Ritta ran an inn in Karuu town. It was a common place for people to pass by when they were resting or making a stop to elsewhere since Karuu town was just another busy village-like area since there wasn't really much to look at or to go sightseeing, hence her earlier question for Alloy when she was eating. The lot were finally able to take it easy, they had gone one floor up to Ritta's room, Alloy was told to place Damion next to where the girl was kept, on the ground laid with fabrics and a blanket of sorts. They were there for a few hours after Ritta lit the fireplace, placed a pot of some green liquid right above it and knelt next to the two, she began grinding herbs right after.
"You saved her, didn't you??" Alloy asked.
"Yes, I did"
"Who is she??"
"Her name is Tasue…"
Alloy's eyes widened.
"She's quite a skilled tailor."
Her jaw dropped.
"WHAT??!!" She jumped up and pointed at her. "THIS IS TASUE?!?!"
"Be quiet youngin. They're still resting."
"I'm sorry…" she said as she sat back down. "But… this is her!!" She whispered loudly.
Her whole body showed her newfound excitement, her arms were clutched to her chest with the palms of her hands right under her chin. She held out a grin that eventually led to her squealing.
"Who??" Ritta asked. Confused but didn't show it.
"Tasue!! She's the girl we were looking for before we head to Gami!!"
"Is that so…" Ritta said as she placed the ground herbs in the now boiling liquid. 'Who is this kid…??' she thought.
"You're… so… loud…" a faint voice spoke right next to Alloy. It was Tasue, she finally woke up.
She squinted her eyes and blinked a few times as she regained consciousness, but the first thing she saw were teeth… Alloy's teeth, with a grin from ear to ear. It startled her and she let out a scream, startling Alloy as well, who also screamed. She jumped up, assuming a position that was ready to defend herself. However, she immediately fell back down, wincing as she clutched her left leg, she saw her ankle covered in bandages and finally realized a pain in her shoulder as well.
"What…" she held her shoulder. "What's going on…"
"We saved you a few hours ago youngin. You're safe, but you're injured, lie back down." Ritta said.
"You helped him, didn't you??" Alloy said.
Tasue rose her head and saw her. She got flashbacks of her last conscious moments… a last minute savior with eyes that she was sure pierced her soul. It scared her for a second and Alloy noticed.
"Are…" she stretched her hand out, showing concern. "Are you okay??"
She brushed the image off of her head.
"Yeah, I'm okay."
"Great!!" Alloy said as the grin returned to her face.
Tasue was finally calm, she didn't lie down but she leaned on the wall as she sat down to continue resting. She noticed Alloy's clothes, they were almost perfectly identical to her work, but she had never seen her before. Come to think of it, so were Damion's clothes. Ritta took a ladle and dipped it into the pot of boiling green water, and put it in a cup in front of her. She took it and handed it to Tasue.
"Here, drink this." She said. Tasue took it and held it close to herself. The smell of it was bad, but not that bad, she looked inside it to see some tiny particles of the herbs that Ritta had just finished grinding.
"Ritta-san… thank you… but…"
"What??"
"It's boiling… I'll get burned."
"Then let it cool down first, but drink it before it gets cold or it won't help you."
"Thank you." she said as she placed it down next to her. It just bellowed vapor from its top like smoke from a train.
She also noticed a note on right where she was about to place the medicine.
"Oop-" she gasped, placing the cup next to it.
"What's this??" She asked.
"A note from your uncle!!" Alloy said.
"Did he send you to look for me??"
"Not exactly, I'm making a crew and he said if I found you, you could join us!!" She jumped up again.
"Will you?? Will you?? Come on!! JOIN ME!!!!" Alloy persisted. Jumping up and down.
"No."
This drained the life out of Alloy, her face went pale, she lost her balance as she was jumping, slipped and she deflated to the ground.
"Why????" in her forced muffled voice, she asked from the ground.
"I don't like you." She said, her face clearly pouting and looking at the other side.
"H… huh?!?!"
"I don't like you." She said again. Breaking Alloy's heart.
"But… but… I saved you!!"
"Ritta saved me." This left Alloy speechless, she cried as she sat at the corner, asking herself questions about Tasue and her life. "What do I do… Why is she so rude… Was I like that when I was a kid…. how doe…" They went on and on.
"Tasue…" Ritta started as she set aside some medicine for Damion as well.
"Do you like this boy??" she asked, directing her hand to Damion.
She finally noticed him. She grinned and shouted. "ANIKI!! (Big bro!!)" Alloy's questions paused.
"Yeah!! He wanted to protect me from the bad guys. But he couldn't do it alone so I helped him!!"
Alloy turned. A smile began forming from her face full of dried tears.
"That's good. Alloy here is with him, and he joined her. Don't you want to join her too??" Alloy's smile widened, waiting as eagerly as she could for the answer.
"Not really."
She turned again, this time, with a new set of crocodile tears forming.
"But I'll go with big bro!!" Tasue finished.
"Alloy, is that good enough??" Ritta asked as she sat, holding Damion's head on her thighs so as to help him sleep better as she changed the towel on his head. Alloy watched in slight confusion.
"I guess…" She sniffled. Bummed. "How does Damion have more members than me… it's not fair!!!!"
"Now all that's left is to let my boy rest until he's better,"
Alloy raised her head and angled it in greater confusion."…'my' boy??" She restated.
"Yes…" Ritta began. "I never finished telling you the story."
"I don't think you started."
"Shut up and listen youngin." She said, irritated. Alloy moved herself backwards, deeper into the corner. Her knees were clutched next to her face as she kept quiet and began listening.