Ash nodded, moving forward now softly and slowly to make a small trail behind it back into the cove, then just dumping his whole inventory of the donuts there before making his way back into the bushes with Heart. “There.” he whispered back as they watched the little egg sprout little hearts of happiness once he was finished with the donut. Chirping around, and wandering around aimlessly before spotting the other donut near him- little by little following the trail back into the cove where they could watch it slowly eat it’s fill.

After the third honey soaked donut the hearts turned into a line - which slowly formed into little ‘z’ of sleep. Heart moved forward now, hurrying forward. “Got ya.” He said softly as he picked the egg up from behind, startling it awake. He turned it around to look at it closely now. It looked.. Like a normal half hatched egg honestly, with wings and feet - and a mouth showing faintly in the crack of the egg. It was.. Really cute even before hatching. He tucked the egg into his shirt as Ash gathered up their food and Leaf’s lamp. “I bet it’ll be really cute. A shame we can’t keep it.” He said as they started off together now.

Ash smiled as he held Leaf close and said “...I’m sure Leonel would kill us if we tried to.. Or worse, make an enemy of him.” he hummed thoughtfully as they made their way back. “Maybe we’ll be able to find one like this for ourselves one day.” Though neither really understood how rare the little chirping egg was. “How are we supposed to hide it? Won’t Cecil be at the front entrance?” he asked as Heart saw the back door opening as they approached Spice from the side. “Oh well.. That answers that.” he hummed as they slipped around back now to the door. Leonel was standing there, and it seemed to be a storage room of sorts for the Spice building.

At the sight of the little bird like egg his face bursted into a wide smile. “This is it! This is just like the egg I saw in that book.” He told them as he took it now, happily snuggling it close as he stroked its shell. “I already have just the place to hide it too, a nice warm cabinet with hay in my private room. Sister is going to flip out when I show her.” Leonel smiled at the pair of them. “Thank you both so much. Whatever you need, Spice will be there to help you out. The pair spotted that under their stats something new had formed, ‘Alley of Spice’. Guess it must have been a pretty big deal then. “You know, I’ll tell you now. Certain quests can change a town, tipping the balance of power one way or another. If you ever find yourself in something like that - go to Spice. The masters there always know the best way to go about it. And another thing - sometimes I hear of ‘fake Spices’ out there. If you’re ever in a Spice and something seems off to you, look around a bit at the state of the workers there. No Spice forces its workers.”

“If we come across something like that we’ll burn the place down.” Heart said right away. “People shouldn’t be forced into that kind of living. I don’t care if it hurts my status of hero, I won’t stand by and watch.”

Leonel smiled at him. “If you do and you take them down, we’ll know about it. Head to a Spice and I’m sure the master or mistress there will gladly reward you for it. A lot of things trade hands with us, or else.. Fall out I should say. If you two want you can do a few more quests around here to gather money for the road. I have one more gift for you two but it’ll take me a couple of days to get it. Come by then yeah? Oh and, keep whatever money you had left over.”

Ash perked up at that. They still had a good hundred and half left, at least they wouldn’t have to worry about food for a while. “Thanks. We’ll come by in the morning to take care of smaller quests. Might as well handle them for the coin.” Heart said with a smile.

Leonel smiled now coyly and said, “Spice rewards are worth their own weigh in gold you know. Perhaps you should explore them at some point too.”

Heart looked thoughtful for a moment before smiling. “Sure. But what should we do if we find a monster egg out on the road?” He asked him now as Leonel grinned.

Turning he reached into his pocket to pull out something, a flute? “When you capture a monster egg use this to summon the mail bird. He’ll swoop in and take the egg back to your own monster barn. Be aware that there is a number to how many you can have at the moment and come back often in order to check on them. There are three types of monster eggs. Common, uncommon and rare. Commons are.. Well, common. Uncommon normally have some sport of mark on the outside to show they’ll have an odd coat coloring. They sell a lot more than common eggs. Rare eggs look the same as common, but when they reach a certain level they turn human. They’re worth a lot and the more time you spend with them the stronger the bond they form with you, so if you’re going to sell them it’s fine to keep back from them.”

