Ariadne smiled at the ambassador
"It was a wonderful evening, thank you.  If you ever need anything from us, don't hesitate to ask. "

She nodded to Jade
"I could definitely get used to this.  But i suspect we need to buckle down with our training.  This kind of socializing is good for us, and Amber, but we have more critical things to deal with as well"

Jon smiles at Ari's statement. "I agree, this was a nice start to Shadow-walking and general Amber relations, but we need to focus on our training.  We need to get better physically and mentally.  Jade and Ari, you had great team work during the attack." he sighs "Sadly, I was ineffective. It means that I at least know how to fight, but it seems my ability to apply that knowledge has failed.  So I will need to step that up with more mock battles, until I am able to Protect you two properly and give you the best advantage to maximize your abilitiles."

Jade listened to Jon and placed her hand on his.

"No need to feel down, all of us are young and just starting out in facing the problems that we will need to as royals of Amber. We can all use improvement and by challenging ourselves we will grow. I just hope we can stay positive and friends instead of the problems are elders made for themselves."

She then lifted her hand with a small smile to the both of them.

Everyone rests during the night, and in the morning, the cousins feel ready to head back to Amber.

(I don't feel like making you roll to head back to Amber, since you got here fine, since you've been to Amber and have a very clear picture of it in your heads, and since the way between is pretty safe comparatively speaking (which was part of why you came here in the first place).

So, what next?

More Julian-training?

Some other sort of training?

A new little errand for the Crown that involves Shadow-walking?

Going with Jon to investigate Weirmonken?

Something else?)

If Jon wants to make his quest a priority, Ariadne would be happy to help, as it means more exploring and practice with many of the skills they're learning,  but it not then either more combat training or a mini mission to get better at shadow walking

The next morning Jade will thank the ambassador and tell him she truly enjoyed the stay here.

"So then." She turns to Jon and Ariadne, "So then what shall we do now ?"

Ari nodded thoughtfully, thinking to herself.
"This was a fun experience, and I definitely learned a bit, but we probably need to get back to training to take out those grey jackholes.  Unless we have someone else to go that might help with that general theme as well?"

Turning to Jon, "You think maybe if we learn more about Weirmonken that we might find allies there ?"

Hless listens with interest, his nose twitching slightly now and then.

Picks up Hless and pets him scritching behind his ears.

Ariadne looked at their exotic new friend
"We were also planning to return Hless to, well, wherever they were from.  How do we do that?  Can we do it on the way back to Amber, or is that a separate 'quest'?"

"I think that might need to be a separate quest. We want to get it right."

Jon gets up, washes and meets with everyone.  He adds his thanks to the Ambassador.  On the ride back he thinks about next steps when Jade asks

Jon nods "Perhaps, but there is alot we don't understand about Weirmonken that we need to figure out and how my father's sword fits into all of it." he pauses "But I do hope to build stronger ties with them."

He then smiles, "perhaps while in Amber we can gain some information on where Hless is from and add returning him as part of the mission." address both Jade's & Ari's comments.

Ariadne nodded to Jon, tapping her lip with a forefinger.
"Okay, that works then.  Rushing off into unnecessary danger isn't in our best interests, I suppose, and returning Jade's fuzzy little friend to their home is a good way to flex our investigation and Pattern muscles, i think"

Jon nods in agreement and the group heads out.  Jon is concentrating on the image of Amber to try get them home.
(Does Ari join in hopefully making it easier?)

Ari will help if directed

(Yeah I don't feel like making you roll to get back to Amber. I do feel that-- at least in this case-- more cousins concentrating should indeed help.

So, you all arrive back!

Specifically, you're approaching the city of Amber along the coast road, coming in from the northwest (as opposed to using the north-south road that leads to and from Arden, as one does to start going to or from Earth and a lot of other places).

So, yeah, you're back in the right dimension!)

Ariadne smiled in satisfaction as they reached Amber.    Perhaps they were actually getting the hang of this

"You both did great." Jade says with a bit of pride.

She then looks to Hless, "Since were we are going could be dangerous I will leave you in the care of someone who I know will love to meet you her name is Odile a personal friend of mine."

"Where is the dangerous place you are going?"

(Are you going to Weirmonken before trying to return Hless?)

Ariadne also heard the conversation
"I know that heading to this Weirmonken place is important, but shouldn't we return the little furry dude to his home first?"

"Well it has were creatures in it of the ones known wolves that walk like men and similar. It has to do with Prince Jon, and I want to help him resolve things."

Looks to Ariadne, "Well, if you don't mind yes we can do that. It will take some work luckily we have Hless to help us find his home."

Jon smiles "We can take some time to see if we can identify Hless' home before we head to Weirmonken, but let me check with the King first.  Since I agreed to take on the Weirmonken mission after I walked the pattern.  If he is fine with the delay, then there are no conflicts."

Jon indicates to Hless and Jade, "Why don't you and Ari seek out Lawrence in the library and see if he is familiar with Hless' species. And I'll go look for Uncle Random."

"Good idea, we can go check with Lawrence."

Will head that way with Hless.

Ariadne nodded and followed Jade