Blake looked at the pegasus that stood near her. She had never been so near one of Heshia’s most sacred beasts. She had seen pegasus knights at a distance, but she had never been so near one. She took the beast’s reins and she placidly walked behind Blake. “I have to wonder what your rider’s story is. The fact an auroraswift came for her… It speaks volumes.” It would be incredibly uncouth to ask the obviously emotionally devastated former knight what had happened. She had no intents of asking Pyrrha what had happened.

  Nendia let out a breath and smacked her lips together. Honestly, Blake was surprised that the pegasus had sent her ride away and allowed Blake to take care of her. As far as she was aware, pegasi normally only allowed their riders to handle them. Then again, Pyrrha had obvious been absolutely exhausted. Moving clothes like that had no doubt been hard on the starved pegasus knight. She was so skinny as was Nendia. Blake didn’t want to think about the last time they’d both had a good meal.

  Not to mention both rider and pegasus were absolute filthy.

  Blake led Nendia into a stall and removed the pegasus’ tack. “You probably have no idea when you were last rubbed down or bathed, do you?” Nendia snorted and shook her head, lips smacking together. It was hard to tell what color the pegasus was underneath all that grime and dust. It was clearly some sort of blue color, but she couldn’t get a clear read on the color. “I’ll get Symphony untacked then give you a good rub down and sponge bath?” It was still early spring and quite chilly, so she didn’t want to freeze the poor pegasus. Nendia nodded.

  She did go to the grain storage and put some hay and grain in the stall. Nendia gratefully took to the food while she untacked Symphony. Her blue roan looked put out. “Sorry, girl, but it just didn’t seem fair to leave Nendia hanging. It’s not like I do this to you normally.” Symphony huffed then nickered softly. She felt Symphony’s pity and understanding for Nendia’s condition. Still, it was tinged with annoyance for having to stand with her tack on far longer than she walked. She put the tack away in the tack room and grabbed a box of brushes, a sponge, and a bucket. She put a bit of extra grain in Symphony’s bucket as an apology then turned to Nendia.

  The pegasus remained engaged in the grain and hay. “Nendia, I’ll work on your body and wings. Then I can work on your neck. Sound good?” Nendia looked at Blake and nodded. Well, at least she could easily communicate with Nendia despite not having been in the Sisterhood at any point.

  She started with the curry comb and had to back up, having her hand in front of her face. The amount of dust just that little bit had kicked up was insane! She had never seen a horse so dirty before! Insanity. She understood, but that hadn’t made it any less crazy. Nendia hadn’t been brushed in moths. To let a pegasus get to this point… It had obviously been a long time since either had had any food, so no doubt grooming had been another thing that fell to the wayside for poor Nendia.

  “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Hang tight.” Blake left the stall and went up into the living area of the building. She crept toward her room, uncertain if Pyrrha would wake or not. She strained her ears a little bit, twitching as she paid attention to Pyrrha’s breathing. The pegasus knight’s breathing was deep, even, and slow. She had heard that type of sleep before; it was the sleep of the dead. Pyrrha wouldn’t wake up.

  She opened the door and dug through her dresser and pulled out a bandanna. She folded the cloth and tucked it into her pocket, then went back out to the barn. She approached Nendia’s stall and then covered her nose and mouth with the cloth. Even humans would struggle with the amount of dust Nendia gave off, but Faunus were generally for more sensitive to dust and such. So the fact Nendia had so many layers of dust and dirt… This was going to take a while.

  Still, she wasn’t going to give up. Her eyes teared up as she curried and brushed the layers and layers of dust and dirt away. She eventually finished the mare’s body and wings and saw she was a blue dun. Honestly, gorgeous coat color… Not one she saw very often. She wasn’t sure how common it was in pegasi.

