Adventures in Kingmaker

by Meadow_Dawn

6: Facing your Fears

Author's Note:

Background:

The party had continued to explore and looked to a new area before encountering a cave full of trolls. Their quest required them to gather up troll blood. Dawn tried desperately not to panic, having a huge fear of flames to the point she has to make a will save when fire is made in her direction or to assist with fire based activities in combat. They cleared the first room with some difficulty, but then their gutsy persian who was still level drained from the partial ressurection (for the party didn't have enough for the restoration to be full), proceeded to receive a critical hit and was effectively squashed into mush in front of the entire party, including an oracle stallion with a stature of a colt as an adult. They watched in horror as they knew they had no funds whatsoever to bring their companion back, able to adventure or otherwise.

The party had to leave the cave due to how much the ordeal had taxed them, both in spells and in spirit.
chapter edited to add closure and is up to date for sessions up through end of feb 2017. More session progress will be needed before we can post/rp more.

Dawn was crying as they left the cave, spells depleted, and knowing full well they had a bigger two headed troll and a few more still to go. She shook, the screams of the dying and the heat of the flames that came from cyrus' hooves and horns to deliver the deathknell still shook her mind even as she knew it was necessary to protect the ponies of his kingdom.

"A-are you alright?" Cyrus asks as he walks next to Dawn, though he really didn't need to ask as it was plainly obvious that she was not alright, he knew full well how much fire terrified her, yet he had no choice but to do it anyway as the things just wouldn't die if he didn't, that and he didn't alright either as they lost their friend Jus'tav a second time, this time they can't bring him back as they had neither the funds nor the time, plus he was literally flattened into mush so they couldn't do it even if they wanted to. Cyrus was holding his anguish in to seem stronger than he really was, that and his hoof and sword were slightly singed by all the fire he had to use.

Dawn took in a deep breath, letting the last few tears fall from her face as she tried to let a moment of serenity come through. She took a second breath, then a third.

Dawn opened her still glistened eyes and looked in the cart for supplies, magical and otherwise. "I... will be. Just... the burning... no one deserves that fate. I know we have to but..."

Cyrus guilty looks down as he was the main one causing the burning, "I understand, I really do." He begins, but he really didn't know what to say to comfort her, so he decides to speak his mind instead, "I know this will sound heartless, but it was either make sure they stay dead and ensure our safety, or allow them to come back and wear ourselves in an endless battle and eventually die." He says, "I did what I had to, even at the potential risk of scaring you even further then you already are, and I would rather have that than let any harm come to anypony in our group..."

Dawn nodded, "I dont hold it against you, truly. Not killing them could kill 10 or 20 of our ponies later on." She took another shuddering breath and let it out slowly. "Poor Jus'tav... We need to make a memorial to commemorate the fallen, remind the people of those who sacrificed themselves for their safety... who knows, maybe a festival or competition could be made to help the townsponies be prepared for misfortune... i don't know. I just hate seeing more of my party fall in battle. It never gets easier."

"You're not the only one..." Cyrus says as he remembers his companions Aegeon and Hilde sacrifice themselves so that he could live, "After we get the castle built and a proper military going, that should be the next thing we do, they do deserve to be remembered for their sacrifice, I still can't believe he's gone this time... damn it!" He says frustrated that he let another one die.

Dawn took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It's frustrating, but... maybe it's for the best? You heard how he was after we revived him and he was weakened... I'm not sure if he'd forgive us if we couldn't undo further weakening anyway...For now, we have to prepare for tomorrow. No sparring tonight. let's plan out what we'll do. I won't let them take another live... no more." She said as she stomped her hoof firmly on the ground, trying to be resolute once more.

"Alright, I guess that's what we'll do." Cyrus says as he let himself calm down, "Though I will say that even after we take care of these guys, I won't stop memorizing fire spells, there may be more of those monsters down the road and I would rather not be caught off guard, plus we still need to deal with your fear." Cyrus says pointing that out. "But that can wait for now, first we have to set up camp and rest... though I do hope that other Pony in the cave was able to make it out alright." Cyrus says as his voice trails off at the mention of the other pony.

