Mana Et Mecha: The Roleplay (Part One)

Introduction
A mirage.

It had to be.

What were the odds?

There was no way this idyllic town, an enclosed utopia amidst a sea of sand and dry despair, could be real.

It was not perfect: the city was built up from arid sandstone, seemingly driven on the unpaid labor of haggardly slaves worked to the bone from the most difficult jobs; the only water really in sight could be found at a couple of well sites at the four corners of the settlement, one in the center, and they were crowded as thirsty citizens pined for their daily water rations; crime ran rampant, in dark alleys or broad daylight; poverty was well-known and widespread...

... But to the three weary travelers entering the city at its gates, clamoring for any sort of food or drink, rationed or otherwise, this was a paradise. They had not seen civilization for the past week and were obviously not from around these parts. Two of them were extremely light-skinned, at least in comparison to everyone else around them. The third was decently tanned but still stuck out like a sore thumb against the natives that were three times darker. Their clothes, neatly pressed and ironed and cleaned, were not accustomed to the dirt and grime so pervasive and present on the citizens' and slaves' drab shauls. As they moved slowly through the crowds of people hustling and bustling in their daily activities, they caught the attention of many. Who were these people, the people of the city wondered? What is their purpose here? They were not hostile, simply curious. The people of this city were not used to having visitors from foreign lands and wished to accommodate them better.

The only thing that unified these two scarcely different groups, the light and the dark, the prim and the poor, was their gifts given from birth. It was magic.

Not in the classical sense of magic in witchcraft and wizardry, although that was present in these parts. What is considered magical here is the ability to be in tune with nature and the souls of the earth and its natural elements, and to be able to manipulate them in a way that was beneficial to the survival of humanity. The mages of the city used fire magic to cook their food, or earth magic to move large rocks to and from places, or even astral magic to bend fate in their favor.

What was most surprising and surreal to these travelers was that in this city, using magic was commonplace and public. Where they were from, it was a religious sin and illegal act to use magic in public. But they could not say where they were from. Not now...

... At least, not the leader of this group of nomads. He was the biggest, tallest one. He seemed to be barely in his twenties, and barely keeping his composure around his other traveling partners. A heavy ruby red coat wrapped around his hips suggested he originated from a far colder place, certainly not the desert of a place he was in. Sweat dripped from his ink black locks and passed over his watchful, shifty gray eyes, which squinted from the sunlight, and from the displeasure of dealing with his companions. He stared intently at a map, as if he was following a destination marked on it. One could not tell what he was thinking just by looking at his face.

The other two were mysteries as well. The first of them was a young girl, who looked to be half of the leader's height, and half his age. Puffy pants and light slippers suggested she was some sort of gymnast, but the news cap containing her mess of auburn hair suggested otherwise. She had a cheeky grin on her face as she conversed with the last member, the darkest of the three. He had flashy, somewhat satin orange attire. He looked to be in show business of some sort with his fanciful get-up. Makeup from under his eye dripped down his cheeks from the heat, and for whatever reason, his wrists were cuffed.

They walked quietly and kept to themselves. The girl gazed into the eyes of the citizens she passed, wishing desperately to talk to someone new, but she knew how her leader felt about conversing with strangers, especially in the rare occasions that they came across new towns.

The city street they were walking down was lively at first but as they passed, the activity died down for these strangers to pass. The girl surveyed their surroundings. The buildings were simple, in basic block shapes with no glass windows, only holes. Sun reflected against the beige-white colors of these walls, and the bright blue sky of noontime contrasted sharply with the structures, blinding the trio. On the city streets, vendors bartering over fresh and pickled produce stopped and gawked at the visitors. Children playing games paused to stare, and concerned mothers approached their kids' sides to protect them, just in case. The young girl was unsure whether this reaction was common for every new person that passed through the city or if they were an exception.

Finally, the leader halted to a stop, and the other two followed suit. The girl stared up at where they were now. They had approached one of the average-looking buildings, although it was taller than most of the rest, and seemed to be in a better-off part of the street with larger houses and exterior designs on the walls and decorations at the fronts. One small room was at the top of the flat building, giving what she guessed to be a great view of the rest of the city. The place was so tall that it obstructed the sun and cast a dark shadow over the three. She grew hesitant, and slightly intimidated. Her eyes darted to the tall man with the red coat around his waist, wondering what their purpose for being here was.

The leader turned around to face the darker man, and smirked, almost haughtily. He jerked a thumb to the door of the building and chuckled, as if he was the bringer of bad news. "It's over for you, my friend," he said in a deep voice flavored with undertones of self-satisfaction. "Your journey with us comes to an abrupt halt, and end."

The girl, confused, tilted her head. "What do you mean?" she questioned, curiously and now worriedly. Her voice was soft with fear.

The leader didn't answer. He instead looked to the man in orange, an eyebrow arched and a gloating smile. The other man frowned, and rolled his brown eyes. "Stroke your ego all you want by teasing me before you hand me off," he said, his voice a little higher-pitched than the leader's but far more musical and airy, "but I feel no remorse for what I've done. I've made my choice and I regret nothing. But I pity you, your narrow-mindedness and your stifling, oppressive city. I'd rather be a slave to a man in a free land than a free man in a land plagued with oppression and hate. Don't you feel anything for what I say and mean to do? You use magic as well. What makes what I've done traitorous but what you do 'for the good of the city?'"

"You've given your last oration, performer boy," the leader taunted. He turned towards the door. "You acted out knowing the consequences. I have permission to use magic in accordance with the city's administrative edicts and allowances. You do not. And now, because of your violations to the city and religious code, you'll face those consequences."

The young girl was frightened by the language she was hearing. She had not the faintest idea of what was going on, or why the leader she had followed for so long now spoke with harsh tongue. But she was more fearful for her friend, the darker man, and what fate beyond that door he would face. It did not sound like anything she would wish even upon her worst enemy.

She could do nothing. The leader sauntered towards the building's door, and with quick movements he knocked on it, stepped back, and eagerly looked to the man in cuffs to see his reaction for what laid on the other side. The girl winced as she anticipated the door would open at any moment...

The Roleplay
The dead moment of silence was broken by the sounds of a shout inside, muffled by the thick sandstone walls. That shout was then followed by rapid footsteps, soft yet growing louder as the inhabitant drew closer. The second that the sound stopped was when the door flew ajar, revealing a petite young woman in her very early twenties. Her skin was light for a Samadurian, although still much darker than that of the trio who stood before her. A pink scarf was wrapped around her head, covering her hair save for two long locks that fell in front of her body.

Needless to say, facing such strange and intimidating men, the sense of fear grew within her, but was simultaneously rising with curiousity. The lady looked back over her shoulder into the house, and spoke up with a meek and soft voice, "May I help you…?"

"Here's your order," the leader guffawed, his eyes close and his hands on his hips in contempt. But when he opened his eyes and saw a woman, he seemed surprise. He must not have been expecting someone of this appearance to answer the door.

His entire demeanor changed. He glanced down to the map in his hands, confused, a shaky finger now desperately trying to remain still and point to the marked location on the map. It seemed correct to him. Then he gazed up, his eyes scanning for some sort of landmark or street sign. When he could find no such help, he shut his mouth and stared expectantly at the woman.

The young woman was puzzled by this strange man and his two companions, unsure of what his words meant exactly. She stepped back, "Sorry, I don't recall ordering anything…" the lady looked behind her again, before taking another step back and gesturing for the trio follow her inside, "Maybe Inxie did… but make yourself at home while I get her up, she tends to sleep in late."

Before the others could answer, the short woman turned around and hastily made her way up the stairs behind her, and called out to someone on the second level, "River! We have guests, could you entertain them, please?"

There was a moment of silence, and while the woman did not return back down the stairs for now, another began to emerge. She placed her feet gently on the sandstone steps, carefully staring at the trio as she walked down. Her skin was dark like the others, but her eyes were a bright sky blue, and her long hair that reached to her ankles were as white as a cloud. But despite the whiteness in her hair, she was fairly young, even younger than the other woman before. Yet with her odd appearance, she seemed more astonished by the three strangers in front of her, and remained silent for the moment.

Everyone stared at each other for a long time. The girl glanced to her companions. The leader was watching this new woman with large, terrified eyes. He seemed shocked by something about her; perhaps it was the sharply contrasting white hair with her fairly dark skin. But he did not seem mesmerized. More so traumatized. The girl then looked to the other man, who was staring at the leader expectantly, as if waiting for him to do something.

Many moments passed in awkward silence.

Finally, the man dressed in orange sighed, exasperated. Now his demeanor changed. He bore a bright, winning white smile as he addressed the woman with white hair, and his shoulders, previously tensed with some fear, relaxed. His mannerisms became lax. He was taking on an entirely new persona, and he was taking the lead on this operation now.

"Good afternoon, Miss," he said kindly, waving to her in a friendly manner with his other hand on his hip. The leader did a double-take, for he had escaped from the cuffs that were around his wrists previously! How long ago had that happened?

The more talkative man stepped forward, dipped his torso a bit as if making an informal bow, and extended a hand to shake. "I'm terribly sorry that you've been given the task of entertaining us! Think nothing of doing so. We're simply a little bit lost. Apparently my friend here cannot read a map and we've stumbled across your abode. We'll be out of your hair shortly, but perhaps you could direct us for the place we are looking for? And if not that, could you suggest a sort of hostel or inn we may stay at for this day and we can begin our route tomorrow? We would greatly appreciate it."

River raised her eyebrow at the man in front of her, charmed by his suave body language yet still strongly suspicious of him and the others. Her eyes were just was wide as the dark haired man behind this one. She had never seen such strange people before, with their pale skin and eyes of a variety of colors. But realizing how she hadn't responded for a long moment, she forced herself to speak, "I'm afraid I don't know of any inns you can stay at, but…"

Then suddenly, River grabbed the arm of the other man and looked at it with interest, turning his hand from palm to back in her curiosity, "Why were you holding out your hand like that? Am I supposed to do something with it?"

"Oh, is hand shaking not a common practice in these parts?" he asked curioisly. He shook his head. "Oh, never mind that, though I appreciate your interest in my forearm. Perhaps your housemates know where the nearest inn is."

Another few moments passed.

Finally, the man slapped a hand to his sheepish, dark face. "Oh, forgive me so! I've been so rude that I have not even introduced ourselves!" He gestured to his own chest. "I am Thomas."

He gestured to the young girl, with a smile of admiration towards her. "That is Kestral. Say hello, Kestral!"

The young girl stared at River and have a curious, lopsided smile. "Hello."

Thomas swerved over to the other man, the leader, and wrapped his arm around his neck as though they were old pals. "And this is one of my greatest friends, Arkanov."

Arkanov stared at Thomas' wrists as though they were miniature monsters. He seemed very astonished, and even more confused.

Thomas smiled, ignoring Arkanov's strange behavior. "We're very pleased to meet you. Thank you so much for welcoming us into your home."

River smiled at this, beginning to feel more comfortable around these strangers. She flipped a lock of hair behind her neck, and bowed to the other three, "My name is River, it's a pleasure to meet all of you."

But this politeness only lasted a short moment as questions sparked in her again. She straightened her back and quickly took two steps closer to Arkanov and Kestral, staring at their faces intently almost tempted to touch them, "I hope this isn't rude, but why is your skin so… light? Did ash get stuck on to you?"

Truthfully, this was an honest question. The people of this city tended to be darker for they were directly under the sun and could thus tan easily, and also be more protected from the sun. Seeing someone so light-skinned be in these parts was understandably curious. But Arkanov stepped back and gasped as if she had just insulted their mothers.

Thomas gave an awkward half smile. "Certainly the inquisitive one, aren't you? Pay no attention to my friend's reaction. These two are not from around here. Quite a privileged lot, you understand? Like in nobility, of sorts. They're able to stay indoors more, not necessarily in the sun as much. No ash!"

"Ah, my apologies, but that makes sense now." River held her hands behind her back, yet she still was wary of that reaction from Arkanov. She was beginning to sense that she was prying too much, and was about to stop with the questions, until a thought had sparked in her mind. These people might have been able to help her, and as much as she didn't want to use them she couldn't wait in this place much longer.

The young woman crossed her arms, looking expectantly, "Just where are you three from anyways? And on your journey here, you wouldn't have happened to see any strange 'shards' of some sort? Things that look like glass shards maybe?"

"Depends on what you mean by shards," answered Thomas. "I think we saw some when we came in, though that could've been from glass bottles."

Arkanov refused to respond and looked away.

Kestral shook her head. "Why do you ask about these shards...?"

There was a small groan from upstairs, followed by a shout down to the lower level, "River, are you bothering guests with the heart shard thing again?" It was a deeper voice, still belonging to a woman, but it was much stronger than the voice of the woman who had left River alone with these strangers. But hearing those words, River stepped back and shyed away from the trio, looking away almost shamefully.

Then finally, walking down the stairs was the lady in pink from before, and a new woman who was taller, and quite beautiful. Her skin was a dark brown like the bark of a tree, and her long black hair that had exceptional puffiness and volume to it. She wore simple clothes, ones that revealed her midriff, along with golden bangles around her wrists, "Sorry for the wait, gentlemen and little lady. Lumi's told me you've come to deliver something?"

Arkanov cleared his throat, and the small smirk on his face returned. Perhaps these were the slave traders all along. He put a hand around the young girl and pulled her next to him, and then gestured to Thomas. "He's all yours."

Thomas stood, shocked at his captor's stupidity. He looked over to this new woman, and frowned. He was quite sure these women were not the slave traders. "I'm sorry about him. He's having a bit of a heat stroke."

"Am not!" Arkanov protested. His voice rose an octave in defensiveness. "Are you not the slave traders?"

"Excuse me, slave traders?!" Inxie jerked back, a hand over her heart, strongly offended by this assumption. Her eyes glared at the three of them, only to then shoo them away, "Get out of here, we don't want to partake in any slave trade! Now go find someone else to bother!"

Lumi simply nodded as she held on to her wife's arm, agreeing to this. River on the other hand felt like she couldn't let them slip away. They were foreigners, they may have seen more of the world than she ever had, they could help her figure where she needed to start, "W-Wait! I need them for something-!"

Inxie turned her glare to River, crossing her arms now, "Look, Rivvy, you can just ask every stranger here to help you find heart shards alright? They don't want to be bothered with that." She sighed, glancing back to the trio, "Unless you three are willing to scour the whole continent for things that are damn near impossible to find."

"I am!" Thomas immediately volunteered, glancing over his shoulder fearfully at Arkanov.

At this, Arkanov was infuriated. "Like hell you are!" he countered sarcastically. Now he did not seem very shy at all. He stepped forward and put a hand on Thomas's shoulder, digging his fingers in tightly. Thomas looked down to his shoulder and then back to the three women in front of him.

"I'm so sorry my friend here offended you two," Thomas apologized, mustering the most genuine smile he had ever given. "We had to ask about the slave traders for, you see, we are trying to avoid them."

"But-" Arkanov began, but Thomas immediately elbowed him in his gut. The sound of air leaving a balloon emerged from the taller man and he backed away.

Thomas continued. "I was a slave from the land these two are from, you see. I worked for these two. But these two, so noble — being nobility and all — they freed me, they simply couldn't bear to see me waste away into obscurity as an unpaid laborer. We've been running from the slave traders of our old city for a week now, and we just arrived here. We heard this place had an active slave trade, and these two simply couldn't bear the thought of me being sold again. Especially Arkanov here. So we have to be careful around the citizens of these parts. That's why my friend asked. He is simply looking out for me. We did not mean to involve you in any sort of shady business. If you are still upset, I understand."

River's hands were over her mouth agape, her eyes large and sympathetic towards the man. She absolutely bought his story, and stepped up to Thomas. Then suddenly, she opened her arms, and wrapped them around him in a tight squeeze of sympathy and emotional care for him, "You poor thing! It's okay, we'll make sure no one gets you!" She looked up to him, but then realized that maybe this was too personal for a stranger, and stepped back, "I might be able to help you find an inn then, I want you three to stay safe!"

If Thomas' skin tone could allow him to blush from the woman's touch, it would've. He looked over his shoulder again. Kestral nodded feverishly, supportive of what he had said. Arkanov stood silently, and his gaze met Thomas'. They exchanged no words.

Assuming everything was alright between them, Thomas turned back to River, and trying to be as personal as possible whilst still upholding respect for this young woman, he patted her shoulders appreciatively. "Really? Why, thank you so much! You will not believe how much this helps us."

"Thank you a lot, Miss," Kestral chimed in.

Arkanov gave the evil eye to the woman with Snow White hair and then turned away, grumbling. "Yes, thank you very much..."

