Once again sleeping in, Ayanah rouses herself in the late morning and rises from her bed in the inn to find Shiru absent from the room.<br/><br/>Again.<br/><br/>Shiru seems to be under the impression that the two of them are on some sort of vacation.  The funds their mentor had given the two of them for the trip and the research they were supposed to have done are drying up quickly and Ayanah has found herself doing more than her share of scrounging funds for the pair of them to keep them fed and housed.   The town's generosity was nice while it lasted after their timely rescue, but one doesn't keep a private inn room and warm meals by sitting around and enjoying the sights.  ...Of course, making money is a fair stretch easier now that her skill-set involves bending the laws of reality as opposed to begging and trying to look as piteous as possible.   And while part of her is slightly miffed that her studies are halted by the occasional mending if small objects for locals who have an annoying tendency to stare at her chest, she hasn't risen so far that she's entirely forgotten how much worse things can be.<br/><br/>Regardless of her feelings, the black-haired arcanist sighs to herself and picks herself up out of bed and spends her requisite amount of time preening herself and preparing to tackle the day.  Unfortunately, no sooner does she put her choker on then the image of her mentor appears in her small mirror.   Her tan features turn pale upon seeing him, immediately assuming that she's hallucinating or hasn't actually woken up yet and is having another nightmare.  Luckily, she's trained enough to know this is a sending spell before she freaks out too much.<br/><br/>"Received your letter.  Relieved to hear you're alright.  Take all the time you need there.  Keep in touch.  Keep up with your studies.  ...Miss you"  Her mentor says, his image wobbling for a moment in the mirror.  His expression and tone certainly carries concern for the two of them, though Ayanah can't help but notice his tone of voice when he says 'Miss you'.  It's the sort of tone a young man has when he can't play with his favorite toy, more than a person who's genuinely missing something he cares about.   Lost in thought and almost entirely off-guard, Ayanah barely remembers that she can respond in kind before the energies fade.  This is, after all, magic that's beyond her right now.<br/><br/>"T-thank you.   We'll be staying a while longer.  We owe the town a debt for our safety.  I'll send weekly missives as well.  I- um...   I miss-"  She blinks once and gasps, the spell ending before she can finish her sentence.  She immediately slaps her own face lightly for forgetting there's a very good reason you're succinct in a Sending spell.<br/><br/>Of course, it had been months since she sent him the letter by courier updating them on their status and their misfortunes with the hobgoblins.  She hadn't expected to hear from him for a while and certainly didn't expect him to contact her magically so she quickly forgives herself for not being 100% on top of things.   At the very least it grants her piece-of-mind that they're free to pursue their debt here without worry that they'll be missed.  Brightening up at the thought, she looks to the empty bed opposite the inn room and then immediately frowns again.<br/><br/>"Right.  Shiru's gone."  She says to herself with a long sigh as she changes into her robes, fixes her hair and secures her belt pouch and book before heading back out into town.  Unfortunately, the Market Festival makes it almost impossible for Ayanah to find her sister in any sort of timely fashion.  Though it presents her a fair few opportunities to offer a few magic services, enough for dinner at least, she ends up being waylaid by curious urchins who demand she make a shower of sparks in exchange for a few coppers they picked up.   It's practically sundown by the time she makes it to the Taproot Inn and finds her sister telling a story to the patrons, conveniently leaving out the parts where Ayanah kept her from REALLY making a mess of things.   Still.  The scent of good food int he air makes her forgive her sister quickly and she takes a seat at a nearby table, listening to the stories and waving over to Shiru when she's finished.