All right, glad to see that you guys like this story so far and now I'm on to the next chapter. I really hope that you like this chapter as well. Oh, and I'm sorry ahead of time if it takes forever to update in the next few weeks because I have finals coming up in 2 weeks and I'm scared because I have tests next week on top of that. Ugh... Oh, and also, I have 2 new videos on youtube that I'm pretty happy about. I would be close to having a third one as well, but my computer froze when I was halfway through making it and erased a large part of it. Needless to say, I got angry and stopped working on it, but I will get back to it eventually. Anyway, on with the next chapter.

Chapter 2: Strange Girl

"Who are you?" the girl asked Thalion as her bow and arrow pointed straight at him, ready to strike at any second. Thalion looked a little nervous at first, still freaked out by the close call he had with the last arrow, but soon he stood straighter and glared at her challengingly.

"I think I should be the one asking that question," he answered her.

"Perhaps, but you're not the one with the bow pointed at me," she pointed out as she pulled the arrow back a little farther.

Realizing that she had made her point and that she meant business, Thalion decided it was best to answer her. "Thalion...my name is Thalion. Can I ask what your name is?" he asked her.

"Not quite yet," she replied, not once lowering her weapon. "Where did you get that sword and that cape?" she asked him.

Thalion's eyes grew wide as he looked down at his sword for a second before looking back at the girl. "This sword belonged to my mother and the cape to my father, but they died...a long time ago," he answered.

The girl's eyes grew wide and her breath hitched a little at his answer. "Your mother...?" she asked him almost too quietly for him to hear. "What was her name?" she questioned him, beginning to loosen the tension on her bow a little.

"My mother's name was Storm," Thalion said a little hesitantly. He realized that this girl must have somehow known his mother and father, but how he didn't know. He was curious and he wondered if he might know more about them than his grandfather was willing to tell him.

"And your father?" she asked him, choking a little on her words as her bow was lowered. Their eyes locked each other's ignoring everything else around them. Nothing else mattered in each other's minds except each other.

"Yuan..." Thalion simply replied. With this answer the girl looked down at the ground for a moment before looking back at Thalion.

There was silence between the two, so many thoughts running through each other's minds. "You knew my parents, didn't you?" Thalion asked her.

"I knew your parents," she replied almost as a sigh. She put her bow away and came down the tree as she went to speak more with Thalion.

"How did you know them? What were they like? What actually happened to them?" Thalion began asking as she came down. She didn't once look up or attempt to answer anything as she kept a solemn face.

"They rescued me when I was a little girl. They took me into their home like I was theitr daughter," she explained to him. Thalion stopped and listened, happy to finally have someone talk about the people that he cared so much about.

"They were amazing people and didn't really care who a person was or what they did, but they were always willing to forgive someone and give them a second chance, like me. They did everything they could to help others, and in the end I think it's what killed them," she told him, but the last part became more disheartening sounding. Thalion wondered what she really meant by that.

"Not long after I moved in with them, people began coming after them, wanting to kill them. They ran away and they took me with them. We ran and ran, but the people always managed to find us and they would have to fight. And then, Storm became pregnant, with you I'm assuming. Not too long after that we all actually found a home to stay at where we were safe and didn't have to run. But then, Yuan went to go find someone one night, but when he left some people came to our home after Storm. Storm made me leave to protect me as she stayed to defend herself. I don't know what happened after that, but they never came back. I went to the house once and it was burned to the ground," she explained looking at the ground the entire time.

"They were killed in a housefire...that's what my grandfather always says," Thalion told her.

"Well, that might be what happened afterwards, but believe me they were murdered and I've spent a long time looking for who's responsible. They were such great people and I know they didn't deserve what happened," she told him.

"I wonder if my grandfather knows anything else about it?" Thalion asked himself. The girl looked over at him.

"Your grandfather?" she asked him, curious about who it was.

"Yeah, I'll take you there to meet him, his name is Kratos," Thalion explained to her.

"Kratos! I know him, Storm had me meet him before and I think he's the one Yuan went after that night," she explained to him.

"Wow, really? This is great. That means he'll know you then," Thalion exclaimed. He was so excited to finally have someone other than Kratos to talk to. He began walking in the direction of his home when he turned around and saw her walking another way.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asked her.

"Hang on, I have to go and get someone who's waiting for me," she explained to him as she whistled.

Thalion stood there, waiting for whatever was supposed to happen. Suddenly, out of the trees a huge, green dog-like creature jumped out. It was panting and came over and licked the girl. She giggled a little and scratched it on its head.

"Hey Noishe, I found someone who's related to Storm," she told him.

The creature, Noishe, cocked its head at this and whined a little. The girl put her hand on his back as the two walked over to where Thalion was standing. He looked a little nervous at being introduced to the giant dog, but wasn't moving away from him.

"Thalion, this is Noishe. I've been with him a long time, and he knew Storm as well," she introduced him. "Don't worry he's really friendly," she assured him.

"I'm not worried...it's just I've never seen something like him before," Thalion said as he slowly reached out his hand to the creature. Noishe sniffed him a little before yipping a bit and licking his face excitedly. Thalion fell backwards from the surprise of the creature's actions while the girl just stood and giggled.

"I think he likes you," she said, still laughing a little. "Hey Noishe," she called as the creature leaped off Thalion and ran over to her, wagging his tail the entire time.

"Did you know that this kid lives with Kratos?" she asked him.

Noishe stopped for a moment before he howled loudly at the name and began jumping around happily. She could tell he was happy about the news and laughed at his actions.

"Well, I guess I should take you there," Thalion stated as he got off the ground and dusted himself off a bit.

"Yeah, he seems kind of excited now," she replied.

The two began to walk through the forest when suddenly Thalion stopped and looked at her.

"What's the matter?" she asked him.

"You never told me your name," he told her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Aria," she explained to him.

Well that's the end of that chapter. I hope you liked it, and please review. I really want to hear what you all have to say. I hope I'm doing this right. Thanks for the comments last chapter, hope you like this as well. Thanks!