Disclaimer: I don't own neopets the darkest faerie.

Chapter 2

Tor rolled his eyes as he tried to block out the voice of his fellow knight, Sir Lawrence. The red Techno just wouldn't stop talking. Normally Tor wouldn't have minded, Lawrence was a good friend of his, but when Tor was traveling, he liked quietness. Just the sound of the outdoors. But no, he had to have a travelling companion. Things like this were stricter since the defeat of the darkest faerie.

It was day two of the journey. They'd camped for the night next to the lake past Illusen's glade. It had been amusing for Tor to watch Lawrence jump at every sound of the night as though he were a child rather than a seasoned knight. Now they were in the lands of Brightvale, getting closer to their destination, but it was still hours away.

"How did you do this everyday for all those months?" Lawrence asked suddenly, taking Tor by surprise.

He never spoke about his quest. Sure he told a few stories about the things he and Roberta had accomplished, but he never spoke of the bad things. How hard it was to keep going every day. He only spoke about how it was all worth it. Besides, nobody ever asked about the hardships. "It wasn't easy. But Roberta was there and it didn't take long for me to see that she was twice the fighter anyone I'd ever seen was. But we were always looking over our shoulders, always keeping an eye out for whatever was after us next. It wasn't easy."

Lawrence laughed. "I think that's the first time I've heard you speak of it like that."

"Nobody ever asked," Tor said simply. "Everyone would rather heard the great things, battles fought and won, things like that. But fighting wasn't the only thing that went on."

"So write a book."

"What?"

"Write a book. Include all of those things! Tell all of Neopia what it was like!"

Tor shook his head. "I'm not a writer."

"So? If you don't do it then there are two scenarios that will happen. Someone else will write about it, and not get all the facts right, or the entire thing will be forgotten, years and years from now when we have all been long gone."

"Maybe that's what I want."

"We both know that you don't. You grew up on a farm, dreaming to be more than a farm boy. Dreaming that you would make a difference. And you have. You saved Neopia. You want to be remembered."

Tor was silent. His fellow knight was right. He knew it.

…

"Almost there," Tor murmured. In the distance Tor could see the towers of Brightvale outlined against the darkening sky. "Another half mile at the most. We'll stay the night at the beach when we get there."

"Finally!"

They'd been walking for hours, no breaks. Lawrence was dragging his feet and breathing heavily. Tor was walking tall as always. His eyes were fixed on the towers in the distance. He hadn't even been this close to Brightvale since he'd left with Roberta for the last time before going to Meridell to continue defeat the darkest faerie. It had only been a quick stop at that, so she could say good-bye to her uncle in case of the worst.

Tor wished that Lawrence wasn't with him not for the first time. But this time it wasn't because he just wanted peace. If the other knight wasn't with him, Tor probably would have gone straight to Brightvale. He would have stopped to visit the friends he'd made in his time there. Maybe see if Matkin had any maps to sell, take his chance at the wheel or have a quick run through the obstacle course.

"You look like you're deep in thought."

Tor brought himself back to the present. "Yeah, you could say that."

"Did your thoughts have anything to do with a certain acara sorceress?" Lawrence asked with a sly grin and a small shove.

"Huh?" Tor said, ever the brilliant one. He thought, and thought, and thought. "Whoa, no! Roberta and I were friends! I haven't even seen her in nearly a year."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

Tor rolled his eyes. "Be quiet."

"Lady Anabel is gonna be jealous!"

"You know, I'm sure the your girl won't be too happy to hear about your flirting with Tina over at the pub."

The techno's eyes widened considerably and Tor couldn't help but laugh. "You wouldn't!"

"You don't know what I could do."

"Alright, alright, I'll stop. Jeeze, Tor. I'm just having a bit of fun. No need to tell Prunella anything unimportant."

There was then silence other than Tor's chuckles. Lawrence couldn't think of anything to say that wasn't about Tor's love life, or lack of one, and he didn't want to risk anything.

Darkness began to fall faster and Tor quickened his pace. He could hear creatures of the night begin to awaken and Lawrence began getting jumpy. He sighed every time he saw his fellow knight jump at some noise. Lawrence had grown up in the city of Meridell and was unused to these things. Even as a squire he spent most of his time inside of Meridell unless he was required to fight. This all was foreign to the techno. He probably hadn't even been in Shadowglen woods or even Bogshot Swamp. Only Illusen's Glen and he'd been captured by the werelupes.

Tor turned down a pathway and pushed aside the bushed that hid it. He heard Lawrence sigh before doing the same. Tor could hear the sound of waves and smiled. They were there. He began to job, his shield clanking against his armor. He jumped down the grassy ledges before his feet sank in the sand.

"What was that abo… Whoa." Lawrence had arrived, angry about the short run. Then he saw the ocean.

"Yeah," Tor agreed. "You set up the tent. I'll find the flower." He tossed his bottomless bag to the other knight and headed off along the beach, keeping his ear open for the sound of the sad music of the harpflower. It didn't take long before the sound reached his ears. It was a sad tune, coming from somewhere on his left. He followed the sound; eventually pausing when he reached the place he and Roberta met. Tor was surprised to find that he knew the exact place. It was just there, floating in his memories.

Tor found the Harpflower concealed in a patch of grass. Just a single flower and Tor felt a strange reluctance to pick it, to end the beautiful music. Before Tor could make a decision to not pick it, he plucked it from the sand. There was a screech before it fell silent again.

Lawrence had managed to get a fire going and the tent set up much faster than the night before. He was sitting cross-legged in the sand, holding a a wedge of a red juppie over the fire on a stick. Tor sat next to him and did the same, setting the flower a careful distance away from the fire. They sat in a comfortable silence.

Howling in the distance broke the silence. Tor looked toward the sound. It was coming from the direction of Werelupe Woods so it wasn't so strange he guessed. But they did sound pretty excited. Tor saw Lawrence shiver out of the corner of his eye.

"Must be a birthday party," he joked for his friend's sake. "Go sleep. I'll take first watch."

…

A/N: yes, short chapter.