Maren had figured, however, that the first step with her newest – and first – guildmate would have been a little more noble.

“Mr. Pepper!” their client called after he’d opened his apartment door.

Mav placed the yellow lab – as excitable a pup as any Maren had seen, who’d been so eager to make friends with any other dog, human, or car that crossed their path that Mav had to hold him for most of the walk – down. The dog, recognizing his person, bounded forward into his owner’s arms.

“Thank you,” their client, a man named Phillip Fredrickson, said, a tear in his eye. “Thank you thank you thank you!”

Maren couldn’t help but smile. It wasn’t like finding a dog which had been lost for two weeks wasn’t noble. But after their ordeal yesterday – which had involved Maren getting kidnapped, dragged to a secret facility in Sekko’s basement, and then aiding Mav in destroying a massive abomination hell-bent on consuming every little thing in its path – Maren would have figured their first official job together would be a bit more dramatic.

Not that she wanted all of their jobs to be dangerous and life-threatening. That style of work was for Peace Keepers. As a guild, finding a lost dog was absolutely acceptable work.

If it could be considered official.

“I don’t know what else to say,” Phillip said, cry-laughing as his dog gave him ample licks on his face.

“‘Thank you’ is enough,” Mav said with a bright smile.

The ex-Peace Keeper genuinely wanted to do good in the world and help others. Maren saw that yesterday, as he risked his life to save her and twenty-three others who’d been kidnapped, people he didn’t even know.

However, that altruism might go a little too far. They had been on their way out of Linick to begin their time together in Talam’s first ever traveling guild when Mav caught sight of Phillip on a street corner, trying to transfer a flyer for his missing dog to anyone’s devices who would give him the time of day. Maren, of course, had been ready to find work wherever she went, but Mav didn’t even discuss a price for the job with Phillip. In fact, he talked so much and so quickly, Maren didn’t get a word in before Mav was bounding away to look for the dog and Phillip was going home to prepare for them. She hadn’t been able to form a contract to make the mission official.

No matter, Maren had thought. The document mentioned a reward, anyway, and she could always make the contract afterwards. The Republic of Talam didn’t really care about an interim guild’s contract filing so long as they filed their earnings correctly. So it would be simple to make the job official after they retrieved payment.

“Now, as for your payment,” Phillip said.

Perfect. Maren began to step forward, but didn’t make it far before Mav held his hand up.

“Don’t worry about it,” Mav said, his smile unfaltering. “Like I said, your thanks is enough.”

Maren froze. What? No, that wasn’t how this worked. Guilds opened contracts, did work, then got paid upon its completion. Maren had spent a couple hours getting approval to access cameras around the city in order to find the dog, let alone the other hour it took actually finding the pup. Three hours of guild work couldn’t simply go unrewarded.

But could Maren contradict him? She was the guild’s leader, sure, but if she openly contrasted Mav in front of their client, it would give the impression that they weren’t a cohesive whole. That seemed like an accurate assessment now, but Maren couldn’t make that known.

And what if she offended Mav by demanding payment after he’d already said ‘thank you’ was enough? Mav was such an incredible addition to her little nameless traveling guild. He was strong, skilled, and selfless. He saved possibly thousands of lives yesterday at the near cost of his own life. He’d even left his Siblings-at-arms in the Peace Keepers, people he’d spent the last two years training with. The Peace Keepers would brand him a Deserter if he didn’t take his oath next week. That word would spread and most everyone who heard about it would refuse to employ Mav. Many wouldn’t even associate with him.

Maren had done that to him. He’d left a life that was full of danger, sure, but it was also one that would have been honored throughout its entirety. What if she makes him regret his decision? He still had nearly a week to go back to the Peace Keepers and take his oath. What if, by her being pushy on payment, she loses her first guild member immediately?

So Maren plastered on a little smile which didn’t fully reach her eyes as Phillip closed the door, Mr. Pepper hopping around him and Mav waving goodbye.

“Alright,” Mav said, voice light and airy. “We hitting the road again?”

