Lana, with Shalt behind her and Caser at her side, took a deep breath then knocked at Quinn's door. Quinn opened the door looking broken. He looked at her and opened the door wider and backed away. He sat on the edge of his bed and sagged his shoulders.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Lana asked.
"He… he thought Kaz was in trouble and …used his ability to swap places with her. He was killed by a hypolord."
Lana nodded, "we got to play with one of those today as well. I can understand his concern."
"If I didn't have to hide my ability it never would have happened. Vorden worked something so I wouldn't have to hide and here I am hiding again!" Quinn looked up at her, eyes red, "I won't let anyone else die!"
She got down on her knees in front of him taking his hands in hers and looked up into his eyes, "you can't always stop or prevent death, Quinn, as much as you want to. I'm glad you value life, it's the reason you are worthy of being followed. I also understand precautionary measures. We don't know where Truedream is. Quite frankly, he wants us both. Wasn't the reason for looking for a faction in the middle of nowhere so you could get stronger without drawing attention? I don't want Truedream to get me either but do you think I would have risked sentient oak trees back in school?" She chuckled.
Quinn looked at her with understanding but not. She chuckled again.
"I have a lot of things I think I try in combat based on what I've learned. I'm using this place as my test bed to stretch my abilities and grow. I advise you do the same. Not everyone needs to know what you can do, I agree there. Especially with the vampire stuff. It's going to be tricky to get Shalt to be able to learn his blood powers. But… That is why he's wearing those spiffy new shades." She smiled brightly.
"Do you think I should listen to Paul's advice? He was the one who suggested I keep the shadow back."
"I think you should listen to what your advisors say and do what you think is best. The purpose of advisors is to see other points of view but you are the keeper of the overall picture. Paul hasn't seen what you can do and I doubt he saw much today, either."
Quinn nodded.
"Try to rest. I want to talk to you in the morning some more. We are all exhausted. I need some sleep. We were out there for quite a long time today. See you soon," they all headed toward the door. She was opening it when she heard "Lana?" She turned back toward Quinn. "Thank you."
She smiled, "I may not be Vorden but I can try to fill his shoes until he can return to us." With that they left and went to Dobin's room. She led all three of them through evening meditations. She decided if they were going to be a team, she might as well. Then she climbed into Dobin's bed and went to sleep.
Since Dobin was now rank C, he was offered quarters in the C building the following morning. It was like a two-bedroom apartment. Dobin jumped on that so he could get his sister out of his bed. He had a taste of sleeping alone and rather enjoyed it.
Since Dobin and Kattie would be left behind today, they decided to work with Nate on finding their soul weapon. The others met up and Lana found Quinn upset that no one wanted to team up with them. Even Fex was unable to charm anyone to be willing to go.
Quinn decided to speak to Nate and Lana went with him. She had something she needed Quinn's help with. Nate had already set Dobin and Kattie on the meditation to get in touch with their soul weapons. It was up to them now. He was now in his office with Sam and they had a long conversation which resulted in nothing. Nate had only been there for two months and didn't have the pull to help Quinn.
Frustrated, Quinn and Lana with entourage walked out of Nate's office.
"Quinn, can you take me to Freddy's house?"
"Why would you want to do that?"
"I know the cost of living here isn't bad and I know you will help them but I want to give her something as well. In fact, once I get my shelter set up, I may bring them to my planet. I know you view it as unsafe but I have plans. It will work out, I promise. Will you take me?"
Quinn frowned but nodded. He wanted her to spend her money on setting herself up and taking care of the babies. At the same time, he noticed she and Shalt ranked up so they got a decent amount of crystals as well yesterday. In a way, starting off easy, as he felt it to be, was a good thing. It enabled them to build up funds to buy better gear and get ready for the harder stuff.
At Freddy's door, Lana knocked and waited patiently. She could hear the little girl Quinn told her about on the way over. Lana was betting there had been a lot of well-wishers knocking since the incident happened and she was yet another one. The little girl swung the door open wide and her mother appeared moments later. She noticed Quinn, "It's good to see you again," she said with a gentle smile.
Lana smiled softly, "Ma'am, I know you don't know me but my team was with Quinn and Freddy to get to the hunting ground yesterday. He was such a nice man and I wanted to give him a thank you for sharing so much important information before he and his party broke off. I was saddened when I heard the news. I wanted to give you the thank you I had prepared for him," she handed a card with 50,000 credits on it. Lana knelt down in front of the girl. She made a few gestures with her fingers as if she was doing a magic trick. She quickly created a crown made of daisies and placed it on the girl's head. She was so excited for the gift, she gave Lana a hug.
As she prepared to leave, she told the girl to be good for her mama. She gave a nod to the widow and they walked away, hearing the door close behind them.
"Quinn, who do I talk to about finding people we went to school with? I'm thinking Alex and Dilly need to be here."
"Alex Way?"
Lana nodded.
"I already asked Sam to find him for me."
Lana smiled, "So I should ask him to find Dilly for me. Thank you."
Soon they returned to the travelers hall. Moments after they reunited with their teams, a female walked in willing to go out with them. Lana noted Quinn's team was all rank D as well except Paul who was an E. It looked like they had just as much success as her team did the previous day.
Quinn chose to go after intermediate insects. Lana laughed and rubbed her hands together. Quinn thought she had lost her mind.