As afternoon began to settle on their group, they found themselves within twenty miles of Running River. Their quick pace was only possible, because the inhabitants of the forest left them alone and steered clear of the party.

The vultures continued to fly overhead, leading them to a clearing that was more a vast meadow, than the small areas they were used to. The grass was tall, turning slightly brown as winter approached. The chill in the air was something that was absent in the Forsaken city, but now, they found that they were going to be buying thicker clothes.

Luna and Amber kept their distance from each other, although the moment Luna walked away to check on things, Amber was right back by his side, sniffing him. She always apologized, but he was pretty sure Luna was giving her space to come in and get her fix.

Once he had set up the tubs and everyone had bathed and cleaned their clothes, James sat down with Jamie. They needed to figure out their enchantment before they reached the city in order to sell them. He also needed to enchant some low grade storage rings, among other things for Luna to sell at the market.

"What do we know?" James asked as he took a pipe.

Jamie made sure it was one that she had already carved his water, power, and connection rune onto. All three of them were linked with he heat rune and were ready for enchanting.

"Okay." Jamie took a deep breath. "I got it to work based off the theory we had last time. The connection rune worked on a two way path that allowed the power rune to be turned on and off. But with the water rune connecting to the heating rune, we don't have that on and off switch. I still merged them together, but I'm worried that if we don't activate them at the same time, we'll crack the pipe."

Running his hand over the pipe, he nodded. "Maybe we are making this too complex. What if we start with a power rune, connect it to a water rune, and then connect it to a heating rune. That way, we have hot water and only one switch?"

Humming, Jamie nodded. "That might be the wiser choice. We need simplicity if we want to sell this plan to the enchanters."

Tossing the current pipe to the side, he picked up a clean one. "I'll carve the power and water rune. Can you get the connectors and heating rune?"

Nodding, she rested her hand on the pipe with him. "This will only take a moment." Summoning her soul to her fingertip, she started to carve.

Matching her, they worked in silence until a slender tail wrapped around his back, making him shiver.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

He couldn't stop what he was doing, so when Amber rubbed her cheek against his arm and purred, he had to bear it.

"What are you two working on?" she asked.

Jamie glanced at her. "We are working on a way to create hot water. With it, we can wash off James's scent and get you back to normal."

Scowling, Amber pulled away from him. "I don't think it works that way."

"I can't believe Luna is letting you get away with grinding on him," Jamie teased. "Pretty soon you are going to be climbing into his lap and dry humping him."

James snorted a laugh before he could stop himself. "She's not that bad."

Jamie tutted. "Focus on your work, dear brother."

"Watching your fingers glow is entrancing," Amber said while crossing her legs. Getting comfortable, she settled down.

"It feels good to use my soul for something other than killing," Jamie stated. "I know James feels the same."

"I do," he admitted. With a few more finishing touches, he pulled away. "All that's left is enchanting them. I'll do the power and water rune if you have the rest."

Nodding, Jamie started pushing her soul energy into the pipe. James copied her and soon the runes were glowing with power. Minutes passed in silence before the runes snapped into place and they finished.

"Is it done?" Amber asked.

"Yup," James said. Aiming the pipe away from them, he pushed the power rune. In seconds, hot water exploded from both ends of the pipe, soaking their area. Amber screamed as she tried to back away.

Pushing the rune again, James tutted. "Should have thought about the other end…"

"A simple fix," Jame stated. Taking the pipe, she filled her hand with soul energy and molded the back end into a sealed surface. "There. Now it will only flow one way. It's flow is pretty strong though, so we need to make the next one a little weaker. We have to be prepared to mix the hot water with cold for the baths."

Getting up, James summoned one of the baths and began fixing the pipe into place. Plugging the drain, he started up the pipe and once he was ensure it was stable, he let the tub fill with steaming water. Sticking in his finger, he winced. "Definitely too hot still. Creating a cool water pipe will be simple. In the mean time, can you attach an outflow pipe for both pipes to fit into?"

Jamie quickly nodded and got up. "It'll only take a moment."

Amber sat patiently while he finished the regular water pipe. After sealing the back end, he worked with Jamie to attach it to the finished product.

"Okay, here's the final test for this version," James said. Starting both pipes, he watched as water poured into the tub. It was mildly warm, but they were far from finished.

"Now to create a rune to adjust the power," Jamie announced. "We only need it on the cold water pipe to limit the amount of water."

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Nodding, James was about to get started when Amber pulled off her clothes. "What are you doing?"

Ignoring him, she climbed into the bath and moaned. "The water is perfect!"

Jamie giggled. "Get out of our tub, you pesky cat."

"No way!" Amber argued. "Do you know how long its been since I've had a warm bath? I could soak in here all night."

Sighing, James ignored her as he turned off the pipes and started carving the new rune. Jamie walked him through how to do the connecting rune and after another ten minutes, they had a working product.

Amber happily drained the tub and refiled it with warmer water, proving that she could adjust the temperature. She also grabbed his hand and demanded he wash her tail and ears, which he promptly ignored.

"Can we sell this?" James asked as Amber pouted.

Jamie ran her hands over their device. "I think so. We should make a couple more and outfit our tubs. Then, we just need an extra for the city."

Looking over all of the pipes, James rubbed his hands together. "Let's get started. We still have a couple of hours before night settles in."

"James…" Amber whined. "Clean me…"

Raising his brow, he glanced at her. "Can't you go bother Luna or Mender?"

Huffing, she climbed out of the tub and dried off. Getting dressed, she stormed away, muttering about something or another.

"Thank god," Jamie said with a chuckle. "I honestly thought she was going to strip you down as well."

"She's not that bad," he said with his own laugh.

