Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

Chapter 319 - 261 - Relaxing on Distant Shores

"Did we miss the memo?" wondered Shouri the next morning.

They had retired early and gotten up early as a result. Unlike what they had expected however, not only was the hotel cafeteria barren, but the all the vendor booths were totally empty.

All turned to tour guide Pacifica for the answer.

"Hrm… the app hasn't updated yet. It's still saying we're in day two of the event…" she mumbled to herself.

One of the hotel's Resonators happened to overhear the confusion. "Oh, don't you kids know?" asked the water cat. "Today everything starts at noon," they informed the quartet.

"Why?" wondered Pacifica.

"It's the day of relaxing--you'll see," said the older cat with a titter, before resuming their usual duties.

The heater above them whirred to life as the quartet stood in stunned silence.

"We… could have slept in?" Shouri spoke quietly.

"Yeah…" Rebecca confirmed.

Pacifica grabbed her Maestro and imparted serenity into him. "It's okay, Sho. We can still go take a nap if you want," she offered.

With a defeated sigh, he relaxed in his otter's embrace. "You know what? Fine. Let's go take a nap, girls."

Noon rolled around and Shouri was far less grouchy now that he had even more sleep under his belt and a coffee to tackle the day with.

The crowds in the lobby were what they had expected this morning--many Maestros and their Resonators eagerly chatted about what they were going to venture toward today. Even the odd Natural made their way through the crowds, ready to see the sights.

"So what even is today?" Rebecca asked their tour guide, attempting to re-kindle the morning's earlier attempt at discovery.

"Lesee…" Pacifica plucked her tuner from their boyfriend's side and perused the day's event.

"Today's called 'Relaxing on Distant Shores'," the otter began. "Apparently, we're supposed to relax today, which is why it's in the middle of the event and also the reason everything opens so late today," she continued.

Shouri hummed, slowly nodding in agreement. "Makes sense I guess. Did they announce it anywhere?" he questioned.

"Uhhh, probably? I know we kinda just did our own thing yesterday and came back to the room early. They might have said something before everything closed up for the night," Pacifica posited (though she wasn't speaking from fact due to their aforementioned early retirement yesterday.)

Before they could get anywhere, a chime came from the app. "Ah, today's story bits are time gated. We just have to wait for them. Guess that makes sense for the day of relaxation," the otter tittered. She took a breath and read out the blurb.

"Cervo the deer lived on a tall mountain under the employ of an elder doctor. During the time he spent with the doctor, he was taught everything the old man knew of medicine. When Rufus and his crew came to shore after a particularly rough battle, Cervo took a liking to them, and after a tearful departure, he became the ship's doctor. What is written about him in later accounts is that he was always chastising the rest of the crew for how hard they pushed themselves in fights. 'Healing magic is not absolute!' he commonly chided them."

The trio looked to their group's own doctor.

Rebecca smirked. "You gonna steal that one?" she asked.

Taika pouted. "Non, you already know healing magic can't fix everything," said the lunar vixen.

Education complete, the quartet took off from the hotel. With no real aim in mind, they just picked a direction and walked. Something was different, however.

"Hey, were those booths there yesterday?" Rebecca pointed out.

Lined up on one of the small beaches were a bunch of stands and tents. One symbol stuck out to them as familiar--a heart that surrounded a large tree.

"Unwavering Hearts," Shouri noted.

Sure enough, as they studied the various other symbols, they found themselves in the company of various other guilds and organizations.

"Should we check them out?" Shouri asked his trio.

"Yeah," Pacifica nodded.

"Kinda want to see what some of these other guilds are like," said Rebecca.

The lunar fox hummed with uncertainty. "It feels weird. We're a guild too. Should we be there?" Taika wondered.

That thought drew pause. Shouri considered it briefly before he shook his head. "We're too small right now. These are some big names." The guildmaster ruminated on it for another second before a smirk crossed his lips. "Maybe in the future when we're bigger we can make Lina and them do this," he plotted, rubbing his hands together.

