A/N: What happens when you have a day with no Archeology Lab. Well you get bored and write stuff. Here's the next chapter for you all.


"Hay Lin, I don't know if you can hear me, but…I love you."

Those were the last words that she small Asian girl heard her best friend speak before she was all alone in a dark, cold cave. It was when the sun of the world they were on shimmered into the cavern that Hay Lin woke up. The light was warm, even in the icy cold cave, and lit the entire structure within seconds. Hay Lin slowly opened her eyes and looked around. She could see the jagged rocks that were tinted a bright red. Her body was sore, especially her right arm. She struggled and flopped onto her stomach. Then supporting herself with her left arm, because her right arm was far too sore to move, she saw herself. At least she thought it was herself.

"Hey," a shout stirred Hay Lin from her restless sleep. The ebony haired girl rustled from under a grey cloak that was draped over her. She stared at the intruder with one wide brown eye and one semi-open blue eye. The person speaking was a younger man. He was scruffily dressed and covered in dust. "You asleep in there, young fairy?"

"I'm awake now." Hay Lin yawned slightly. She remembered that she was still in her guardian form. So she stretched her left arm and wings. Her right arm stayed snugly in its sling as she grinned. Behind her lay a sheathed sword. On its pommel, as well as most of the sheath, were sapphire spheres of various sizes. The hand guard was a splendid gold while the sheath itself was made of bright silver with a blue wrapping near the hilt. "Thank you for waking me."

"Well, we're stopping at Saventure for the night. Thought you'd want to get up and walk around." The man said as he turned to walk away from his cart and Hay Lin. Hay Lin smiled and looked up at the sun. She blocked it slightly with her left arm and yawned once again. The soreness of her body was finally gone.

"Thank you for the ride." She yelled out to the man, but he was gone. It was him that had found her wandering out of the forest around the cave in which she woke. He was also the one to fix her dislocated right arm, and place it safely in the sling it was now in. She still couldn't feel her right arm, but she knew it was there. She could see it, even if it was a different skin color. She thanked Irma for her kindness again. A tear slid out of her brown eye. She hugged herself and looked to the sword.

She couldn't stay like this forever. Her stomach rumbled to reinforce this thought. She hopped delicately off of the carriage that she rode, well slept, into town on. Her power over air softened her landing enough to land perfectly. She grabbed onto the grey cloak that the man gave her to keep warm and wrapped it around her body as best as she could with only one working arm. After she was sure that it was secured she grabbed hold of the hilt of the sword and picked it up. Just like in the cave, it was light as a feather, yet when the man tried to pick it up for her. He couldn't. It weighed more than a normal sword in his hands. Hay Lin figured it was just another gift that Irma had given her. Though she wish she knew where Irma had vanished off to.

Hay Lin just wandered into town. Looking through windows to see if anything looked like a restaurant. The town itself looked as if it had come out of one of those old west shows that she had seen on TV. She finally saw the only place that reminded her of a restaurant. The word 'SALOON' was splayed across a wooden rafter in poorly painted green letters.

The crackle of wood and smashing glass spooked her. A man, that looked to be a cross between a human and a wolf, landed on the dusty road next to the Asian girl. Guess this was like those wild west shows. She thought it was a little cliché, but it had to have been based on some fact. She gulped and walked towards the door. As a Guardian she was obligated to try to stop needless violence. Hay Lin opened the doors to see a group, of a variety of creatures, surrounding two teenage boys.

"I don't think you should have hit him so hard, Azure." The smaller of the two teens spoke. He dressed in a long coat that was tattered at the bottom and a pair of black hakama. His hair was a dark brown and spiky and his eyes were hidden behind a black visor. In his hand he held a solid black kantana, with a chain hanging down from the back of the hilt.

"Your smart ass mouth probably didn't help the situation, Tensa." The taller of the two, named Azure, spoke as he shook a black glove covered hand. He also wore a black coat, but his was open in the front to reveal a red shirt. His hair was a bright white, and stuck up more than his smaller friend. He looked over the crowd with deep ruby colored eyes.