Dawn nods, shaking a little as she walked over to a suitable spot and laid down, "I know cyrus." She said quietly, "I know i can't stop you from memorizing fire spells, i know you need it. I..." she stopped and took a deep breath before letting it out shakily, "I will not let my fears control me. We will protect our own and stop these threats to the kingdom. I just... need a minute to rest."

"Then rest, I can handle some of the set up." Cyrus says as he uses his horn magic to get the tent from the cart, he had a general Idea of how to set it up from watching Dawn do it, so he is fairly confident that he can do it.
Dawn nodded, letting him set up the tent while trying to come up with a plan of attack for the troubles ahead. She pulled out her bottle of mead, intent on preserving it, yet wanting to dull the pain a little. She knew she had to deal with more tomorrow, and she knew she had to be even more capable than before.

Cyrus had a slight bit of trouble since he has yet to master picking multiple things up with his horn magic, but manages to set up the tent regardless, later that day the other Pony that got left in the cave finally made it to the camp, after they ate for the day, Cyrus was in Dawn's tent studying his spell book, making sure that he had plenty of fire spells this time around, while still keeping several of his usual ones.

Dawn came in after she drank and relieved herself, coming in with some green tea she had been chilling before with periodic rays of frost. She walked slowly to cyrus, somber as she came to realize he was probably suffering just as much, having lost others before now as he told her. She set the drink down next to his books and sat next to him, leaning gently before quietly saying, "Made some tea if you want it."

Cyrus looks up from his spell book when Dawn spoke to him, "Ah, thanks Dawn, I would like some." Cyrus says as he put the book down and poured himself some tea, he thought back to his friends that died previously, he felt that they didn't deserve their deaths that maybe he could have done something to prevent it, after sipping the tea he lost a bit of the tension and knew that there wasn't anything he could have done but live. "Well, I'm glad Nitta was able to make it out of the cave in one piece, he seems to be a swell guy mostly from first impressions." Cyrus says, trying to bring up a topic that didn't involve death.

Dawn nodded, "He seems like a good enough guy, even though he seems to be rather capable, it looks like he's ready to move on... pity. It seemed like he could have been a rather capable fighter..."

"Yeah, We can use someone like him, oh well, maybe we'll meet him again sometime, in the mean time Both of us and Glider are the fro-" Cyrus stops himself when he realized something, "Now that I think about it... where is Glider anyway?" He asked as he came to the realization that Glider was nowhere to be found.

Dawn blinked and frowned, "I don't know... to be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if they up and left without a word..." She sighed and leaned more heavily against him, drinking some of the green tea herself before sighing. "Our party for adventuring is getting so small... It's practically just us, adalgar, and the foal..."

Cyrus let out a sigh as well, "Welp, there goes another one... If I have to be honest, I should already be used to this by now, I mean it eventually got to the point where I was literally alone for a week or so, just me and a half finished castle." Cyrus says as he looked like he was curling into a ball, remembering that loneliness scared him.

Dawn hugged him close to herself, trying to find solace herself by comforting him. "You are not alone... never alone again. We'll find a way through this, just like I promised." She shook yet again as her own fears and insecurities surfaced, but she kept holding onto him in hopes that it would be of any help.
Cyrus felt himself loosening a bit as he was hugged, the feeling of loneliness fading away. He hugs Dawn back, "You're right, we got this far, so we don't have much to worry about, and I'm glad you guys will stick with me to the end. Especially you Dawn." he says as a smile spread on his face.

Dawn chuckled weakly, another set of tears making her way down her cheek. "Yeah... to the end." She echoed quietly, laying her head against his as she tried to let the last remnants of her grief flow out of her as she knew she wasn't alone either.

Cyrus wanted to continue hugging Dawn, but he accidentally moved his hoof to were it made contact with the singed part of it, "Ow!" He said as he retracted himself, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that." He says as he looks at the singed part of his hoof. "Too many fire spells." He says as he does an awkward smile.

Dawn nodded, quietly whispering, "It's fine..." She shivered a little and then calmed, her eyes starting to drop as she started to fall asleep holding him as he intended on studying.