Leonel seemed to be finished but quickly added. “Be careful though, there can only be five pets in a barn at a time, and if you send a new egg to the barn while it’s full, you will lose one pet. Considering they will think you don’t want them anymore and go back to the wild. What I would advise is hiring a farm hand. Not only will they be able to make sure your pets are loved and cared for while you’re out adventuring, but they can learn breeds, and alert you once the barn is full if you keep them around long enough.”

“Will do, I’ll check it out when we reach the house.” They parted ways as Ash and Heart started heading home, Leaf already asleep in his lamp and the pair looked ready to knock out themselves. When they reached the house Heart went to check on the map and saw to his surprise that a new line had been added, meaning the path was beginning to open. Well, that was a good step. Yawning he went upstairs to join Ash, the other didn’t even bother sleeping in his room anymore. It had been a waste of coin in the end, at least right now. “Ash,” He said tiredly as he laid on top of the blankets, still dressed. “I think.. I want to find some rare pets someday too.. It sounds like a family doesn’t it?”

Ash yawned and said “..It does. It would be nice to raise a little egg up, and then being able to talk to them.” He rolled over now on his side to look at him, so they could talk better for the moment. “..Do you think we’ll come across the white haired woman pet in the next town? Maybe she’s in a bad spice..” he hummed softly now, frowning in worry.

“Weren’t you afraid of her a month ago?” Heart asked softly with a small smile, looking as though he might fall asleep at any moment. “Maybe.. We’ll have to see when we reach the next place.. Two months, has it only been two months? So much time seems to have slipped by without me seeing. Training, slaying, doing quests.. All boiling down to the boss fight - a single hour or longer..” He opened his eyes a little, staring up at the ceiling. “Do you want to hear something weird.. And frightening?”

“Well we’re stronger than her now..” he pouted as he listened to him talk. Nodding a little as it seemed like.. Less time had passed. It seemed just yesterday he had seen the doe eyed male looking lost at the guild entrance. “Sure, what is it?” he smiled faintly, knowing it must have something to do with his dreams or something.

“When we dropped down into the cove, just before the boss appeared.. There was a moment I paused.. And you had to call me out of it.” He said softly. “It wasn’t fear that stalled me Ash, at least not the fear of the boss or the battle ahead.. There was something else.”

“Something else?” Ash blinked. There had only been one boss after all. “What was wrong?” he asked softly.

“Have you ever walked into a room, or to a place - somewhere you hadn’t been before or maybe you had, and you get this feeling that.. Something about it seems familiar? Like you’ve done something before and for a moment it confuses you.”

“Isn’t that just called Deja vu?” Ash asked now. “I mean.. People get that all the time, maybe it was just the shock of the battle or something.” he hummed softly. Reaching out now to hold one of his hands. “It’s okay..”

“It wasn’t just that though.. When we dropped down, for a moment words appeared that you didn’t see - or maybe you couldn’t see.” Heart said softly, squeezing his hand gently. “Those words is what made me pause and caused me to fear. When we dropped down there to face the boss, had we.. Had I died, we would have been forced to stay there. Doing that battle over and over and over again.. What made me freeze was the idea that you could have died there.”

Ash hummed softly and said “Well.. we both could have died Heart. I mean.. Even with a save, I don’t think even winning the battle would save someone that died in battle. I’m sure the world wouldn’t like it or something..” But he shook his head now and said softly with a smile “..But I wouldn’t mind dying to save you Heart. You’re my best friend. “

“That’s what I feared.. When that idea crossed my mind - the only thing I knew for really certain was.. If you had died, I’d have thrown the battle. As many times as it took, in order to save you.” Heart turned his head a little to look at him. “I don’t want to lose you Ash, not for any reason. And that save only bitterly reminded me that it doesn’t have to be a battle that you can die in. What I feared most of all.. Was you dying at some point.. And then something happening to me, the two of us restarting before that battle once again - and you being none the wiser. I wish more than anything that save hadn’t appeared, because.. I know that I would want to use it for my own gain if you died. Even if it meant coming all the way back to that day, living in the madness of reliving all we had done, if only to try and keep you alive. That.. is what made me freeze at the beginning of the battle.”

