Of course Casai would attack Korey. I should have thought about it, but I'd gotten so wrapped up in spellcrafting and explanations, I hadn't even thought to think about what Casai would see. A human, standing in her home again, blood on the floor from their wounds, standing directly next to a loved one. I could have planned for this, let her know. I could have stopped this before it had started if I was better, better at thinking through how other people might be effected by me. But now I had to stop it while it was happening. I had been frozen for too long, my mind working through a million useless thoughts, stopping me from acting.

MOVE!

I put myself in between Casai and Korey, shoving the Outlander behind me as my robes swept around in frenzy from my movement, sheets of paper flying into the air from my desk.

"C-C-Casai wait! I'm f-fine, they're not here t-to hurt anyone!" the harder I tried to force the words out, the worse my stutter was, as if even my voice was frozen in my throat.

Casai stopped, her pupils slits, her arms and legs shaking. She looked like she had barely heard me, her eyes still locked on Korey behind me, her dagger held forward. 

I slowly took a few steps forward and knelt down. A pair of my arms took her hands in mine as I lowered the blade down, while another rested themselves on her shoulders. I put my face directly in front of hers so she was forced to look at me.

"The p-person behind me is named Korey. Th-they are an Outlander. I'm sure enough to trust that, and your sister was sure enough to leave them alone with me. Th-they can't have had anything to do with any human from this plane." Casai's pupils had dilated, and her dagger had dropped into my hands. As tears began to well in her eyes, I hugged her tightly with all 3 pairs of arms. 

"You're okay. D-deep breaths. Breath in, breath out, 1..2..3.., breath in, breath out." she was doing her best, but her quiet sobs were cutting into her breathing. I wished I could do more. I wished I could craft a spell that took all her sorrow and disappeared it into the stars. Instead all I could do was be a poor shoulder to cry on.

After a several moments, she slowly let go of me, eyes puffy, her posture making her look even smaller than she was. Her gaze still flicked to Korey occasionally, but no longer with that hatred and fear it had held prior. 

"sorry..." her voice was quiet, and didn't carry the same confidence it usually did. 

"You're okay, don't worry about the clothes. I'll be able to grab them, if you need a minute." I moved toward the clothes Casai had dropped as she walked away, gaze down, firmly avoiding making eye contact with Korey as she climbed the stairs and, a moment later, closed the door to her room.

It was then that I realized Korey was still stood behind me, a mortified look on their face, standing awkwardly unsure what to do with themselves. Gods, of course they were, that must have been horrifying for them, and then severely uncomfortable. I hadn't been thinking at all about what this had been like for them, again.

"I'm so sorry K-Korey, I should have let Casai know you were here, and..."

"NO, no, you're fine, I just..." Korey looked up the stairs Casai had climbed, "...will she be alright? I don't need to know what happened, but..."

"Oh, u-um... Casai usually prefers to be left alone when she has... uh, yeah..." In truth, I agreed with Korey, but I knew I wasn't the one who could do more for her. Whenever I tried to talk to her, the words never seemed to bring comfort, not when she was truly suffering like she was now. I wished I could though.

Korey was still gazing upwards, their brow furrowed, before they knelt down next to me and started helping fold the scattered laundry.

"D-don't feel like you need to help! I've got plenty of hands to do this." I made a small shooing gesture, while the rest of my hands continued meticulously folding every piece.

"Well, one more pair can't hurt, can it?" Korey smiled, their hands working, slower than mine, but nevertheless taking some of the work away.

After we were finished, I hurried to Pransai and My's room, dropped off the clothes that were ours, and quietly left Casai's clothes in the basket outside her door. I didn't hear any crying so maybe that was a positive? I then walked back downstairs to reconvene with Korey.

"Okay, let's go out to the garden so I can show you some more of the basics of magic." My excitement was building once again, and there wasn't anything I was forgetting this time! Probably.

"Perfect, Casai will hopefully be more at ease if I'm out of the house too." Korey said, nodding their head.

Huh, I wasn't sure if that would help or not, but either way I started making my way with Korey to the back door and outside, into the afternoon sunlight.

