## **Morning in Oakroot**

  The sun rose over Oakroot Town like a zy cat stretching—slow, golden, and utterly unconcerned with Kael’s problems.

  He’d spent the night in a *questionably* legal barn (the owner had taken one look at the panda and charged *triple*), and now, with straw in his hair and the distinct smell of *regret* clinging to him, Kael sat on a wobbly stool outside a tea shop.

  The Moon Fox licked its paw, eyeing the townsfolk with disdain. *"This pce reeks of turnips and poor life choices."*

  Kael sighed. "It’s *quaint*."

  The panda, meanwhile, had discovered the joys of *flower boxes* and was currently *methodically* eating every petunia in sight.

  ---

  ### **A Job Too Simple**

  The tea shop owner—a round woman with flour-dusted cheeks—leaned over the counter. "Y’look like a man in need of honest work."

  Kael blinked. "Do I?"

  She nodded at his hair (still *technically* rainbow, though now more of a *muted* bruise-purple). "That, or yer cursed. Either way, I’ll pay ya two silvers to fix my celr door."

  *Simple. Safe. No bandits, no rats, no life-threatening disasters.*

  Kael should’ve known better.

  ---

  ### **The Door That Wasn’t**

  The "celr door" turned out to be a *rotted sb of wood* hanging by a single rusted hinge.

  Kael poked it. The hinge *squeaked* like a dying goose.

  Fox: *"This is beneath me."*

  Panda: *[Already chewing on the doorframe]*

  Kael rolled up his sleeves. "How hard could it be?"

  —

  **Two Hours Later**

  The door was *gone*. The *frame* was gone. The *wall* had a suspicious panda-sized hole in it.

  The shop owner stared. "Y’repced my door with *air*."

  Kael wiped sweat from his brow. "Technically, it’s *more* efficient now. No door means no door problems."

  She handed him *one* silver. "Get out."

  ---

  ### **The Baker’s Secret**

  Lunch was a *stale* meat pie (the panda had eaten the good ones) shared under a willow tree.

  Lia appeared like a vengeful ghost, plopping down beside him. "Heard you *redefined architecture* today."

  Kael groaned. "It was *one* wall."

  She smirked, tossing a pebble at the panda—who *caught it mid-air and ate it*. "So. That thing’s *S-rank*?"

  "Yep."

  "And it’s *useless*."

  "*Hey,*" Kael protested, as the panda *licked mold* off a rock. "It’s... *special*."

  Lia snorted. "Special like a *three-legged horse*."

  The Moon Fox, from Kael’s shoulder: *"Accurate."*

  ---

  ### **The Incident with the Goose**

  Evening brought them to the town’s lone inn, where Kael *attempted* to negotiate for a room.

  Innkeeper: "No pets."

  Kael: "They’re *emotional support* beasts."

  Innkeeper: *[Points at the panda, currently wrestling the inn’s goose]* "That one’s *felony* support."

  The goose was *winning*.

  ---

  ### **A Slow Realization**

  That night—crammed into a hayloft *again*—Kael stared at the rafters.

  Fox: *"You’re brooding. It’s annoying."*

  Kael sighed. "We’re supposed to be *training* for the Capital Games. But how?" He gestured to:

  - The panda, *asleep* with its paws in a stolen soup pot.

  - The fox, *refusing* to practice illusions out of spite.

  - His hair, *still* faintly glowing.

  A pause. Then—

  Fox: *"...We could *not* embarrass ourselves.*"*

  Kael threw a handful of hay at it.

  ---

  Dawn brought a *dusty* traveler to the barn, clutching a torn scroll.

  "You Kael?" he rasped.

  Kael sat up. "Uh. Yes?"

  The man shoved the scroll into his hands. "Message from the capital. *They’ve moved the Games up.* Y’got *three days*."

  The parchment fluttered open, revealing two words:

  **"Good luck."**

  Fox: *"We’re *double* doomed."*

  Panda: *[Snoring into the soup pot]*