Maren’s smile twitched slightly. “Of course.”

Mav took off, without even a thought to look back and see if Maren was with him. Only then did it really hit her that she hadn’t said a single word to Phillip.

And she was supposed to be the leader.

The pep in Mav’s step felt a little more genuine after returning Mr. Pepper. Already he was doing some good and making someone’s world just a little better. It wasn’t like the Peace Keepers would ever have let him stop what he was doing to help someone find their missing dog. Koda would have fought back on it, telling Mav that it was an issue for someone else to solve and that they had more important things to do. Meanwhile Maren had not only been chill with it, she’d actively helped!

Leaving the Peace Keepers – an organization he’d spent the last two years with learning under an incredible mentor and growing alongside some of the greatest people Mav had ever known; an organization which had provided him with a certain future as he had planned to stay with for the rest of his Titans-given life so that he could travel the country and save those in need – to see the sights with a girl he didn’t really know had definitely been the right call.

Right?

“We probably won’t get too far before we have to set up camp,” Maren said. “But that’s alright. Our time limit isn’t exactly the strictest.”

Mav blinked. A moment ago, the bustling streets of Linick scrolled by as they walked. Now, all of that was behind them. The shorter buildings and houses forming the city’s perimeter stood before the taller and grander edifices miles and miles away in the city’s center, all culminating in the grandest building in all of the Republic of Talam: the Spire.

It was so sudden, that step from the city into the countryside. Maren had chosen for them a road heading west, along a highway which would eventually bring them to the bustling city of Yoularnon – were they not to deviate from the path at all. But they were a traveling guild! What fun would the whole journey be if they stuck to walking along the paths which followed a highway?

“One month for another member,” Mav said. “That should be easy.”

Which was something Mav had said earlier this morning, in the park where Mav had joined this nameless guild. If she needed him to repeat the sentiment, however, then say it again he would.

“A little less than a month,” Maren said, squinting as she looked at the sun dipping toward tree-covered hills. “And we didn’t even meet another Wielder today.”

“That would’ve been great!” Mav said. “Making another friend on the same day I joined the guild!”

“That would’ve been a relief. But I guess things just can’t be easy.”

“It wouldn’t have been easy if we had an adventure as big as yesterday’s.”

Maren gave him a side-eye. “Could you have even done that? I’m still a little parched and I’ve been drinking nothing but water the last twenty-six hours!”

“Of course I could have!” Mav scratched the back of his head.

Maren’s side-eye shifted to his hand. “Uh huh. But, you’re right. Twenty-nine more days. That’s plenty of time to find another member. More than enough, even.”

Maren’s eyes were distant, her voice getting smaller.

“This is really important to you, isn’t it?” Mav said.

“Huh?” Maren said, shaking her head. “Oh, yeah. Of course it is. It’s my dream and….” Maren shook her head, then puffed out her chest and broadened her shoulders. “Nothing’s gonna stop us from making the greatest guild in all of Talam’s history!”

Mav smirked. Yeah, this had to be the right choice for him.

“Hell yeah!” Mav roared.

“And that’s that,” Maren mumbled, placing her hands on her hips and staring at her handiwork.

Which, honestly, hadn’t been difficult to do. She’d set up her tent, as she’d done most nights over the last two weeks. It was a simple affair: remove the container holding her tent, click a button, place it on the ground, back away, then watch it expand until it grew to the size of a four-person tent. All the amenities were connected to the tent already, such as her sleeping bag and pillow so it would expand proportionally to the tent, so she hadn’t needed to work on that.

Which was nice, as she was still exhausted from yesterday. The several hour hike until sundown today didn’t exactly rejuvenate her muscles, either.

She still had done some work inside the tent: she’d set up her size-changing bookshelf and writing desk. She hadn’t used the desk in a while, but she had a lot she wanted to add to yesterday’s journal entry and figured it would be best to sit down and write on something official instead of just lounging back on her sleeping bag with awful posture like she’d been doing recently.

