Amelia helps a tad with painting the other chips of wood and whatever else should be coated white. As they watch paint dry she eats from a snack bag. "What color next?" she asks, as she reaches around for more paint jars.

It's simple work. Amelia hangs her coat by the door and walks Venlana through preparing the paint and applying it. It's a matter of patience. She's content to watch Venlana work, although at some point she decides to rummage through the korchen for snacks.

Amelia nods. She finds her paint brush and lays out a tin of white paint. "We paint a base coat and let it sit." Luckily, the base coat is one of the most forgiving. Amelia flips the brush around in offering. Only after the base coat is set can they add other colors and details.

"Wood is on me," she says as she fishes for her wallet. The owner tries to sell them on a few other pieces but this is more than enough. Amelia pays in full and they walk back to her apartment with armfuls of wooden chunks. By the time they arrive it's well into the night.

Amelia spends her time searching for hidden goodies and speaking with the owner, who wants to talk about the festival, and the cooling temperatures that make it good for business. Eventually, she's happy with what little she's found, and checks on Venlana. "Ready?"

Amelia nods. There are a few smaller scraps on the ground. She picks them up for demonstration's sake. Some are almost curved and would make for convincing fins or leaves. "You could make any kind of monster," she says. "When we carve this there will be lots of leftover scraps."

Amelia was always wary of overstepping boundaries in the hierarchy, but this was a small case. Ideally, it was the push needed to get Venlana on a proper mission and then it wouldn't be Amelia's opinion anymore. As the sun goes down the city cools. Alleyways become funnels...

"Maybe they're waiting for the right job." Life as a New Light was such a distant memory that Amelia couldn't remember much. One day she was nothing, another day she was something. Easier when you don't live in the moment. "I'll prod, see if I can get you on a patrol."

"Fine. I ran into scavengers but they were just hungry." These days the E.D.Z. was as much of a wasteland as it had ever been. Aside from a few scattered settlements, most of its inhabitants left for the Last City. The wildlife grew through its skeleton and flourished, but the...

When you spend so much time in the field it's hard to exist. Walking through the city will be a nice refresher. Amelia leads the way. "My friend chops wood and gives the scraps to children for cheap or free, but children are small, so it will be very easy to rob them."

Soldiers are so used to seeing each other in arms that to dress like this feels almost naked. Ven looks different without her cloak and pauldrons. Smaller, and not so sharp along the edges. It's a chilly autumn evening. The city is awake. "Hi," she says. "Ready to go?"