"You're welcome, now come on! River walked past the others to the front door, and opened it up for them. Smiling brightly and clearly in blissful ignorance of Arkanov's tone. She beckoned them to follow her. But not before Inxie shot another glare at the three of them.

"Alright, you can go, but don't do anything to River," Inxie said, holding out her hand. She snapped her fingers, and her hand erupted into a controlled flame, showing her magic abilities, "Because I will give each of you burns for any scratches on her, got it?"

At the sight of the flame, Kestral gasped sharply, and then proceeded to whimper.

Arkanov put a protective arm around the girl and glowered at Inxie. She wasn't used to seeing magic used so openly and readily, especially not as a method of intimidation. "Watch where you use your magic, you batty bi—"

"You mustn't worry!" Thomas assured quickly, waving his arms dismissively. "We aren't psychopaths. We won't hurt River." He ushered everyone out of the house quickly before an altercation could take place. "Thank you so much for inviting us so cordially into your home! Goodbye now."

River quickly stepped out through the door, letting the others follow behind her, and quickly shut the door before any more words could be exchanged. She laughed tentatively, seeing how angrily serious Arkanov was, and how terrified the young girl with him had reacted. "I'm so sorry, Inxie tends to be a bit protective… shall we find a place for you to stay now…?"

"Yes please," Thomas agreed eagerly and looked around again at the bright blue sky outside.

It hadn't grown dark since they were last outside at all. "Though you can take your time," Thomas said. "The day is still young, unless you need to be home at a certain time with your sisters?"

River chuckled at this notion, although his misconception would make sense from an outsider's perspective. She began to walk along, sticking to the side of the road as not to get caught up with busy people, "No no, none of us are sisters. They're married to each other, and they've only let me stick around with them because I have nowhere else to go..."

The other three got quiet at the word "married." They made curious expressions towards River. However, Thomas regained his composure feminist, knowing he had to seem as though all of this was normal and natural to him.

"Ah. That makes sense," he said finally, after processing it all. "What do you mean you have no other place to go?"

The snow-haired woman noticed some of the strange looks she was getting from the man and the young girl. They were very silent, much more than she had thought they would be, which made her somewhat unsettled. As if she had something to be suspicious of, but she wasn't sure what it was exactly. Nevertheless, she tried to turn her attention away from them and back to Thomas, "My family's very far away from here, and I've promised them and many others that I wouldn't return until we can all go back home... but the good thing about Sihrasul is that there's people coming day in and day out, like you guys, who might be able to help me, even if it's just a little."

Thomas smiled at the woman, not so much for her story but for the fact she finally mentioned the name of the city they were in. "Well, perhaps you have to wait in Sihrasul no longer. I'm fairly certain we can help you."

Arkanov began to interject and speak up but Thomas hushed him.

"Really, you would?!" River turned her head to Thomas with a bright smile, clasping her hands together in front of her chest in glee. This was probably the first time anyone had accepted her offer, and so soon after meeting each other too. But, she began to realize that there was something wrong, that maybe they were rushing into this too fast, "But you may have to travel a lot, around all of Samadurai even. I don't know if it would be worth it if there's nothing in it for all of you..." she then turned her head back to Arkanov and Kestral, "What do you two think?"

Kestral seemed equally as excited, and nodded eagerly. "I would love to, but my brother has to decide whether it's okay."

"Kestral, Thomas, we need to discuss this before we, erm, embark on a journey for who knows how long?" Arkanov chided, but he seemed to be angry with them, especially Thomas, for another reason.

"We're discussing it now," Thomas answered. He seemed especially anxious to agree to this proposal. He turned back to River and gave an encouraging smile. "We'll do it! And if not them, then I alone shall accompany you."

River looked only happier with this information, at least only for a moment, until her smile dropped into a sad frown, "But Thomas, these two must have worked so hard to bring you here, wouldn't that all be for nothing if you just went off with me instead? And I don't know if I could protect us from any slave traders that would find us..." she sighed, glancing back to Arkanov, still speaking to Thomas though, "And your friend over here doesn't look very happy at the thought of that option..."

Thomas turned to his traveling companions. He tried not to meet Arkanov's gaze and settled instead on Kestral. He had made good friendship with her on their short travel together. "It would be a shame to leave you two behind."

"You're not going to," Kestral answered. She linked arms with the tall, darker man and with her brother, and beamed a childish, innocent grin. "Because we're coming with!" At this, Thomas looked back and forth between the girl and the other man. Arkanov looked defeated, and so tired and sweaty that he shrugged complacently, though he still stared daggers at Thomas.

The man in orange turned to River slowly, at the same growing pace that his relieved smile was forming. He was unsure of why Arkanov was agreeing to this so readily, but he was thankful nonetheless. "It looks as though we may join you. Though, we have not rested much on our travels. I hate to ask, but could we spend the night at a place to stay and rest up before we head out?"

"Ah, of couse, there should be an inn a short ways up ahead," River nodded her head in agreement, walking faster ahead all of them as to take the lead role for them. Shortly after, she had halted in front of yet another sandstone building, larger than most, but only for the sake of rooms and space for all of its visitors.

She turned her whole body around now, holding her hands politely behind her back, "I hope you all have a peaceful respite. But if you have the energy... do you think you would be able to come out later tonight? There's going to be a water festival tonight, Inxie and I are performing for it..."

"Well if you're performing, I simply must see it," replied Thomas, flashing his smile once more towards her. He gestured to Kestral and Arkanov for their opinions. "Thoughts?"

Arkanov grunted, "Unless she's going to threaten Kestral with those balls of fire again." He continued to stare intently at Thomas with a gaze that suggested he was plotting his murder.

"I'm sure she won't," Thomas laughed awkwardly, and then turned to River once more. "That sounds like a plan. I find it interesting, albeit strange how there is a water festival when there are water rations in this city amidst the desert, but now I am also intrigued in seeing what this is all about. I suppose we can meet out here in a few hours after we're all cleaned up. Thank you for inviting us."

"Of course! You're my future partners after all, so why wouldn't I?" River replied joyfully, holding up a hand to wave goodbye to her newfound friends, a goodbye for only this moment, "You'll see me in a blue dress, and Inxie… the only fire she'll be using is for her dancing."

"Sounds great," Thomas said in an equally jovial tone. He extended a hand and waved goodbye for then as Kestral did as well. Arkanov's gaze on the other man was unbreaking. Thomas ignored this. "Goodbye! See you this evening, River!"

The Water Festival
Night had fallen upon the city, the moon was glowing, as braziers outside ignited and illuminated the streets with their warm fiery glow. Meanwhile inside the house of the three young women, the one with blue eyes combed through her long, snow white hair calmly, making sure it was completely smooth and silky. She donned a dark teal dress, with a pastel blue trim, along with a dark blue sash tied loosely around her waist. She had finished the last stroke of the comb, smiling pleasently, as she set it down and traded it for another piece of cloth, the same color of the sash. She tied it around her head, with a bun-like knot on the back, but there was still enough cloth to trail down the back of her hair, slightly reminiscient of a veil. She was entirely set for tonight.

Her companions in the downstairs floor however, were having a much different time. Of course, with Inxie being the main attraction, her outfit was much more complicated, as well as her hairstyle, accompanied by the accessories she was to wear. So for the time being, River trekked down the sets of stairs, down to the ground level, and stared out of the well-shaped hole in the wall that they considered a window. She could already see people along the streets makes ing their way to the heart of the city, where she and Inxie were set to perform soon. At this moment, waiting for her partner to finish, she stared along, hoping for a possible sign of the trio she had met earlier.

River was to be disappointed. Outside her house, on the main street that the trio had met her earlier, Arkanov and Kestral waited. They did not seem like they would stay long, for their satchels and packed bags from the afternoon earlier were still around their shoulders and tied to their hips. These two looked the same as from hours before, only thankfully less sweaty and more rested. But Kestral looked downtrodden, and Arkanov eager. He impatiently tapped his foot on the road, hoping the girl they had met earlier would arrive soon so they could leave. Thomas was nowhere to be seen.

The woman caught sight of the other two, but the third one in orange from earlier seemed to be missing. It was strange, maybe he was taking his time preparing as well, and the others had decided to go on without him? Or perhaps he was already at the festival, and these two were catching up. But she couldn't leave them waiting, and so she quickly turned away from the window, grabbing on to a leather satchel that she had laid in the corner of the room, for its contents she needed later. She decided she would have to meet up with Lumi and Inxie later that night.

River opened the door, a bit worried now that the most talkative member of the trio seemed to be missing, but she pressed on anyway. She raised her hand and waved over to the siblings, and picked up her pace, stopping when she was within earshot of the two of them, "Ah... Arkanov and Kestral, right? I'm so glad you guys made it! You look a little better than you did earlier."

"Thank you, River," Kestral answered shyly. As she scanned the girl's teal outfit, she smiled in admiration. "You look so pretty! I love your dress, and that cute little bandanna wrapping up your hair! I can't wait to see what you perform."

"About that," Arkanov interjected. He grabbed the young girl's hand and gave an uneasy look towards River. "Look, I'm sorry, but Thomas had to leave, as do we. We can't stay to see your performance tonight. Something has come up. But thanks for showing us the inn. Good luck."

"Wh… What? You can't leave so soon, I thought you promised the three of you would help me…" River seemed absolutely heartbroken, emphasized even more by the hand placed on her chest. Her eyes turned sorrowful, and she looked down in shame, "I… guess that's okay, you barely know me, and you're not the first ones to reject…"

River then turned her head up to him, giving him an innocent look, making her voice sweet in hopes of persuading him, "But you can at least stay for the festival can't you? After all, it's dangerous to travel at night, there could be bandits that would ambush you out there…"

Arkanov stared into her blue eyes and pulled himself away, about to reject her offer. But something in him changed. Kestral noticed this and raised an eyebrow towards her usually moody, stubborn brother. Arkanov couldn't quite place it, but something in the way this girl looked at him made him feel obligated to stay just a little longer, so he wouldn't see her complete disappointment. "Y-Yes, we can stay for the festival," he answered finally. "But afterwards we must leave and erm, look for our friend Thomas. He is nowhere to be seen."

River bowed her head to the siblings in gratitude, the smile turning to her face, much more humble than the last time she made that expression. "Thank you so much, and maybe Thomas is already at the center of the festival. As big as it is, with the clothes he was wearing, he should stand out from the crowd. So, let's head down there and check it out."

With that, the new trio headed down the street. As they walked, Kestral tried to meet her brother's eyes and question him with her looks. She was very confused because his earlier behavior suggested he did not have a soft spot for pleading eyes, yet he suddenly changed his mind for this girl. She wondered why. While River led, she tapped on his hand and looked up to him. "Why did you change your mind?" Kestral asked in a whisper inaudible to anyone else.

Arkanov's expression change. A crooked smile formed on his face, and he squinted his eyes. He was scanning the crowd before them. When he felt he looked long enough, he turned to his little sister and bent over so she could hear his whispering too, "I need to make sure Thomas is dead."

Kestral gasped, horrified by what her brother said. She glanced over to River and hoped she hadn't heard. It wasn't for the water festival after all. Disheartened and even more afraid, she kept her mouth shut, and instead gazed around at the city buildings. Now she spoke in a more audible voice. "I hope that's a mean joke."

River turned her head at the sound of Kestral's young voice, looking with a smile and soft eyes, "Hm? A joke? I like jokes," her upturned lips turned into a playful giggle, now glancing at Arkanov, "Am I allowed to hear it?"

"No," Arkanov said curtly, with a sour expression. "It's an inside joke."

Kestral looked like she wanted to hit him in his arm. She instead walked next to River and waved her hand at Arkanov as though warning River to not get involved. "He's a stick in the mud. I didn't take you for a joke type of girl but it makes me happy that you do, because I love 'em!"

River was interested to see the girl suddenly walking alongside her, which was a pleasant surprise considering how shy and quiet she had acted earlier that day, "That's great! Maybe some day we can have inside jokes of our own…" the young woman gave a glance to Arkanov, with a look as if ready to bite back for his rudeness, "And we won't have to tell your brother about them either."

"Good, he doesn't deserve to hear our funny jokes either," Kestral said, looking back over her shoulder at her brother. They locked eyes, a silent conversation spoken through looks that obviously meant more to them than it would have to an outsider.

Arkanov looked at Kestral as though she were a traitor. Kestral found this ironic and threw an equally accusatory look.

When the stare-down was over, he huffed and rolled his eyes. "I don't give a damn about your jokes. Make as many as you want. They're probably just as childish as you two are."

"Want to hear a good joke?" A new voice piped up. Arkanov looked to who made the statement and saw a girl, with a skin tone that finally matched his and Kestral's, although it was noticably more tanned. Her sun-bleached locks hung in curls and rested on her shoulders, and her dark blue sleeveless dress with water decals suggested she was a part of the festival. She held a board in her hand with paper on it. One could only assume it was for notes.

She placed a hand on her hip and scoffed. "This. This entire set-up. The festival begins so soon and I don't have my dancers yet, the floats are being finished as we speak. As we speak."

She sighed. "I hope this doesn't tank."

When she gazed her soft brown eyes over River and noticed her costume, she gasped excitedly. "Oh my goodness, okay, another dancer is here! Hi! Do you know where you're going? Go with the other dancers please. We need to hurry this along for everyone! Wow, I'm awful, I don't even know your name. Sorry... I'm a little frazzled now."

River was initially startled by the appearance of the other woman, but seeing how busy she looked on a night like this, and how she was giving out orders, she must have been the organizer of the entire festival. River then nodded, "It's okay, I'll get with the others soon, once my partner arrives-"

"Already here," a voice interrupted River as she spoke. She turned behind her and saw Lumi, along with a cloaked figure, walking up to the small group. The cloaked woman lifted her head, revealing her face to be Inxie; she must have worn that to keep her costume a surprise. Inxie looked to the new blonde girl, whose name she did not know, but the face she somewhat recognized, "We're ready to get on stage anytime, when you give the orders."

"Yay! Okay, thank goodness you guys are here," the organizer sighed happily. She grabbed the hands of the other two women and then directed them to an area down the street where the festival would begin.

A large structure veiled by a canvas cloth, leading the way for more structures covered. by more cloths, and several other dancers were waiting, eagerly shuffling and practicing steps. The blonde gestured to the group. "That's where everyone's getting ready. Just take your places. We're starting in five minutes. If you need anything, call out my name! I'm Salina. We good?"

"We're good, Salina. Thank you," Inxie said with politeness, carefully grabbing on River's hand to lead her to the other dancers. Meanwhile, Lumi waved goodbye for now, and slipped away to the crowds awaiting the performance.

So as Inxie was gently tapping her feet in different motions, to remind herself of the steps, River took the leather satchel off of her shoulder. She reached inside, pulling out a beautiful instrument of dazzling blue crystal, with silver strings that would make the music. One of her most prized possessions, and a reminder of what she was here for. She plucked the strings, testing their beautiful sound, tuning it to perfection. So when she was done, she awaited further instruction.

"Woah..." Kestral stared in awe at the instrument. She had never seen such a beautiful piece of equipment, let alone any equipment to make music with. She wondered what it was and what it would do.

Now she took more note of her surroundings as well. The town would have been dark in the night without the lanterns strung about. They were made of a thin blue paper and had parts cut out, and as they moved in the faint warm breeze of the eve they cast shadows that danced all the crowds' faces, which were just as excited and eager as she appeared to be.

She looked to her brother. Obviously he was not caught up in the whimsy of the set-up. He was looking around the crowd, probably for a sign of Thomas.

Kestral began to wonder when the show would begin. She expected Salina to make a formal announcement before it would start, but she was caught off guard by the crowd suddenly quieting as if on cue, and the uproar of singing voices from where the canvases were. The dancers were not moving yet, but the canvases moved back to reveal bright, colorful scenes depicting the ocean, of all its creatures and the vast waters it contained. Kestral gasped excitedly. She wished for it all to come closer down the road so she could get a better view, and thankfully, the dancers and the floats began to move forth...

On the stage float, in the center, Inxie still in her cloak knelt down. The wings of her left and right were another row of dancers, who were to be backups, as for this moment she was the main attraction. River was off to the side of the dancers, as she wasn't really much of a dancer, but her part would come in to play soon.

Then, as the music began to pick up, Inxie stood onto her feet. Embers began floating, circling around her feet. The woman jerked her arms up, making the cape of the cloak show, and the embers ignited the cloth. The flames rapidly burned away the cloak, resembling a Phoenix being reborn from the ashes, and there she was. Inxie stood there proudly, confidently, with her hands on her hips. Her hair was up in a long ponytail, adorned with golden bejeweled bands. Her magenta midriff top was trimmed and decorated with the same gold and gems, some tied in strings around her midsection. Her skirt was long, but cut on the sides, accentuating her legs.