Cyrus finished memorizing a few more spells before he yawns, he uses his horn magic to bring over the joint sleeping bag and wraps it around them like a blanket. He then let himself drift off into sleep, leaning on Dawn as he dozed off.

Dawn slept like that until early morning, her dreams uneasy, but made better with having Cyrus closeby. She woke up before him, realizing she had been crying in her sleep, and proceeded to use her magic to pull her materials over and studied her spells, making sure she had the arcane power to perform today after all she had happened. She studied lazily, her mind attempting to steel itself for more flames by picturing the ponies back in the kingdom that she stood to protect. She made a promise to Cyrus that she would help him in that task, and somehow, despite her fears of fire, she felt a calmness wash over herself as she resolved to protect others from her fear, and studied intensely with that resolve.

Cyrus woke up a few minutes after Dawn did, rubbing his eyes drowsiely. "Morning." He greets as he uses his horn magic to bring over his sword, he drew it out to polish it. He wanted to be ready to finish the job they started before, to keep the kingdom safe.

Dawn nodded toward them, having drank some of her green tea that he hadn't during her studies. "Morning... we ready to get this done?"

"Even if we aren't, we can't afford to high tail it back to the kingdom or we risk the owlbear incident again." Cyrus says as he remembers the destruction the Owlbear did, "I don't want our ponies to go through that again."

Dawn nods, "That's exactly what I was thinking... I think... I think I can move past my fears, if only for one day... for the sake of the ponies back home."
"Right, lets give it all we got and we should do fine." Cyrus says as he finishes polishing his longsword, "If we do get through this, then maybe it might cure some of your phobia, either that or I am just doing wishful thinking."

Dawn smirked, "I get the feeling it's wishful thinking, but if it works, I'll have to kiss you and very nearly owe you my life."

"We'll see, but first we have to deal with this troll problem, otherwise it will be for nothing." Cyrus points out, but then his stomach growled very loudly, causing Cyrus's face to turn bright red. "But before that... we eat." he says, clearly embarrassed.

Dawn nodded. "I feel like i couldn't possibly, but we must..." She sighed and started digging in her bags to see where she put her trail rations.

Cyrus proceeds to do the same, he manages to find one and proceeds to eat it. "Well, as we said, everypony is depending on us to get this done, so lets give it our all and take these trolls out." Cyrus says with a grin.

Dawn nodded, trying to be serious but spots his smile and can't help but smile in return. "Let's take them out and protect our ponies back home."

The party ventured into the cave one more time, determined to vanquish the remainder of the trolls once and for all. They did well, bolstering their confidence, and even Dawn appeared to have a willpower of steel, until they encountered the final creature in the cove.

Dawn dove into battle, intending to get the creature's attention so that Cyrus could cast his spells on him, only to be hit just the wrong way between her armor with his lightning elemental whip, and proceeded to lose two thirds of her endurance from her wounds. Cyrus rushed to assist, only to receive the same fate and nearly fall in battle. Dawn once again saw a case where only one of them might live. Last time she had used her vanish spell to help someone escape from such a strong foe, they saw right through it. She took a chance, and defensively cast her spell to make him be invisible and then tried to flee, evading his opportunistic attack and getting around the corner.

Cyrus fled, getting round the corner ahead of Dawn, but then the boss gave a sudden surprise and let loose a fireball at the corner, blasting nearly the whole party, and knocking Dawn unconscious and bleeding out. The oracle of the party rushed in to heal her wounds, and got her on her hooves. They all attempted to flee again, but Dawn was hit by yet another fireball and was dazed. Any further damage would knock her out again and she feared desperately for her life as she wondered if that would be the end of her adventure, if she would return home. Thankfully, she was healed enough by the oracle again enough that they all could flee and escape unharmed...

Cyrus ached all over as he walked out of the cave, "Damn it! why did this happen again?!? Ow." He says frustrated that they were forced to retreat once again, he couldn't believe that troll had gotten the better of them, Cyrus's pride was severely crushed.

