Who is he? Why do I keep seeing him in my dreams? Why do I draw him every time I have paper and pencils in my hands? What was the resemblance between us? What was the connection? I couldn't control myself from crying and having more Brain Storms whenever I thought about him... during daytime...

It was a sunny morning in September. The orange leaves of the trees were swaying from a gentle breeze that passed by every now and then.

Kaede, the closest friend of mine, was talking to Eliot -but from this point of view, they looked like they were arguing- about where we would go next... Her eyes looked obviously tired. Her hair almost had gray streaks -from stress, not from age- and she looked as if she was holding onto her staff for support. If I weren't so crushed about what happened last night, I would've been the one there in Kaede's place arguing -as always- with Eliot. But if you're hometown was destroyed, wouldn't you feel crushed too?

And Raistlin on the other hand, was examining a bracelet he found on the way. He said that he had a feeling that it'd be useful somehow. He was lying chest-down on the green grass. The bracelet was Ruby Red and it always caught our attention when it glinted in the sun.

I struggled to stand up. Fortunately, Raistlin was just in time to catch me when I tripped. "Thanks." I mumbled. He stared at me. "I uhh, we, should have been there with you last night. You know, cause that's what's friends are for." I open my mouth to reply, but he silenced me and led me towards Kaede and Eliot who were still talking -arguing-.

"Hi guys. Still arguing?" They blushed and turned away. "Actually, we know where to go now." Raistlin said trying to help me stand up straight. Kaede raised an eyebrow and Eliot silently howled with laughter. "Um, Raistlin?" He smiled. "You do know that whenever you give a direction, we always end up going in circles." Raistlin reddened with guilt. "Well, we might've gotten into circles last time, but at least Massie knew the way after that. Hehe..." I stared at him again. "But what if i don't know the way?" Raistlin's expression was well, emotionless. But that was his thinking face. Which was a good thing. Not after a minute, Raistlin snapped at me. "But this is Maditonia! Your homeland! You must have a map or something." I looked at the grass. He was right. I did have a map. Too bad it was burned with the- no, you mustn't think of that now.

"I memorize the map actually, so, where are we headed Raist?" he lightened up, still helping me stand up. Kaede looked at me with worry. "Are you sure you're in good shape to travel Mase? I mean, after what just happened to you?" Kaede's voice trailed off at the last sentence. "Yes. I just can't take sitting around here doing practically nothing while you guys have all the fun." We all laughed together. It was almost like the old perfect times when we were actually having lots of fun. But that was two years ago, and people -especially our group- change.

"Well then, I lead. We gotta go to Nilux River just about a few hundred miles away from here." Kaede, Eliot and I gaped at him. "What? Why in the world would you go there?" Eliot asked open-mouthed. "Do you really want another mosquito-fly enter your mouth again Toilet?" By the mention of 'mosquito-fly', Eliot shut his mouth. "Why again are we going there? I mean, the nearest village there is Kerio. Where Philip and I met. That'd take us at least 3 days." As I asked, me and Kaede were staring at each other smiling.

"To find out who this (holds out a drawing of a man) really is. He's been bothering you in your dreams Mase. I know you wanna know who this man is."

I nodded glumly still looking at the sketch I drew. He had intense eyes. It also felt as if he never smiled a lot. I had a feeling that he was a brunette, but sometimes I had a glimpse of him being a blond. He wore a black leather jacket over a black shirt with black jeans -at least they weren't tights XP-

The next day, at dawn to be exact, while we were starting to mount on Flames, we encountered some old fiends. When I caught the female's eyes, I knew who exactly who it was. But how did Kassandra get here? And why did she bring her phonies, Max and Kurt, along with her?

"Oh no." I heard Eliot mumble behind me. I started to panic. I grabbed all my things, then told Raistlin to stop gaping at Kassandra. "How did she get here! I found this place for Mase to rest and-" "Raist! Shut up and get up here. Now!" I heard Kaede say to Raistlin. She never talks like that except when she's mad or in a hurry.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kassandra said with a smirk on her face. Max and Kurt charged and I grabbed for my spell book. "Ipex Silecius." The both of them got hit by the depressant charm and fell to the ground with a thud. Kassandra roared with anger. Flames changed into his guarding stance, Kaede drew her flute, Eliot jumped off Flames and drew his sword and shield and Raistlin grabbed his staff and recited a theory about victory. We -even Kassandra- stared at him. It was very unusual for him to say very positive things in a battle with Kassandra.

"Don't you think this is very weird for you to say such things in this battle Raist?" I whispered to Raistlin who was reddening. Kassandra lowered her hood. We saw the same devilish face that she always wore. Her eyes were as Violet as ever and her hair, up to her waist, was still jet black, but with red highlights. "Oh these, they're just souvenirs from Stone Hill." I saw the uncomfortable shift of Kaede. "What do you mean?" Eliot said raising his voice. Kassandra giggled. "I'm saying that these red highlights, is the blood of my victim." Kassandra looked at Raistlin with interest. Eliot charged for Kassandra, but she just waved her hand and Eliot fell to the ground writhing in pain.

"What do you want Kassandra?" Raistlin asked closing his eyes. "What could you possibly want with this small group of friends? You have taken almost everything from us. Our friends, our homes, and our freedom. What could you possibly take away from us now?" Kassandra smiled. "Easy. You."

"That's enough!" I jumped off Flames and felt the power rush through me. Thunder and lightning approached our direction. Rain started pouring. I let my all my anger out. All the pressure within me was too much, but I handled it. I've done this before, but I was alone. No one else knew what I could do.

Kassandra gasped at what I did. "How... I can't control the... Aaagh!" She screamed as she was nearly hit by the lightning. When she finally gave up and ran into the woods, I calmed down and started explaining. But Kaede said that I needed to rest because of the force that I conjured.

Eliot helped me up and we walked towards Flames. He was silent which was very awkward. Raistlin grabbed my spell book and handed it to me with a smile. "That was awesome." He sounded dumbfounded. But I couldn't blame him for that. "Thanks Raist. So, Nilux River?" He nodded. When we were all settled on Flames, we took off for Kerio, the nearest village to the Nilux River.