  “Okay, can I get your neck?” Nendia pulled her head away from the hay and stood for her. Blake curried and brushed the dirt and grime away from Nendia’s neck and, in due time, she got all of it worked out. Nendia was still far from pretty, but she looked more like a normal horse—well, pegasus in this case—again. With all of that done, she sponged Nendia down and, after that wa s done, she gleamed in the dull light of the barn. “Do you want to stay in here on hay or—” Nendia answered her by going back to the hay. She also flicked her tail and flared a wing. Well, that was a clear dismissal.

  She curried and brushed Symphony down which was fairly painless compared to Nendia. Afterward, she turned Symphony out to pasture. Not much grass had grown yet, but as an Everwild horse, she would always prefer to be outside than in the barn. In some regards, it almost felt cruel to keep an Everwild horse, but it was the companion Lorrick had chosen to give her.

  She looked down at her clothes and sighed. She was caked in dust and dirt. She went inside to her room, not afraid of waking Pyrrha up, and changed into something fresh. She dabbed some perfume on her neck and wrists to try to cover up the barn smell. It likely wouldn’t go away until she bathed again tonight but still. She wouldn’t be doing anything in the shop today…

  She picked up Pyrrha’s bags and went to the highest level of the home which had windows that opened to the east. The first rays of dawn were incredibly important to auroraswifts. Her grandfather had kept the birds as a breeding project, but once he’d gotten too old to care for them, they’d turned them over to the Sanctum for their flock. She knew plenty about the birds and their care, so she could help Pyrrha out there.

  The rooms on the seventh story were large and open, allowing for the birds to fly at least a little bit. Sadly, their sunfruit fields had fallen into disrepair since her grandfather had died. It would take a major effort to get them fruiting and blooming again. Thankfully, they still had some Solaris Blooms but getting a full field of flowers again would be quite the task. They would need to get stargrains and the mix from the Sanctum, though; the mix was impossible to make since they weren’t high in the mountains.

  She put Pyrrha’s clothes away, then went down to the shop. Her mother and father flitted around the shop, but Kali stopped when Blake entered. “So you ar here, Blake… I thought I heard footsteps in your room, though they didn’t match yours… What’s going on? And there’s so much dust in your hair. What happened?”

  "I found who Heshia asked me to help. A former Pegasus knight and her mount. They were alone. I felt bad for leaving Marina alone, but Pyrrha, the knight, and Nendia, her mount, were in desperate need of help. I took Pyrrha to the Sanctuary of second Blessings for clothes, then let her rest in my room. I'm so nasty because Nendia was caked in months of dust and dirt. I'm not sure how long they were wandering, but Pyrrha was surprised to hear it was Heshval. They're both incredibly thin. I'm worried about them," she frowned. How could she not be worried? The pair were obviously in incredible distress. Why not at least pray to Falthael? It may have taken them sometime to get there, but the demigods were personal and acted when the gods wouldn't or couldn't intercede. It made no sense.

  Kali frowned. "That is quite concerning. Are you sure letting her stay here instead of the Sanctum is wise? They would likely be able to help better than us….

  “She turned down getting any counseling from Rhyza and didn't want to show gratitude. She had only one outfit and pair of boots. She obviously hadn't visited a Sanctuary of Second Blessings on her own. So much doesn't add up here. But I'm not going to pressure her into talking. Heshia asked me to help her and pressuring her to talk would be antithetical to her healing." Yeah, she was pretty sure she'd only push Pyrrha away if she tried together to talk. Right now, providing food, water, shelter, and stability would be most important. Pyrrha clearly just needed time to calm down and feel safe. No need to pash her beyond that.

  Kali nodded. "I'll tell Selma and Shae to hold any questions. I know they'll have a ton, but you're right, pestering someone in such bad condition won't do her any good." Kati sighed and put her hand on her cheek. "The two youngest are well meaning but they're still children. If I'm worried about anybody, it's Sam."

  Blake nodded and sighed. "He's never taken well to change. I'm not sure how well he'll take to having a random person staying with us for an indeterminate amount of time." She was pretty sure Pyrrha would be relatively low impact as for a visitors went, but Sam had never been fond of when random people stayed with them. He really only got huffy now, but in the past, it'd been full-on screaming tantrums. He preferred to just stayed holed up in the tincture workshop and not interact with anybody. "Also, while we were at the Sanctum, an auroraswift came to her.” She sighed. "It's going to take at least a month to even pluck and till thesun fruit field."