"You keep believing that, dear brother." Patting his leg, she started grabbing pipes. "I'll do the water runes this time if you do the heating runes. We need to be able to do the entire product on our own."

Working together, they quickly finished another set. "I don't know why she's obsessed with me," James said as they attached the device to another tub.

"You're her person," Jamie explained. "Nekorians find the one they belong with and it feels like an animalistic sense of belonging. She knows you are the one meant for her, but you already have Luna. So, she's trying to control herself by rubbing in your scent."

"Her person?" he questioned. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"Not really," Jamie said with a laugh. "It's probably embarrassing for her to admit that she is addicted to you. Don't let her know that I told you. Nekorians are very secretive about their behaviors. Just be ready for her to lash out if she thinks someone is causing you problems."

"Her soul doesn't resonate with mine the way Luna's does," he pointed out. "Shouldn't I be feeling something from her?"

Sighing, Jamie grabbed another pipe. "James. You are blinded by Luna's soul. If you were to step back, you would feel what the rest of us feel from Amber."

"Which is?"

Shaking her head, she started carving more runes. "I won't spoil it for you. Help me with these runes."

"I feel naïve and like a child when it comes to this stuff. Why is it so hard?"

Meeting his gaze, she said, "because you are. I won't sugar coat it for you, dear brother, but you are not ready to be in the city on your own. You may be able to unravel mysterious of the world and fight giants, but you don't know anything about how people work."

Frowning, he pressed his lips into fine lines.

Jamie set down her pipe and took his hands. "It's nothing we can't work on, James. You have me and Mender that will help. You also have Amber."

"Why not the others?" he asked.

"You aren't the only one to feel the discord, brother. You are my family and I'll do anything for you. Always keep that in your thoughts. Mender will too. Amber…I don't think I need to explain her."

"No, you don't," he said with a laugh. "Come on, we have several more devices to get through."

***

Amber sat with Luna, both of them staring out over the meadow. Neither of them wanted to talk about it, but they both knew they needed to.

"How bad is it?" Luna asked.

"Bad," Amber admitted. "Do you know how nekorians are?"

"I lived in a tribe of Fenrir. We didn't exactly have cats around," Luna joked.

Snorting a laugh, Amber shrugged. "Well, it's bad. But what's going on with you, Luna? You have hardly been around him today. The others have noticed as well."

"I don't want to talk about it."

Watching the setting sun, Amber changed the subject. "I stole his shirt again."

"How many more are you going to steal?"

Shrugging, Amber didn't have an answer. Instead, she finally turned to her friend. "He's not going to stop loving you."

"And I won't stop loving him. But things aren't the same anymore."

"If you want me to back off, I will," Amber said after a moment. "But I'm worried how he is going to react when you break up with him."

"I'll have to be the one to do it," Luna stated. "Every time he grows stronger, I feel that initial fear creeping back in. I can't shake it. The feeling of his hunger. It's so much stronger than the rest of us."

"It is. But he would never hurt you." Reaching out, Amber took her hand. "But I can't help with the fear. Only you can get over it, and you know he's only going to grow stronger."

Sniffling, Luna nodded. "The others feel it too. They are happy for the power, but they also don't want him around. He feels like a myth."

Amber shook her head. "To me, he feels like a shield. Solid and unyielding. His hunger devours my fears and calms my soul."

"I wish I felt the same," Luna whispered.

"I wish you did too." Letting her go, Amber turned back to the setting sun. "When you break the news to him, I'll make sure Jamie is ready. Mender too. We'll have to explain things to him."

"It's not like I'll be leaving the group," Luna said with a sigh. "I told him I would help him unravel the mysteries of this world and I meant it. I just can't be with him as his mate. But I'll still be his best friend."

"I'm really not looking forward to this conversation." Amber rubbed her eyes. "Why did everything change so much?"

"I don't know. Why did I have to rush into the relationship so quickly? Was it all because he saved me?"

Amber knew that was probably the answer, but there was no point in stating it. Luna had made her choice, she just needed to tell him.

Getting up, she patted Luna's shoulder before walking back over to James. He had almost all of the tubs done and was still working on enchanting. The only problem was, he was sweating and her nostrils flared as she drew close.

It's getting worse. I really need to talk to him and explain myself. I know he'll accept me, but this is all happening at the worst time. God. Why did Luna have to be in a relationship with him?

Putting a smile on her face, she added a skip to her step as she hurried to his side. "How's it going?"

James didn't pause in his work. "We are nearly done. But I still have to enchant other things for sale tonight. I won't be able to drink that rum with you right away."

Wrapping her tail around his back, she shrugged. "That's okay. I'm happy as long as you are doing something you enjoy. I won't pretend to understand why carving runes makes you happy, but I support you."

"Why, thank you, Amber," he said with a laugh. "Now that I have your approval, I might be able to level up my skill."

"Have you thought that maybe you aren't communicating with the material as much as you should be?" she questioned. "Isn't that what enchanters do?"

Stopping his carving, he turned to her. "I can't believe I keep forgetting that!"

Patting his arm, she moved away. "I'll leave you to it." Walking over to Jamie, she whispered, "I need your help."

Jamie didn't break character. "With which job?"

"I have a target. There's a man in charge of the demi-human district. I can't be seen moving against him."

Nodding, she continued to carve her runes. "I'll make it happen for the right fee."

"What do I need to get you?"

Jamie smiled. "We'll talk more in the city. After all, you and I need a girls day, don't we?"

Chuckling, Amber walked back over to James. "I'm taking Jamie away from you when we get to the city."

"What? Why?" he asked.

Miming zipping her lips, she didn't answer apart from smiling.

Sighing, he waved her off. "Don't get her drunk."

Beaming, she started walking away. "I won't!" With her plans beginning, it was time to stop fooling around and focus on helping James bring down the Running River Sect.

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