A slight sizzle and crackle sounded outside. A pleasant aroma wafted through her enclosed tent and found its way into her nostrils, then apparently went straight down to her stomach to make it grumble.

Right. Mav had said he would make dinner tonight. He must have finished setting up his tent much faster than her and already gotten started on it. Maren nodded in appreciation, then sat at her desk. Sure, she didn’t really know much about Mav yet, but even if there were some things she’d grow to dislike about him, at least he was willing to cook.

Maren paused as she was halfway through expanding her tablet. What if she didn’t like his cooking?

“Dinner’s ready,” Mav said.

Man, he’d moved fast. But did that mean it was poorly done?

Only one way to find out. Maren, trying to hold back anxiety, left her tent.

Mav had cooked fish, rice, and several vegetable sides. He’d placed them all on a small table near a small campfire, which was between Maren’s tent and Mav’s humble one. Maren’s anxieties calmed, though only slightly. It looked good enough and if it tasted as well as it smelled, then Maren would have nothing to worry about.

Mav turned, his mouth opening to speak, but he paused as he caught sight of her. His eyes flickered down, up again, then he turned back around.

Was there something wrong with her? Looking down, Maren’s face warmed. After she’d first entered her tent, she’d naturally changed into her pajamas – just a plain, large tee shirt. She clenched the edge of her shirt and pulled down. Dammit! She’d grown so used to being by herself, she hadn’t even thought to wear a pair of exercise shorts!

“Don’t… don’t get any strange thoughts or anything,” Maren blurted out as she turned back to her tent.

“What?” Mav said. “Oh! Um… but your normal outfit shows even more skin than that.”

Maren looked down again. Normally, her midriff and upper arms were also showing. Now, technically, a lot more of her skin was covered.

Oh, God. Maren hurried into the tent and put on a pair of exercise shorts, just for the added comfort to be around him, but she couldn’t get her face to cool off. Not only was he right, but she’d shown how uncomfortable she’d been around him. Would he be annoyed with her? Would he think that she thought that he was a pervert? What if that made him dislike her and regret his decision to join the guild? What if he left to go back to the Peace Keepers and brought her back to square one? What if–?

“Here you go,” Mav said as he passed Maren a plate he’d made for her, his smile reaching his eyes.

Hopefully Mav wouldn’t be able to see all the red on her cheeks – and forehead and likely ears – due to the lack of light. The campfire was small, so maybe she was saved from the embarrassment.

“Thank you,” Maren said, taking her plate, then sitting down. She grabbed a fork and ate her first bite of fish. She smiled. “It’s good.”

“Thanks,” Mav said with a smile.

He seemed to wait for something, but said what seemed like a little prayer and then started eating. Maren enjoyed the crackling fire, the warm fish, the sticky rice, the richly flavored vegetables.

Yet still Mav appeared on edge in her periphery. Was he expecting something?

Or maybe she was reading too much into it. This was the first real meal they’d shared together, as they’d only had some protein bars for lunch on their search for the dog. She didn’t know his body language or how he normally ate.

Aside from being kind and strong, what else did she know about him?

“So…” Maren began.

Mav looked up, the look in his eye expectant like a child waiting to hear good news. Damn, why was it so hard to speak now?

“Mav,” Maren said.

“Maren,” Mav said.

“Where are you from?”

Mav blinked a couple times, then nodded. “Kinslo, in eastern Neirea.”

“Okay,” Maren breathed. “That makes sense. I remember Koda saying something about Eternal Effigy’s manor yesterday, during his call with you. I wasn’t sure if you were from there or closeby.”

Mav looked into the fire, eyes downcast, upon hearing Koda’s name, though his smile remained. “Technically, we lived in a suburb. It’s just easier to say I’m from Kinslo, you know? I liked it. It was easy enough to get to the city, but there was a lot to explore in the countryside nearby. So long as we stayed away from the Oyata lands, we could basically go wherever we wanted.”

The Oyata people were a group who settled in various lands, though mostly in southeast Neirea, northwest Mesr, and northeast Pialagas. They were Talamese citizens, obviously, though they tended to keep to themselves and not mess with others’ affairs. Despite that, the Republic saw no issue with stepping into their disputes without a second thought.