"You'll pay for that." One of the people in the crowd screamed. In a flash the boy named Tensa vanished. He appeared seconds later outside of the group and flicked his sword. Fresh blood dripped onto the hard wood floor as he looked over his shoulder with a confident smirk. Then half of the group looked to be cut across the shoulder or arm. The injured then fell to the ground as if a great pressure dropped them to the ground. Some kind of red light was flying into the taller one's right arm. Almost like he was absorbing their life force, yet it looked as though he didn't enjoy the feeling all that much.

Everyone uninjured rushed passed Hay Lin to escape the two. They screamed the words 'unreal,' and monsters as they left. Hay Lin then looked back toward the two, and her eyes widened as the boy, Tensa, was right next to her. His visor was lifted up so she could see his golden eyes.

"Well, well, looks like a lovely young lady entered today." He spoke quickly, and rather cocky, but the compliment came out as such. Hay Lin blushed. "The name's Tensa, Tensa Zangetsu. What's yours, or should I just use beautiful."

"Uh, Hay Lin," Hay Lin's blush became even redder. She was uncharacteristically nervous around this boy, whether that came from the feeling of power she sensed off of him or not was still to be determined.

"Ah, Hay Lin-chan," he was quick to use a Japanese honorific. Hay Lin nodded and he laughed.

"Ignore the sword spirit." Azure had walked up to the two. Tensa shot his friend a wicked glare at his comment. Almost as if trying to berate him mentally for messing with his flirting. "We didn't happen to scare you there did we, Hay Lin."

Hay Lin shook her head. Azure smiled gently and then turned to walk back to their table. Tensa quickly grabbed Hay Lin's working arm and directed her to their table. Soon, she was sitting with the two of them, and they shared the leftovers of their food with her when she said that she didn't have any money. She was definitely glad she found some nice people.

"So, what exactly is this place?" Hay Lin asked in between bites. It was harder to eat with only one arm than she thought, but she was quickly getting the hang of it.

"This little slice of heaven is the Town of Saventure. Known for dust, dirt, and mud." Tensa laughed as he leaned back in his chair. Straw sandal covered feet rested on the table in front of him while his sword supported him from behind. Hay Lin was surprised that the blade itself didn't give at all to the weight. It stayed rigged and strong, perfect qualities for a sword. Well, that's what Caleb taught them anyway.

"If you are referring to the world you are on." Azure responded quickly. He read Hay Lin's expression of 'she already knew that' easily and answered in kind. She had also finally noticed the large blade that he carried. It was like a giant white cleaver. "You are on Gess. It's a strange place."

"I've noticed." Hay Lin sighed. She was then alarmed as Tensa's face entered her personal bubble once again.

"So, what's with the sword and the arm? You get into a fight or something." Tensa asked. Hay Lin did look in pretty bad shape with her arm in a sling.

"No, just and accident." Hay Lin looked down at her plate.

"Well whatever the story is, it can wait." Azure's words made Tensa's face drop. However, the follow-up made the younger one smile. "But if this is your first time here then we'd be happy to help you out. Maybe starting with a belt for that sword of yours."

Hay Lin just nodded and continued eating. She finished and then calmly asked. "Have you two seen another girl come around here?" She revealed one of her guardian wings. "One with brown hair and wings like this."

Both of them shook their heads. Azure then motioned for the check. "If you're looking for her then its best we start. That's the best I can say."

"Yeah, you'll be fine with us." Tensa smiled.

"Hey, what's with this bill?" Azure said after a larger man, most likely the proprietor, placed a piece of paper on the table. Azure's eye twitched as he looked at the price.

"That be for the wall ye broke, weapon spirit." The man said gruffly and in an annoyed tone. "If you don't got the money for it." He then licked his lips as he looked at Hay Lin. Neither of the two boys like that at all and were soon on their feet. Their weapons drawn and placed on his neck like the blades of a pair of scissors.

"I suggest you pick your next words very carefully." Azure growled. His red eyes flashed with anger at just the sign of the man's facial expression. Tensa looked to have just reacted to Azure and was more concerned with watching Hay Lin than the man.

The proprietor laughed a bit and then screamed. "Help, I'm being mugged by armed assailants. Someone please help me."