Sinister schemes for the future aside, it was a good idea to scope out how other guilds and Resonator-based organizations conducted themselves in public. It would be interesting to see who they sent as well. Surely they wouldn't run into fellow guildmasters or other important leadership out here.

Either way, standing around and thinking about it wouldn't cure the itch of curiosity. So the quartet took off.

Rebecca noticed Shouri avoiding the Unwavering Hearts tent. She sighed. His curiosity was obvious from the way he was trying to scope it out from a distance, but he arrested his interest for her.

"Come on." Rebecca grabbed his hand and pulled him into the tent.

"Wait, Rebby!" he hissed.

"I gotta get over it some time," the fire element said with a strained smirk. She squeezed his hand tightly, refusing to let go. He understood and squeezed back.

"Welcome!" One of the guild members greeted the pair.

Taika and Pacifica must have wandered off, or at least were giving Shouri and Rebecca room.

Rebecca remained quiet, her words failing her. She tightened her grip of Shouri's fingers in her grasp. He gave her a gentle squeeze back, and some rhythm in return.

Almost immediately the Unwavering Heart launched into her spiel. "You two look really close! Did you know that regular etude is great for your mental and physical health?" she asked.

Shouri and Rebecca exchanged a knowing glance with one another, but didn't rain on her parade and let her continue.

"Regular rhythm use is great for body and mind! Here, take this with you!" She handed the pair a little pamphlet titled "Rhythm and You – A Guide to Physical and Mental Wellness". Of course, marked all over with the Unwavering Hearts emblem and branding.

"Thanks." Shouri pocketed the papers without giving them a second glance. "Out of curiosity, who do you have here today?" he threw out his wonder.

"Oh! Well, I'm Patricia, she's my Resonator Linda. Over there is Michael, and his Resonator Joseph," Patricia laid out for the curious guildmaster, pointing to each other member in turn.

"You're guild members?" Rebecca found her voice.

"Yep! First years. We're usually sent out on educational missions like this during training, they say its good for building people skills which are invaluable for real missions," she helpfully explained. "Are you interested in joining?" asked the eager guild member, stars in her eyes.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"Actually--" Before Shouri could shut her down, Rebecca cut in.

"He's a guildmaster," boasted the fox, the pride welling in her chest as she declared that.

Poor Patricia's face turned completely red. "O-oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't know!"

Shouri shook his head, but smiled all the same. "Don't worry about it. We're not exactly advertising. We're in a similar field, so I was curious how other, bigger guilds carried themselves," he explained.

"I hope I did a good job," Patricia squeaked, refusing to look Shouri in the face.

The guildmaster chuckled. "You did great." He elbowed his fox. "She's just a brat," he added.

"Uh, what guild are you?" asked Michael. The two guild Resonators also looked on with interest. Not just them, but other Maestros and their Resonators who had wandered in took interest and appraised the young guildmaster and his fox.

"We're Pruned Trees Re-Sprout," Shouri began.

"We help wayward Resonators find their forever home," Rebecca picked up for her Maestro.

Patricia lit up. "I don't think I've ever heard of a Resonator placement guild!" she exclaimed. "Do you have a business card?" she asked. "I think our leaders would love to work with you."

"Oh! Uhhh…" Truthfully, it was something he had considered, but he didn't even bring his guild jacket, much less even thought about carrying business cards.

The flustered first year continued to fret in front of the guildmaster as the awkward silence continued. Michael thankfully, saved the day, by stepping up and offering a business card for their leadership.

"Here."

Shouri accepted the card and looked it over. Pretty standard business card, by his own admission. The Unwavering Hearts emblem was embossed into the card in gold, giving it a refined sheen. He went ahead and pocketed it. "We'll give 'em a call."

Pacifica and Taika, meanwhile, wandered around the mini festival of guilds. There were a couple of battle guilds and a bunch of miscellaneous service organizations for various crafts such as forestry and electricians. The one that drew their interest wasn't from who they were, but the oddity of their name.

"Zacara Academy?" Taika wondered.

"Oh, they're a really big school. Like super prestigious. Apparently they're real selective about their students. Wonder why they even have a booth here," Pacifica mused.

"Wanna check it out?" asked Taika.

