Once Claire woke up, lying on an unfamiliar bed, she found herself wrapped around a sleeping Umbra's arms. The bat appeared to be sound asleep; she could feel her slow breathing against her back.

However, as Claire turned around to greet her partner, she noticed Umbra's grip tightening, and a weary sigh coming out of her mouth.

"How're you feeling now?" Umbra says softly.

"Better," Claire answers.

Umbra holds the jaguar's hands, and looks into her eyes, concerned. "Sorry I did this to you," she says. "I probably drank too much blood that night."

Claire quickly tries to wave it off. "No, it's not your fault. I was fine, but then I tried to do too many things at once, and just..."

She trails off after noticing Umbra's eyes are swelled up, becoming watery, and her breathing's getting shaky.

As the two embrace again, Umbra buries her face in Claire's chest, rubbing tears on her clothes as she becomes a blubbery mess. They stay like this for a brief few minutes, until Umbra has let everything out.

Then, Claire cradles Umbra's face, wiping some stray tears off her cheeks.

"Look, say what you will about whose fault it was," she says, "but when I dropped to the ground, who was the one that immediately hurried to my side? And then, when I got fixed up, who was the one that carried me all the way here?"

The bat cracks a smile. "Yeah, I did that."

"And I know why you did all that. Because..."

"I'm the coolest," Umbra says jokingly. "And, well, I love you."

"I love you too, alright? Always will."

The two then share a lengthy, loving kiss, having been brought ever closer by everything that happened in this long trip.

Claire cuts any other kisses short, though, when a thought passes through her head. "Now that I think about it," she wonders aloud, "where exactly are we?"

Umbra answers: "Didn't you know? We're in the village right now. The wolf brought us here."

Claire's eyes widen. She hops out of bed and right back on her feet without breaking a sweat.

"Wait, Claire! Shouldn't you sleep a little longer?" Umbra asks.

"I'm not sleeping anytime soon!" Claire replies. "We made it all the way here! I wanna see what it's like!"

With that, she sprints through the door, taking her staff on the way out, and the bat follows closely behind. Once they step out, they're greeted by a cozy, breezy corner of the forest, where the air blows through colder than what they're used to, and the sound of crunching leaves accompanies their every step. To their front lies the way to a clearing, hidden by old, chunky trees. To their right, several other cabins decorate the landscape; Luke and Ollie happen to be right next to them.

Luke is seen lugging what appears to be a mountain of firewood under his beefy arms. "Claire! Ya got up just in time, huh? How're ya feelin' now?"

Claire answers joyfully at first. "Feelin' fine and dandy-- wait, just in time for what?"

As Ollie keeps up with Luke, carrying camping equipment on his back, he clarifies: "I think someone else's coming here soon. Maybe you should ask her." He points to the wolf that they met not long ago.

The wolf stands by another cabin, pacing back and forth, turning her eyes to the clearing every now and then. She notices Claire, though, and walks up to her. "Oh hey, you're up already? How's everything feel?"

"Um, fine?" Claire says, making sure everything does feel fine. The wolf appears to join in on the checkup, too, inspecting the jaguar down and up while Umbra looks on. "You sure everything's fine? I mean, I don't wanna think I messed up or anything... casting spells like those isn't, like, nearly as simple as it looks, but I guess I'll take your word for it."

She stops herself for a moment when she realizes something. "Oh my god, where are my manners? We haven't even introduced ourselves yet!" She takes Claire's hand and shakes it nervously. "My name is Elena, hi, I live here. Nice place, isn't it? It's a work in progress, still. It'll look super nice soon...ish."

"Well, Elena," Claire says, "thank you so much for whatever you did to save me back there. We appreciate it a lot. Anyway... my name's Claire, and this is my partner, Umbra! She's real cute."

Though Umbra shows off her trademark toothy smirk as she shakes Elena's hand, it lacks any snark or mischief. "Can't thank you enough for all that, honey."

Elena brushes it off. "It's least I could do, really. To be honest, the way you... tower over your partner, and uh, me, reminded me of my own partner, kinda."

Umbra's eyes light up. "Ooh, what're they like? They can't be taller than me, obviously..."

"Ah, I dunno if she's as tall as you," Elena adds, blushing as her mind starts racing, "but she's beautiful, and kinda serious -- but in this real chill way, y'know? -- and of course she's nice, and oh my god SHE'S HERE."

The wolf puffs up upon noticing a familiar figure walking through the clearing: a tall, brown deer, sporting a fresh pair of sizable antlers, who wears dark, bundled clothes still peppered with snow. She can be seen greeting Ollie, towering over him, and Luke, just barely below her.

Umbra catches on rather quickly. "Hey, I think that's your--"

"SERENA!" Elena yells as she races towards the deer.

"Ellie!" She greets her, right before ending up on the receiving end of a fierce, fluffy hug, nearly knocked off her feet.

"I'm so glad you're here!" The wolf cries, finally bringing her partner down onto the soft grass.

The group, all together now, stand a ways behind, watching the scene intently. "Gosh, they really like each other, huh?" Claire remarks.

"Yeah, sure," Umbra says with a shrug. "Guess they're sorta like us."

The wolf and the deer roll around and giggle for a few moments before delivering passionate kisses all over each other's faces, and down their necks.

"Oh, they are WAY like us, then," Umbra adds. While everyone else looks away, she takes mental notes of the scene happening right in front of her.

Soon enough, the deer takes notice of all the creatures awkwardly standing a few meters away, and picks herself and her partner back up. "Oh dear, I wasn't aware there were new faces around here... come along, Ellie."

Still fixing up her hair and picking loose grass out of her fur, the deer walks up to the group, who turn their heads a bit higher than usual. "Ahem! Pleased to meet you all. I'm Serena. My dearest partner and I welcome you to our village. I hope you excuse any leaks or creaks, it's still a work in progress, etcetera. I bet Ellie's told you much about this already."

Claire chuckles. "A little bit, yeah, but she's been busy taking care of me. I kinda got a bad scare a while ago, and her magic helped me out a lot." Umbra rubs her head as she says this.

Serena continues, intrigued. "Really? That's great to hear, she's a fantastic magician. Though most of that magic gets spent on our garden nowadays... but that's a topic for another day. Tonight, the two of us are going to have a snug little campfire, like old times. I trust all four of you will be able to join us?"

While they all nod in agreement, Luke is the one that does so out loud. "Hah, you bet we're hoppin' in for that! Nighttime can't come soon enough!"

Serena concludes. "So, that's tonight! Right now, however, I would absolutely love to show you around the village! It's not much, and everyone else is off doing their own thing, so it won't take too long..."

Claire's ears twitch upon hearing this. "Everyone else, you said?"

Serena smiles, understanding what went through the jaguar's mind. "It wouldn't be much of a village if it was just the six of us here, would it? They'll be gone until tomorrow, though, so don't concern yourself about it for now. Come on, let Elena and I be your guides for the day... I believe there is something for everyone here."

The group begin to follow the imposing deer and her easily-flustered partner, as the village's surroundings start to feel more like a home with every crunchy, leaf-littered step. They've made it all the way here, so they might as well soak it in for now.