Finally, the music for her had kicked in, and immediately she began to dance with the others behind her. She moved her arms so gracefully, with such elegance, yet her legs and hips moving at such a speed no one could quite follow, and even then she went perfectly along with the tempo of the music. She danced, and she danced, and she danced, until suddenly one of the others behind her had tossed her a small leather pouch, and while dancing she untied the strings. She then tossed it into the air, allowing its contents, some sort of white power, to fall out and scatter. Then with sparks from her fingers the powder ignited and burned in a blue fire. This process was repeated, each with slightly different white powders that burned green, gold, red, magenta, violet, a whole rainbow spectrum of unusual colors danced around her body.

Then, all of the dancing had stopped, their segment of the performance was over, and soon another would take over…

Kestral gasped in life amazement, dazzled by what she had seen, as the crowd erupted into applause and whistles. She never knew that Inxie was an exceptional dancer. More so, she was dazzled by the lights she had seen emerge from the pouch. They were entrancing and captured her attention. She looked every direction they came from. She didn't want this performance to end.

Finally, the floats had drawn near. Their structures were built from papier-mâché. It was simply amazing. They were in the shakes of various sea creatures and sea structures and symbols of water, like droplets or splashes. They were hollow and only got their colors amidst the darkness of the night through bright lights. Kestral peered in the floats and found that light mages, of all people, were shining bright lights and casting the glow. Following the floats were dancers in costumes of fish and octopi, dancing while moving down the street.

She gasped again, even more amazed. Never before had she seen such a vision of fun, magical culture.

Arkanov seemed to be enjoying it as well. He had crossed his arms and begun to watch when Inxie passed by and kept his attention up at the floats and magic used so openly. But Kestral could not tell based on the expression on his face whether he was pleased or disgusted. Kestral eagerly looked toward the streets for more action, and possibly to see Inxie and River again.

Kestral's wishes were granted, for at this moment, it was River's turn to take the spotlight on that float. Inxie stepped away from the center, now standing in the back, as the white-haired woman took her place. Calmly, with gentleness, she raised her crystal lyre up to her chest level and to the side. Then, she plucked the silver strings, the sound reverberating off of them creating absolute perfection of sound. Her song sounded through the entire street her float traveled down, she even began swaying side to side, and doing the occasional spin, as if doing a waltz while playing her instrument.

But this was not all, for when she took another step, water began to pool around her feet. This water then rose up to her height in spirals, circling her and moving along to they way she swayed and the way that she elegantly twirled. Then, as her lovely song came to an end, she put her hands down, only to follow by flinging them straight back up, causing the water spirals around her to spray into the air as a mist, which was caught in the illumination from the light mages, creating a rainbow illusion for only a few seconds. Then, she bowed to the crowd with a happy smile, and allowed the background dancers to make center stage once again.

The crowd went wild at the music and the display of water magic. Meanwhile, Kestral looked as though she nearly had a heart attack. She heard of water mages before but she had never met one in person, or seen them in action. She just wished she could go up and fawn over River then and there.

She looked over to Arkanov, and he seemed to be paying attention now that River was performing. He seemed impressed. Everything was going fine, and the festival moved down the street. Like a young child trying to catch up to a train, Kestral followed the floats and parade, not wanting to miss a single moment. It continued on down the street and turned a corner. The crowd applauded, in awe at the spectacle. This continued on for many minutes. Everything was going well...

Until a shot wrang out.

Dozens of people let out a scream all at once, even the light mages were startled, and the street went dark. The dancers stopped, and the float halted in its movement. Everyone was turning their heads left and right, up and down, trying to find the source of the noise, but they couldn't tell what it was.

River clutched on to her lyre tighter, while Inxie backed away closer towards her, unsure of what to do, or what was happening…

Bedlam erupted in the audience. Suddenly, crowded areas erupted into pushing and shoving matches, and bulky guards tried to break up the scuffles, but soon even passive bystanders were pushed into the fight.

Arkanov was confused, and in a flash he flicked his wrist out to his side. Kestral turned to look and see what he was doing. Slowly, an inky black sword materialized in his hands, forming like water dripping and filling a container. Soon, his weapon had formed. He took up a classic fighting stance and jutted his blade forward, daring any of the citizens to try and pick a fight with him. Some stepped away from him.

But that started even more of a commotion, as now mages near and far began to unleash their magic. Balls of fire, large boulders, weapons of all of the elements emerged from the hands of the crowd's members. They were threats for everyone, but no one. No one made a move.

A figure ran speedily down the street of halted floats and scared dancers. The darkness, since now all of the lights were shut off, kept the person's identity a secret. But, this person was wanted. Several other burly figures were tailing the smaller one, as though the first had escaped and they were all on a high-speed chase. Of all the floats, this myserious, chased person jumped onto the float River and Inxie were on.

Another noisy scuffle ensued, this time on the float. It shook and rattled. The people on it must have been having a fight.

A light finally came on. But it was not from a float, nor any conventional source of light. It looked to be from a gun, an antique-looking pistol of bright white light. Light magic. And the gun was in the hands of none other than Thomas. His clothes were even more tattered and dirty than before, and his hair was messy in a few places. His eyes were wide, crazed even. What came as more of a surprise was that he was directly behind River, and he had the gun was pointed at her head.

The light showed who had been pursuing Thomas: three large, strong, dangerous looking men. They were decked out in black and brown leather desert attire. They had a symbol on their clothes, bright red and dripping as though made with blood, or just a shaky hand painting red marks. It looked to be the shape of a head with a chain link ring around the head. In these parts, that was the semi-universal symbol for slave traders, to easily identify them among citizens.

But neither Arkanov nor Kestral knew this. They only knew that these men were visibly upset and carrying large elemental sickles of the various magic types.

One of them began to speak. "That damn runaway started this whole revolt! He's making the others crazy!"

"We just got 'im today too," another snarled angrily. "Fucking waste of money, and time. And now we've got to kill him."

Thomas looked over to River, and gave a sincerely apologetic look. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I promise I won't hurt you. Just play along, please..."

River didn't quite do as she was told, and screamed the moment Thomas had aimed his weapon at her. She didn't even know what he was holding, it looked absolutely alien to her, but it was still terrifying even then. She wanted to get away, break out in a sprint and hide somewhere, but that wasn't an option. Behind her, Inxie had given them space, but flames erupted all around her arms, ready to harm Thomas any moment, as she hadn't heard his whisper to River.

The young woman turned her head around swiftly, trying to stare at her 'captor', "Thomas!" She shouted, "What are you doing?! What are you holding at me?! What is this?!"

"You make a move for me and this innocent woman gets a laser through her skull," Thomas warned when he thought the slave traders were approaching. "None of us want that. So do not move. I am not going back with you to be a slave. None of the people you've turned into common animals will be doing so either."

"Hey, we paid good money for you," one of the slave traders fumed. "We didn't sign up for this revolutionary bullshit!"

"You wanted to just keep them down in their place, didn't you?" Thomas asked loudly. By now a crowd had drawn near him, of the people that had fought with the festival guards not moments earlier. They were watching the scene take place. Some of them looked to be homeless people or vagabonds, but Arkanov looked over them and recognized uneven tans around their wrists and ankles. They had been tied up befrore. They were likely to be slaves.

"I have seen places built up on foundations of oppressing the people who inhabit it, and of cheating them out of the things they have worked for, deserve, but are denied," Thomas continued loudly, noticing the crowd below him. He seemed to recognize them from the expression of relief on his face. He furrowed his brow as if coming up with some sort of plan on the spot. "But in these places, these citizens are still guaranteed basic rights. They are treated like human beings. Perhaps they are objects to the system of the city or counry, but certainly they are not objects to people just like them, but only above them in societal class. That leads me to ask: why, then, is a town filled with the freedom of magical ability and expression of self such as this, just as hypocritical, if not more so, in policy towards indentured servitude than the places I have just described?"

A large roar of approval erupted from the groups of slaves. Thomas seemed pleased with himself. He had not even unleashed a full speech and already these people were on his side. He pointed an accusatory finger at the slave traders, and unleashed his winning smile in the form of a smirk. "I think your system is flawed. And I will be in your city and traverse its streets, but I simply cannot follow the rules of a society so cruel toward the people who carry it on its back and work for it to death."

Thomas turned to the slaves now cheering and hooting for him. "I do not think you should stand for this sort of belittlement either. Take back from them what is rightfully yours from the sole fact that you are living human beings just like me. Take back your freedom, by whatever means necessary."

With that, the slaves lunged for the traders in front of them on the float, and an all out brawl ensued that nearly tipped over the structure from how many people were on one side of it. Thomas used this opportunity to look at River, and give a thumbs-up for her performance. And then, he caused his magic gun to dissipate into the night air, removing the light from the street and cloaking it in darkness once more. One could only hear the sudden and rapid footsteps of heeled boots up the street and down the corner afterwards.

River yelped again as the darkness returned, and suddenly she felt arms wrap tightly around her. But they were familiar, not that of a stranger's, and warm from the fire that had enveloped them before. It was Inxie, thank goodness. River was almost ready to cry out of fear, but the other woman kept her together for now. She turned her around to face her, "Rivvy, sweetie, calm down, it's okay. We need to get out of here, now. Get back to the house and don't look back, I'll search for Lumi, got it?"

River nodded fearfully, her hands shaking with her anxiety as her heart pulsed rapidly. She was terrified, and broke off into a sprint the other direction, jumping off of the float, and trying to make her way towards their home before the rioting slaves could get her. Inxie called out one last time, "And don't be afraid to use your magic, defend yourself!"

That was the last words she heard before she was finally out of earshot. River kept running, holding her lyre tighter than ever, praying that she wouldn't be beaten to death by a slave or a trader. However, it was only a moment later she had crashed into another person, much taller than her now that she was fallen on the ground, and a bit shadowed by the lack of light. River screamed once more when she saw the dark sword he was carrying in his hand, and immediately she covered her eyes with her arm, as a pathetic excuse for blocking.

Arkanov grunted as she bumped into him, but he stood still and did not move much from where he originally was. Instead, he looked to see who had knocked into him and scoffed when he saw her. "What the hell are you doing?" He still helped her up anyways.

"Arkanov, don't be so rude!" Kestral admonished her brother angrily. She went over to River's side and put both hands to her mouth in shock of the sudden violence that had taken place. "River, I hope you're okay. Did Thomas hurt you?"

But at this point, Arkanov had already sprinted down the street in a speed nearly equal to that of Thomas. He lumbered down the street, keeping his sword in hand and at the ready.

Kestral, exasperated and now fearful of being alone, called after him, "Wait! Arkanov, come back! What are you doing?!"

"That damn crook is not slipping away from me so easily!" Arkanov growled in a bitter tone after his sister. "Stay here with her! I'll be back!"

Kestral looked back over to River, now in need of a new leader to follow. "What on earth do we do now?"

"We get back to the house, and hide there until this whole thing is over. If that doesn't happen, we may have to run to the next town…" River fretted, terrified as she didn't know her fate. This wasn't the first time her life was in danger, but even then it was an awful experience. She reached out her hand for the girl to take, and briefly glanced over her shoulders as she heart the shouting and screams getting closer, "Do you trust me, Kestral?"

Without even thinking twice, Kestral latched onto River's hand as though her life depended on it, for it did. All around her, the slaves were causing a ruckus and more bystanders were getting involved. City fixtures and crude buildings were being shoved over, bonfires were being lit, and the city guards were being unleashed. They had to leave now. "Quickly! Let's go back to your house!"

River nodded, holding onto the girl's hand tightly now, and ran away from the chaos of this sudden revolt. She went as fast as she could, pulling on Kestral's arm, but she was ready to pick her up and carry her the rest of the way of her young legs suddenly have out. She could hear fires burning, people shouting, the clashing of scimitars against each other. From the looks of it, there was no way this could all be resolved in one night, their best chance once they reach the house was to leave the city shortly afterwards, with Arkanov of course. River couldn't just abandon the city with someone else's sister.

In a matter of minutes after running, River could see the house, which was still thankfully intact. She bent over, panting heavily, but still opened the door, and let herself and Kestral inside. She quickly close it behind them, and continued panting, trying to catch her breath. Lumi and Inxie weren't here. "We'll be safe in here for now… when your brother comes back, we'll have to evacuate from the city…"

Kestral began to tremble from the mere excitement of it all, and the fear instilled in her. She didn't know what to do, for her brother had gone off for who knows how long, presumably to kill Thomas, and she was forced to put her trust in a woman she didn't even know. She had no problem trusting River, for she seemed like a reliable, peaceful person, but she just wanted her brother back. She whimpered slightly, and looked to River for guidance. "I don't think my brother is coming back any time soon," she mentioned in a shaky voice. "He's going after Thomas, and Thomas may be running as far as he can possibly get before he's caught. What if Arkanov gets lost...? I'm sorry, I know you two aren't on the best of terms, but I feel like I need to follow him too."

River looked over her shoulder, peeking out the window, just to be sure that nobody was outside watching them or waiting to hurt them. "Kestral, it'll be okay, I'm sure he can handle himself. He wouldn't want you to go after him, it's really dangerous out there," the woman then glanced down to her shaking hands, "And I can't protect you if I follow along, I don't know how to fight. Waiting here would be better…"

The young girl looked at her shaking hands, and something changed in the way she looked at the woman. Determinedly, she moved to the door. "You may not know how to fight, but... I may."

As she spoke, a star-shaped object began to form over her left hand. A handle materialized in her palms and she grasped it tightly. On the exterior, the star was slightly translucent and cast a purple-pink glow on some objects near her. It had bright white flecks, looking like a lit image of the starry night sky. But on the other side, a vision of a dark blue, morphing and shimmering galaxy could be seen. It was a strange star shield of sorts. In her right hand, bright white star shapes sat in her hand and at the ready. She glanced over to River. "You can join me if you like, but if not, don't worry about me. I've got fate on my side!"

She shuffled her shield and star bombs as she opened the door, and as quietly and stealthily as she could manage, she crept out of the door and onto the city's streets.

"Kestral, no!" River tried to get to her before she ran out, but she just wasn't fast enough. Now was probably the perfect time for her to start panicking. She had seriously just let a child run out into the streets where a massive and violent riot was taking place. She didn't know what to do, if that girl got hurt or even killed out there, she couldn't stand herself to feel such guilt like that again. She had to do something.

Determination filled River's heart, and she clutched on to her lyre once more. It was no weapon, but she knew that it may come in handy in the need of an emergency. She opened the door quickly, and followed suit after the girl, who hadn't gotten far as she could still see that glimmering shield, "Kestral, wait up! I'm coming with you!"

"Awesome!" Kestral cheered excitedly from hearing this. To make sure one would not lose the other, she held onto River's hand and together they careened through the crowds and small fights that were taking place in the streets.

She only knew the direction they were going. Nothing else. Kestral called out from over her shoulder, "Do you know the city near the direction they were heading?"

"N-No, not at all!" River explained, keeping up her pace beside the girl, utterly surprised by the fact that she could run with a shield and bombs on her, but perhaps it was the magic that make it lighter on her. She kept holding on tighter, afraid of losing her by accident, "All I know is that they went the opposite way of where we were before!"

"Well, this will be interesting!" Kestral exclaimed.

Suddenly, a man who had been brawling with another by scrimitars was thrown at River's direction. Kestral saw this and immediately lunged backwards so the shield would block her. The man was deflected off of Kestral's shield, but surprisingly Kestral had not been knocked over by the man nearly twice her height and double her weight. The shield had done some deflecting itself, as if it pushed the man.

But Kestral did manage to trip over River's feet, of all things, and fell to the floor. She fell with an oof onto the floor, and tried to scrambled back to her feet and followed River. "Oh, sorry! Well... darn, Ark took the map. Then just lead the way out of the city please! We can figure things out from there!"

River was about to lend a hand to get Kestral back up, and was about to check for any scrapes or broken bones, but she seemed totally unharmed, which astonished River. The woman took th girl's hand once again, and in the distance she could see the sandstone walls of Sihrasul, with several innocent people running towards it. It must have been an open gate, an escape route for those who desperately needed to flee, such as themselves. "Over there!" River pointed, "If we can get past the gates, it'll be safe."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Kestral said in relief. She was happy that they were so close but she was so tired and she painted heavily. But she continued on, for she needed to find her brother.

They neared the gate quickly with their pace. Some city guards were waving the small crowd of people through the gates to turn immediately to the right to an evacuation center. Kestral could not see it immediately. But that did not matter, for when the two girls passed the gates, they kept straight forward, towards another light far off in the distance. Kestral was scared to see the endless desert once again, and the waves and waves of sand swept up in the wind, but she persevered on. She figured the light was the next city, a shining beacon.

