Ariel curved her brow up in sympathy. "Oh, by Azura, that would have been horrible," he breathed, "Thank goodness he's okay." Ariel hardly kept herself from wincing when she looked again at Rhazii and registered his furless patches as healed burns. It was a cruel tragedy that such a thing had happened, but Ariel knew Ahnasha to be a very strong and brave individual. To judge her actions at the time, whatever they might have been, never even crossed Ariel's mind.

Before attempting to let loose another flood of enquiry, Ariel raised her head from where she sat and tried to see if anyone was at the bar. No one just yet, the brothers must be cleaning the rooms, or cooking, or something. Meesei spoke up in the pause, which brought Ariel's attention back. "Myself? Well, let's see, it has indeed been a while..." Ariel stopped and stared at the table to recall a starting point for the last few months. She looked up to the rest of the pack as soon as her thoughts assembled with an energetic demeanour. It was clear that the excitement from seeing the rest of the pack had hardly worn off yet. "Well, after you left, it was quite a rush servicing all of the curious citizens who came out to see my shop. The abundant custom soon wore off after about a week, but not before I had a number of regular customers who placed orders. Most of my customers place orders these days, not many people walk in for something other than a quick browse, or some advice." Ariel began to gesticulate as she spoke, "By far the most popular selection is the body paint. Once the wealthy women of the city caught wind of it, I began to get orders up to my chin. They're a gossiping bunch, but they're as consistent as income can get."

Ariel angled her head upwards and hummed a descending note, thinking of other things to say, "So, yes, the store is well and truly thriving. Neer and Rukee have continued to lend great support." For a moment, Ariel's energy began to fade. "I should mention, Rukeewei and myself had...grown close. We didn't have much spare time between the two of us, but the time spent was always worthwhile. However, things haven't been quite so civil these past couple of days." She took one last peek up at the bar and around the room, still not seeing any sign of Rukeewei, then leaned forward and lowered her voice. Her tone shifted to regret, "Unfortunately, we had a bit of a falling out. A number of silly arguments, I know I was stressed at the time. We said all these petty things that we didn't mean, all as if we were both children. I'm still feeling sore about it, but I don't think he's working until later tonight, so none of you need worry while we're here. I'm still wondering whether I should apologise to him first."

Ariel regained her confidence and her smile just as quickly as she had lost it, "Anyway, enough about such things. Sister, I have been dying to ask you, how has life been since the ritual? You've so much colour in your cheeks, and you came into the shop ahead of everyone else. You've completely changed!"

Sabine nodded. She wasn't sure how she should react to Ariel's apparent relationship hiccup, but it was evident that she wanted to change the subject. Sabine spoke slowly, with inflections as if she was asking a question in every sentence. She just said things that came to mind, "Um, it's been much easier to talk, mainly. I've spoken with strangers in cities, that has been interesting. More things are funny. Less things are scary. No one calls me Runt anymore, because I don't like that name anymore, except Lorag, but he always calls everyone by other names. I still get scared sometimes, but not all of the time like it was before. Still, I missed you."

Ariel beamed and pulled Sabine's head into a hug, "Oh, I missed you too, Sabine. It heartens me so much to see a smile on your face." Ariel pulled back and kept her hands on Sabine's shoulders, but looked to the rest of the pack, "Now, you must tell me of everything that has happened since Sabine's letter. I doubt wandering the marsh for so long has left you with no tales to tell."

All of Fendros, Sabine and Janius wondered what exactly had gone on between Ariel and Rukeewei. For now they decided to let Meesei recount their travels in her discretion. Many themes were probably not suitable for public conversation. Fendros in particular wasn't looking forward to thinking back to the cult and the mercenaries. He shifted in his seat as he tried to blot out the images again.