Yet again, I seem to have found myself in that overcrowded city square outside the castle.

And, yet again, I have no business.

I sighed, 'After all that trouble we went through to ambush the prince, you think there would a little bit of a commotion! But no, I guess some things will never change... I mean, the kingdom's prince is ambushed and no one's feathers are ruffled? At all?'

At that moment I felt something collide with the side of my head.

"Oi, Princess!" I heard someone yell. I felt the tick in me temple begin to speed up. Picking up the apple core that had been catapulted at my head I whirled around sharply.

"All right, who threw it?! I swear I'm gunna shove my foot up yer arse so far you'll be tastin' my toes-" Then my eyes landed on a ruddy faced boy with a wide smirk on his dirty face. Standing next to him were two menacing looking guards with the kingdoms symbol engraved on their chest plates. 'Sod.' I thought. Had they figured out that the ambush had been staged? Were they going to go cart me off the gallows?

"Are you Sara?" one asked. I felt myself stiffen, getting ready for anything.

"What's it to ya?" I demanded, the other guard started forward. My nerves couldn't take it anymore, at this slight movement I grabbed my bow and slung my arrows over my shoulder and ran off.

"Get her!" I heard them call; I dashed through the crowded market streets weaving in and out between the townspeople. Looking over to my right I saw a horse drawn buggy. 'It'll have to do!' I thought as the driver of the buggy began to pull away, I hopped onto the back. The guards came into view at that moment and started to pursue the buggy. They were gaining on me when the buggy turned around a corner blocking me from their view temporarily. Using this chance, I jumped onto the shacked roof of a vender's stall and climbed up onto the roof a nearby building. I heard the guards come around the corner at that moment, yanking my hood up to shadow my face I flattened myself against the roof and began crawling over to a nearby open window. 'As long as they just don't... look... u-'

"There she is!"

"Up there!"

"Someone! Catch 'er!" 'Sod it all to hell.' Because of their shout's villagers began to surround them, wanting to know what was going on; giving me time to make my escape! I darted along from roof to roof, jumping over the narrow gaps between each building. The hot tiling scalded the bottoms of my bare feet as I ran. I stumbled as a few tiles came loose causing me to nearly dive headfirst off the side of a building. Using my bow to grab onto the roof I regained my balance before I met that untimely and gruesome end.

Continuing along in a zig- zag pattern, I finally stopped to catch my breath once I had deemed myself far enough away from the scene and jumped off the side of one building to drop down into a shady alleyway. After regaining my breath, I composed myself before walking out into the bright sunlight that shone down on the overcrowded market streets. 'Well, not bad for a day's work…!' suddenly I felt my arms being restrained behind me as I was yanked back into the ally.

"Did you really think you could get away from us that easily?" one of the guards chortled in my ear. My insides felt like ice as more guards began to surround me and all I could think was- 'Sorry Farren, looks like I'm going to be a little late tonight…"

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

~.~Duck~.~

"So…. Let me get this straight. Mytho is the prince from the story 'The Prince and The Raven', he doesn't remember because he shattered his heart to seal the raven away when they both got out of the story. Now it's our job to gather the heart shards for him so that he can defeat the raven and we can all live happily ever after? Oh, and also you're a Duck….?" Sara asked summing up everything I had just told her in the past half an hour. Excluding the part I had found out about her from Miss Edel. Seeing how even I wasn't all that clear on the details, I didn't want to tell her yet and risk scaring her off… 'I'm so surprised to see that she's-…'

"Oh! Duck, we were supposed to meet up with Pike and Lillie an hour ago! Let's get going!" Sara said jumping up from the ground. 'Things are going to be hard, especially for Sara…' I thought.

"Okay! Let's go!" I said running after her.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"GAAAH! If you can't ever do that, how will you ever get off probation Duck?" Pike exploded, after an hour of getting nowhere.

"All you have to do is walk with a book on your head!" She yelled. I let out a nervous chuckle as Pike in all her wrath towered over me. Sara had left a while ago, saying something about having things to do, leaving me to the mercy of Pike and Lillie.

~.~Sara~.~

I shoved my hands deeper into the pockets of my hoodie, finally some alone time! As much as I love Duck and Rue, I also enjoyed my solitude. Plus with everything that had been going on as of late, I needed some alone time to organize my thoughts.

A part of me has always loved to wander Gold Crown. It's similar to that little thrill you get when inside of a maze. Not knowing what will be around each turn, finding your way, getting lost, retracing your steps. I could spend hours just walking the streets, lost in thought, and never get tired. Rounding a corner out of a dangerously narrow allyway, I came face to face with Rue and Mytho carrying a picnic basket.

"Sara?"

"Hey, Rue! Going out with Mytho?" I asked good- naturedly. She nodded and smiled at me motioning to the basket.

"Yeah, we have plenty of food here for three people, would you like to come along? We were just heading to the park."