  Kali put a hand over her mouth and laughed softly. "Blake, you're forgetting you're a Plantshaper."

  She blinked and felt heat rise in her cheeks. "I-I'm not used to using my magic on a whole field!" Sure, the sanctum had taught her how to do that, but she was used to using it on their small herb garden for individual plants. She hadn't been old. or experienced enough to see how her grandfather had used his abilities on the sun fruit field. Her magic would definitely make it far easier to clear out that Feld, but still. She was sincerely only used to using her magic on individual plants or small patches at most.

  "Well. maybe that should be your task today. It's only one aurora swift and not a small flock, right?" Blake nodded. "I doubt you'll need The whole field then. Maybe a quarter of it.”

  "Don't forget the Solaris Blooms, though. Those will need ample room too." A field of Solaris Blooms and extra sunfruit could also act as gifts to the Sanctum as well. They always needed sun fruit and Nectar of Dawn, so clearing out more of the field would be worth it. Not to mention The Solaris Blooms would need to be rotated during collection so they didn't wither and die from being over collected.

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  Kali nodded. "That is true too. Did you have any plans today?"

  "I need to run by The Sanctum and get The food. But other than that, no." A bird without food for too long would be disastrous. Sun fruit was easily The most important of an auroraswift's diet, but the grain mix was what sustained them through the day. She'd spent plenty of time in nature and saw birds ate constantly. Same with observing her grandfather's aurora Swifts. They'd been able to leave the seventh floor to fly as they saw fit, but she had a feeling surveil would be glued to Pyrrha for quite a while. "I'll go do that then work on the field."

  "All right, see you later, honey." Kali smiled and went back to work.

  Blake left the shop again and went out to Symphony. "Feel up to going back to the sanctum for a bit?" the mare bobbed her head. Blake led her out of the pasture and hopped on. No real need for a saddle for such a short ride. She still had her herb bag, so she didn't need saddlebags either. Granted bareback wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world either, but she could deal with it for the short ride.

  She clucked to Symphony and, with in about ten minutes, were at the sanctum. She saw a female auroraswifit darting around in the sky, obviously looking for something. The long, narrow Primary feathers gave away the fact it was an aurora swift. She knew what the birds looked like at a distance by their unique wing shape she nudged Symphony over to the area dedicated to Rhyza where a group of aevarians stood next to the large auroraswift cage. She dismounted and approached.

  "What's going on?" This was strange behavior for an auroraswift. It was extreme stress behavior which was unusual for The normally happy, joyful birds.

  "We don't know. Aurielle started acting up about two hours ago. She's always with Sunveil-"

  "That would be why then," Blake interjected. The aevarians looked at her curiously. "Sunveil attached to the young woman Heshia asked my family to look after." Auroraswifts were, by and large, monogamous and mated for life. The pair were always deep in love and were rarely apart from each other. Blake had seen auroraswifts die of heartbreak before. They were highly sensitive animals and bonded deeply to their partners and humans. So the facts unveil had left Arielle spoke volumes to how much help Pyrrha needed.

  "Wow! The fact Sunveil left his mate... You're good with auroraswifts, Blake. Can you help?"

  "I think I can." She let out a series of whistles that mimicked the male's call to the female and held her handout. No, a Faunus mimicking a male wouldn't tool a female. But it would let Arielle know someone understand what was up. Aurora Swifts were too smart to be fooled by a human or Faunus mimicking but it would at least get their attention.

  The bird wheeled around in the air and landed on Blake's hand. She could see the desperate look in Aurielle's exe. Despite being so acrobatic, she huffed and puffed. She'd been using a lot of energy. "You miss Sunveil, huh? If you can be patient for a little bit, I'll take you to him. I need to pick some food up for him from The aevarians. Then we'll go, okay?" Aurielle let out quick trilling noises, completely stressed by all of this. But they slowed and Aurielle closed her eyes. Poor bird had utterly exhausted herself. Auroraswifts were not meant to be apart from their mates unless the male was getting food for the female and babies.

