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Saure used her limited magical skills to repair the fire damage to the harnesses and cart, and Fred took inventory to make sure no items had been stolen or burnt. When all was put to rights, they continued on their way. Fred took permanent residence at Saure's side, watching their surroundings with keen feline vigilance.
As they left the darker part of the woods, Saure looked from her book and stared at Fred for a long moment with a thoughtful, brow-creased gaze. He continued his scanning, ears twitching periodically. Then his gaze met hers. If cats could blush, he would have gone pink at the realization she had been staring at him. His orange eyes widened, then flicked back to the road. He cleared his throat.

"What are your thoughts, girl?" he said, businesslike.
"Nothing. It's just… I think I had a dream last night. A nice dream. About you."
"Oh?" his voice betrayed him. One ear cocked sideways in curiosity.
"Only, you weren't a cat in my dream. You were a man. I think. Not too sure. I just knew that you
were man-shaped and you had… green eyes. Green eyes and dark hair."
"Feh. Silly dreams, eh?" Fred chuckled, scratching behind his ear with a rear paw.
"Yes, silly dreams." There was silence for a bit. The Hermit Thrush called again.
"You were quite fetching. In my dream." She said, breaking the quiet. Fred's tail twitched and he shifted his weight.
"Yes, well, dreams can mean many things, Saure. What did you read about dreams in your book?"
She flipped back through a couple chapters, then shrugged. "There are many meanings for many different things in dreams. I may have foreseen someone I will meet. Though I doubt I'll meet some dark, handsome, naked stranger out of the blue-"
"Naked?"
"Yes, forgot to mention that part. Never seen a man naked before, thought it was rather interesting."
Fred cleared his throat again, shifting his haunches and lashing his tail. "So… then, what else happened in this

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dream?"
Saure shrugged, flipping back through her book and resting her chin in her hand. "I forget. Nudity only means honesty, anyway. Honesty in its purist form. Raw truth. That's what Theaetetulas says, in any case. I'll probably be meeting this young man who will tell me the truth. That's all. He just happened to have your voice."
"and… nothing else happened… in your dream?"
"Why do you pry, so? No, nothing."
"What did I say, then? You said the young man had my voice."
"You said…" she looked up from her book, musing at the sky with a sly smirk for a moment before meeting his eyes again. Her lids drooped lazily, and her smirk spread to a grin. "You said to me…"

Fred held his breath without realizing it.

"'Stop being so nosy.'"
"Hm? Nosy? Wh- stop it. I was just curious. No need to poke fun." He looked away, heaving an aggravated sigh.
Nag chuckled to herself, flicking her tail. "You 'eard the girl. You're a nosy cat."
"Oh, you're one to talk, miss gossip." Fred hissed lightly. He set his jaw and glowered at the trees.

---

The trees fell away to tall grass. The tall grass melted into neat fields of wheat, bordered by short, crude, piled-stone walls. The high walls of Nora soon loomed in the distance, and Saure shaded her eyes from the westering sun. It had been almost a year since she had seen the city, and excitement swelled in her chest. Her coinpurse burned as it lay against her chest under her shirt. She was eager to get to spending.
She had always been disappointed when her parents took her to the big city. They never had the coin to spare on pretty things. She had always been given a Lona to spend on