The city guards called out to them. "You two!" they yelled loudly, their voice carrying over the wind, "You should get to the evacuation shelter!"

River turned her head when she heard the voice of the guardsman, but she couldn't be worried with him. They had to find Arkanov and Thomas, before they kill each other or worse. She didn't know why they would want to harm one another, as she had thought they were on better terms than this, but as they made their way through the sand in the dark night with the city in chaos behind them, River refused to go back, at least for now.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!" A high pitched voice sounded like it was wailing right behind the other two girls. Kestral turned and skidded to a halt on the slippery sand, almost losing her balance. She squinted as she tried to make out a figure that was vigorously sprinting towards them, now seeming as though chasing them. The figure drew nearer and skidded to a halt as well. It was Salina. Her dress was torn at the edges and at the top, so she had to use her hands to raise it so it wouldn't dip too low. Her hair was far more messy than it was before. Kohl eyeliner was dragged down her cheeks, matching a bloody red scratch of the same shape in the same place. She seemed frazzled. And angry. Very angry.

"Where... are you two... going...?" Salina asked breathlessly in between huffs.

"Did you follow us all the way from the street?" Kestral was surprised.

Salina nodded, and turned to River while gasping for air. "Y-Yes... you. Are you okay? And where are you two running off to?"

River was surprised to see that Salina of all people had followed them after all that had happened, and all of the chaos. Why them of all people frantically panicking in the city? Then again, they were the only ones who had made this attempt to run out of the city rather than hide in shelter. "We needed to find two of our friends… well, they're not really my friends, but Kestral's brother is one of them. Now what in the world are you doing following us?"

"I want to say that I'm so kind that I simply ran here to check on your well-being after that ordeal, but why lie to myself?" Salina had a harsh scowl on her face and gave a suspicious expression to them, arched eyebrow and all. "I'm going after the lunatic that ruined my festival. He caused utter chaos and now this night is a disaster. I'm against the slave trade here too but did he need to do it on this night, of all of them? I'm going to track him down, drag him back to Sihrasul and throw him in the city's jail. Or send a bounty hunter on him. Whichever comes first."

The white haired woman tensed up when she heard this from Salina. She didn't want to risk putting Thomas in any more trouble and danger, but at the same time she didn't want to lie to this frustrated, frazzled young lady. River glanced off to the side, holding her lyre in her other hand a little bit tighter in nervousness, "Y-You're talking about Thomas... he's one of the people we're looking for, and the other, Arkanov... we think he's trying to kill him..."

"... I like this Arkanov guy already," Salina declared decisively. She crossed her arms and now looked at the two girls under more scrutiny. "And just why are you going after this Thomas? You said he was one of your friends... but he put a gun to your head. And ruined my festival. Maybe I should be putting the bounty hunter on you two?"

"N-No, please don't!" River let go of Kestral's hand and put it up in a halting motion, trying to calm down the other girl, but she felt that it just wouldn't be enough to convince her. She took a deep breath, glacing from side to side, "It's a long and complicated story, I don't even know if I'm actually friends with either of them, I'm just trying to make sure that Arkanov doesn't get killed and end up leaving his sister alone here! And what even is a gun?!"

Salina blinked her eyes, unsure of what this meant. Then she frowned. "I'm hoping that's just a really bad joke."

Kestral moved forward to Salina and clasped her hands together. She seemed ready to beg and get down on her knees if necessary. Tears were forming in her eyes. "Please, Miss Salina... my brother is taking care of me. I can't have him possibly die in a fight against Thomas. I'm sure once we get to Arkanov we can talk it out with Thomas as well. But just let us be. We promise we'll bring both of them back and we can sort out this whole mess later. Don't sick a bounty hunter on us. I don't even know what that is but it doesn't sound pleasant."

Salina tightened the fold of her arms and stared at Kestral. She huffed.

She was trying to resist those wide green eyes. But she couldn't do it.

"Ugh, okay, fine!" Salina exclaimed, obviously frustrated with herself for caving in. "But only if I can come with you guys. I promise I won't kill either of them, immediately that is."

"Thank you, thank you so much…" River let out her breath of relief, so glad that she didn't have to deal with more angry people intent on harming one another. She's already had enough violence as of tonight, and she didn't want it to continue with Salina either. So, she looked back out into the open desert and decided, "Let's go, and get them before they get too violent…"

"Onwards then, girls!" Salina pumped her fist in the air and led the group of three down the sandy slopes and towards the next city.

Zahafi
After about an hour of normal, walking-paced trekking through the sand and wind, the three girls made it to a new area. By now it was still pitch black night, but the but the sky was beginning to lighten ever so slightly, suggesting the group was in the early morning hours, and it would be daytime soon. It looked similar to Sihrasul in basic structure and buildings, though more tile was used in architecture. But the buildings were taller, more cleanly built and sculpted, and looked like mini palaces. One could only guess that this was a more well-off city economically.

Salina looked to the other girls as they walked quietly down the empty streets. No one was out at this time besides them. No lights were on either. "I'm guessing they have their water festival tomorrow night," Salina said to fill the silence, referring to the people of this city. "I'm curious as to why you think your friends would be in this city. It's dead quiet. I'm assuming they'd be loud. Are you sure they went this direction?"

River stared around the city, awed by the beautiful structures and towers. She had been here once before however, it was where she had met Lumi and Inxie, and where they had agreed to take her in. That was less than a year ago, yet it felt so far in the past. But River, hearing Salina's inquiry, glanced out of the corner of her eye to Kestral, "I am not entirely sure, but… I trust Kestral knows where they are. I don't know much about astral mages, but… I know that they tend to show good intuition."

Kestral gazed over at River and smiled. "How did you tell I was astral?"

"That star armor you're tricked out in kind of gave it away," Salina replied, pointing to her shield and bombs. She giggled.

Kestral blushed embarrassedly. "Right. Anyways. Let me try to gauge this spatially in my mind."

The young girl closed her eyes and stayed this way for a while as they walked, thankfully down a straight street. When they neared the corner, she frowned as though she was thinking harder about something. Finally, she opened her eyes, and instead of going down the street and around the corner as would've made sense, she turned rapidly down a dark alley."In here!"

Salina grasped at her arms again and scanned the alley cautiously. Not much could be seen, for too many shadows were being cast from the high buildings, compouned by the darkness of night. "You're gonna get us killed, kid. There could be criminals in these little dark alcoves."

"No, they're here," Kestral declared with the utmost certainty in her tone of voice.

"I don't see anyone here," Salina countered.

The young girl kept her eyes open just in case. She knew her brother was smarter than to just have a dangerous brawl in public. Even in an alleyway such as this one, there were too many risks: the possiblity of getting caught, or injuring other innocents, others to go off of. He would have had to hide and fight in plain sight.

Faintly, she could make out some moving shadows against the wall on the left to the three girls. When she squinted and tried to concentrate on these shadows, she saw they were in the shapes of two people, and judging by their body types, they were grown men. They seemed to be going back and forth, running up and down the walls, left and right. But no physical body in front of Kestral was casting them. She knew exactly what was going on.

"Arkanov!" Kestral called out. She wasn't using as loud of a voice as she could've, but it was loud enough for the noise to reverberate back and forth against the tight alley's walls. "Get out of the shadows, please. Stop fighting with Thomas!"

The two figures stopped once they heard the young girl's voice. The taller one used this momentary pause as an opportunity to lunge at the other, but surprisingly, the physical bodies of the two people emerged from the wall's shadows. The three girls could see Arkanov, his hair messy and clothes once again dirty, with a shadow knife in his mouth. He was pinning down Thomas, dirty and showing off cuts and gashes from their scuffle, by his wrists. They were panting heavily.

Kestral put her hands on her hips. "Don't take Thomas into the shadow plane to fight him," she admonished her brother, "That's cheating. Rather, don't fight Thomas at all."

Arkanov did not give up his position over Thomas, and instead pinned the other man's body down hard onto the sandstone floor by digging his thunderous thighs into Thomas' chest. Air was forced out of Thomas' mouth, and he sounded like a deflating balloon. Arkanov stared at the three girls in front of him breathlessly, showing no emotion. He took the dark, wispy, shadowy knife into his hand and pointed it at River, and his expression returned to the usual scowl. "Why did you bring my sister back? This is no place for a child."

River's eyes narrowed in a hard glare, and with her left hand she held out her lyre to Salina. Without even turning her head to look at her, "Hold this, I've got a few things to say…"

When it was out of her hand, River stomped over to Arkanov, untying the cloth around her head, and threw it on the ground. This was rare, a very brief moment where she could show true anger and frustration. It was difficult to bring out, but after barely surviving riots and wandering the desert with a severe lack of sleep, her patience had worn thin. "How dare you! As if YOU'RE the more responsible one! What kind of reckless idiot leaves their child sister in the middle of a burning, rioting city, in the care of someone that neither you or her barely know?!"

"This is coming from a woman who had a gun held to the back of her head by him," Arkanov noted and defended. Even though he continued to speak with her, he didn't seem angered by her comments at all. "What reckless idiot would follow me back to the place where her assailant would be? It's like you're trying to get hurt. I left Kestral with you because I figured you two would be smart enough to get indoors and stay safe. Yet, here you are."

"We tried to!" River clenched her fists tighter. Although she had no intention of hurting him or starting any sort of physical fight, it felt like a natural thing to do when yelling, "But she ran off to find you. And everyone who was fighting was getting too close to us anyways, they would have found us and attacked us, and you could have risked not having a little sister anymore!"

"Which brings us back to the question: why did you allow my sister to come here?" Arkanov asked, his voice still cool and calm, but the anger was definitely there. "I suppose you don't mind having the possibility of a young girl's death on your conscience."

Salina got between the two and put her hands up. "You two, stop it right now. The damage is done. What matters most is that no one is killed, alright?" She looked over to River. "It's no use fighting with him since you'll all be parting ways."

"… You're right, we will be parting ways. I don't want to have to deal with this anymore." River grumbled under her breath. She bent down, picking up the blue cloth she had thrown on the ground in frustration earlier. Then, as she turned to Salina, she gently took the lyre back out of her hands, and was about to walk off, "I'm going back to find Lumi and Inxie, hopefully not their corpses…"

However, her path had been immediately interrupted and blocked by someone new. A bystander perhaps, and River would have thought they were someone from the city, until she realized their skin was a bit too pale compared to the common inhabitants. It was a young man, older than herself by a few years yet not all that much taller. He has ruffled black hair that almost went down to his shoulders, and wore foreign clothes, a cream colored shirt with the color overlapping the neck of his buttoned vest. It reminded her of Thomas in some ways. He was holding a pen in his right hand, and an open notebook in the other, "Erm, hello miss, I couldn't help but notice that you and those others were having a heated argument. May I ask what the matter is?"

River raised an eyebrow at this, never hearing the term 'miss' before, and she hoped that it wasn't some insult she was unfamiliar with. She crossed her arms, glancing back the group she almost left, "To be brief, one of these guys caused a revolution, sabotaging the water festival in Sihrasul, almost murdered me, while another left me in charge of a young girl instead of helping her make sure she was safe."

"That sounds quite troublesome," a second person arrived, similar in skin to the strange man in front of her. This one was the same age, with medium-length red hair swept back, wearing black glasses and a blue long sleeved shirt, but the sleeves were rolled up some for this climate. "We were planning on making it to Sihrasul next. But this sounds like a much more interesting opportunity for a story." The strange man had peeked over River's shoulder and waved to the frazzled-looking group behind her, "Mind if we ask all of you some questions?"

Arkanov's eyes widened when he saw the two men who looked similar to him and Kestral. He would have been thankful any other day that they were not the only ones who appeared to be from another place besides this country, but he seemed to have an aversion to questions at the moment. His shoulder became more tense than usual and he turned his face away from them. "If you're news reporters, then no."

"Yes, yes you may!" Salina said excitedly. Though, she wasn't eager for story covering her, or to be interviewed. Rather, she pointed down to Thomas, who was barely breathing underneath Arkanov's weight. "And if you are news reporters, you can make a story on how that guy ruined Sihrasul's water festival. And you can put him in your paper's eulogy."

"Forgive us, but I'm afraid we aren't journalists. We're members of the Pendsbury expedition, and we've been researching mages and Samadurian culture here for several months," The red-haired one explained. However, when he saw Thomas being nearly crushed under Arkanov's weight, he grew somewhat cautious as he now directed his words to the dark-haired man, "Perhaps we could make this easier if you could let him up and breathe? After all, I'm curious as to why Atreans like you are all the way down here in the Zunaria desert?"

"W-We're not Atreans," Arkanov stammered quickly, nearly stumbling over his words. His eyes had grown even more wide at the word "Pendsbury." He moved away from Thomas and lifted him up by his shoulders, up to his feet. But he did not do this to comply with the red-haired man's wishes. He obviously needed assistance in talking his way through the conversation.

Thomas, confused by the sudden change in demeanor, dusted off his clothes and finally began to breathe again. He seemed surprised to find two other Atreans in front of him. "Well, his ancestors are from Atreanor, he isn't," Thomas explained to the other two men. He knew Arkanov was forcing him into the lead role once more even though he nearly killed him moments earlier, but doing this would save his own hide as well. "I managed to cause a little trouble in Sihrasul, and nearly killing me is my dear friend's form of reprimanding, I suppose."

The black haired one was already writing some notes down of this, in bullet points, not perfect descriptions of the situation but good for reference. The red haired one on the other hand nodded, and was about to ask another question, until suddenly his eyes opened wide, then followed by a slightly embarrassed chuckle, "Oh, forgive me. We were so interested in all of you that we forgot to introduce ourselves. I am Rubus Barry, and my twin here…" Rubus pointed to the man writing down notes, "Is Blake Barry."

"How about the rest of you?" Blake asked, pausing in his writing to speak to the collective group, "We might need your names for this, as we're required to prove credible sources and all."

River gave a small look of suspicion to the twins, but at the same time she felt a little comfortable. These were probably the friendliest people she had met since yesterday. And even with how kind Kestral has been, as well as Salina, these brothers were the most talkative, "My name is River, and the others…"

Salina frowned at these questions but complied. "Salina."

Kestral waved to the other men. "Um, hello! I'm Kestral." She noticed her brother wasn't forthcoming with his name so she spoke on his behalf. "That's my brother Arkanov. Don't mind him, he's a grump."

"And I," Thomas introduced formally, with his slight dip, formalities all present, "I am Thomas. Pleased to meet your acquaintance. Erm, are you going to be sharing all of this with a superior of some sort?"

At this question, Rubus shook his head, and held his hands politely in front of his torso, "Actually, we don't have a superior to report back to. We're doing this of our own wishes. You see, everything we're recording here, we're going to try having it all published into a book back in Atreanor. We figured that information about mages and Samadurai as a whole shouldn't come from just bad rumors, and instead should derive from a truly helpful and honest source. It could especially be helpful in Pendsbury…"

River was, to say the least, confused. These words and names she hadn't heard before just being spoken like normal, as if she should know this, but she didn't. Instead, she turned her head back around to the others, tilting her gaze in curiousity, "… What's Atreanor? And what's… Pendsbury? It sounds like a weird name…"

"Gee... I don't know," Arkanov said with a big, awkward shrug. He scratched his head, and looked to Rubus and Blake. "I've heard of... this... p-place before, but, uh... I don't know where it is...? Why don't you... tell us?"

Thomas stared at Arkanov, appalled. "Um. I know of Atreanor." He looked to Rubus and Blake. "I've been there before, a couple of times, for a while. It was when I had a tenure of a man's servant. It's a floating city. Are you two from there?"

Now it was Blake who shook his head to this, "Not at all. The two of us are from Floralia, a little port town on the east coast of Atreanor." He mentioned this with a smile, though it was not as wide as it could have been. Before they could pester everyone with even more questions, something began to seem… off. Blake was distracted from his focus on the pen and paper, and looked down to the side pocket of his trousers. It was almost like a pulsating feeling, not coming from him, but from what he was carrying. As Rubus started to ask more questions in his curiousity, the other brother reached into his pocket, and pulled out a strange glass-like shard the size of his fingernail, colored gold and glowing faintly like a small sun.

River seemed to be the only one who noticed this, and she released a soft gasp upon the sight of it. Her heart began racing, and she put a hand on her chest just to hold back the shock. As Rubus was blabbering on to the others about something, she stepped forward with concern in her eyes, making him stop. "Blake… where did you get that?"

"Oh, this little thing?" The black-haired man held it between his index finger and thumb for her to see, "Just happened to stumble upon it in this town, it looked really neat."