Dawn staggered her way to the cart and leaned against it, breathing heavily and looking sick. She barely could look up to him, having felt that she came far too close to death... If they didn't have the oracle in the adventuring party, she worried she would have died... leaving her best friend behind, not going back to her hometown at least once... The thought of which would have brought tears to her eyes if she weren't so busy trying to keep herself from being sick.

"Dawn... how are you holding up?" Cyrus asks in the brief moment where he wasn't indulging in self pity. He was scared that he almost lost his most faithful friend to those monsters, he would have never been able to forgive himself if he had lost her too.

Dawn shook her head, "I... I'm fine." She said, body shaking. "That was too close Cy... far too close..." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, asking while she kept her eyes closed, "Just what is the point of all our training if we still almost died out here like this?"

Cyrus looks a bit more frustrated now that Dawn brought it up, "I don't know!" He says with his voice raised, "I would have thought we would have been ready for anything! But NO! He almost killed us without breaking a sweat!" He is almost shouting at this point. "Or maybe we might have been ready if we had taken our TRAINING MORE SERIOUSLY!!! Yeah, maybe if we hadn't goofed off that one time maybe we wouldn't have gotten beaten like helpless puppies!" Cyrus says before realizing what he just said, his expression changed from anger to regret, "I... I didn't..." Started eyes started to grow big as he really didn't mean what he said, he steps back a bit saying, "I... I..." He could no longer look her in the eyes as he turns around and runs into the nearby forest, ashamed at what he's done.

Dawn called out after him and ran to follow. She understood his pain, his sorrow. It was hard to hold it against him as she pushed herself to follow him, yelling out his name. She still felt sickened by what they went through but desperately tried to call out after him. "Cyrus! Cyrus I know what you mean! Stop running!" She kept yelling, soon dropping to her knees and breathed heavily, trying once again not to be sick, whispering, "Please..."

In the trees above Dawn was sobbing, as Cyrus had climbed a tree to escape, one of and possibly most effective method he had to get away with a lot of pranks when he was a boy. He couldn't believe he had taken out his anger out on Dawn, she didn't deserve it yet he did it anyway. He couldn't face her now after what he's done, he couldn't hear Dawn over his inner turmoil as he continued to cry.

Dawn continued to grieve alone, trotting slowly off to the campsite and spending some time with the foal sized healer, making sure he knew just how much she appreciated his efforts to keep her alive, then left him a message/request that if he should see Cyrus, to let him know she was worried about him. He seemed to catch on quickly and told her he would. She then set up the tent wearily and went inside, curled up on the sleeping bag, feeling quite alone after he ran off.

Cyrus couldn't bear to go back, not after what he did, so he made a small fire after he climbed down from the tree he was in. He was alone again, and after he was told he would never be left alone again by the one friend he cherished. "She probably hates me now for what I did..." he tells himself sitting close to the small fireplace. he knew he couldn't stay there forever as he needed to go back to the kingdom. He pulls out his wand and starts to heal himself with it. He knew they would need to inspect the cave again, to see if the troll was still there. When he was done, he puts his wand away and curls up next to the fire, but found that it was difficult to sleep, especially with the amount of guilt he felt but he manages to sleep in the end.

Dawn couldn't sleep alone after all their time together. She looked around the campsite, asking the oracle if he had come back. Upon discovery that he had not, she went off, light off her horn and went to go search for him, tired, and alone. She wasn't about to stop and let him run away from their troubles, after all, she missed him.

Cyrus's sleep wasn't very deep as he couldn’t replace the warmth he loved with the fire. He felt more lonely than even his years in the castle in his youth couldn’t compare, he missed Dawn, but he couldn’t bring himself to face her, his body shivering at the loneliness he felt. When he felt a light, he opened his eyes drowsiely, "Morning already?" He asked before realizing that it wasn't sun light, he turns to look at the source, his eyes taking a bit of time to adjust before he could make out the who it was. His eyes widened as he saw the last pony he expected to see, "D-Dawn?" He asks slightly afraid.

Dawn looked around, hearing her name, "Cyrus? Are you there? Please answer me..."