"Ah. Well I wouldn't want to impose…" I said hoping she would catch on that I didn't really want to third wheel their date but she didn't.

"No! No, you wouldn't be imposing at all!" she said.

"Well…" I said 'Say no, say no!' my brain yelled at me "okay, if you insist." I said. Rue smiled at me, and motioned me to come forward. I walked toward the duo and into the light. She smiled and held out her hand which I took.

"What were you doing all alone?" she asked as we began to walk down the street again heading towards the park.

"Oh-…ah, wandering. I like to try and get myself as lost as possible in this town and then try and find my way back." I said. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of orange hair, Duck? What was she doing out here I thought she was supposed to be practicing…

Once we reached the park, Rue and Mytho sat beneath the shade of one of the large trees and relaxed. With the hoodie on, I began to get warm. So shedding my jacket, I tossed it at Rue who caught it and I stood there on my black camisole and leggings. Walking over to a nearby tree with branches almost as wide as me, I jumped up and grabbed the lowest branch and hoisted myself up before continuing to scurry up the tree to the branch I had picked out. In the dappled light streaming through the leaves, I felt at ease and allowed myself to lie down on my stomach on one of the thick tree branch. One leg dangling down to give myself balance, I closed my eyes and rested my head in my folded arms. That is, until-

"Pssst! Hey Sara! Wake up!" Duck whispered to me; yanking on my dangling leg. I blinked my bleary eyes as they adjusted to the sudden brightness and refocused on the blue eyed carrot top that had woken me up.

"Wussup Duck." I said as I arched my back and stretched. Duck gave me a bemused smile as she stared at me.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing… it's just that you are very cat- like." she said. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Anyway, I thought you were practicing…" I said as I readjusted myself on the branch.

"Ehe, well I'm taking a break, you see…"

"Oh?" I said narrowing my eyes at her guilty expression. "Better hope Pike doesn't spot you taking a break then." I said flippantly. She smiled chagrined before yanking on my leg to try and pull me out of the tree.

"Get down here, I want to talk." She whined.

"Aren't we talking now?"

"Yes-."

"Then why do I need to get down?"

"Because!"

"Not good enough."

"I want to follow Mytho!"

"You can't do that alone?"

"It's your job to protect him too!"

"Duly noted, but still."

"Oh, just get down here! He's coming this way!" she said with a final yank she pulled me out of the tree, making me fall a good seven feet to the ground.

"AH!"

But, instead of impacting with the hard earth, I fell on someone. Mytho, to be precise. I heard Duck gasp at what she had caused, and see the glass bottle filled with water Mytho had been carrying shatter as it fell from his hands and hit the ground. We toppled into the bushes from the impact, me on top. I felt his arms wrap around me as we hit the ground, my head buried in his chest, my long brown hair fanning around us. This was BEYOND awkward. Me, lying on top of Mytho with his arms wrapped around me, as we lay in the bushes. Yeah, this couldn't be misinterpreted in like a GAGILLION different ways… thanks Duck.

I jumped up and backed away faster than humanly possible.

"Whoa! Sara did you just teleport?" Duck asked, but I ignored her and tentatively walked back to Mytho.

"Sorry 'bout that… you okay?" I asked extending a hand to him. Finally Duck seemed to have caught up to what has happened and exploded.

"AH! Senior Mytho!"

"Mytho's fine." He said

"I mean Mytho! Your hand! Doesn't it hurt?" she asked, pointing to the bloody scratch on his left hand.

"No. So why the weird face?" he asked. I turned to see Duck making quiet the odd face.

"What's with that face? You might scare the kids."

"Is it really that weird?" she asks at out gazes. Turning back to Mytho, I got back to the task at hand (he he, corny joke… get it? Hand. Get it?) and pulled a band aid out of me bra- the perfect place to store thing- and placed it on his injury.

"There, crisis averted." I said

"You keep band aids in you bra?" Mytho asked.

"You don't?"

"I guess not…" Mytho said, but was soon cut off by Duck.

"Oh no! Your water! That was for Miss Rue wasn't it? We gotta find some more!" she said

"Uh, Duck? I really don't think she's going to mind-!" but I was cut off when Duck grabbed my hand and began to run off. Out of reflex I grabbed Mytho's hand as Duck began to drag me off to go find water.

"Rue deserves good water, not water from the river..." she thought as we walked down one street after the next. She had finally let go of my hand, but I hadn't noticed yet that I was still holding Mytho's hand.

~.~Duck~.~

I glanced back at Mytho and Sara to see them still holding hands. I had to nearly bite my tongue off to keep from squealing at the sight. 'But wait, Miss Rue is still going out with Mytho!' I thought, this was going to definitely going to prove a problem for later. 'Especially if Rue has deep feelings for Mytho-' I shook my head, I'll think about that problem at a later point in time.

I paused, finally taking in my surroundings.