River quickly held out the palm of her hand, and switched to a sharp tone of voice, "I really, really need that. It's important, and I've been searching for it for a long time…" but when Blake had retracted, and gave her a questioning look, she rolled her eyes, "It's a heart shard, alright? I don't have a single one, and if I can have the first one, then it will lead me to the others. Please, it's an urgent matter…"

Kestral looked at the heart shard in utter curiosity. She could feel things that most others could not, and could sense power radiating from the fragment, great power. Something important would happen because of this shard. But River seemed understandably interested in the shards. "Um, River..." Kestral piped up again, stepping closer to her side, "Why are these heart shards important?"

"Yes, these are the elusive heart shards?" Thomas asked. He looked at the piece curiously. "You mentioned them before to me, but you never stated why you wanted them."

When these questions had popped up towards her, River felt frozen on the spot, and mI at nervousness began to ride slowly up her spine. She scratched the back of her head, her gaze shifting to the side, "It's a bit of a long story, are you sure that you want to hear it…?"

Rubus and Blake nodded simultaneously and silently, which was followed by the white haired woman giving out a sigh, "Y-You see… my home is a place called… Ali'ikai, but… its been destroyed by floods and tsunamis…" River stuttered and paused quite often, worried that she was beginning to sound ludicrous, "And I know someone who's missing their heart. It was stolen from them a long time ago, shattered, and then scattered across the continent. I need to find these shards to restore his heart, so that he can help me save my home. Um… did that help any?"

Kestral, Thomas, and Salina seemed to be in agreeance with this. They nodded quickly, but Arkanov seemed very confused.

"Hearts... can have shards...?" Arkanov asked confusedly. He rose an eyebrow at River, and for once finally showed no anger towards her. Instead, he was curious. "Um... I thought hearts were... soft organs."

"You're thinking of a physical heart," River noted, and while she did feel a bit more awkward having to speak to Arkanov now, she didn't feel any sort of annoyance or irritation with him. Instead, she felt somewhat interested by how he suddenly seemed curious about this, when he hadn't before, "The 'heart' I'm talking about is an essence, which is made up out of all of your emotions, thoughts, and memories. When someone's heart is taken away, then they can't feel anything, and they aren't aware of anything."

Kestral looked concerned that Arkanov was saying this, and went to her brother's side to pat his back and smile awkwardly. "He knows that! As mages from our home city... o-on here, we've gotta know all that stuff about heart essences and souls, yes?"

"Anyways," Thomas interjected again, immediately changing the subject, "River, you said there were shards, so more than one. Do you know where they are? And do you need any help finding them? Perhaps, if your question still stands, I could assist you? After all, I am in debt to you."

River's eyes went wide at this offer, she had thought Thomas had lied about helping her earlier, considering how he had ruined an entire festival and almost could have killed her. But for some reason, despite all of that, she felt a spark of hope ignite a flame in her heart, and she smiled, "You would really do that? And you're not just saying it to make me happy?" She asked, almost in disbelief, but the joy was growing, "I know that this shard could lead me to the others, so we wouldn't be lost. Are you up for a lot of traveling?"

"I don't mind at all!" Thomas exclaimed happily. "A lot of traveling sounds quite fun actually." He was about to near her to shake her hand and let her know his sincerity, but he remembered that she surprisingly did not know what a hand shake was. So he simply resorted to a smile. "And I'm not saying no this to make me happy. You really did save my hide back there by not freaking out."

Salina moved protectively to River's side. She put a hand on this woman's shoulder and tried to meet her gaze. "River, he had a gun to your head. Why do you trust him? What's he talking about 'saving' him?"

"I… don't know, I didn't do anything special…" River tilted her naive head to the side in confusion. After a short moment, she suddenly remembered exactly what had occurred at the festival hours before, and came to a realization, "Wait, you mean when you threatened to kill me to stop those guys from chasing you? I was freaking out! I just… didn't know if I could have fought back…"

"It was all an act," Thomas explained, "I just needed to threaten River's life to those slave traders to make it seem like I was serious. I would've never hurt her. She was so kind in showing us to an inn earlier in the day, a hospitable hostess in her home... I have no death wish for her."

He went to Salina and tried to give her an earnest smile. "You have nothing to fear with her."

Salina stared deep into Thomas' eyes to try to detect if this man was lying. Their pairs of brown eyes gazed into each other's for a long while, daring the other to speak up first. Finally, Salina gave a gentle smile, an expression she had not been wearing on her face for a long while. "Fine, I believe you. But..."

Salina returned to River's side, crossed her arms, and gave a little smirk to everyone. "If you're going with River, I'm going too. Just to keep an eye on you, Thomas. I don't want anything bad happening to an innocent citizen. Not on my watch!"

River's eyes were so wide with surprise with how these people, after so many months of searching for help, had actually wanted to assist her. Then, the feeling of gratitude changed her expression, and she wiped her eyes before she could start crying tears of joy. Her voice was a little shaky, "You… thank you so much. I've never had anyone want to accompany me with this…"

Then, Blake had held out his hand holding the shard for her to take. Gently, with a bow of thankfulness with her head, she took the shard into her own hand. The moment she grasped it, a warm feeling surged through her nerves, and thoughts, images, and sounds of joyful times filled her mind. Her smile was as wide as can be. Rubus spoke up, "You know, I think that maybe having us follow along could be helpful as well. After all, this sounds like a story which could lead to a lot of interesting information to record." He smiled, and now looked to Arkanov and Kestral, "Now, how about the two of you?"

"Arkanov, please..." Kestral turned around and gave her brother a pleading look. She approached his side and held his hand gently. "If only for a little while. This could be fun. It's better than that other plan you had for being in Samadurai, right? The more people on this, the quicker we can find them for her! They sound rather important."

All of the anger and confusion melted away from his face, and his expression softened. He looked up to Thomas to see his reaction. Thomas was grinning, as if he had teased Arkanov over something or won an argument. Arkanov did not like it. He looked down to a band around his wrist that looked like some watch, and then to Thomas, and then to River, and to Kestral, and Salina, and Rubus and Blake.

"Fine," Arkanov finally gave in, and turned away so no one could see his face. "But as soon as we find them all we're going straight home, Kestral. No games. You too, Thomas."

"Delightful," Thomas clapped his hands together, and now gave a smile to River. "When do we leave?"

"At least after noon," River decided without a moment of hesitation, and was now rubbing her head in exhaustion. She still smiled though, "We've been up for hours, and the sun's almost risen. I need a place to sleep, as well as the rest of you, minus the twins probably…"

Thomas nodded, and leaned on Arkanov's shoulder. "You're quite right. I did not find that inn that you showed us earlier, nor did I rest. We definitely need some sleep before we head out to, erm, wherever we're going."

"So we find a place to stay for the night and we meet up here tomorrow by eleven or noon?" Salina suggested. Feeling the exhaustion, she yawned. "Sounds good to me."

"It's agreed then." River nodded, trying to stop herself from yawning, "I've been here before, and there was an inn towards the center of town, so we can stay there until noon."

The Journey Begins
It was the morning after the ruined water festival one city over, in Sihrasul. The small town of Zahafi had heard of what went down and tentions were high among the inhabitants. They had heard of guards warning the governments of cities in all directions from Sihrasul that the slave who had begun the insurrection and threatened the life of one of the citizens was still on the loose and could be anywhere.

Arkanov could feel the intensity and fear of the crowd as he walked down the street towards where he and the others were the night before. As he looked into everyone's eyes, he could feel what they were feeling in a sense. They were on edge. Strangers could be the felon the guards were looking for. He was a stranger. It did not take much thinking to put two and two together and begin watching him carefully, to make sure he did no sudden moves. Nobody wanted what had happened in Sihrasul to happen in their well-to-do neighborhood. Arkanov reasoned this city was well involved with the slave trade as well.

Thomas would always cause a stir in the hearts of many, no matter where he went, whether it be good or bad, he felt.

He looked down to Kestral, whose hand he was holding as he guided her to the area they had been. She was quiet. But the smile on her face showed her mood. She was excited to see this world that was new to her.

Arkanov wished he could have as much enthusiasm as she.

He turned into the alley they had been in before. There Thomas lurked in one of the shadows, but in an outfit different from the one he wore yesterday. He continued to wear his orange shirt, and pants and boots, but covering it now was a white sleeveless shirt that had a hood. He wore it over his face, and it nearly covered most of his eyes, but he was still wearing the makeup under his eyes, which was now fixed. Arkanov could only tell it was him because of the red symbol on his cloak; not the one to indicate that he was a slave, thankfully. It was new, a circle with a pike going through it.

"You've got a lot of nerve hiding there in the shadows," Arkanov scoffed as he walked towards Thomas. "You're a light mage, remember?"

"If you had a problem with it you should've gotten up sooner," Thomas said with a shrug. He peered over Arkanov's shoulders, and then to his hand. "You're not going to kill me?"

"I can't at this point, these people are expecting you on this trip," Arkanov huffed, "By the way? Thanks for that. Now you're forcing me to follow along with you. It feels like you're obstructing me from my original mission."

Thomas rose an eyebrow. "You could've gone on to your mission. I'm not preventing you from doing so."

"And let you run around to god knows where, doing god knows what, telling god knows who about my mission?" Arkanov asked. "Like hell I would. I've got to tail you now and watch you, and prevent you from blowing my cover. Keep it coming with the lies, Tommy. Because if you so happen as to say one thing about where we're from, or what I'm supposed to be doing, I'll kill your circus act ass."

"Arkanov!" Kestral slapped her brother's hand. "Do not swear in front of me! You know how I feel about it."

Arkanov sighed. He had to remember his sister, who was virtually a second mother with how much she scolded him, was with him now. "Fine. But I'm serious, Thomas... I will carry out on my threat if need be."

"I've no need to tattle," Thomas assured. He showed no fear as he gave a light-hearted chuckle, and stared down the alleyway. "I'm excited for this. These shards are powerful, I'm sure you could've felt it too just by looking at that one they found yesterday. I need to know more... isn't it almost noon? Hopefully everyone else shows up."

Only a moment after those words, two figures came out from the opposite direction that Arkanov and Kestral had come from. It was Rubus and Blake once more, although this time neither of their noses were buried in notebooks and furiously writing down scribbles. Instead, the red-haired twin carried a satchel, which is likely where they kept those supplies, and Blake was carrying one of his own, only it was stocked with food and canteens of water for the journey. He raised his hand to the three already gathered, and ran up to them with a smile, "Glad to see that you've made it here before us, early is always better, right?"

"Not always," Rubus corrected, stating this matter-of-factly, "But in this case, it just shows that we might have some good planners traveling with us."

Blake chuckled sheepishly at this comeback, but he didn't seem to mind. Shortly after, another person approached the gathering, it was River. Her eyes seemed to have lightened up from resting, and surprisingly, she was able to manage a change of clothes. She wore a tan, sleeveless dress, with a large red cloth tied around her waist, as well as a few strings of turquoise beads wrapped around her neck, hips, and ankle. She carried her own back as well, holding her lyre, a glass bottle holding the first shard, a comb, and other dried foods that could last a while. "Alright, I've made it! I managed to find Lumi and Inxie here, they got some things from our home in Sihrasul, and let me take what I needed for the journey. They wished us good luck… now where's Salina?"

As if on cue, Salina came down the alleyway. She was in a different outfit from yesterday. It was all pink, even the thigh-high stockings that she wore. She had two curled braids that looked more like pigtails. But her brown combat boots showed she wasn't soft, she meant business. She had packs and two bags and pockets and a backpack carrying food and drink for everyone.

Arkanov was too busy staring at River to help, so Thomas immediately went to her side to help her in carrying all of it, but Salina held up a hand. "I'm not even breaking a sweat dude. I'm cool. Hey everyone! We all ready to go?"

River nodded, and she was astounded by the fact that someone like Salina was able to carry so much all on her own without any issue. Now, all that was left was for her to find where they needed to head to next. She reached into her bag, and pulled out the small glass jar, containing the golden heart shard. She twisted off the top, and let the shard roll out onto the palm of her hand. She gripped it tight, and closed her eyes.

Everything around her went dark, as if she was in a strange space of blackness. Then, it was as if dozens of chains began to glow in a variety of colors, all leading from the shard of her hand to various directions. Some chains were tighter and stiffer than others, some a bit loose. But the loosest one was almost touching the ground, meaning that it had the be the closest. River opened her eyes again, and turned her head towards that same direction, "The next closest shard is to the north. Still in Zunaria, but probably in the outer areas, where there's not as much sand, but still dry and rocky…"

Arkanov took out the map he had earlier. He looked at it and based on the direction they had gone last night, he figured they had just moved into a town called Zahafi. He then traced his fingers along the way that River directed to see what the next town over would be. There wasn't anything that would come up relatively soon, a couple of days traveling by foot would allow them to get to the nearest town. "We'll be heading along the Samadurian coast then. At least some water will be nearby, there are lots of rivers and riparian complexes from the deltas. Good places to rest."

"Sounds great," Salina exclaimed happily. "Anything else we need before we head out? I don't want to be the mom of the group but everyone should relieve themselves before we go."

Thomas groaned, and chuckled. "We're all grown adults, so I'm pretty sure we took care of all of that. If there's nothing else... River, would you do us the honor and lead the way?"

River nodded, chuckling somewhat from that little exchange of words, "Of course, I'll take the lead. Just follow me," Then, the young lady began to walk with a sense of determination on the north road. It wasn't long before they would be leaving the town.

After several moments of walking, River could see the endless expansive ocean of sand off in the distance, she knew it would be quite a long journey to the next town. The twins following her began to realize this as well, and so the opportunity for an interview seemed as though a good way to pass the time along the way, so that they weren't dying of boredom. Rubus, being the more sociable and vocal one, trotted up confidently to River's side, while his brother pulled out the notebook and pen once more, prepared to write down what they needed. The first twin spoke, "So, River, who exactly is this person that you need to collect these shards for?"

The young lady went silent for a moment, a bit caught off guard that she was being questioned now of all times, and as they made their way through the sands, she felt a wave of shyness flow into her voice, "U-Um… it's for a man that I know, named Mana…"

Rubus pressed on, "And what does Mana look like? Are you close to him at all?"

River responded tentatively, "H-He… he looks exactly like me, with the skin and hair and eyes, or… at least he used to, from what I heard. Now he's… um… extremely different. Doesn't really look human anymore, b-but he can still be a good guy, once he has his heart back…"

"So if he used to look like you, does that mean you're related to him?" Rubus continued to inquire, which made River even more nervous. She wasn't used to people being so curious about her, and she had never explained her reason for being here in full without someone getting utterly confused or bored, "And do you know what happened to him to make him look as he does now?"

The young lady tried to look away from the red-haired man, but his honest eyes that meant no malicious intent were hard to bear, "It's a long story, b-but in short, we're not blood related. He's… one of my previous reincarnations, but… this might sound confusing, the soul that he once had went to my previous reincarnation, and he was given a different soul… then his body was transformed into a sort of… monster… does that make any sense at all…?"

"Loud and clear!" Salina said with a nod. Kestral and Thomas nodded as well.

But Arkanov seemed confused. "So... does that mean he's your dad...?"

River's eyes went wide at this, for the mere thought of the man of the subject matter being her father made her feel disturbed. A shudder swept down her back in the image of that, so she furiously shook her head in denial, "No no no! Not at all, I said he's my reincarnation, not my father... you do know what that means, don't you?" she asked, and to her surprise, both of the twins shook their heads simultaneously. It was at this moment the young woman realized that she would have to do a lot of talking during this trek to the next town, "Reincarnation is when someone dies, and their soul moves on to another person to give them life. So in short, my soul used to belong to Mana a few generations back, but now it belongs to me, and keeps me alive. All of your souls used to belong to someone a long time ago as well..."

One would've expected someone who had just heard this stunning revelation to be more enlightened and feel a sense of connection to the spriritual realm and the physical world. But rather than anything so full of depth or meaning, Arkanov's eyes widened and he could only muster, "Y-You used to be a guy?"

"At some point you were probably a woman too, Arkanov," Salina pointed out with a little giggle. "I'm surprised. You said you were from Samadurai, right? You should know this by now."

"Maybe I learned it a little differently, alright?" Arkanov asked, now flustered. "This is confusing. So... the fact that he's your past self is what makes you want to save his hearts? But how can he be alive and you be alive too if you're the same person, technically? Or you have the same soul?"

"As I said before, his previous soul went to me, and a new one was put into him as a replacement. Normally, he should have died, but… that's a long story that I should probably go into later," River explained, but now was trying to change the subject. She wasn't entirely comfortable telling so much information about her at once to people she had yet to trust fully, especially considering how two of them were writing down literally everything that came from out of her mouth.