Cyrus wanted to answer, but his guilt kept him quiet. He slowly got up and tried to back away, but he ended up breaking a twig, the sound resonated throughout the quiet forest.

Dawn turned her head toward the sound and intensified her light, trying to find him, "Cyrus, please come home... I really need you right now." She called, the last part getting quieter as she felt bad about calling it out. She looked around, hoping he would somehow be there when she looked at each bush or shrub

Cyrus resorts to climbing the tree again, he climbs it rather easily with his experience. He didn't bother to get rid of the small fire pit he made, left there in plain sight. He hid in the branches of the tree, he knew most often overlook looking in the trees.

Dawn looked around, searching desperately for him before spotting the campfire and walked over to it, intending to look it over. there were still a couple embers that were still red at the bottom and so she looked again at ground level, hoping that maybe he was still here.

NinkinDude: Cyrus wasn't as careful at putting his wand back in its holder causing it to fall. "No!" He whispered as he tried grabbing it with his hoof, forgetting he was a pony for a moment. The wand falls and stabs into the ground next to Dawn.

Dawn blinked and looked down, spotting the wand and carefully pulling it out of the ground with her horn magic. She gasped as she recognized it was Cyrus' with the familiar scratches and looked up.

Cyrus's eyes met Dawn's as she looked up, "Um... Hi." He says as there was no longer a reason to hide now that she saw him.

Dawn sniffed, looking up at him confused. She didn't know why he was up in the tree, why he was trying to hide from her, but on the other hoof, she was relieved as everything to see him safe. She stood there a minute and then quietly asked, "You gonna come down?"

"I... I guess." Cyrus answers hesitantly as he now climbs his way down the tree. When he got down he couldn’t look Dawn in the eyes due to his guilt.
Dawn looked at him for a few seconds before walking up to him and hugging him close with both her forelegs, "Thank you for being ok... You have no idea how worried I was about you." She said, trying hard not to cry.

Cyrus was surprised about the hug. "Y-you're not mad about that stuff I said?" He asked his voice cracked as he was at the verge of crying himself.

Dawn shook her head, "How could I be mad? I nearly lost everything... and then you ran away... I..." She stopped herself, trying quite hard to hold it in, despite her breath's shuddering.

"E-even so..." Cyrus started, he felt his chest hurt from holding it in, he needed to let it out, "I... I... I'm sorry!" He cries, it finally became too much to hold in, "I was frustrated, angry, disappointed... and I took it all out on you! You didn't deserve that but I did it anyway. I'm sorry."

Dawn hugged him tight and was brought to tears herself, not wanting to reply as she let him get it off his chest. She had him back, and she was content with this.

Cyrus cried for several minutes before he finally got it all out of his system. "I... I think I'm good now." He says as he felt much calmer now, but didn't want to break the hug just yet.

Dawn continued to hold him, shedding tears quietly of her own. "Good... i know it's rough, but that means we just have to do better. What we're doing clearly isnt enough... but, we don't have to go it alone, right?"

"That's true... fate brought us together... and we managed to survive so far... so I guess our defeat wasn't too bad, we survived to live and fight another day." Cyrus says as he hugged her a bit tighter. "As long as we live, it should count as a win for us at least."

Dawn chuckled and winced, "y-yeah, but if you squeeze me any tighter, my burns will kill me."

"Oops, sorry!" Cyrus says as he backed off. He then uses his horn magic to retrieve his wand and used it to heal Dawn up, "That should do it." He says as he finished, putting the wand back into it's holder, "Can't have you dying now."

Dawn laughed and then started to cry more, feeling terrified still at the thought of how close she came to that

Cyrus cringed at what he just now realized what he just said, "Um... We should probably head back, the others must be worried sick about us." He says to try to take their minds off that little brush with death.

Dawn nodded, staying quite close to him as the walked back. She was relieved to have him back, and had grown too fond of him to bear the idea of adventuring without him.

Cyrus was glad what he did didn’t cause his friendship with Dawn to sour. He would have hated to lose the closest friend he had here. He couldn't imagine how unbearable this quest would be without her.