"Oh, am I not in town anymore…?" I thought aloud. "Guess I must have walked too far huh?" I said turning around to face Sara and Mytho. Sara had a look of tolerance on her face at the fact that I had gotten us lost. Mytho just stared blankly out ahead of us…

"Oh, Mytho! ! Oh, I'msosorry! YoustayrightthereandI'llgofindthewater!"

"Are you kidding me? No matter how much you can tick me off, I'll let you wander a forest alone over my dead body!" Sara stated in a huffy tone while flicking a lock of her chestnut brown hair out of her violet eyes. I felt my eyes water up as I tackled Sara (and Mytho) into a hug

"Ohhh! Sara, this is why you're my bestest friend!"

"Yeah, I know. Anyway since we're already out here, where could we find water?" she said. Mytho glanced at her before pointing over my shoulder

"Oh, over there," he said pointing to a deserted looking restaurant past some trees. The restaurant had a thatched roof with painted walls; an open porch with potted flowers surrounded the place. But, all the windows were dark, even though the sign said it was open.

"Hmm, an empty looking restaurant in the middle of a forest that we couldn't see until Mytho pointed it out. Why does it sound as if we are walking ourselves into a scary movie setting?" Sara mused.

"Don't be such a downer, Sara! It's perfect! Restaurant water would be perfect!" I said confidently, grabbing her hand and marching forwards.

"Maybe…" Mytho said quietly, being dragged along behind last

I walked determinedly up to the door and knocked before Sara could say another word.

"Ebine? Is that the name of this place?" Sara asked

"Maybe," I said shrugging.

"Excuse me!" I called knocking on the door. Suddenly an eye appeared through the small window in the door.

"Yeeeessss?" called a woman's voice.

"Well, uh, this is a restaurant right?" I asked hesitantly, my bravery from moments before quickly leaving me. Suddenly the door flew open to reveal a woman with fry- away grey hair pulled up into a tight bun.

"Yes! Yes it is!" she said enthusiastically, her sudden appearance throwing me off balance and toppling me over backwards.

"O-o-one moment, please!" her voice warbled out before just as quickly as she opened the door she slammed it shut again.

"I- I've got a bad feeling about this…" Sara said quietly. A lot of racket began to come from the house, before the lady reappeared again from another door over to our left.

"Thank you for waiting!" she said breathlessly as she ushered us quickly inside.

"Welcome! I am the owner and chef here, Ebine!" she said enthusiastically.

"Uhh…" I said

"Duck…" Sara said, a warning tone working its way into her voice.

"How did you find out about this place? Did a friend tell you?" Ebine questioned as she showed us to a table, the faint notes of Bizet's Carmen- Habanera playing in the background.

"Uh, no, not really." Sara said, subtly scooting closer to Mytho.

"Then you went out of your way to find it?" Ebine asked

"No, not at all." I said to her, out of the corner of me eye I saw Mytho slip her arm casually around Sara's waist, pulling her closer and also distracting me from Ebine with this action.

"It wasn't pure chance now, huh?" Ebine asked, her overly friendly smile still plastered in place but her enthusiasm was decreasing.

"Well, yeah. Pretty much…" Sara said, biting on her thumb nail nervously.

"How very splendid!" Ebine said, her smile getting wider to the point where it was just creepy making me jump back at her sudden closeness.

"I've never had a costumer like that before, now please! Sit down!" she said, shoving us all into chairs.

"Um, ma'am… I'm not a costumer… None of us are." Sara said

"Not a costumer…?" Ebine said, as if the concept was too hard for her to understand. I stood in front of her and bowed, feeling slightly guilty.

"No ma'am, we only want some water." I said

"Just water?" she asked sadly. I felt myself beginning to crack

"Um, uh….that is… I'm so sorry!" I said bowing again. Of course then my stomach had to growl from not eating at all that day. A glint entered Ebine's eyes as she stared down at me and I felt my face go red.

"You're hungry aren't you?" she asked, but it sounded more like a statement of truth then a question.

"Then why not have a nice meal while you're here?" she said, I felt myself begin to panic.

"W-What? But I don't have any money!" I said, trying to come up with a reason to say no without being rude.

"That's fine, it doesn't matter." She said

"Huh?" I said, suddenly my pendent started to glow; a heart shard is nearby? I glanced over to Sara to see she had noticed the glow too.

"Well, if you insist I guess we could stay for a while…" Sara said quickly, sending me a quick glance before tossing her chestnut curls over her shoulder nonchalantly.

"Oh yes!" Ebine said excitedly "I just made some shrimp pate'!" Ebine rushed off towards what must be the kitchen. Once she was out of sight I rushed to Sara's side; leaning over I whispered in her ear.

"Did you see that? The pendent glowed just now!"

"Yes, I saw. Why do you think I accepted her offer for us to stay?" she said "It must mean there's a shard nearby…" Sara concluded.