The garden, if it could still be called that, was in a state of disrepair. Vines and weeds covered the ground, and any semblance of planting rows had long since been overtaken by the greenery. The soft glow emanating from them shined off the metal trellises that hadn't yet completely rusted. None of us left in the house were much for keeping plants alive, so the garden had essentially been abandoned.

"Why do all the plants glow?"

I followed Korey's gaze to the weeds, but it took me a moment to process the question.

"I... I'm not sure, d-do the plants not glow where you're from?" 

Korey shook their head "No, but I guess if it's nothing special here, then never mind." Fascinating.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. There was teaching to be done.

I pulled out several papers with spells inked onto them that I'd brought from inside. "Well, the first thing we need you to do is measure your mana. These spells here just t-temporarily store your mana, and then return it to you shortly after. D-depending on how much of the three circles you are able to fill up will help us figure out how much mana you have, in addition t-to calculating the mana from the healing spell you cast earlier. Just pour all the mana you can into the spells." 

I layed out the spells so that they were each touching one another. Three circle should be more than enough, even with an Outlander's likely higher mana pool. Casai could only fill about half a circle, which was about average. Pransai would struggle to even get the circle to glow, and she'd likely exert herself too much even trying. I hope she is alright out hunting. 

Korey closed their eyes and reached out their hand, touching the paper and pouring mana into the trio of circles. A moment later, the first circle filled, rather quicker than I was expecting. The other two were also beginning to shine brightly, actually they were almost full!

"K-Korey, I think that's..." Suddenly, the handful of spells I had ready to be cast next started glowing. I only had a moment to shove them away from me before a blast of heat, a splash of water, and the glowing green of healing enveloped Korey and me. 

At the sound of the spells going off Korey opened their eyes and stopped pouring out mana. As they looked at me, their eyes widened further.

"Your robes! Goodness, they've been burnt! Did I do that, I'm so sorry." I wasn't focused on the aftermath or the apology though. I stood there for a moment in wonder.

"I've never seen somebody with so much mana! Th-there are so many spells I c-can t-try now! This is fantastic!" Korey was giving me a funny look, as I paced around with my robes still both sopping and mildly charred

"Well, I'm glad you're excited about this. Does that mean I'll be able to cast big, complicated spells?" I nodded my head enthusiastically.

"Then... would I be able to cast a spell that sends me back to my world, even temporarily?"

I had never felt my heart drop so fast. My crestfallen expression immediately answered the question, though Korey tried not to look hurt. I could have told them. It should have been the first thing I told them, accompanied by a thousand apologies and as many ways as I could think of to lessen the blow. Instead, I had sat in my sopping robes grinning while Korey was stuck here.

"Don't worry, I knew it was a long shot, and you're already doing so much just teaching all of this to me and answering my questions, really! Keep showing me how all this works, if I'm gonna be here for a while, I'll need to know how to do this!" even I knew that it was clearly for my benefit that Korey wanted to keep going, and that they didn't want to confront that yet. But I didn't know how to acknowledge that and make them feel better and make everything alright.

I wouldn't be able to craft a spell that could get Korey home, but that wasn't the only spell that they had asked for. Even while I continued to show Korey the basics of spellcasting, I started mentally making a list of ways that I could craft a spell that would transform parts of a living being.

***

***

I spent my afternoon continuing to learn the basics of magic from Sinsa.

He clearly wasn't all that confident in himself, but he really was a great teacher, both because of his passion, and how well he knew the ins and outs of spellcrafting, as he referred to the part that he did.

I got a basic grasp of what spells I could cast without a circle, which ended up being very limited, and understood how spell circle's worked. The most disappointing part was learning that I wouldn't be able to draw the circle's myself.

"You n-need to have been born with the power t-to spellcraft, and few of us are."

Sinsa had shown me how to draw a basic water spout, and even though I copied it to the best of my ability, the circle refused to take any mana.