“Sounds a little strange,” Maren said. “I didn’t think Oyata peoples were hostile to citizens, unless they messed up their lands.”

Maren’s eyes widened, memories of yesterday clouding her vision.

“What’s that look for?” Mav asked.

“A lot of stuff exploded because of you yesterday,” Maren said.

“I didn’t destroy anything. Promise!” Mav’s hand never went to the back of his hand. It was nice, having a simple way to tell if he was being honest. “Besides, it had nothing to do with me. Ko…. It doesn’t matter. Not my story to tell, anyway.”

Sounded like he’d been going to talk about Koda. With his brown skin, it made sense that Koda could have been from the Oyata people. But Oyata men tended to have hair as long as women’s, nor did one find many volunteering to be the Republic’s lapdogs by joining the Peace Keepers.

Maren kept her mouth shut. Were Koda Oyatan, his close-cropped hair and Peace-Keeper status easily would have been a point of contention. And if Mav wasn’t willing to tell that story, Maren shouldn’t pry.

“Aside from exploring, was there anything else you did?” Maren asked.

“Hung out mostly with friends,” Mav said. “We explored and played video games and stuff. I also watch anime, read manga and all that. It inspired me to draw.”

“You’re an artist?”

“Sorta, but I haven’t drawn or painted in a while.”

“Peace Keeper training keep you too busy?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Well, now that you’re here, you can start again.”

Mav looked around, his smile faltered. “Could be nice. Don’t have a tablet for it, though.”

Maren shrugged. “We could make a budget for it. Save up a little bit for it after each job.”

“You’d do that for me?”

“Technically, it would be from your credits. As a guild, we share funds for whatever jobs we do together. I can’t stop you from buying whatever you want with your own credits. But I’m pretty good at finance, so if you need help budgeting, I can do that.”

“Huh. You know, I never thought about that. Thanks.”

Clearly. So maybe he hadn’t wanted payment for the dog not because he refused to get paid for doing good deeds, but that he’d simply been so excited to help someone out that he completely forgot about getting paid.

“I’ll think about it,” Mav said, voice growing small as he looked aside. A few seconds passed with only the fire crackling to stave off the silence, then Mav turned around again. “What about you? What did you get up to in Westalk?”

Maren grimaced. Supposed if she was going to learn about him, she of course should offer parts of her life in return. That should be fine. All she had to do was keep away from some of the most recent incidents and she should be able to get through it.

“I didn’t really explore,” Maren began, “but I got to see a good amount of the city and its suburbs doing missions. I’d sometimes go it alone, but I was usually joined by two or three others.”

“So you’re used to working with smaller groups,” Mav said. “And by yourself.”

“I prefer to work with others, but not too many. I imagine it’s similar to you, with your cohort having…?”

“There are, were… used to be seven of us. But we’d often split into smaller groups or do solo-work. All of us barely worked a job together. But that doesn’t matter. What about your hobbies, your interests?”

Back to her, huh? With the way he glanced about, it looked like there were still some things that happened in training he didn’t want to talk about. Or maybe she was reading too much into it and he simply was curious about her.

“I’m not much of a watcher or a gamer,” Maren said. “But I read a lot.”

Mav scooched forward. “What kind of stuff?”

“Mostly fiction. Anything to do with pirates and seafaring, especially. Though I can cozy up with a good mystery every now and then.”

“That’s cool. Is there a story you want to write?”

Maren opened her mouth, then paused. She had about nine different story ideas jotted in her tablet, three of them with full-fledged outlines and one with an entire first chapter written. Though that chapter was likely garbage because how could it not be? It wasn’t like she’d ever written before.

But it was embarrassing to admit that – most of her old guildmates at Radiant Dawn didn’t even know about it – so she wasn’t just about to come out and say it.

“Not really,” Maren said. “I write nightly, though, in a journal. To make sure I remember everything. If I ever miss a day, I just make up for it the next day.”