Dawn walked back, seeing the oracle and playfully ruffled his mane much to his chagrin. She guided cyrus to the tent and soon fell asleep in the sleeping bags, worn out from her previous injuries and the late night run to find him.

Cyrus climbs into the sleeping bag with her and falls asleep instantly. As he slept, he pulled Dawn towards him like he always did. He smiles as he now had that warmth he longed for in the forest that fire could never replicate.

Dawn sighed and slept soundly that night, glad that he was with her, waking up slowly the next morning. She didn't want to move, just on the off chance he was still resting, and to enjoy his companionship.

Cyrus was already up and studying his spell book as he didn't have a chance to the previous night. He noticed that Dawn was stirring as though she were waking up, but didn't seem to get up. "You do know I'm already up right?" he asks.

Dawn laughed quietly, "well damn. And here i thought i could feel you against me still." She got up slowly and hugged him from behind for a few seconds before returning to her own studies

Cyrus smiles as Dawn hugged him, "I'm glad things worked out, but I can't exactly leave that troll in that cave." Cyrus frowned at the last part, "I have to be sure that thing is still there, if it is, then we have to slay it."

Dawn felt herself freeze, not wanting to believe it, but he was right. She tried to study, yet couldn't get her mind off how close she came before. She studied all the offensive spells she could, magic missile, stone discus, and made sure all her potions of cure light wounds were accounted for and ready to be chugged down in an emergency.

Cyrus finished memorizing his spells along with thinking of ways to get to the troll without provoking an attack, he knew he was ready this time. "You ready?" He asked Dawn.

"Not really," she said, "but if I whittle him down with these spells, you burn him to death or melt him. Deal?"

"Got it." Cyrus says, ready to finish the fight once and for all. Later that day the group exit the cave mostly because they could not find the troll anywhere in the cave, Cyrus was confused, relieved, and disappointed. "I think he might have slipped out while we slept." Cyrus comments while they headed towards the cart, everything was already packed as they had no intention of staying another night.

Dawn let out a sigh of relief. "Probably... makes me glad he didn't wipe us out last night. Still, he's still alive, able to do harm..."

"Well if we find him again, we know what to expect, he won't get the better of us twice that's for sure." Cyrus says optimistically, "But we can worry about him later, right now we should start moving out, hopefully we can finish the castle soon and get a barracks for more troops, I don't really like how another kingdom just started to build out of nowhere, and on the lands the blade lords gave us no less."

Dawn nodded, "I'd like to avoid conflict, but they're encroaching and if we leave them alone, they'll only make problems later..."

"And the worst part is... it was the ponies who approached me, claiming that they needed resources to help with their farms that are building it. and this was back when Mareth was in its first months as a kingdom." Cyrus says with a bit of a sense of betrayal.

Dawn growled, "I swear I'd want to ask for repayment, with interest due to misleading you or outright lying... still, thatd probably make them mad eh?
"Indeed, It doesn't look like they are plotting anything right now, but I want to be prepared for the worst if it comes down to it." Cyrus says, "And it wasn't really like they didn't repay us, they helped us cut down on the resources needed for the shop we have. But in all honesty, I hardly think that grants them the right to do what they please."

Dawn nodded, "so many problems..." she grew quiet, not sure what to say, but not leaving his side since last night, save for matters of privacy.
Cyrus simply grins, "Well no use worrying about it right now, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. For now, lets go home, I just want to rest when we get there."

Dawn nodded, "That'd be amazing to sleep in our own bed again after all that..." She sighed and commented quietly, "I just hope we get more that join us. The four of us simply aren't enough."

"Agreed, Maybe we'll run into Nitta again and he might be willing to join us, who knows." Cyrus says with some optimism.

Dawn bit her cheek lightly as she tried not to speak up. He probably knew full well how difficult it was to keep ponies with him. She knew he struggled with it far more than she did, and didn't want to rub it in his face. She considered the possibility of hiring help, but it would cost more than they could afford and reduce further income, instead of someone who would stay and chip in as needed more likely than not...

"Its Okay if you want to say it." Cyrus says suddenly, "I am very much aware of my terrible luck when it comes to help, kinda used to it by now." he says as he shrugs, though that was a lie as it does bother him when companions leave.

