Sabine was taken off guard by Kaleeth’s sudden embrace, but eventually raised her arms to return it. She had never received a thank you this enthusiastic for her simple little cure. It gave her a moment of levity despite her anxiety, especially since many of the interactions that Sabine and Kaleeth had were when Kaleeth was in a more negative place.

---

"I’m going to miss this city," Janius said as he led the pack to the ship he had found a couple of days earlier, "There’s nothing quite like it."

Fendros agreed, "There are certainly some good memories."

Janius looked over his shoulder with a cheeky smile, "Including accidentally taking moon sugar?"

"Well, mostly good memories," Fendros corrected, squinting his eyes and feeling an uncomfortable tingle just at the thought.

Sabine looked mostly withdrawn throughout the walk, understandably. No matter what comfort anyone offered, she just wanted to get the farewells over and done with before she could anticipate them any further.

The pack eventually reached the ship, which was abuzz with more activity than before. The crew of mostly Imperials with smatterings of just about every other race, were all tying, carrying, securing, or cleaning various things in preparation to leave later in the morning.

Janius eventually spotted the captain, who happened to be a middle-aged, yet still imposing Nord. After inspecting the pack and their belongings, he confirmed the deal to provide passage to the Imperial City, and Meesei came forward with a sack of septims in payment. As if having the uncanny ability to count the coins by weight, the captain only needed to heft and knead the sack in one hand for a few moments before giving a satisfied nod. With that, he noted that their pet lizard should stay restrained, referring to Leaps, but otherwise reminded everyone of the time of departure and went about his business. Now all that was left was to sit around the dock for Ariel to arrive and keep out of the way of the crew.

Luckily, the pack didn’t have to wait too long for Ariel to come briskly walking out to the docks with her head craned up, aimlessly looking for the pack. Some in the pack called her over and waved, and soon she wore a bright smile as she came towards them.

"Good morning, everyone!" Ariel said over the crowds and movement. She held one hand in the other and looked over everyone’s faces, taking a breath and thinking of what to say. "So, how long until you set sail?"