After a few hours of that we'd gone inside and started to prepare food. Well, Sinsa had fretted about what to do, since apparently he wasn't very comfortable in the Kitchen, and he didn't want to bother Casai, so I ended up doing what I could to make stew. They didn't have much, but I had always liked making my own meals from scratch, since I tended to be a picky eater. It wasn't too much effort to make a basic dinner. Turns out, meat is meat, and vegetables, once I had confirmed they were safe to prepare, were still vegetables, no matter the world they were from.

Sinsa left me to my devices for a moment to grab something from his room, and I heard the wooden stairs creak as he scurried away. It was odd to be cooking in someone else's kitchen, and with magic! Though only for the heat. Apparently, Sinsa had created a very efficient heat spell, that used up almost no mana. Even after spending only a day with him, I got the sense that he was truly a genius when it came to magic.

"Ack!" the sound of Sinsa stumbling down the last two steps stole my attention away from cooking, as I turned to see him catch himself, now donning a deep purple set of robes. I winced a little bit at that, it was clear they didn't have much in the way of personal possessions, and the robes I had destroyed in the garden would be hard to replace. At least, I worried they would be, though Sinsa hadn't seemed worried about it.

It didn't take long to finish the meal; it wasn't entirely complicated. Even while Sinsa helped, or emotionally supported me at least, I could here creaking coming from above. I was still worried about Casai, but I was very clearly not in a position to help. I'd probably do more harm than good if I tried . 

While Sinsa and I were starting to set out the bowls around the small table, the front door swung open. Pransai was standing in the entry, looking disheveled, and she was blinking slowly. She looked exhausted, barely able to keep on her paws. But when she saw Sinsa, she made an effort to straighten up and open her eyes. 

"I am back, I managed to take down a peryton, it should last several... several weeks." I had no idea what a peryton was, but even in her state, the pride was unmistakable in her voice.

Sinsa rushed over to her, clearly concerned about her. "Are you ok-kay? Do you need help..." She hugged him, cutting off the beginning of Sinsa's concerned questions. She wasn't as tall as Sinsa, but the way that they each carried themselves made them seem almost the same size. Sinsa seemed a bit taller than me, and Pransai almost identical to my height.

"I have already taken care of it, and I see you have taken care of the Outlander." her eyes tracked over where my wounds had been. An apology was on the tip of my tongue when she let out a yawn, "I think I am going to sleep now." She made to start moving upstairs, but Sinsa caught her paw in his hand.

"W-wait! You need t-to at least eat something before you g-go to sleep, you d-didn't take anything with you all day!"

She slowly blinked at him, then barked out a laugh "Ironic that you are the one telling me to remember to eat!"

Sinsa blushed at that, but kept a hold of her.

"Alright, did Casai already make dinner?" She let go of his hand and looked around. Sinsa shook his head, "She, uh... wasn't feeling well. Korey and I... well Korey made dinner."

"Then hopefully Korey is a better cook then you, and the food will be edible." Sinsa smiled, watching Pransai look a little more lively as she kept talking.

Pransai came to sit down at the table where I was finishing setting everything, and Sinsa disappeared upstairs. A moment later, he came back down, now with Casai in tow. Casai looked at Pransai, and her expression grew concerned when she saw the state she was in, but she didn't say anything. The whole way to the table, she didn't make eye contact with me, and I did my best to make myself look less intimidating. It didn't take much effort.

Pransai was the first to start eating, scarfing down the stew at an impressive speed.

"Well, it is certainly edible!" she smiled a toothy grin at me, already almost done.

"Thank you, I'm not used to the vegetables here, so I'm glad it turned out."

Sinsa was calmly sipping the stew "Thank you for making this, I'm sure you could tell it isn't my strong suit."

"Of course, it was genuinely the least I could do."

It was nice to hear compliments for my cooking. I almost always was just cooking for myself, so I didn't get much in the way of opportunity to hear how it was from other people.

"tastes good..."

I looked up, but Casai's gaze was firmly locked onto her stew. Sinsa also looked at her, smiling gently.

"Thank you." I said.

After we had finished, Sinsa helped Pransai, who had nearly started to fall asleep at the table, toward the stairs.