  "You need food? Well, let us get you a sunfruit and the grain mix." One of the priests smiled and left.

  One of the priestesses, no doubt close to her forties, smiled at Blake. "You really have your grandfather's knack for dealing with birds. Are you sure you won't become an aevarian?" Blake nodded.

  "Sam is the next oldest after me. He wouldn't do well with running the shop and dealing with customers. He gets overwhelmed fairly easily and doesn't like people." Yeah, there was no way she could foist all of that on Samuel. Blake could handle the people aspect of running the shop decently well. People liked her and she was good at understanding symptoms. Sam was the encyclopedia of tinctures, though. He always knew exactly what someone needed based off what Blake or her parents told him. "Plus, I live off the constant changes and helping people. You guys mostly take care of the birds, right?"

  The woman nodded. "Yeah. But it's a holy duty meant for only a select few. Being aevarian takes a lot of patience, care and understanding, You clearly understand aurora Swifts and we could really use someone of your talents here."

  Blake shrugged. "My family's business is where my heart belongs. Aevarian is a important job, but it's just not for me." Yeah, had she not been born into the apothecary family, maybe she would be a priestess to Lorrick. Her powers weren't the strongest but she definitely had a level of sensitivity to the natural world that was unusual even for Faunus. Most Plantshapers didn't have the level of sensitivity she did. Her father had no magic as it had skipped him while Kali was both a Shadowbinder and Deathsensor. Samuel was a Beastcaller who refused magic lessons and let his powers lay dormant. Oddly, Marina was a Dreamweaver which was strange as neither Kali nor Ghira had any Chronomancy in their lineage. Shae and Selma were too young for the Rite of Awakening yet, though.

  "Well, if you ever want more to life than your apothecary, we would be more than happy to bring you on bond."

  "I'll keep it in mind but I don't see it happening." Blake smiled at The priestess. Plus, she was touched by Lorrick, not Rhyza. It was rare for someone to turn away from the deity that touched them to serve elsewhere. She would likely need to go through some incredibly intense process to become a priestess of Rhyza in order to deal with the aurora Swifts. In her mind, it wasn't really worth it. Marina could possibly take over the shop due to Sam's proclivities, but she was mainly trained in back-end management, not front-of-house service. Then Shae or Selma would have to learn Marina's job. It would cause too much of a hassle for the entire family if she suddenly changed professions.

  It was about then that the priest came up with a bag of grain mix and a sunfruit. "Do you know how to properly store sun fruit?"

  Blake nodded, her ears twitching. "Yeah. My grandfather died about a decade ago but I remember how to handle aurora swift care. I'm going to get our field back up in working order. I'll have more than I need, so expect a fair few sun fruit to be donated. Same with Nectar of Dawn." She smiled at the priests and priestesses.

  “I would really appreciate it."

  One of the priests smiled before chuckling. Blake blinked and looked over at the cage with the birds. A decent chunk of the flock sat nearby. Blake smiled and walked over. "I miss you guys too." Her grandfather had had a large flock on the seventh floor. The floor had originally just been open to allow the auroras Witts to come in and roost there and they could come and go through The windows. After Arjun had died, it'd been renovated into further rooms used for visitors. But thanks to Arjun's design. the rooms all had east-facing windows that were perfect for Pyrrha to statin.

  She waved to the auroraswifts and kept Auricle on her hand. She transferred the bird to her shoulder when she got to Symphony and went back home. Once there. she took the grains up to Pyrrha's room, then went down to her own. She held her finger up to her lips and looked at Arielle. "I'm going to leave you out here, Arielle. Sunveil's new person is asleep. Understand?" The bird bobbed her head. Blake left Arielle in the dining room along with the sun fruit and opened the door to her room.

