Penelope and Yule had come into an accord.

After coming into an agreement that they would not pry into the other’s private matters, the two children decided to rely on the other until they safely reached the next town. While Penelope took care of their shelter and food (with questioning looks from Yule), Yule supplied her specific knowledge about the world of Iraloné that Tulilith had not deigned to give her under the guise of being a foreigner who knew nothing of the local culture.

It's a good thing that Yule isn’t asking about what country I’m from, because I don’t know enough to make a plausible lie, she thought to herself that morning as they packed up.

“Here you go,” Yule said, handing over the folded tent.

“Thanks, Yule!” It had been too big for her to fold up on her own, so Yule did the job for her, though the job left something to be desired. The folding was too lumpy for her taste. Reminded her of a child’s work. Oh, wait, he is a kid, wasn’t he? And Penelope had hated the backhanded comments made by her mother unless she did anything perfectly, so she kept her mouth shut. Penelope simply just smoothed over the folded material before stuffing it into her bag.

It's lucky I put a lot of effort into drawing the tent so it didn’t disappear right away. It’s harder to explain than how my ‘healing’ works.

“So, tell me more about Birain, Yule! Is it a big country?”

“Yeah. It’s a monarchy ruled by the Raviseul family…”

Birain was the name of the country the goddess of Tulilith dropped her off at, and with good reason. In Birain they worshipped the merciful Goddess of Rebirth with a variety of temples located all over the country with some nobles even having a chapel of their own to the goddess in their homes. The royal family of Birain had the biggest temple located within the same city as their castle. It is said that the royal family was blessed by the goddess and that the rulers were reincarnations of previous ones, returning to continue their reigns.

“That’s interesting. So you think the current king might be one of his great-great-great-great-great-great grandfathers?” Penelope wondered aloud.

“Probably not. Our country wouldn’t be in such turmoil if that was the case.”

“…”

These were the kinds of things they discussed as they made their way to town, headed in the direction Yule had been travelling to before he passed out on the road. The boy had a slightly faster stride due to his longer legs and Penelope had a time keeping up, yet her spirits were not dampened.

Her whole body felt joy from the top of her head to the tips of her toes as she put one foot in front of the other. The sun was shining down on her, warming her skin and lighting her way. Her steps were so light she walked beside Yule, learning more and more and more about Birain. She was practically humming as she skipped along.

Yule looked at her like she had two heads, but didn’t mention her overtly cheerful demeanor.

Penelope wondered at this lovely, invigorating feeling. Hokusai Kasumi had lived in the dark and died in the dark. The sun had not yet rose when she left her home to head out to her next job, so she had forgotten what it was like to bask in the sun.

She spread her arms out and ran forward, feeling a boost of energy, laughing as she whirled around with her travelling companion watching her every move. Yule had tensed when he saw her rushed towards him, but calmed himself when he saw she was just playing around. His brows furrowed as she joyfully took in the sun.

“You seem to be having fun,” Yule stated levelly, breaking into Penelope’s revelry.

She grinned back at him, unperturbed. “Well, yeah. This is my first time travelling during the day. My first trip really!”

“Didn’t you say you were a foreigner? How did you get here, if not by travelling?”

“Urk--!”

Laughing that off, Penelope continued onward, pointedly ignoring that line of questioning. Yule simply sighed and continued the march forward.

“The town we are headed to is Ceralde. I was trying to head there since I have...people waiting. If we keep this pace up we can reach there by nightfall.”

“Really, that long? But…” She looked upwards. She was no expert, but by her estimation, then that would be several hours away. Did he really think she would keep up a march that long without a break? She may have (un)happily done that in her old life out of necessity, but in this life she would put her foot down!

“No, no, no,” Penelope began, “we should take a break!”

“No, we should keep walking, it’s not that far.”

“Not a chance, we will be exhausted when we get there.”

“Just keep walking, you.”

“Just for that I’m taking a break right here!”

“Huh?!”

And, just like that, Penelope stubbornly sat herself down.

Yule just stared at her incredulously.

Penelope crossed her arms and stared back defiantly.

Meanwhile, mentally.

What the Hell am I doing?! Why am I acting like some bratty kid?! This is the kind of move my sister would do! Oh, man he’s going to be so mad. Aaaaaargh! And things were going so well. What if he starts yelling at me—

As thoughts of doom and gloom swirled in her mind, Yule was considering his options silently. He could just leave the girl behind. She was an ignorant foreign girl who would most likely be nothing, but trouble for him. He had a feeling that this strange girl was not as she seemed (as if he was one to talk). And yet, he couldn’t quite abandon her at all. As bizarre as she was, Penelope did rescue him.