Rubus, on the other hand, seemed a bit disappointed. He gave innocent, yet inquisitive eyes to the girl, "oh come on, please? This is starting to sound really interesting. You've been put under some unique circumstances, and it would be great to know more, wouldn't it?"

River shook her head, and crossed her arms, "No. Look, it's a complicated mess involving a god, priesthood, and a ceremony that I am sure no one wants to hear me blabber on about for the next few hours. Is it okay if we leave it at that for now?"

Arkanov nodded. For whatever reason, while Sigma tilted her head in confusion at the words River had said, Arkanov, Kestral and Thomas nodded as if the ideas of gods and priesthoods were not new to them. So, the man with the red coat around his waist once more complied. "Sure, we get it. But it sounds like you're not from Samadurai."

River turned a little more shy at this, scratching the back of her head. Though now, she realized that Arkanov had finally taken off his coat, which had always confused her as wearing such heavy clothing in this heat seemed impractical. Nevertheless, she answered, "Not exactly. I'm from a region still in Samadurai, but it's small, and no one else has been there before. It's this little peninsula, with four islands, called Ali'ikai. Actually… I don't think anyone except me and the other Ali'kians know it exists…"

To corroborate this, Arkanov looked down to his map and scanned the Samadurian coast, more inland, and to the other end of the country to see if he could find a peninsula with islands with this same name. When he could not find such, he looked for large citites, then smaller towns. He looked to the coastlines of other countries as well. He had noticed a peninsula drawn on Samadurai's edges, but it was not marked, so he had no clue if it was Ali'ikai or not. "That's peculiar. I cannot find it on here. Are you sure it's off of Samadurai?"

"I'm very sure of it, considering that I arrived in Dhabonde soon after I left. But I don't expect it to be on any maps made by the people out here." River noted, and peeked over her shoulder to look at Arkanov's map. As expected her home wasn't marked anywhere on there. Over to the other side of her, were the twins still writing, until Rubus finally slowed down to talk more to the others of the group, other than River. He figured that she may not want to let out too much information so soon.

So instead, the red-haired young man smiled at the other four, "Then, how about the rest of you? I assume you're all native Samadurians. May I ask what all of you do? And what regions you're from?"

Arkanov instinctively looked to Thomas. Thomas noted this and nodded, and addressed Rubus on behalf of the other man and Kestral. "We aren't from Zunaria. We three are from some of the outer regions of Dhabonde."

"What we do? Uh," Kestral shook her head, and giggled a little. "I don't have a job. I'm twelve."

"Eleven and three-fourths," Arkanov corrected. "Don't round up."

"Whatever! Ignore him, he's mad that I'm almost a teenager," Kestral joked. "Anyways, Thomas, h-he, uh, used to be a slave for us. But for a little while he traveled around the various regions. He even went up to Pendsbury for a little."

"Upon occasion," Thomas agreed with a nod. "I've done some traveling here and there, working under different masters, doing a broad range of jobs and such. I had to return to Arkanov's and Kestral's parents about a year ago and those two finally sprung me out. So now I am jobless and free as well."

"How about you, Arkanov?" Salina asked to the man. She had a sharp tone of voice, as if she was preventing herself from speaking more freely and was holding herself back. "You had Thomas in quite the expert hold when we went down that alley. Almost like you've been trained... surely for a job of some sort?"

"Uh, n-no," Arkanov answered immediately. His face showed he was uncomfortable from this query. "I practiced at home, things my father... taught me."

Rubus only smiled at this, oblivious to Arkanov's awkward pauses in between his words, "Well, glad he taught you that then, it's always a good idea to know some self defense. My brother and I have never been trained in any sort of fighting before."

To this, Blake nodded to confirm his words, and now he was finally the one to speak up to the others. He hadn't much before. "But at the same time, defending yourself would be much easier with the use of magic instead of physical force, which reminds me, mind if we know what all types of magic if you possess them? I happen to be air, and my brother, fire."

"I'm a water mage," River replied nonchalantly, brushing some hair away from her neck as not to have it overheat herself in the desert sun, "Though I don't know how to really fight with my magic…"

Salina grinned at this information. "Water and fire and air. All useful elements that we need in a desert! Thank goodness. Anyways, I'm an earth mage. Sadly geo though. There aren't too many plant earth mages here."

Thomas nodded. "This sounds really great for our purposes. I'm a light mage. Maybe I could heal someone up if need be? And Kestral is astral, and Arkanov is shadow. I think we have nearly all of them, don't we?"

"Huh… that's actually a good point," River noted, that new information already making her feel more confident on this journey. With her they wouldn't die of thirst, with Rubus they wouldn't freeze at night, Thomas could help if someone were injured, and everyone else seemed like they could do their part to make a good combination. "I actually think those are all the magic types. Interesting coincidence, huh?"

"There isn't any other type that's in existence besides plant magic, but we're good!" Salina said with a smile. "But we've got food and water to go through already. We'll be okay!"

They were moving out of the town's borders. "I'm super happy about this guys. Well, we'll be in this desert for a long while until we get to the next town." She looked to Rubus and Blake and patted both of their backs aggressively. "Hope you boys don't mind getting a tan on! Haha!"

The Village Without Children
A day had passed of traveling, and now the small group of wanderers had made it to their destination without issue. While their clothes were dusted with sand and their eyes tired under the hot afternoon sun, it was as if a weight had lifted off of them when they saw the small town just up ahead. River had still been leading the group in the front, and at the sight of the short yet sturdy sandstone homes, she broke out into a run, as it was easier now with the ground being flatter and rockier instead of sandy as it had been miles back. As she trotted ahead, she turned around and beckoned to the others, "Come on, we're almost there! I'm certain the next shard is here, and we can stock up on supplies!"

"Must we run to it, though?" Salina asked. She had been carrying the bags for a day and was a little tired but she still held up strong. "Be careful, River! You're barefoot, there could be glass on the floor."

"I thought it was going to be days until we got to a town!" Thomas exclaimed, but he ran ahead to meet up with River as well. "Do you know the name of his place?"

"I'll be fine!" River smiled, running ahead anyways despite Salina's warnings, "And there's not a name for this place, a ton of nameless towns are in Samadurai!"

But her excitement was stopped as the moment she made it past the first small home, she felt something grab her forearm tightly, almost painfully. She was then yanked off to the side, releasing a startled yelp. When she turned her gaze up, she saw a brown-skinned man similar in tone to hers, with curly black hair, donning a simplistic uniform and a sheathed scimitar at his side, with a harsh glare down into her blue eyes. He growled, "You have a lot of nerve thinking you can come here in the middle of the day and get away with it…"

River's eyes turned to fear, her smile was gone, and she gritted her teeth as she tried to pull away and run back to the others, but his hold was too strong, and her weak attempts were proved futile. He continued with an even louder and harsher tone, "Didn't think you would be so young, or weak, but that won't make your punishment any easier!"

Thomas screeched to a halt when he saw this strange new man before River and threatening her so. Then he saw the scimitar. In a flash, his arm was up to the sun, and the light pistol he had before materialized into his hand. He clicked the gun and aimed it at the man, towards his chest. "Unless you've got a death wish, I suggest you let her go," Thomas called out.

Arkanov followed suit and unleashed his shadow sword. He went before Kestral, pushing her behind him, and went to Thomas side, aiming the weapon at the man.

Salina called out from behind them, "I've got a boulder here ready to throw at him if necessary!"

"Three against one," Thomas said to the man, smirking. "The odds of you making out of this alive aren't high."

"No, wait, stop!" Called out another voice from behind the unnamed man. It was another male, similar in features but with straightened hair, shorter, and about five years younger, about in his late twenties. He wore the same uniform as the older and stronger one. The young man pulled on his partner's shoulder, and now that he was distracted, his grasp was loosened, so River pulled her arm out. She rubbed her wrist, it already felt a little sore from that strong hold.

The taller man turned his glare to the other, "Come on, look at her! She fits the description perfectly. Dark skin, white hair, blue eyes-"

"Green eyes," the younger one corrected, trying to act as a sense of discipline for his partner, "And with short hair, not hair that reaches down to her ankles. Look, I know you've been stressed since the first incident, but you can't go picking random travelers the moment they set foot in town. I think you should head back to your post, lest the head guard find out about this and fire you from your sentry position."

The other man groaned, turning away from the foreigners without a single word of apologies to them, and sauntered off in the other direction. As Rubus and Blake finally caught up to the commotion, the new man apologized as quickly as the other had left, "I am so, so sorry. Things have been chaotic here recently, I guess that you happen to bear a resemblance to our current public enemy…"

Kestral seemed instinctively scared, for she had short hair and green eyes, but she could sense that it was not her they were talking about.

Thomas put the gun down, sheepishly as well, for these men were not trying to start a fight. Similarly, Arkanov put away his weapon. Thomas went to River's hand and pat her back to show that everything was alright. "Your current public enemy? Erm. What — rather, who do you mean?"

As River's tense shoulders loosened, her eyes still remained wide from the startlement of being yanked like that out of nowhere. The guardsman in front of her gave a look of sympathy to the young lady, but then turned his gaze down to his feet as he spoke, "We've had six children be kidnapped in less than a month. We thought they were going missing until recently, when witnesses saw a woman with short white hair and green eyes vanish into the night with a young child. I'm guessing my partner here assumed that description fit your friend here, they do look a little similar after all," the man sighed, and bowed his head in apologies once more, "And please forgive my partner for that misdemeanor, his own son was the first one to be taken, and he hasn't been the same since."

At this, the twins looked to each other in disbelief, and then to River, then back to each other. While Rubus' expression turned to one of disgust, Blake's became solemn and sympathetic. The latter took a step forward, "That sounds so horrible..."

"Not knowing what they would want with stolen little kids is what's even worse," Rubus crossed his arms, disdain and resentment for this mysterious culprit already festering within him, "Then again, maybe the truth would be so awful that it's better not to learn the reason..."

"... Is there anything that we can do...?" River asked shyly, still tentative, but she was feeling safer now that no one was threatening to harm her. The guardsman only glanced at the young girl behind all of them.

"The best that you can do for now is to report anyone suspicious, or anyone with those features I just described," He instructed. The man then raised his hand, and pointed a finger at Kestral, "And make sure you keep that girl close with you at all times. Even though mostly the little ones have been taken, a twelve year old was kidnapped among them..."

"Bring it!" Kestral dared. She showed no fear whatsoever. "I admit I was a little scared before but this is our adventure! If that person comes at me I'll fight back!"

"But hopefully we can avoid an altercation before that problem arises," Arkanov said, concerned over how excited his sister was getting over this. He looked to the guard and gave a stiff nod. "At any rate, thank you for letting us know. We'll be on the lookout."

The guard simply nodded, and turned around the other way to continue his patrol, leaving the group of mages alone. When he was gone, River gave out a breath of relief, "Yeesh, that was scary… thought that other guy was going to stab me for a minute. Heh… heh…"

Her laughing didn't really help any to elate the others, except for Kestral, but she was already fired up on her own accord. She could tell that the others still looked stern and serious. Rubus shrugged, "At least you weren't actually hurt, that could have been a disaster," but after he said that, he shook his head, getting those thoughts out of his mind to focus on the subject at hand, "Anyways, we should probably take a break here, re-stock, you know. Meanwhile, River could try to find the location of the next heart shard. Sound like a plan?"

"That sounds like a good course of action," Thomas nodded. He forced his gun to disappear and sighed. Using all of the magic he had been making his pistol with was seriously draining him. But thankfully, they could rest in this quaint little town. He turned to Kestral. "You need to stick around us closely, missy. We don't want you snatched up!"

"I could handle myself if it happened," Kestral assured with a giggle. "But that's fine. I'll stay close."

Salina now looked to River. "How long does it usually take to find one of those shards?"

"Not too long actually. I just have to follow this shard's draw towards the next closest one, then it just all depends on how close or far it is from this town." River explained, and held her hands together in front of her torso. She looked to the brothers again with a smile, "I'm sure you two could get some interviews done, if that's what you want to do."

Rubus shook his head, but Blake did not. The prior spoke, "No thanks, I'd rather look for a place for us to sleep tonight. After hearing about all that kidnapping stuff... it's really killed my mood for any note-taking right now."

So when she turned her head to Blake, he simply nodded, "Alright then, I'll just take over the job today. Besides, I sort of need work on my socializing skills..."

River understood well, and now looked to Thomas, Arkanov, Salina, and Kestral, "So I guess that leaves us on supply duty for now, right?"

"Yes," Arkanov spoke up. He had begun to talk more an more since becoming acclimated to being around with everyone, and he stared down Thomas and spoke up before he could, as if competing with him. "I believe we should split up the different tasks based on what we need. Is there anything specific we're looking for?"

"Just food, and maybe some medical supplies as well," River noted. Only, her eyes went wide when she realized what she had just said, and she felt her cheeks and forehead get a little warm from slight embarassment as she looked at the light mage in front of her, "U-Uh, it's not that I'm doubting your healing abilities, I'm just saying we might need them in case you're not around at the time…"

"I... took no offense to that to begin with Riv, don't you worry," Thomas assured with a cheerful smile to show her all was well.

"So let's split those two items up," Salina said. "It might be best if Thomas finds healing supplies. I can go with him. And Arkanov and Kestral can go with you, River. That sounds good?"

River nodded silently with a small smile, and just like that, their little group split off in different directions. Blake went out to the town square, Rubus began asking for directions to an inn or any place they could spend the night, while the other five set off to the market place off-center from the heart of the village. Now, River was alone with Arkanov and Kestral, which is when she began to realize that of everyone else, she had talked to them the least of all. Normally she would have remained silent and avoided conversation, but she figured that if they were to stick with each other for some time, better to be familiar sooner than later, right? So she spoke, with the most awkward smile she had ever made, "… Um, so… how're you doing…?"

Kestral laughed a little at this. "We're good. Well, maybe I shouldn't speak for Arkanov. I'm pretty good, all energized and ready to fight! Or look for food I guess. How are you, Arkanov?"

He grunted, "Fine."

River felt the tense awkward silence create a void between the three of them once again. However, she was rather glad that at least Kestral was open for conversation, "Good to see you're not letting the fear of a kidnapper get to you. You seem like a pretty tough kid, no way I would have handled that at your age."

"Well, thanks," Kestral said, "I am a little scared on the inside, but my dad once told me to not show people your weaknesses, and play it off like you're not afraid. So there's that!"

At the mere mention of their father, Arkanov's expression softened, and he smiled as well. "You're also just a tough girl, Kestral. Just by nature."

Now Kestral began to smile and blush a bit. "You guys are too sweet... but for being on this quest, we're all troopers. I'm sure we would've all done it."

River chuckled, struggling just a bit not to let out a soft 'aww' when she saw Kestral acting so modestly, "You're still strong for doing this as young as you are." Then, when the young lady glanced at Arkanov, she was surprised to find his lips upturned for once, and in a quieter voice she spoke to the girl, "I don't mean to be rude, but… I think this is the first time I've seen your brother smile. Is it rare for him to smile…?"

"Yes," Kestral answered, now laughing loudly at such a question. She nodded to confirm. "Very little makes him smile. But talking about our dad always does! He looks up to Daddy a lot."

The white-haired woman nodded, and as she began browsing through the marketplace, looking for food that was least likely to perish in a short amount of time, she smiled as well, "Then your dad must be a really great person…" River now looked to Arkanov, "What was he like, then?"

"He is still alive," Arkanov noted. He instinctively grasped into his sister's hand, and feeling this made Kestral smile widely. "We don't see him too often, but when we do, it's great. He works a lot but it's all for our family, to help our mother and us get by. He's a great man."

"He sure sounds like one," River commented with lightheartedness in her voice. But that was the only light she could get out of her for now, as suddenly, she began to feel solemn. Talking about this, she felt a strange sadness, as of melancholy. She began to recognize it as homesickness, "And… what about your mom?"

"She's just as kind and caring," Arkanov said immediately, with a gentle smile. However, soon, his face fell. "But she's sick. Kestral and I have to look after her a lot. Poor woman."

River's solemn eyes that were reminiscing over her own family turned into sympathy for the other's. She walked a little closer to him, lessening the small yet obvious distance between her and the two, "I'm sorry to hear about your mother… and I can relate. I have a little sister, and even though she isn't sick, she's really weak, can't walk on her own properly…"

"Oh, I'm... I'm very sorry to hear that," Upsilon apologized, his eyebrows in an upward furrow. He knew the pain of having a disabled sibling or family member. To lighten the mood, he tried to change the topic. "You have a little sister? You're an older child as well?"