Ash felt that fear a little, in his chest at his words. A sadness too but also touched at the idea. He knew he would do the same for Heart, if he was ever in the position. Though he felt a strange warmth. Wondering what was the fluttering in his chest now. Was it deeper admiration for their friendship? “Heart, what am I to you?” he asked now softly. Heart felt now that he could deepen his bond with Ash, depending on what he said next.

Heart looked down for a moment, thinking. “I think.. I would be very alone without you Ash. And I think.. And I know that at times you make it very easy for me to forget my dream of another world. When we go into battle I know you are behind me, watching my back and doing your hardest in which to protect me - the same as I am trying to protect you. It isn’t just the thrill of battle that spurs me onward. You are my partner and my friend, and sometimes I think of you as my family.. And I like the sound of you sleeping beside me in my bed or the way your eyes light up when I made you something to eat. The way your ears wiggle when you’re deeply happy about something and how you work so hard in all that you do, cooking and making potions. And how you look away when I take my shirt off, blushing.. And I feel a little smug having made you feel that way.. Or when you think I can’t see you watching me train. You’re a lot of things to me Ash and I think you can be a lot more too.. If you wanted..”

Ash blushed at his words now cutely, the moonlight that pooled into the room from their window only making the elf look more adorable. “I.. I..” he squeaked nervously before he smiled shyly, squeezing his hand a little more firmly. “I’d like that Heart.” he said softly, wiggling a little closer now to hide his blushing face against his arm.

Heart smiled softly at him as he watched his ears wiggling softly in the moonlight. “Alright.. We’ll go for it. And even if it doesn’t work, we’ll still have the memories and our friendship.” He turned over onto his side, throwing an arm around Ash to hold him close now.

Ash smiled softly and nodded. Cling to his shirt as he said “Of course Heart, you’ll always be my bestest friend… and maybe.. Something more one day.” he hummed softly, nuzzling his chest a little. Heart could see little hearts from Ash, along with something he had been expecting, ‘+2 Friendship, +2 Romance’.

That damn little bar.. It felt like cheating. Heart looked down at Ash and smiled at him. “But you know.. Just because we’re stronger now doesn’t mean that girl has been sitting idly around somewhere without leveling up.” He teased a bit, grinning. Heart closed his eyes and hummed as he rubbed Ash’s back gently. “Yeah, we got a long way to go.”

End.

Ending Chapter stats.

Heart:

Level 17: 33 physical atk, 24 def, Physical spd: 23 and health: 142

Blue sword bonus:+2 atk and 4 def.

Red sword bonus: +4 atk and 2 def

Inventory: Swords, Ash’s homemade stew (one serving), One red health potions (Can be bought for 5 silver, sold for two sliver). Health potion can regenerate (20-30 points of health instantly). Coin: 149 gold, 16 Silver. 0 Poor health potion (Heals 10 health instantly, first potion recipe made from Ash). Fast Travel Bracelet. Monster Flute.

On Person: One hidden dagger.

Ash:

Level 17: 29 spell atk, 15 def, Casting spd 28, Physical attack 8, MP 25, Physical speed: 7 health 114.

Staff bonus:Half casting time for spells, +10 health.

Inventory: A lot of food. Coin: 125 gold, 12 silver and 7 cooper. Seeds: 3 big seeds, 6 small seeds, 2 flat seeds. Staff. 0 Clothing items (shirts, pants, etc). 1 Poor health potion (Heals 10 health instantly)

On person: One hidden dagger.

Spells: Low Healing. (20-30 Possible points per heal) Basic attack, and basic fire both deal 29 attack.

Relationships> Friendship: +7/ 100.

Relationships> Romance: +5/100.