"It will not take long to find," Tzirret assured, returning Ma'tanza's smile with a small one of his own for a moment. He stood up and set off on a jog back towards camp. Being nearby the river meant that it was not a great distance to travel, but the extra time made Tzirret's thoughts run into unhelpful worrying. What if trying this now would be awkward? What if Ma'tanza refused? What if she thought the pendant was ugly or tried to ask more details about himself and La'khay? He just kept jogging to try and keep the thoughts at bay. This had to happen today, now or never.

Tzirret returned to where he had deposited his belongings, in the spot beside the tents set up by Ma'tanza's family. If there was anyone he knew that he passed by, he gave them a wave, but did not linger. He rifled through the pouches and belts until he pulled out the pendant, looking over its perfect crescent. What if she is interested in someone else? Tzirret clutched the pendant in his palm and began jogging back. What if he accidentally says something offensive? He quickened his pace.

The stupid questions that whirled around Tzirret's mind left him incredibly nervous by the time he spotted Ma'tanza in the river again. It was just like the time when he had tried to approach her and her friends at the very beginning. This time, however, it was for different intentions entirely. He took one step and almost overbalanced, noticing his legs becoming uncoordinated and his heart racing. He was breathing through his mouth and looking like a terrified wreck as he walked up, pace by pace, with the pendant in both hands against his chest. The leather strap hung loosely, giving the only clue to any onlooker as to what it was.

"Um, Ma'tanza!" Tzirret called out. He was amazed that he didn't stammer. The questions were gone now, replaced by the same thrill one gets when they have already jumped off a cliff and knows that there is no returning. He kept walking until she closed the distance approaching him as well. In that moment, he looked at her nervously for a couple of seconds, took a deep breath, reached out to grab her hand, and placed the pendant onto her palm. The detailed cat on the crescent moon was napping just as happily in Ma'tanza's palm when Tzirret took one of his hands away. Tzirret had kept the bone jewellery clean this entire time, and even touched up a few spots to perfect it.

Tzirret had spent weeks trying to think of the right way to speak about the gift, rather than stumbling around in the chapel with his first attempt, but he had forgotten all of them. The moment to try and gather something to say at least gave Ma'tanza a moment to speak herself.

[hr]
Sabine nodded to Meesei's instruction. It seemed that she would have to practice aiming, just as if she was learning archery. "I will try," she said, staring town the target Meesei had marked.

Now that there was a still target to shoot, Sabine lowered herself into her combat stance, but took her time aiming. The cracks of her ice spikes being conjured became more intermittent as she lined up her shots. At first, her spikes glanced off the side of the tree or lodged themselves with poor grouping. Many simply shattered or bounced off rather than sticking in the bark, making it difficult to record progress. It took a few more minutes of mimicking and refining the technique that Meesei used before her grouping was becoming more consistent.

"It is better, but this technique is awkward," Sabine commented. "I feel like I should practice this more."