Dear Risa,

  We got to Potat this afternoon. They don't grow potatoes here; the innkeeper said the town layout is shaped like a potato.

  I was kinda making fun of the name, and Luke got weirdly defensive. He said coming up with names is hard, and I shouldn't judge people for how they name things. That’s… a weird thing to be defensive about. I suspect he's kinda mad at me in general, and just wanted an excuse to snap at me. Which I get, for reasons I'm about to explain.

  I’m jealous of you, Risa dear. You get to read this in the future, presumably after we’ve spoken, so you know what’s about to happen. Or what will happen in the next few weeks. I don't know yet. And waiting sucks.

  So, yesterday, we traveled through a forest. The horse suddenly started freaking out, and Cali said there was an ursa major nearby. Which, yes, that would freak anyone out, right?

  Well, not Cali. She said she wanted to talk to it, because like I said last time, she has no fear of animals.

  Maki and I were 100% not on board with her going to talk to the giant monster bear, and Maki threatened to leave her there. I agreed. And then… Luke got out of the wagon. He went with Cali, and before I could figure out what to do, Maki told the horse to keep going.

  We left them on the side of the road with an ursa major.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Yes, we’re assholes. Trust me, I know. But I didn't want to die!

  After five minutes of running the horse got tired, so we stopped and tried deciding how long we’d wait for them. Thankfully it wasn't too too long before Luke came down the road… carrying Cali.

  She wasn't dead, the ursa just pulled most of her lightning magic out. Somehow. And you know how when you get super low on mana it feels cold and achy in your chest and then you black out? Yeah, that’s what happened to her.

  But it scared me, seeing her passed out like that.

  Anyhow, Luke got to us, said we should just go, and hasn't talked about what happened. Cali also hasn't really talked about what happened. I asked, but she just apologized for doing something stupid. Which isn't an answer.

  So yeah, my dumb cousin was dumb and got hurt, and the guy I have a crush on saved her life.

  That’s three of us kinda unhappy and with mixed emotions.

  The fourth, Maki, is unhappy and has mixed emotions because he abandoned our friend and cousin in the middle of the road next to a giant monster. He’s a guard. He’s oldest. He’s always been the one who tries to protect us. And he straight-up abandoned someone who then needed help. So he thinks everything that happened was his fault.

  I don't know, Risa, what do I do? How do I fix this? It’s not something that can be solved with a handful of sentences.

  “Cali, I’m glad you’re alive, that’s all I need.”

  “Maki, you’ll do better next time, it’s ok.”

  “Luke, I’m sorry we took off with the wagon, and also I'm in love with you.”

  “Ok everyone, let’s forget yesterday happened and move on.”

  If it were that easy…

  To hell with it, I’m turning off my impulse control.

  Unwise Regards,

  Maeve Zee