"I'll b-be right back" He said, supporting her with two pairs of arms, while waving behind him to us with another.

I watched them slowly make their way up the stairs as I finished cleaning up the table. I wished I had known how to cast that healing spell, earlier, if I had, Pransai wouldn't have had to spend her entire day almost dead on her feet. It didn't look like the kind of tiredness that went away easily, and I had been too nervous to ask Sinsa about it earlier, though he had mentioned that if you expended to much mana, you could become exhausted and pass out from the strain.

"She would have done it for anyone, she is just like that." 

It was the first time I'd heard Casai speak more than a few words at a time. I turned to her, and her gaze caught me by surprise. She was staring directly at me, her eyes boring into me as though trying to see into my soul. 

Her voice was clearer than I had heard it yet "I am... sorry about earlier, I should not have..." she broke eye contact and went to follow the other up the stairs.

"You might be surprised to learn we have Human's where I'm from too, and I'm pretty familiar with how people can be. I don't know what happened, but I'm sorry." I wasn't sure if humor to lighten the mood, or sincerity to her situation would be more helpful, but maybe both couldn't hurt?

Casai turned back, the trace of a smile across her muzzle, and then bounded off up the stairs.

A moment later, Sinsa came back down, quietly stepping down each step, and walked over to me.

Despite being half a house away from everyone, Sinsa's lowered his voice to a whisper "Alright, Pransai made it to b-bed now, if you're ready I can show you where you'll be sleeping. I imagine you must b-be exhausted."

I had already imposed so much, I didn't want to cause any more trouble. "Don't feel like you have to go out of your way, I'm sure I can figure something..."

Sinsa's brow furrowed, and he stood up a little straighter.

"Casai already went through the t-trouble of cleaning the spare room and replacing the sheets earlier. You have no where t-to go, you're staying here. Now c-come along." Even trying to be stern, Sinsa's voice was still soft.

It also surprised me to learn Casai had cleaned it, I wondered when she had done so. If all these people insisted, I couldn't do much but follow along.

Sinsa lead me upstairs to a room at the end of a short hallway going left from the stairway. To the right, two more doorways could be seen, leading to the other bedrooms.

"Here, this is where you'll be staying for as long as you're with us." Sinsa said as he opened the wooden door.

The space was small, with enough room for a bed, nightstand, and closet. A single large window took up most of the far wall, the moonlight shining through being the primary illuminator of the space. It reminded me a bit of my old...

Let's think about something else.

"I can't thank you enough, really." I did my best to convey every ounce of the sincerity that I felt.

Sinsa shook his head "You've already b-been through so much, it's the least we could d-do. Don't worry about t-tomorrow, just get some rest for tonight."

Sinsa left me there, and I promptly made my way to the bed. He wasn't wrong, I was exhausted, and would probably be able to conk out immediately. Hopefully.

The bed was softer than I expected and the covers were smoother and were perfectly cool to the touch.

As I settled into the bed, I let my gaze drift out the window. The stars outside were beautiful, with no light pollution, you could see a thousand different stars shimmering in the night sky. I'd always loved learning about the constellations back home, me and... 

Nope, had to shut that line of thinking down.

My day had been probably the most tumultuous of my life. So much had occurred, and I already owed so much to the people who had given me a place to stay, who had healed me, who had taught me how to use magic. I could use magic now! It was so exciting, even if this place felt a little more dangerous.

As I thought about how much had happened, and how much my life had changed in one short day, I smiled to myself.

My family would probably be mortified at all the things I had gone through today.

Crap.

My eyes immediately started to mist over. I didn't wanna think about what they were thinking. I didn't wanna wonder how they'd react when they found out I was missing, or how long they'd try to search for me in vain. I didn't wanna think about how I'd never get to tell any of them how my day was again, or hear how there's was.

I didn't wanna think about how I was stuck here, with no way to ever gaze at The Little Dipper with my little sister again.

As I looked out the window at a sky filled with constellations whose patterns I didn't know, I let my tears fall.