"Shit," Azure screamed as something dropped from the ceiling. A large stone spider stared at the two as they skidded away.

"Didn't suspect a security system." Tensa spat off to the side and pointed the tip of his blade towards the spider. He was about to charge, but Azure stopped him.

"It's time we leave. Hay Lin how fast can you…" He turned towards the girl who had already taken to her wings. She clutched the sword with white knuckles, as if dropping it would be death. "Flying works, let's go."

Tensa and Hay Lin nodded as the three ran for the whole in the wall. The spider leapt towards them, but stopped just short of crashing into the wall. Hay Lin floated there, assuming the danger was over before Tensa grabbed her arm and dragged her away at lightning speed. Behind them large rocks and fireballs cascaded downward on them.

"Damn," the proprietor growled as his trap failed. "The bounty on those two would have made me royalty."

The group finally stopped deep within the forest. Tensa wasn't breathing as heavily as the other two even though he had kept ahead of them the entire way. Hay Lin just laid on her back. Her wings were exhausted, and sore again. She was definitely not in the condition for that.

"Well, mark that place off the lists." Tensa placed his hands behind the back of his head and chuckled to himself.

"What lists?" Hay Lin questioned as her breaths finally came back to her. Her eyes stared at the overly confident boy.

"The one of cities we can't go back to." Azure said as he pulled a map out of a large pocket in his jacket. He looked it over than turned himself in an eastward direction. "And places where that friend of yours isn't."

"Wait, why can't we go back to that town?" Hay Lin asked. She knew the obvious reason, but to never be able to go back.

"We've the highest bounties on our heads." Tensa gestured as if something was very high above him. He then laughed to himself again.

"We can't risk being captured." Azure said calmly. Hay Lin then tried to ask questions, but a glance at Azure's glare made her stop.

"Then where to now." Tensa asked the question that Hay Lin was thinking. The small guardian didn't know if it was a good idea to travel with these two, but they were nice people, and not to mention knowledgeable and strong. There had to be a reason for their bounties, and they would tell her in time, just like she would have to tell them about the cave, about Candracar, and about how Irma vanished in that cave leaving behind only the sword that Hay Lin now carried.

"The megalopolis Akira." Azure spoke clearly. "It's about a week's walk away, but we can ask the priests at the Temple of Bahamut if they've seen Hay Lin's friend."


"It's all my fault," Will cried into her legs. The other three Guardians of the Infinite Dimensions had managed to arrive at their intended destination, the basement of the Silver Dragon. However, none of them knew the events that have happened to the other two.

"Will, you couldn't have known that the room we were in made folds unstable." Taranee placed a hand on the red heads shoulder. "You got us here safely, and Candracar is looking for the Hay Lin and Irma now."

"I should have known though." Will sobbed louder. All the comforting couldn't convince the girl that it was okay.

"I don't mean to ruin the severity of this or anything." Cornelia spoke up calmly. Her hair blocked most of her face as she looked at the floor. "But there is still the issue with those two that attacked us at the place."

Cornelia then looked sad blonde eyes up to the two. Taranee gave her a look of 'not now' and Cornelia understood. The blonde was doing her best to keep tears from falling down her cheeks. While Taranee tried to keep Will positive, Cornelia couldn't help bring up the negative in her head. She automatically assumed that Irma and Hay Lin, her oldest friends, were dead because of some freak accident.

"Maybe Candracar will turn up something on either of them tomorrow." Taranee sighed. Outside the sky was turning from day into night. "I'm sure Yan Lin wouldn't mind if we stayed here. It is summer vacation anyway."

Cornelia nodded while Will just flopped to her side. Their leader had become quiet and it looked as if she finally just passed out from the day's experience. Taranee then looked to Cornelia. "So those two."

"Yeah," Cornelia leaned her head back. "If it wasn't for Will making that fold, we'd probably all be dead."

Taranee just nodded. "We've told Candracar. That's all we can do for now. We're no good to Irma and Hay Lin if we're exhausted." The two remaining girls then agreed to get some sleep and got their sleeping bags, for when they had all night strategy meetings, out of the usual spot and went to bed.