  Pyrrha was predictably still asleep. Sunveil perched on her dresser. "Sunveil, someone's waiting for you out here." She kept her voice low. She wasn't that worried about Pyrrha waking up but still. Sunveil looked at her, obviously processing until he let out a little chirp. Blake held her hand out and he flew over, holding her finger over her lips. She took him out to Arielle. The two auroraswifts broke in to soft chirps, obviously trying to be quiet.

  Blake smiled and left The living area, going down to what was once the sun fruit patch. It hadn't been tilled in over a decade and she looked at the patch of weeded soil. She started to walk along what had been once-neat rows of sunfruit. Brambles and briers had grown our, tugging at her pants. Expanding her awareness into the surrounding land, she felt all the weed growth and the fact sunfruit plants still tried to push up beneath them. They were fairly hardy especially if they had been enhanced by a plant shaper such as herself or Arjun. She missed him so much. He'd been a great man, but he'd died before her Rite of Awakening. She could've learned so much from him, but nothing could have saved him from his death.

  For the next several hours, Blake walked the overgrown field and banished the weeds along with uprooting brier sand brambles. By time she finished. a massive pile of brambles and briers had formed. She had sorted each by type because even briers and brambles could be used in tinctures. She'd even found iron brier which was one of the rarer types which could be used in the Tincture of Stonehide, valued among fighters of all types for protection against alot of physical harm. She could just turn them to mulch but her mother would've had her hide for getting rid of valuable ingredients.

  On the bright side, she had helped the sunfruit plants push above the soil and accelerated their growth to the point their first leaves unfurled. They would begin to grow rapidly now that they were no longer hidden. It would still take a month or so until they began fruiting, but it was a start.

  She felt bad for the barren patch of land that stood to the east. She'd killed even the sunfruit plants attempting to push above the soil. It felt sacrilegious almost. Sanfruiit wasn't sacred to Rhyza, but it was sacred to his birds, the auroraswifts. But she needed the land for Solaris Blooms. Collecting too much from one Bloom would kill it, so she needed a decent amount to grow. They had some Blooms already growing in their garden, so she would need to transfer them out. But that would come tomorrow. The sun was lowering toward the western horizon and she needed to take a bath and eat dinner. She felt bad but she'd have to wake Pyrrha as well. No way in the Void of Oblivion would she be sleeping in a room other than her own!

  She went upstairs to the main living area where she heard her family clamoring and talking to each other. She could smell the spices and her mouth watered at what her mother was cooking. Hearthstead Supper. Apparently, Marina had got some hunting done while she’d been out. It wasn’t everyday they had herb-roasted skylark. Skylarks were common enough but a bit of a pain to catch. She must have managed to coax Seraphina, her silvershadow owl, to come and hunt with her.

  “Nice catch, Mari.” Blake smiled at her younger sister who flashed one back. She continued on her way to her room. Pyrrha was still dead asleep which…was understandable. The poor knight had been through absolute hell.

  She went into her room and shook Pyrrha. “Pyrrha, time for diner.” The young woman didn’t rouse. Blake sighed and dug her nails into Pyrrha with a sharp pinch.

  “Ow!” Pyrrha sat bolt upright, obviously searching for a weapon. She looked around, confused. “What. Where am…? Who are…?”

  “I’m Blake. Remember this morning?” A few moments passed until Pyrrha’s eyes showed things clicked in place. “It’s dinner. Hearthstead Supper.”

  Pyrrha frowned. “I’m not going to eat much. The food will be wasted. I still feel full from the meal you gave me earlier.” Blake’s heart went out to the former knight. How must it feel to be full from a single meal had eight or ten hours ago? She really had no idea. She was used to eating three squares a day herself.

  “Well, my mom already cooked it. At least come and meet my family since you’ll be here for the foreseeable future.” Pyrrha sighed and got up, obviously not wanting to fight. Or maybe just not having the energy. Regardless, Pyrrha walked over and followed Blake into the dining room.