River nodded in response, her eyes still showing a hint of sadness, but focusing more on the present now, a soft smile grew across her lips. "Yes, she's younger than me by a year. We look extremely similar, only her eyes are more of a pink color. She tends to be a bit excitable, and sweet as well…"

Kestral grinned at this description. "One day maybe we could meet her...? I don't know, is that weird to say considering we met each other yesterday? Still, your little sis sounds a lot like me! Excitable and sweet!"

"How humble," Arkanov scoffed with a small chuckle. "Anyways, yes. Maybe if we cross paths on this trip coincidentally —"

Suddenly, his manner changed. The light smile he had settled into a small frown, and he shook his head as if trying to shake an idea out of his mind. "I suppose only by chance, if we're lucky."

River shook her head, and shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly, "It's a rare chance. She's all the way out near the eastern shores in a small village right now. And there would be no way our dad would let her leave, it was almost impossible to convince him to let me go myself." But then, with a sense of optimism, she smiled up to him, "But after we've found all the shards, we can go back there, and meet her, if you'll follow along…"

"Oh please, Arkanov?" Kestral asked pleadingly, with a small quivering lip for emphasis. "That would be so much fun."

"If time permits," Arkanov answered, now sounding more somber than he had before. "You know how stretches for time we are afterwards, Kes. It depends, River. It would be nice though. But at the same token, it would be difficult for you to meet our parents as well."

"That's fine, and I understand. What with your father working and your mother's condition, it doesn't seem like visiting would be easy for them," River nodded her head. She put her hand to her chin in thought as they wandered around the market place, and sighed, "I have a similar situation. My family wouldn't even allow me to be with more than half of the group all together. They, uh... don't really trust other men around me..."

"They don't trust you around other men?" Arkanov asked confusedly. He tilted his head. "Um, may I ask why? I admit my behavior in subduing Thomas was a little crude but I... I-I'm not a murderer."

River smiled to him, and suddenly nudged him with her elbow in a playful manner, "Of course you're not! I know for a fact you haven't done any of that, and that's not even what they're afraid of," and then, as she said these next words, her tone softened itself, becoming a bit quieter, "It's just… I've had some bad experiences with men, and they don't want it to happen again, that's all."

"Again, I'm very sorry to hear that," Arkanov apologized. Now Kestral hugged her arms from the awkwardness of the situation. Within less than ten minutes they had uncomfortable silences twice. Arkanov coughed. "But that just means you have protective parents. Good parents. Who love and care for you deeply."

River agreed to this with another simple, single nod of her head, and remained silent. She felt as though continuing on the subject might make things a little more awkward for all three of them, so she didn't want to say much more. That is, until a pulsating feeling suddenly traveled up her body. She recognized this feeling from only a day earlier, when the heart shard had reacted to her, but it was the first time since then that it had done this. Quickly, she grabbed into her satchel, and grasped onto the small glass bottle containing the shard. She could feel it, another piece was extremely close, but at the same time very slowly getting further Immediately, River began turning her head left and right, trying to spot a specific person, but she didn't know just who. Someone here had another shard. With urgency, she looked to Arkanov and Kestral, "Guys, wait. We need to stop, someone here has what we're looking for… we might need to re-group with the others. I can follow them with this shard…"

"Re-group?" Kestral asked. She shook her head. "That might waste time. What if they leave this place? Let's just find the shard here and when we re-group like we normally do we can show them we've already got the next shard!"

River looked at the girl, worried for the chance of this plan failing, but they had to take the opportunity. If not, then they may take even longer trying to find this tiny shard. River decided to face the risks, "Let's go."

She began to walk, her first few steps aimless, but she could feel a pull from the shard in her hand, as the pulses grew more rapid as she walked towards the pulling force. With her free hand, she beckoned for the two siblings to follow her. She wove through the small crowds of people in the marketplace, the pull becoming stronger just by slight increments, until several yards in front of her, she saw a mysterious figure. They were cloaked, with their hood over their head in the middle of the day. She didn't know how they weren't already considered suspicious. But when that person got a little further away, River could feel the forces within Mana's broken heart weaken. They had to be carrying the next piece. "Do the two of you see that person…? They… look like they're trying to leave town, I think they might have the shard…"

Arkanov gave a confused look at this statement and then looked towards the person who was leaving in a suspicious manner. He didn't recognize him or her as any one of the people in their own group. He frowned. "Hm. No, I don't think we know that person. If you think they have the shard let's tail them down. I'll have my magic ready in case...  something happens."

"Thank you. We'll have to keep our distance though, so that they don't suspect us following them…" River noted, and making sure to keep the cloaked figure in sight, began to follow them at a slow pace. It wasn't long before the mysterious stranger had led the three of them out of the marketplace, out to the residential area where local villagers were out doing their daily chores and the children, whatever ones weren't kidnapped from weeks earlier, played in the street. The only time the figure stopped was to look at these children as they stuck to the side of the road, but then they would inevitably move on. This behavior only made River more nervous. A few minutes later, they had followed the strange person all the way to the edge of the village, as they were now moving on to the outskirts, where there was only desert land and various red, rocky formations. River turned back to the other two, "Should we continue without the others? I don't know where this person could be going… it might be dangerous."

Kestral, who was expressionless at first, now furrowed her brow as she stared at this mysterious figure. She was full determination to find out his or her identity. Something about the way the figure stared at children as they passed, and the manner in which the figure was wandering seemingly aimlessly through the village, seemed very off. But she could not put her finger on it.

"I say we follow the person," Kestral suggested, her voice full of vivacious, lively energy. "If we don't follow this person they could get away with the shard and we lose them! Besides, it's three versus one. We've got this handled. How powerful could this mystery person be?"

"You can be surprised with some mages. Even people who look weak and harmless can cause some real damage… but we should continue on anyways." River decided to press on despite the potential danger. As they went further, she noticed the landscape becoming a bit more rugged and rocky, a little difficult to traverse now. The village was a good distance behind them now, but still in sight. Predictions as to where they were being led began to fill her mind. Maybe this person couldn't afford a room at an inn and was camping out here? Or maybe they're a resident who prefers privacy rather than having neighbors? However, neither of these were the correct answer.

The cloaked person had stopped, and thus the three following her from a distance had to stop as well. River realized that they were at a crevice, a cave-like crack in a large, red, desert rock. It was barely shaded by the dead trunk of a dried up tree that had grown there generations ago. However, that wasn't exactly what had caught her eye, for the reason the cloaked one had stopped was because of another person.

It was a man, wearing some torn and dirty clothes, but he seemed calmed and contained nevertheless. His skin was dark, and almost identically to River, his eyes were a cerulean blue, and his long back-length hair was white as a cloud. When River saw this, she didn't know what to say, all she could do was gasp in surprise, then quickly crouch down under the protection of several smaller rocks. "Wh… what the…" she shook her head, "That can't… no, this doesn't make sense…"

Arkanov was confused over River's reaction to the strange man. Arkanov peered his head over the rock to get a better look at the man. He did seem very similar to River. Thus, he figured it must be some sort of relative. He held Kestral in his arms so she wouldn't feel the urge to spring up and introduce herself, or fight. Both options would've been problematic. "River, is that your dad?" Arkanov asked curiously, keeping his voice down. "Or is he someone else? What's going on?"

River shook her head furiously, and was beginning to rub her forehead with her quivering hand. She peeked over the rocks again, and saw the cloaked figure kneeling down to give the man half a loaf of bread. His eyes were glazed over, emotionless, thoughtless, he didn't say anything and simply ate. River didn't know what to do, or how to explain this. "Th-This doesn't make any sense… that… that's Mana… the one that needs these heart shards. My past reincarnation… b-but I don't understand! His body isn't supposed to be back to normal, how was it fixed?!" She whispered with a sharp and panicked tone, "I don't even know what he's doing here! He… he's supposed to be back at Ali'ikai…"

"So you're telling me your reincarnation of yourself that should be back on your uncharted homeland that we can't confirm exists or otherwise is here, around and walking," Arkanov said incredulously. Now he had an untrusted expression. "I'm sorry to say I don't believe you."

"I know! I know…" River was panicking. She breathed harder and faster, while her heart began pounding in her chest. None of this made sense, it was absolutely ridiculous to think that this was even real. Her arms were shaking violently, "I-I never expected any of you to believe me, but this is not supposed to happen. I can't understand…"

But while she was whispering, she didn't realize that the figure behind her was already talking to the man believed to be Mana. When River paused and listened, she heard that the voice belonged to a woman, and quickly she turned her head around and peeked back over the rock to see what was happening. She saw the cloaked woman kneel down to Mana's level, and reached out a hand for him to grab. She could at least see the skin on her arm, which was still brown, but on the lighter side. The strange spoke something that was inaudible from this distance, and she pulled Mana up to his feet. From there, the two began to walk away from the entrance of the large crevice, in the opposite direction of the trio. River breathed out, "For a second I thought they saw us… but we're safe now."

She breathed in and out again, trying to calm herself, "M-Maybe they're friendly… after all, maybe they're collecting shards too for Mana, and they could help us… right? If we're going for the same goal… maybe…"

Arkanov got onto his knees instead of sitting down and gave a frown in River's direction. "Maybe that is the case, but I'd much rather prefer if we had the shards over a stranger. You don't know if that woman is friend or foe."

Kestral assumed a similar position as Arkanov. "I'm thinking foe. I'm getting a very bad vibe from her."

"I'm sure that she's fine. We'll never know until we confront her though," River noted, trying to stay a little optimistic. However, she was afraid to admit that she was leaning more towards the assumptions of the other two. But she didn't want to jump to negative conclusions. When the woman and Mana were out of sight, River stood up from behind the natural wall of rocks, and looked to where the two had been before. She almost considered following them further, to ask them for their help, but she was stopped when in a few steps towards the small cave, an awful smell wafted into her nose.

She recoiled, covering her nose and mouth in disgust and distaste. The scent reminded her of rotting meat, a smell she had the fortune of rarely having to endure. It almost made her feel a little nauseous, "Ugh… what is that? Where's that even coming from?"

"Huh?" Kestral stood up to her normal height and caught a whiff of the odor River was talking about. She stuck out her tongue and crinkled her nose. "Eugh!" She waved her hands to push the smell away. "When I was talking about a bad vibe I wasn't talking about that."

Arkanov stood up and breathed in sharply. When he smelled it, his eyes widened in surprise. He knew that odor anywhere. "Overripe fruit... trash... rotting meat? I'm not sure where it's coming from. Do we even want to know the source to begin with?"

When this was asked, all River did was look to the crevice. It seemed that the awful smell was coming from there, and as much as she wanted to investigate, something inside of her told her to leave this place.

But this time her curiousity had overcome her instincts, and she took a few steps closer to the dark, narrow cave. It didn't look entirely safe, so looking for assistance, she turned her head back to the black-haired man behind her, "Arkanov, do you want to check it with me?"

"Sure," Arkanov said, and went to her side. As he walked away from Kestral, he leaned into River's side so he could whisper quietly, "River, why don't you want Kes to come? You don't think it's something dead?"

"I don't know if it's entirely safe for her to go in. I mean, she could cut herself on a rock or... something..." River mentioned, leaning back towards him, her hands now held close to her torso, her foot cautiously tempting itself to move forward, "And even if it is just a dead animal that got stuck in there, I don't think she would want to see something like that."

"True, but Kestral can handle it," Arkanov explained adamantly to his companion. He gave a smile at the thought. "She's very strong for her age. Strong-willed, I mean."

River contemplated this for a moment, as she still wasn't totally convinced that Kestral was that strong-hearted, especially for someone of her young age. Whenever she looked at the girl, all she could see was softness. But on the other hand, she hadn't known her for very long. Maybe this was a time for the girl to prove herself to her. River let out a sigh, and agreed. She beckoned Kestral over to the entrance of the cave, "Alright, alright... you can come too..."

"YES!" Kestral explained excitedly. She pumped her fists in the air and sprinted to the two adults' sides. Even then she began to move on ahead and chanted loudly. "I can't wait! I can't wait! Adventure! Experience! I need a lot of that at this point."

Arkanov gave Kestral a furious look and put a finger to his lips. "Shhh! We don't know if those two can still hear us."

Kestral winced at her own mistake. "Sorry. Anyways, besides, what's the worst this smell could be? A dead rat or something? I've seen those before. They're gross but certainly nothing I can't handle."

River remained silent, as she was a bit apprehensive to say anything more, for both the growing paranoia in her as well as the risk of being heard by the strange duo from only a minute or so earlier. Covering her nose with her forearm, she approached the entrance of the small crevice, feeling sick even when she forced herself to breathe through her mouth. She turned diagonal, to squeeze into the thin hole, where the smell only got even worse. Light was becoming dimmer, although the sun could still peek in, just barely, making all the shadows a very dark gray. For the moment, it didn't seem like there was anything. It was empty.

The white-haired woman hesitated telling the others to turn around and just get back out into the open, but her mind was changed to stay in a single moment. River's blue eyes went wide when she felt something... squishy, touch her foot. She recoiled and lifted her leg, fearing it to be a snake or a rat, but instead a dead weight dropped with a very light thud. She yelped, flinching, only to find that seconds later, nothing had happened. When she finally turned her head down, she saw it. Even in the dim lighting it was clearly visible.

It was a human arm. Small, short, a little bit fat too. As she looked closer, it was attached to a body of a motionless, cold toddler, their eyes glazed over staring up at nothing but the roof of the cave. Their body had only one imperfection: a bloody stab wound through the chest, that had punctured the lung presumably days or even weeks ago. Behind that child were five more, all of various ages from three to twelve years old, in the same exact condition. Bloody, motionless, cold; dead.

"What the fuck?" Arkanov asked flatly. He immediately covered Kestral's eyes and swooped his arm down, trying to use the shadows to cloak the dead, rotting bodies. "Kestral, don't look."

"No, let me-" Kestral moved her brother's arm down and tried to stare at what was being hidden. When she saw the children about her age, she wondered why they were sleeping and covered in red paint. But when she realized the smell mixed with this image did not mean the children were sleeping, her eyes widened, her bottom jaw dropped, and a look of horror crossed her face. Tears began to flow. She made a sick, nauseous expression as well, and tried to fight her brother's arm.

Now Arkanov held onto Kestral as she began to let out horrified gasps, sudden in-breaths of total terror. Kestral began to cry loudly. "Wh-Wh-What happened!? What is this!?"

River would have screamed at the sight of this if she could, but her throat was so choked up with disgust and terror that she couldn't make a single sound. She couldn't stand to look at this any longer without throwing up. She turned around immediately and tried to push back the other two, urging them to get back to their senses and get back out into the open, away from this awful place.

She met no protest. As soon as River began to push them away, Arkanov took Kestral, who was now calming down but still whimpering, and moved the way they came out of the cave. They had to leave this place before anyone saw what they had come across. Arkanov looked at River, his eyes wide from shock. "We have to report this."

The moment they were out and back under the light of the desert sun, River felt her entire body begin to go wobbly. She couldn't even respond to Arkanov, when only a few steps outside of the cave, she collapsed right down onto her knees. She felt so weak that she couldn't move anymore, that she couldn't even think it process anything happening around her. She clutched her stomach, hunching over and began heaving, the nausea getting to her. But she had to hold it back, and took a deep breath to try stopping herself.

That was when she felt her lip quivering, and her eyes watering from both fear and sympathy. In a blink of her eyes, tears ran down her cheeks. She was beginning to whimper, as she held tightly on her stomach, "Wh-Why would someone do this?! All the ones that were missing, th-they were here…" she released another cry, "They were only little kids! Wh-Why did this happen…?!"

Arkanov was unsure of what to do. He had two crying girls on his hands, and if he showed any signs of fear, disgust or confusion, they would not have anyone to lean on or look up to. Thus, he gently, if not awkwardly, patted River's back. "I don't know. Whatever happened to them, it doesn't look like natural causes. They were definitely murdered. And murders of children are generally premeditated..."

He felt for the dead children. Looking at his own baby sister, he was just happy she was alive and was not present in this village to have witnessed or be victim of these violent acts. He felt as though he owed the unnamed children something. Curse his sudden, usually unwanted bouts of empathy. "But I think we owe it to these unnamed fallen children to find out who did this to them."

"I… I think it might have been that woman from before…" River struggled to hold back another sob, as it came out uncontrollably. But strangely enough, with Arkanov comforting her and Kestral, she felt herself calm enough to talk. Nevertheless, terrified and sorrowful tears still streamed down her face, but she still spoke. "She was so close to that cave, as yet she didn't react whatsoever to the smell, as… a-as if she knew what was in there… what are they doing this for…?"

"We can't assume immediately," Arkanov warned, but it seemed like he believed River's theory. "I don't know what her reasons are for doing this. But when we see her, we'll find out. Did you see which way she and your past self went? Maybe we can corner them and confront them."

