“And so, that’s our selections for the evening,” Shouri announced to the guild at large, who had all huddled in the office.

  It was still raining out, even at eight in the evening.

  Shouri, Emily, Pacifica, and Albarich were heading down to the hunting grounds to work for the evening.

  Everyone else was staying at the guild hall, though only Taika and Mila were expected to be on combat duty this evening, and even then Taika’s role was to support Mila and Vince by keeping an eye out for Scherzando prowling close to their new home.

  Rebecca looked conflicted but ultimately hung her shoulders and let out a big dramatic sigh. “I guess,” she acquiesced.

  “It’s supposed to rain all night,” Pacifica pointed out, patting her fellow Resonator. “Cold rain,” she shuddered.

  “I’m not pleased to be part of this team,” Albarich groused.

  “Just like I’m sure the rental company isn’t gonna be pleased with the water we’re gonna track in the car,” Shouri chimed in.

  “Our job is easy, I think,” Taika mused, stroking her chin in thought as she shot an appraising look at the fire cat.

  “Yeah, call me if you need any spells besides Rilevare l’intenzione,” Shouri reminded her.

  “I will, Sho!” the lunar fox beamed.

  “You worry too much; beansprout and I can hit ‘em from the safety of the porch!” Mila boasted, earning a glance from Shouri telling her to behave.

  “Guess we get the night off, come on big guy!” Ritika took her leave with Soot right behind her.

  “Call me if you need anything!” Emily shouted to her departing Resonators.

  “Have fun!” Miro waved, taking his leave as well.

  “Back to reading,” Colette yawned before also leaving the room.

  The remainder of the stragglers left to their assignments or lack thereof for the evening, leaving the four who were to venture out into the elements for work.

  “So, how we doin’ this boss?” the proud dragon asked.

  “Gotta bust out the winter clothes.” Shouri specifically looked to Pacifica. “Probably will need some raincoats too,” he hummed.

  “Oh, this sucks. I wonder if Rebby will trade,” complained the otter.

  As it turned out, the Scherzando didn’t care about the rain, unlike their fleshy counterparts, as such rainy nights still had Maestros finding their way to the hunting grounds.

  Shouri was in the driver’s seat tonight, with Pacifica in shotgun with him.

  Emily and Albarich enjoyed the back seat, not crushed up for once. A pit stop had to be made at the local Tuomart to pick up some rainwear for the whole crew. With their weather-ready clothes secured, they were prepared to tackle the night.

  “I’m gonna order us some actual weatherproof clothes, the cheap generic stuff sucks,” Shouri complained as he pulled the car into a parking spot.

  “It’s not exactly screaming ‘proud guildmaster’ now, is it?” Emily offered a sheepish chuckle as she studied her own raincoat.

  “I don’t get it; we have weather magic - why can’t we just keep the clouds away with that?” Albarich asked, watching the storm clouds continue their march across the night sky.

  Shouri glared up at the rain clouds himself. “At least from what I understand, weather magic doesn’t work against naturally forming storms like these. It just fizzles out if you try to use it,” he said.

  “Ah,” Albarich nodded, not pleased with the answer, but at least having his curiosity sated for the moment.

  “Living in Dalliva, we’ll probably meet a meteorologist sooner rather than later and we can ask them,” Shouri said before kicking his door open and entering the elements.

  “Explain again why we’re tagging along with the main group?” asked Pacifica as the hunting party leader doled out roles to the few that were present.

  “Figured it’d be easier for them if we played along instead of doing our own thing,” Shouri told the otter.

  “Ah,” she nodded. Upon closer inspection, there were far fewer Maestros out than usual. And for those who did show up, most weren’t pleased to be out in the cold and rain. To their credit though, at least they were smart enough to read the room, as most were accompanied by water elements. There was a guy bold enough to bring his lightning element dog to the festivities – Pacifica silently hoped he stayed far away from them.

  “As a reminder everyone-” the hunting leader’s booming voice drew Pacifica’s attention back to the meeting. “-inclement weather bonuses are in effect this evening due to poor attendance across the region! Get greedy boys and girls!”

  “Oh?” Emily perked up. “That’s a thing?” she looked to her fellow party members for confirmation.

  The two Resonators of the group shrugged, while Shouri was hunched over his tuner attempting to keep his touchscreen dry.

  “Apparently if there’s poor attendance to hunts the Hunter’s Union increases payments for a particular region. Incentivizes people not only to go out in bad weather like this but also gets Maestros to station themselves in small towns that might have difficulty attracting hunters,” Shouri explained.

  “Hunter’s Union? I thought the MA Offices pay us out?” Albarich asked.

  “The Hunter’s Union is the group that oversees all hunters, they subcontract to local MA Offices for bookkeeping and payment processing,” came the quick explanation, though this was paired with a groan. “This shit is so overmanaged,” complained Shouri.