Dawn shook her head, "Just means we have to pick up more of the slack or something, right?"

"Yup, that is what it means." Cyrus says grinning, "can try to rely on our companions, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't better ourselves incase any of them are absent."

Dawn nodded, continuing their walk back to the kingdom, "So, if the number of companions or ponies in this party is an issue... what if we were to hire some to join us? Have we ever looked into that before?"

"Well... I did consider it a few times, but the problem is mostly that we don't have the funds to hire somepony competent, plus sellswords rarely stick around if the situation looks grim." Cyrus explains.

Dawn nods, sighing loudly, "It was a thought... I knew it was too good a situation to be true. At least Raeonn hasn't left us, and he's the reason why we're both still here able to talk. Think we should do anything special for him?"

Cyrus thinks about it, "I suppose... no we really should, as you said, we wouldn't be here now if not for him, question is, what should we do?" Cyrus asks as he is not sure what they should do for Topaz, he may look like a foal, but he remembers that Topaz is actually older than he looks.

Dawn thought about it, "Well, do we know anything that he likes other than money?"

"Nothing that I know of." Cyrus answers as nothing comes to mind.

Dawn sighed quietly as she considers what to do for him before another topic crossed her mind, "What duties do we have back in the kingdom?"

"Well... aside from what we usually do every month, not much. There is the matter of finishing the castle we have to get done, establishing a military in case the new kingdom that popped up out of nowhere decides to be hostile. Other than that, there isn't much else." Cyrus explains, "Though I thought we already went over this."

Dawn nodded, "That's right... We did, sorry, I kinda forgot... I was just trying to figure out what we could do, whether we should take a break from adventuring to hone our skills, or learn something new, or... something. Sorry, I just... this has gotten to be so much to handle after... well,"
Cyrus simply nods at what Dawn was trying to say, "I know what you mean. Honestly I feel we need a break, just enjoy ourselves for simply surviving that ordeal."

Dawn nodded, "So, what should we do? I mean... we need to relax, but we have so much on our shoulders... and you were right, we do need to practice more than just running to the hill..."

"Hmm." Cyrus started giving it some thought, "I don't remember ever going to the park we have in the Kingdom. I have been meaning to for a while now, but it keeps slipping my mind." Cyrus says as he remembers that they actually have one.

Dawn smiled slightly, "That would be nice. Just to have fun, maybe have a picnic?"

"I honestly can't remember the last time I had a picnic." Cyrus says as he tries to remember if that part of his childhood happened or he was fooling himself, wouldn’t be the first time it happened.

Dawn chuckled, "I've heard of em, but never been taken on one. It was always too busy anywhere I went. When should we do it?"

"I guess the day after we get back, unless something unexpected happens." Cyrus says with a shrug, "Honestly I am really looking forward to it."
Dawn laughed quietly, "Yeah, that'd be nice, lay down on a soft blanket, relax for a day before looking around at the taverns and pubs to see what adventurers we can rope in..."

"Yeah, hopefully we might find some that are willing to join us in the long run." Cyrus adds in.

"You never know... Should we get some posters made or do any advertising of some kind?"

"I don't know... after that little fiasco with that guy trying to turn our own kingdom against us, I kinda don't want the wrong sets of eyes thinking we are vulnerable."

Dawn nodded and tried to think of a solution on their trek back, going quiet. She liked the idea of a picnic, but she couldn't get his last words before he ran away out of her head. She had to come up with something to improve their odds against foes that were able to so readily harm them.

Cyrus took a deep breath before looking at the clouds, "I wonder how everyone is doing." He says, thinking of his old companions.

Dawn nodded, looking at the rest of the party and misunderstanding, "Well, our foal healer is quiet, but he always is. think we should check on him?"

Cyrus looked at her for a moment, then chuckled as he sees the misunderstanding, "Yeah, I think that would be a good Idea." He says smiling.

Dawn nods, "I'll take care of it then." and she walks over to Glint to strike a conversation and make sure he hasn't suffered.

"I guess we'll wait and see." Cyrus says, wondering what the future holds for them.