"N-No… I don't know where they went…" River muttered fearfully, trying to wipe away her tears now, even though they were still coming down in a lighter stream. Then, she put her hand on her shoulder, clenching it tightly, "They might come back… and if not them, then whoever the real culprit is. Would we be able to wait here to find them…?"

"Criminals always return to the scene of the crime," Arkanov said gruffly. He sounded like he had firsthand experience with this sort of situation. "Maybe waiting here would be a safe bet. But what's our plan of catching them? We catch them in the act. Then what? Obviously this person doesn't play around. River, I can see you're not used to fighting. But we're going to need it now, possibly."

River felt her entire body tense when she heard that last sentence. She had never fought before, not once in her entire life. She had never even been the kind to initiate any sort of violence. When she looked up to Arkanov's eyes and saw the serious determination in them, she began to feel meek under his gaze, "H-How? I've never hurt anyone with my magic before. What would I be able to do?"

"Get a large wave of water, flush them out, or spray them as a fistraction, something like that," Arkanov suggested. "Anything that involves using water? I'm not a water Mage so I wouldn't know. You can make a water weapon, if you like, like how I do with my shadows."

River contemplated these suggestions for a moment. She didn't want to be violent, and had been hoping they could apprehend this murderer without harming them, and take them back to the village for judgement. But she didn't want to shoot down all of Arkanov's suggestions, he was only trying to help after all. Tentatively, she gave an answer, "I… I might try… I'll figure something out. But now, maybe we should get back to the village and regroup with everyone, tell them what's going on…"

"Okay, that sounds good," Arkanov nodded, with a stiff nod. He used his arms to gesture for River to exit the cave from the way they came. "Let's just hurry up then. Get out of here before she decides to come back, she might... never mind that. Let's just go."

Back at the Village
Only less than ten minutes later, the trio had made it back to the village, unnoticed by the residents and visitors alike this time. River was at least a little thankful that she wasn't grabbed from out of nowhere again. But that feeling didn't make up for what they had all seen not so long ago. "Let's try meeting in the square with everyone…" River suggested, her voice weary, "They're probably all waiting for us. And we didn't even get the food we promised to get…"

Kestral gasped when she realized this. Thankfully she had calmed down, though she felt her eyes were heavy from how many tears that stained her lashes. She looked around frantically. "Oh no. We don't have any food. This is awful... well, Salina brought a lot. We should be okay until the next town, I would think. Or maybe we can get some after... w-we tell them..."

River shook her head, "I don't think we have enough time for that now. The lives of the children in this village are at risk, and we can't waste any time." Once that was said, she pressed on, taking lead in front of the two into the town square.

However, they wouldn't reach there as suddenly, a certain black-haired young man had caught sight of them from a distance, and had ran up to meet with them. It was Blake, and he looked flustered and concerned, "There you three are! I was worried, I couldn't find any of you after I was finished with the interviewing-" he only paused in his blabbering when he saw how frazzled and yet solemn the other three looked, "Goodness… what happened to all of you?"

"We... we need to talk about that," Arkanov warned. His voice was very grave and serious. "We saw something troubling. We'll need to discuss it with everyone. Do you know where the others are?"

Blake nodded, his eyes naive as to what Arkanov had meant, but on the inside he wasn't sure if he truly wanted to know, "My brother just finished booking a place for us to stay, while Thomas and Salina should be finishing up gathering their supplies, Rubus just left to check on them…"

At this moment, Salina and Thomas approached the town center. They were carrying the group's satchels and they appeared to be weighed down with various objects. Thomas chuckled herring the information he heard from Blake. "If Rubus is looking for us, we just missed him. What's this you all saw a little earlier back?"

Only a moment later, Rubus came running up behind Thomas and Salina. He skidded to a halt seeing everyone else gathered, and bent over with his hands on his lap, panting. "Goodness you two… I swear I was calling out to the both of you trying to catch up…"

Now that everyone had finally arrived, it was time to deliver the bad news. But first, River wasn't sure if she could dump this all on them so quickly, "… E-Everyone, I can say that we've found someone who holds the second shard, however…" she glanced to Arkanov for some help in speaking, "We've discovered something else, an awful thing, as well…"

"Something awful?" Salina asked. Her voice was now more heavy, most likely with the fear of wondering what on earth the three could've possibly seen. She looked down to their empty hands, and then frowned. "No food is awful."

At this comment, Arkanov settled a glare toward her direction. "Salina, we're serious. Those guards we encountered when we came to this town, they talked about how the children of the city were strangely disappearing. Well, we think we've found out what's happened to them. But it's very unpleasant. We went into a cave because we were following these two people —"

"Who were they?" Thomas asked.

"— I'll get to that," Arkanov muttered, and continued on, "In the cave there was this hidden alcove filled with the dead corpses of a lot of children. I think someone is killing them all off."

There was a long, deep, seemingly endless moment of silence. No one would disregard these words said so seriously, especially when the statement was supported by three of their traveling companions. It was far too dark to be an excuse for not getting what they were told to do. And yet at the same time an air of disbelief was surrounding all of them. Only a few moments later, the only one who had the courage to speak was Blake, surprisingly. Taking a step forward, and raising his hand slightly as if he were in a classroom, he spoke shyly, "E-Excuse me? You... you're not joking about this, are you...?"

When River gave him a stern glare, he stepped back to his original place. They obviously weren't playing around. That was when Rubus decided that he would have to step in, and that same feeling of resentment towards the perpetrator that he experienced when first hearing about them was obvious in his expression, "Then tell us all that happened, from the beginning, please. If you've found their corpses and the possible kidnapper, then maybe we can stop them for good..."

"We had followed some cloaked figure into the cave," Arkanov began to explain. "They just seemed very strange in the way they were looking towards children in the town. At the cave it turned out to be River's past reincarnation."

"How is that possible?" Thomas asked again.

"I don't really know," Arkanov admitted, still embarrassed to admit this. "A-Anyways, another woman came in, but I didn't see what she looked like. And then those two left. That's when we all started to smell some foul odor. We followed it and found the dead children. We think one of them is the murderer but I can't tell who did it. They went away anyways. Maybe it's too late."

"It's not too late, it can't be!" Rubus argued in a sudden fit of passionate fury. He could never be angry at the others of the team, but as for the people of the subject matter, he couldn't stand the thought of having them roam free leaving a path of lost souls behind them. His angry demeanor seemed to be getting worse, to the point where one could see small embers floating away from him. As soon as this happened, Blake had to hold on to his brother's arm before things got any worse.

River took a breath, a little worried, as she held her hands together to stop them from shaking, "It's not, don't worry. If they were able to get away killing this many children so far, they wouldn't be so stupid as to do it in the middle of the day right now. They might wait until night, which means we have time. I... was considering a plan, where we wait by that cave again, and ambush them..."

Salina's eyes, usually round and wide, were framed by furrowed brows, and they looked determined to find out what had really happened to these children. "That sounds like a good plan. We need to get justice for these kids. When can we go over? And can you three show us the way?"

The white-haired woman gave a single, simple nod to the other, as that was all she needed to do to approve all those questions, "We can show you where we need to go when the time comes. And just in case... be prepared for a fight, in case the perpetrator starts to think that they can add us to their list of victims..."

"No problem," Thomas assured with a huff. He crossed his arms to show he was serious. "If this perpetrator is brash enough to want to fight us, they'll be in for one. One versus what, seven? I doubt we'll be having many problems with that."

Rubus looked to Thomas with determination, clenching his fist tightly, taking a breath to calm himself. The only thing that could keep him in a logical field of mind was his twin brother, holding onto him, "It sounds easy, but let's make sure not to underestimate them. Even though there's a power of us in numbers, Blake and I are only novices in our magic abilities," he cautioned, and looked to the white-haired girl in front of him, "And River's told me that she's never fought in her life."

"Wh-" Arkanov looked at River incredulously hearing this. He wasn't sure whether he should show simple surprise or more genuine horror. It was surprising to someone as familiar with fighting as himself that someone could go their whole life without doing so. "Well, you're going to learn today. It's necessary."

River understood his words, so she asked no questions. She knew that even though she was nowhere close to being a decent combatant, that at least she had the backup of everyone else of violence were to occur. So now, all that was left was to go over the plan, "Now, all we need to do is get there at night, preferably right at dusk before it gets too dark and we end up being too late. There's this wall-like formation of rocks that we can all hide behind, and we might need to take shifts watching in case some of us get tired too early."

Kestral nodded. She had been quiet, scarred from the whole ordeal the entire conversation. She didn't feel like speaking but she didn't want to seem too weak. "That's fine. Are we going to... k-kill anyone? Like if we have to, if that person comes at us?"

"W-We might have to, if it comes down to that," Blake interjected, trying to remain calm, even though the anxiety was easily heard in his tone of voice. But even then, he tried to muster a smile for the girl, "But listen Kestral, we'll do our best just to apprehend them and take them back to the guardsmen here, and have them decide the punishment. We won't have to get any blood on our hands, I promise."

"Leave that stuff to me," Arkanov assured his sweet little sister. He hugged her protectively. This was probably the first time he showed true affection for anyone on the team. "Kestral, we'll be okay. We'll try to be as nonviolent as possible. But no one will be hurt on our side."

He looked over to River. "What do we do while we wait?"

"All we need to do is prepare ourselves for what may happen," River informed, and looked down to the satchel that hung from her left shoulder and dangled on her right side. She put her hand on it, "And in case it was those two we saw earlier, I can keep track of where they are with our heart shard, as they have one as well."

"So we're all set," Arkanov stated. He nodded, but his expression was grim. "Then let's prepare ourselves for this. I have a feeling dealing with those two tonight will not be easy."

Catching the Killer
Night had fallen upon the village and its surrounding outskirts. The sky was still somewhat light from the dusk, the sun that had fallen over the horizon only an hour or two ago. The stars had just begun to show in the sky above; they would soon be accompanied by thousands more of them speck long the sky with their white glow.

But now was not the time to admire its beauty. For currently, horrible things were about to happen. There was a woman, her face covered by the hood of her dark cloak, carried something in her two arms. Upon closer inspection, one would have seen that it was a child. Only six years of age, with his long, curly dark brown hair, and sleeping soundly with his head resting on her shoulder. He was oblivious as to what was to come, but so was she.

Less than a mile away from the village, but still secluded and covered by darkness, she stopped walking when she had reached the mouth of a narrow cave. Gently, she lay the back of the child, awakening him slowly. His eyes opened, only slightly, and the woman knelt down, placing his small bare feet on the dry ground. Now was the time.

Little was she aware of the small group, seven different mages, all hiding behind sturdy formations of red rocks, waiting to ambush her…

And that they would. Upon seeing the young child in the woman's arms, one figure stood up behind the formation. It was Arkanov, and he held his shadow sword trained towards the woman's head. He held Kestral down so she could not spring up and reveal herself. Thomas and Salina laid in hiding as well, ready to provide another assault if this woman tried to assault.

"Leave the child alone," Arkanov warned. He tried to use as deep, dark and gruff of a voice that he could muster. "We know what you've been doing. Leave the child be, and leave this place."

The woman whipped her head around at the booming sound of Arkanov's voice, and she recoiled in shock. She grasped tightly on to the young boy's arm, which woke him up even more, making him slowly realize the situation that he was in, but he made no noise yet. She bared her teeth at Arkanov like an animal, believing it was only him there, until she finally realized that maybe him alone was no true threat to her. She had faced several swordsmen before after all. With a smug smirk across her lips, she muttered, in a sickenly sweet voice, "Oh Mana… I require your assistance…"

Then, from out of the shadows, he appeared. River peeked over the rocks, not jumping out yet, but preparing herself just in case. She glanced out the corner of her eye and saw that Rubus and Blake were doing the same. And there he was: Mana. His skin a tanned brown, his swept-back hair long and white, and his eyes a cerulean blue, just as she had seen him hours before in the daylight. His eyes were dead, expressionless, totally blank. Then, without warning, oil-like tendrils began crawling up his body. He had no reaction as they enveloped him, practically drowning him, as it warped his body in a terrifying and disgusting way. His body enlargened, the bones in his limbs could be heard breaking and clacking as they shifted into unnatural positions, as he became the monster he was once known as.

As the inky liquid dripped off his new form, he snarled and roared at Arkanov, causing the small kidnapped child behind him to scream in fear. His teeth where in a constant sharp-toothed smile, with horns that curled off his head. His arms were massive and clawed, unnaturally bent backwards, and his back arched and legs warped like the hind legs of a dog. The woman taunted now, "Do you really want to challenge me?"

Arkanov's eyes went wide from the sudden transformation that occured before him. He took a step back and now trained the sword on the awful creature. Even he had to admit it: he was utterly, totally terrified of Mana. He had trouble containing his fear. "U-Uh, Thomas...?"

Thomas sprung up now, and his gun was already locked and loaded. When he saw the monster, however, his jaw dropped, as did his gun. "U-Um... ah... everyone else?"

Rubus and Blake, simultaneously, furiously shook their heads, this was not what they had been prepared for whatsoever. River was merely paralyzed as she stared at the monster before her, the person she was trying to save and give back sentience to, was prepared to kill all of them. The woman simply chuckled, finding this conundrum of theirs confusing, it made perfect sense to her. "So I see that a crowd of cowards has tried to stop me. Now if you could just stop pestering me…"

The woman pulled a knife from a small leather sheath tied to her hips, and held it up to the young boy as he fearfully stepped back, starting to cry and scream out of fear. This was when River finally jumped into action, quite literally. She leapt over the cover of stones and dashed to the mystery woman. A mass of water bubbled up in her two hands, and in a split second, she forced herself between the woman and the child, splashing her with the water as she lost grip of the knife, which merely nicked River's shoulder.

The impact from the splash had blown the killer's hood away to reveal the true face of the culprit. Her skin was a similar shade to River's, with white hair cut in a bobbed style, and sharp, glaring eyes greener than the glades of a forest. These traits, minus the eyes that baffled her, were all qualities of an Ali'kian, and yet she had never seen this woman before. She was awestruck, but this was a perfect moment of distraction. Suddenly, the beast called Heartless Mana rose up behind her, swinging his right claw, and smacked River down to the ground, making her fly two feet away before her impact. She didn't get up.

"River!" Arkanov screamed out. He saw the girl touch the floor but saw no movement come from her. Already, one of their team members were down. Arkanov wondered why he even cared, for these people were not a part of his true mission, but he felt the urge to leap forth and fight for them anyways. "Thomas, help River and cover me! Salina, get the woman!" He settled his gaze on Heartless Mana. "Rubus, Blake, we need to finish this monster before it hurts someone else."

He made no other noises or talk, but the nasty glare on his face showed his true emotions. Within a flash, he had jumped onto the rock coverage, and using his powers he separated his normal sword into two smaller yet equally sharp and dangerous daggers. He lunged, using the rocks as a springboard for higher leverage, leaving a trail of shadows in his wake, and trained the daggers onto Mana's mid-back.

The beast shrieked at the top of its lungs, the one time that it's disturbing eternal smile had faltered. And even though the twins weren't really used to following orders from Arkanov, he seemed to know what he was doing. So, Rubus and Blake ran up to the right and left wing of the shadow mage, both their eyes glaring and their bodies struggling to stand strong and not tremble in fear. First to attack was Rubus, who with embers floating and dancing around him, had thrust his arm forward. A burst of fire flew from his hands, and Heartless Mana roared once more from his burns.

Meanwhile, the woman was stuck confronting Salina. She only smiled and sighed, "You all aren't going to make this very easy, are you?"

"Definitely not," Salina said with a small laugh. She lifted her fist up in front of her face. As if on cue, a red rock sprung up from in front of Eris, as if blocking her. Three more popped up in the other four directions, as if on cue. She motioned for the child next to her to run along. After, she looked at Eris, and put her fists up again, now in a fighting stance in case Eris wanted to move around the rocks and fight. "But you can make it easy and give in."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, girl," Eris spoke with a grim, foreboding, and yet taunting deep voice. Immediately, Heartless Mana had stopped attacking the three young men, and dashed back to Eris' side, snarling and snapping at Salina. The young boy that she was protecting was too traumatized and terrified to even move.

River, although she had seemingly been knocked out, felt her eyes opening again. Her vision was greatly blurry, and her body wobbly. All she could see was the outlines of everyone else, but she knew what she had to do. Her satchel was still worn on her, and slowly reaching inside, she pulled out the bottle containing the first heart shard they had found. It was only then that Mana had halted, staring at the shard, utterly entranced. He was seemingly docile. River muttered, "Mana, please… please know that we are only trying to help you… you'll be okay again…"