  “Good evening!”

  The group snapped to attention at the call of a new pair.

  Of the two, the Maestro was dressed, wearing a raincoat of their own. The Resonator had forgone any protective wear, allowing their clothes to be perpetually soaked under the showers that plagued the area.

  It was clear why from their bright blue hair and matching scales that adorned their long tail.

  “A sea dragon, how rare,” Shouri noted under his breath, taking a glance at their own party’s dragon Resonator.

  Albarich studied his fellow dragonkin, giving an accepting nod, which earned him one of the same from the other dragonman.

  “I don’t think I’ve seen you all around here before,” the sea dragon’s Maestro said. “I’m Adelaide,” she introduced herself. “This is Nau.” The Maestro motioned to the dragon who bowed.

  “I’m Shouri,” he introduced himself, deciding to leave his title out of the picture.

  “Pacifica, nice to meetcha,” the otter followed up with her trademark smile.

  “Heyo! My name’s Emily,” the lunar princess greeted with a wave, also deciding to leave her titles off.

  “Albarich,” the gruff dragon added.

  “You’re new to the area?” asked Adelaide.

  “Yep, only been here a few days,” Shouri spoke. He couldn’t wait until people stopped noting that.

  “Well hope you like the weather, it gets like this pretty frequently,” Adelaide chuckled. “Glad you already have a water, she’ll get a nice workout living here,” she added.

  Pacifica shuddered at the word “workout” only memories of being trained to the bone by Rebecca coming to mind. Shouri patted her back, earning some tail wags from the otter.

  “Ems, you wanna take care of this?” asked Shouri suddenly.

  “Oh, sure – Al, Rilevare l’intenzione, Rubato; keep us up to date,” requested the princess of her noble dragon.

  “Yeah yeah,” he waved her off, but still cast the spell as asked of him.

  With a map of the local Scherzando at their fingertips, the newly established group began their trek into the woods where the beasts lay in wait.

  “The only thing that sucks about the rain is there are no fire elements around to help with light,” Adelaide complained as they tried to navigate the dark woods.

  “Oh whoops,” both Shouri and Emily said in tandem.

  “Huh?” the third wheel turned back to her fellow Maestros, only able to see them from the glow of their tuners.

  “We’re both linked to lunars, so we can see just fine,” Shouri brought up.

  “Both of our firsts are lunars in fact, it’s kinda easy to forget other people can’t just see in the dark,” Emily chuckled sheepishly.

  Adelaide studied the pair of Maestros she had teamed up with. Lunars were rare enough, but to run into two Maestros who not only possessed Lunar elements; not to mention having them as their first Resonators was kind of a crazy coincidence in her mind. She looked to her dragon companion who offered no words or reaction of any kind to this information. She must have been in the minority thinking anything strange of it.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  “Well, if you guys can see just fine, maybe you guide the way and then we can take care of some of the Scherzando,” Adelaide offered.

  “Fair enough,” Shouri spoke for his part of the group.

  “We’ll lead away then!” Emily pumped her fist in the air but quickly regretted that as she exposed herself to the continuous precession of rain.

  The six-strong group crept through the soaked underbrush, their march only coming to a halt upon finding their quarry.

  Several cervid-shaped Scherzando stood amongst the trees. The shadows were adorned with wood and leafy protrusions and grazed on the foliage around them. If they weren’t so irregularly silent such a spectacle might have been beautiful amidst the rain-dressed forest.

  “Can you stop them from running?” Adelaide asked of her current hunting party.

  “I think that means us,” Albarich elbowed his Maestro.

  Emily smirked. “Easy.” The princess and her noble dragon stepped up to the plate.

  Shouri and Pacifica stood back and allowed the rest of the party to handle this pack.

  “Fissare la Ombra, Rubato,” Emily began.

  Albarich crept forward, summoning a swarm of shadow arrows. He counted off his targets. One, two, three, all the way to seven. This would be no problem for him to hold. He glanced to the unknowns of the group – Maestro and Resonator made no effort in spell casting. Instead, it appeared the soaked sea dragon was doing deep breathing exercises?

  When Adelaide caught Al’s eyes, she motioned with her head for him to proceed. With a roll of his eyes, Albarich focused on his task. They asked him to stop the Scherzando from running, so he did just that. Anything else was on them.

  A mental suggestion began the encounter, the lunar pins flying from their held position, ensnaring their prey by their shadows. The beasts immediately began struggling with alarm, bladed leaves flying loose in a vain attempt to ward off their hidden attackers.

  Nau stepped into the fray. He made a grand sweeping motion with an arm, falling water gathering as he moved. Through invisible suggestion the water collected around him, passing from hand to hand with each movement of his arms. When he finally reached the beasts, he extended his arm out, the trailing water lashing out like a whip. A loud crack pierced the beast directly in front of him, a hole punched by the force of water.