"Sure!"

The pair approached the little booth. Four Maestros and their complement of Resonators looked beyond thrilled to be there. That was to say, one of them was the perfect honors student sitting at attention, while the other three were hopelessly distracted by anything but.

First was the red-headed boy. His feet were kicked up on the booth as his gaze listlessly swept across the smattering of Maestros that passed by. Behind him was a fire element Resonator, in a species Pacifica and Taika recognized--a red panda.

The second was a wild child of a girl. Her uniform was in disarray, and she looked ready to sprint at any moment. By her side was a nature element of some rodent variety, of which the two Resonators couldn't immediately identify.

Third up was a rather elegant looking girl, who was fixated a strange brown tuner-like device in her hand. She paid no mind to the rabble around her. By her was another mammalian Resonator species; an earth element and dressed in what appeared to be a butler's suit. The Resonator stood prim and proper, never once flinching at any of the sounds around them, almost statuesque in all honesty.

Finally was the honor student. His studious gaze scanned the crowd, and appraised everyone who passed by their humble little booth. His Resonator of choice was of the reptilian persuasion, unlike his three mammal wielding compatriots.

As soon as the Maestros caught sight of Taika and Pacifica, they snapped to attention--no one else earned such a reaction.

"Good afternoon ladies, are you enjoying the festivities?" greeted the honor student.

"Yeah! It's a blast!" Pacifica greeted back. "I'm a bit surprised to see a school here recruiting," admitted the otter.

"It's a waste of time," said the fire wielding boy.

"Kaen, can you not?" hissed the honor student.

"I don't want to hear that from you, Oliver, you were the one that fought the hardest to get us out of this!" Kaen barked, sitting up straight.

"Can you two cut it out?" asked the wild child, annoyance oozing from her lips.

"Sofia--!" Both boys turned to her, ready to plead their case.

"Boys (and Sofia)!" The elegant woman clapped. "Remember what Julia said: if we're good here, she'll let us go wild tomorrow."

That reminder made the three arguing Maestros cease their bickering.

Oliver cleared his throat. "Right, thanks Cleo," he mumbled.

Pacifica and Taika kept their amusement to themselves. "So why are you here then?" asked the otter, to get them back on topic.

"Right," Oliver sat up straighter. "Our Zacara Academy sent us, the current Four Guardians, to find potential recruits."

"And how is that going?" asked Taika.

"Poorly," Kaen scoffed. He appraised the two Resonators before him once again. "Then again… you think your Maestro would want to join the academy? You two look pretty damn tough," the Maestro mused.

"Language," Oliver scoffed.

Pacifica and Taika giggled to themselves, thinking of the mental image of Shouri in a school uniform like these eight were wearing. "No, not at all." Pacifica replied.

"Tch," and with that, Kaen lost interest.

"Well, take one of our cards anyways; at least so we can say we handed out one card," Sofia offered, pulling one of the business cards out of her disheveled coat. The card she presented was crumbled from its undoubtedly rough treatment.

"Wait, don't take that one," Cleo spoke up. "Caden, card please."

The earth element Resonator flicked out his wrist, offering a pristine white card to the two girls.

"Thank you," Pacifica giggled, accepting the card.

They waved to the four students while they left.

"Zacara Academy, huh?" Pacifica mused.

"Wonder what they teach there? Obviously it's like Maestro stuff," said Taika, as they continued their walk through the festival.

Pacifica flipped the card over, the ZA logo of the institution embossed on the back. "Fancy card. It's as prestigious of a school as I heard," she mumbled. The otter stuffed the card in her vest pocket and addressed her fellow Resonator. "Dunno. Obviously Maestro things, but that Cleo girl had a weird tuner."

"What was weird about it?" asked Taika.

"It just had a different shape then our tuners, and like, I think it had more buttons? Couldn't really see it clearly. It was very strange," Pacifica hummed in thought.

"I'm sure we'll find out more about it soon," Taika reassured her fellow Resonator.

"Yeah… these things have a way of finding us," Pacifica sighed. "Come on, I think I see a stall giving away snacks down there!"