Turning around, he reached out to her, calling her name to draw her out of her spiraling thoughts.

“Penelope.”

“!!!”

She drew her eyes upwards, meeting his calm gaze.

“Are you tired?”

“Huh?”

“Come on, then. I’ll carry you.”

“Huh?!”

The older boy crouched down in front of her, his back wide open to her.

“Come on, don’t make me say it again. If you’re tired I’ll carry you.”

Penelope stared, mouth agape. Out of all the reactions to her little tantrum, this was highly unexpected! She expected him to get angry, yell, shout, maybe scold her a little not just…man, such an action made her feel very shy. Just what was he playing at. And the flustered feeling made her a little upset with him.

“Carry me?! You were knocking on death’s door not long ago.”

Instead of responding, he simply turned around and scooped the girl up into his arms, much to her surprise. Penelope was too shocked to struggle at first, not believing what just happened. And he was only a few years older – all right, sure, he was a bit taller, but how could someone barely in his teen years be strong enough to carry her after suffering so much like that?

“…Dummy.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just settle down. We’ll take a proper break once we find some shade.”

“…All right.”

Just what else could she say when he was being so calm and mature?

Shade came in the form of a small grove of trees. There were some stumps and fallen logs, so there were plenty of places to sit. At that point, Penelope thought it would be a good idea to have lunch. Thankfully she still had more rice balls (and a bunch of raw olives, but she didn’t want to eat those if she could help it). As with breakfast, she shared some with Yule so he could keep up his strength.

Just like the other time, he stared at the food as Penelope happily munched away.

She couldn’t help, but to comment, “You know, it’s not going to bite you.”

“It’s just…I’ve never had anything like this before.”

“Whoa, really?! These are so common from my home land, though.”

“Wait, so you brought this all the way from the country you’re from and you’re sharing it so casually with me?”

“Huh? Why do you sound so mad about it?!”

“I’m not mad!”

“Yes, you are!”

Wow, did every conversation they had to have wind up in shouting?! And yet, Penelope didn’t feel the same heart wrenching shortness of breath she had sometimes, when someone would raise their voice. It was strange. Maybe it was because Yule was a child, so she didn’t feel as threatened. This didn’t feel like an argument, either, just…two people communicating (albeit badly) in their own way, facing each other as honestly as two strangers could.

It was funny, how she finally got to be childish again.

“So…why Ceralde? You said you had someone waiting for you there…is there any other reason, Yule?”

“Well, as far as things go, it’s the town farthest from the conflict in the capital.”

Penelope blinked at that. “Conflict in the capital?” she parroted.

Yule sighed deeply. “Wow, you really are a foreign girl. Exactly where did you come from originally?” His voice seemed half scolding, half laughing. “Well, since you don’t seem to know, there’s a bit of a royal upheaval right now in Birain, so I’m sorry you had to be visiting when things are so chaotic. But you should be safe in Ceralde, though. I promise.”

His words seem strangely sincere as he said that, staring straight at her with those periwinkle eyes until he couldn’t take it anymore, looking away to finish his rice ball. Penelope felt touched. Whatever circumstances had him running from the capital, it was kind of him to think about her safety in his homeland.

“So royal upheaval…did the king get overthrown or something?”

“Not…exactly. I don’t know all the details, but it’s a problem of succession.”

“Oh, so, like a queen having machinations against a concubine and her son or something like that?”

Yule shook his head. “If it were just that, it’d be a lot simpler…You know how in Birain we worship the Goddess of Rebirth? Well, it extends all the way to how we determine the right of rulers in our country.”

“Sounds complicated.”

“It is.”

“Can you tell me more?”

Yule turned his gaze skyward, considering things for a few moments before nodding solemnly.

“If you’re going to be in Birain for a while, you should learn as much as you can about it so you can stay out of trouble. Come on. I’ll tell you more as we walk.”

His hand was offered to her and Penelope took it, letting him help her to her feet. As if he had taken it into consideration, he did not let go of her hand and instead walked beside her, at her pace, so she wouldn’t need to run, skip and trot to keep up with him. At that rate there was no way they would reach town, but Yule seemed less agitated by the thought.

As they resumed their journey, he began telling her a story.

“So, let me tell you a bit about the founding history of Birain...”