  The beasts turned to their visible attacker, their assault becoming focused solely on the dragon audacious enough to present himself. Their leaves were easily scooped up by simple hand gestures. His movement was smooth like the water he manipulated; no energy was wasted as he flowed from form to form. Where attacks were halted, his water struck.

  One by one the beasts were dispersed, returning to the rhythm that created their being. Nau didn’t let up until his dance was complete and he was the sole occupant remaining on the battlefield. He turned to his captive audience, the water circling him with his arms and then he shot the borrowed liquid into the air, returning it to Mother Nature who so kindly lent it to him.

  “Woo! Way to go Nau!” Adelaide cheered for her dragon.

  “Pretty good,” Emily whistled, impressed.

  Al didn’t say anything but nodded in appreciation of the craft demonstrated for their pleasure.

  And Pacifica… just stared. Her jaw had been allowed to hang ever so slightly.

  Water was her element, and yet she hadn’t seen such a technique up close. It was frankly beautiful and left the girl feeling inadequate about her own usage of their shared element.

  “What spell was that?” she muttered.

  “Pioggia Fragole, it’s one of the water ad-Libs,” Shouri told her.

  The otter furrowed her brow, the frustration mounting. She would never be that cool, that composed, that fluid.

  The pang of jealousy hit her like an avalanche, burying her in petty emotions she wished she could control.

  Only Shouri’s hand on her back snapped her from the bitter taste left after the display.

  “Don’t compare yourself to him,” advised Shouri. “You’re plenty strong without it,” he whispered.

  Pacifica could only nod. It still hurt – she could be so much more useful to Shouri though…

  If only she had that power…

  The night wore on with the group taking turns dealing with Scherzando, and though everything went smoothly, Pacifica’s mind was transfixed on Pioggia Fragole. The scenarios in her head that played, the what ifs of if she possessed that ad-Lib.

  Sure, she liked her ad-Lib but she never put as much effort into training with it as her father did. He was always so much faster than her in the water. He also had so much more rhythm than her.

  She sighed.

  “Paci?”

  “Huh?”

  The otter blinked, looking around. They were alone in the car, in front of the guild hall – Emily and Albarich must have already left. How long had they been sitting there?

  “We’re home,” said Shouri, his brows turned up with concern.

  “Ah, right.” She grabbed the door handle, but Shouri locked the door.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  Pacifica kept her gaze firmly on the door lock, the rain gently pattering against the parked vehicle. There was a small part of her that just wanted to avoid his question. She would get over herself eventually.

  But she knew she would hate it if Shouri, Taika, or Rebecca did that to her. With a lungful of air, she turned to face her beloved Maestro.

  “I was jealous of him,” she admitted, refusing his direct gaze.

  “I can see why,” Shouri said with a nod. “But you’re not him. You’re you, and you’re special.” He reached out and gently took hold of her chin, pushing it up to force her to face him. “I’m thankful every morning I get to wake up next to you.”

  Pacifica managed to crack a smile. He leaned in and gently pressed his lips against hers, exactly what she wanted. They allowed the tips of their noses to remain touching. “I’m just… not strong and I- mmmrpgh!”

  Shouri removed his lips from hers. “How many times are we gonna have this discussion before it sticks? I love you, and that’s all that matters to me.”

  “I-I love you too Sho but- mrrPGH!” Once again, lips silenced the protests of the otter. Finally, she just gave in and pulled him over the center console for some much-needed physical therapy.

  They weren’t sure how long had passed, but after Pacifica got her fill of face time with Shouri the two decided to break it off and take to the comfort of their room.

  “You were in the car for a while,” Taika noted upon Shouri and Pacifica’s return.

  “We were about to come check on you ourselves,” Rebecca added.

  “Sorry, Paci needed some coaching,” Shouri decided on.

  “Now I need a shower,” Pacifica trudged to the bathroom, just dropping her raincoat on the floor.

  “Questa non è una discarica,” Taika grumbled, picking up the wet, discarded coat, lest it soak the carpet they spent days steam cleaning.

  “You’d think she’d be sick of the water after an evening of playing in it,” came Rebecca’s biting commentary.

  The foxes’ protests were ignored by the otter who fluttered into the bathroom and the warmth of the shower.

  “Ahhh… much better…” cooed Pacifica as the warm water chased the cold of the evening from her body.

  Her session with Shouri certainly did clear her mind of the doubt that hung over her. She giggled as she basked in the recent memories of their vehicular escapades.

  Though there was still that part of her mind that wondered how much stronger she could be if she had that ad-Lib instead of hers. She gestured with her hands, mimicking the motions Nau made earlier in the evening.

  “Huh?!” Pacifica suddenly snapped to full attention.

  Why did the shower water move like that?

  That wasn’t possible.

  It must have been the water pressure.

  Her tired mind had to be playing tricks on her.

  …right?