Only one day was missing from her journal, a day she decidedly never wanted to think about again.

Maren jolted, beginning to shake her head, then hid her face behind her hand as she faked a yawn. She had to get away from these thoughts, but she couldn’t let Mav think there was anything wrong with her. She was the leader, dammit, and she needed to be seen as strong.

Which couldn’t last, the longer they were on a subject which reminded her of Phoenix.

“It’s been a long couple days,” Maren said, standing with her finished plate. “I think I’ll head in for the night.”

“Oh… yeah,” Mav said. “Makes sense.”

He took her plate and put it next to his, saying that he’d clean up. Upon thanking him, Maren turned back into her tent, zipped it closed, then got to her writing desk. She sighed, relief settling over her muscles. Yesterday notwithstanding, Maren was exhausted. It was odd how draining spending time with someone who was practically a stranger could be.

At least she had her journal, then eventually her book, where she’d get lost on the high seas until she eventually passed out. Maren smirked. It would be a good night.

Mav cleaned out the rest of the dishes, alone. 

It was a rather strange feeling: loneliness. Mav had felt it before. At times during his youth, when the crowds he passed gave him reverence whenever they noticed his Mark, he felt alone, separated from people he saw himself no different than. But in those times, Koda and Thomas were never too far away. They could join him in the peoples’ deference, so his childhood hadn’t been that lonely.

At greater times he’d felt it during training these previous two years. The solo missions, especially those which had lasted more than a week, had been brutal. Mav had no one to talk to, to confide in, and enjoy time with. That never lasted long, however, and Mav always reminded himself that the sooner he completed his mission, the quicker he could get back to his Siblings.

That had mostly vanished in that cave, just a few weeks back. And now, as Mav put all the cooking and eating supplies in their proper places, he found himself almost lost. Even his Siblings were gone, preparing to take their vows and join the Peace Keepers and go all over the country and possibly never see Mav again.

While his leader had simply finished her meal and walked back into her tent.

Mav had wanted to talk and get to know her for at least another hour. This was, honestly, quite disheartening.

She’s tired. Mav looked at her tent before hopping into his own. Yesterday was a long day and we’ve got plenty more to get to know each other. This is fine, Mav. You made the right decision going with her.

Also, since she was going to bed early, that likely meant she would join him during his early-morning training. Yeah, even if the last couple days had been tiring, a good workout in the morning would fix her right up.

And get Mav a bit of the normalcy he’d learned in his time as a Peace Keeper back.

Tomorrow is going to be great!

The words on the page blurred. Maren shook her head, blinked several times, and looked back at the page, lit in the dim reading light over her book. She was currently on page 276. Huh. Last she’d recalled, she was only somewhere around page 270. Looked like she was flipping through pages on auto-pilot while slowly falling asleep again.

Made sense, given that it was just past four in the morning. She closed the book, turned off the light, and eased into her sleeping bag. It was good that she could get back to her old sleeping habits again. And tomorrow, she’d continue on her journey with Mav, try to get work, and look for their next guild member who would make this little dream of hers a reality.

Maren closed her eyes, then opened them. Noise was sounding from outside. Maren checked the time – a few minutes past five in the morning. Heart in her throat, Maren crept closer to the tent opening, her mouth parching. Were burglars trying to steal from them? If so, they’d get a face full of water the moment they–

“Thirty-three… thirty-four…” a voice breathed.

Maren paused. Was that Mav? Maren closed her eyes, recognizing his voice. Yes, he was counting in breaths not far outside her tent. But at five in the morning?

It’s alright. Maren returned to her sleeping bag, lay down, and closed her eyes. He’ll do some exercises and be on his way.

Which became a mantra she’d thought for a couple hours, her nerves and annoyance rising with each passing minute. By the time she realized she could no longer hear his voice, her brain was so wired she didn’t get drowsy again until the sun began to rise.

It’s alright, Maren thought one last time. It’s not like he’s going to do this every night.

And with that, she, finally, fell asleep.