Not that many reviews... Do I suck that badly...?

Anyways, for those who do read this, please remember to read and review in the end. Especially if you want to continue seeing this story.

...oh, and uh, if anyone does review, they get a cookie. )

Chapter two: Fight or Flight

'Bad day to go out today,' thought Nadia as she trudged along the path with Azael and Leah. After a nice and relaxing rest from the night, Leah was finally able to leave her home that she lived in almost all her life with some ease.

Well, some ease.

It was raining buckets outside. Every citizen of Prontera were hiding in their houses, all warm and cozy by the fireplace, while the three had to lay in the fields, taking what little refuge they had under tall trees and makeshift tents.

"This is so uncomfortable," Leah complained as Azael and Nadia set up camp in a small, dry cave. "The water we have is disgusting, the food we have is stale, it's always cold here and the best bed we can have is as hard and cold as stone!"

Azael, trying to stay calm and collected for the sake of the team, handed her his own makeshift pillow to make her comfortable.

"It's not much," he said, "but it's better than sleeping on the floor." He took off his armour and his weapons and settled down for some sleep.

Heading out to Morocc was the last thing on Leah's list that day. Traveling alone with just animals to worry was already difficult as it was, but heading to the city famous for thievery pretty much took the cake.

On top of that, they've lost the map to get to Morocc…

How can anybody handle this!?

"Azael!" Complained Leah again that night. "Can't Razus and Mykou come to us instead of the other way around? They both know the way here."

Azael was already close to falling asleep when the priestess spoke. "It's because the Head Paladin said so," he murmured, hoping to fall asleep again when Leah spoke up again.

"You guys didn't follow the Head Paladin's orders much before."

Azael ignored her comment, still trying to fall asleep, but Leah continued asking questions.

"Can't we just send a messenger to them so that they can come to Prontera instead?"

Sigh...

It was obvious that this night was going to be a long one. And a sleepless one.

Azael sat up, abandoning his plan to sleep for the night. "Well, we did send one once before, but Razus wrote back that Mykou left for some reason." Azael furrowed his brows in thought, as if he was wondering what it was that made his friend leave so suddenly. "We're going there to see if Mykou's still there or if he truly quit as a crusader."

Leah looked down at the small campfire they made, trying not to look at Azael and see his worried face. Without anymore questions, Leah gave back his makeshift pillow and went to sleep next to Nadia.

Azael sighed. Mykou was a good friend of his, along with Razus and Nadia. There was no reason for him to leave on such short notice, so why would he do such a thing? Without even telling him no less!

'Perhaps being a Crusader was too hard for him?' he thought to himself. 'No, Mykou was tougher than that. He loved to fight things and protect people. No, there had to be some other reason for this.'

Now fully awake, Azael studied his surroundings. The cave that sheltered him and the others from the pouring rain outside was small, only big enough to entirely cover Leah and Nadia. Azael sat with his back facing the opening and got the brunt of the rain and wind while the others stayed dry. It was no pain for him; he was trained to endure these types of weather.

'Endurance is a key factor in a crusader's training,' he thought to himself, remembering back to his swords training with Nadia when he was younger. Of course, she wasn't meant to become a crusader at birth like he did. He was much stronger; with strong muscles and tanned skin, he was fit for the fights and training one must take to become a crusader.

Nadia, what with her slightly pale skin and fragile body, was not as physically fit as a normal swordsperson should've been, but she was smart and clever and she had as much attitude and spunk in her as anyone else would have. She could fight with the best of them and hold her own pretty well amongst battles with various enemies. Being a girl was just one of her advantages in battles.

Looking at Leah, who was sleeping soundly, Azael noticed how well she was already beginning to adjust to the outside world. Most people couldn't sleep as well as she did on the first day outside of the Sanctuary. Actually, most people couldn't sleep at all the first few days! Perhaps the young priestess has some potential to be a good traveling healer after all…

Thunder roared outside, startling Azael while the two girls stayed sleeping as if nothing happened. This type of weather isn't really the best weather for traveling, and he worried how the others will take to the rain and wind. Knowing Nadia, she'll be fine with it, but with Leah with them Azael had no idea how the two of them will react.

Trying to ignore the wind and rain, Azael laid down with his back drenched in the rain and stared at the ceiling of the cave for the rest of the night, hoping to get at least some rest.

---

The next day, the sky was clear with not cloud in it. Nadia woke up early, and packed everything into her bag while Leah went out to look for some clean water and maybe some food for the group. There could be some ripe, edible berries somewhere in the forest where they were.

Azael was the last to wake up, and felt the crummiest. Last night could've been one of the worst nights he's had, considering he's barely had a wink of sleep.

Looking around in the small cave, he noticed that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Funny, he was sure he was wearing one when he fell asleep.

"Good morning there, sleepyhead!" called Nadia outside. "Your shirt was soaking wet from the rain yesterday, so I took the liberty of taking it and drying it for you."

Ah, so that's where it's been.

Nadia's had this unique talent of taking things without people noticing until it was too late. Azael's always said that it wasn't a good thing to be proud of, as it was considered stealing and not accepted in the Holy Legion. Still, outside isn't considered as the Legion and, if you have it, flaunt it, right?

Collecting his things and putting on his armour, Azael prepared in his head of what to for the day when suddenly something caught his eye. What was it? Some kind of weapon, no doubt. Nothing natural about a shiny, silver, sharp object hiding behind a tree.

Realizing something was up, Nadia turned around to see whatever it was that Azael was seeing.

There was nothing there. Just rocks and trees.

"Did you see that, Nadia?" asked Azael.

With a confused expression, Nadia shook her head. "Maybe you're getting sick, Azael. Perhaps we should get back to Prontera."

No, there was something there. He was sure of it! Azael quickly got up and ran to the tree where he saw the strange object. He inspected it from top to bottom, but there really was nothing there.

Wait, what was that on the branches of the tree?

Azael reached up and picked the silver object. It was a rosary.

"Strange," said Nadia. "Why would a rosary be left on a branch of a tree?"

Just then, Leah came back with bundles of water at her side. "Hey guys! I found some clean water from the river up ahead. I purified it to make it holy water to make it better for us to drink." Seeing the two's strange expressions, Leah walked up to see what was going on.

"Oh, that's mine." She said as she took the silver cross bracelet from Azael. "I guess it got snagged on the tree without me knowing. Good thing it didn't get lost, though, huh?"

The two, although still confused with the situation, gathered their things and continued walking, hoping that they'll encounter some inn that'll show them where they were and how to get to Morocc.

While they were walking, Azael's mind was contemplating the morning incident. That rosary wasn't the thing that he saw, so what was it that was really there? It can't be some animal, considering animals don't normally have shiny objects like that. Could it be some assassin out to get them? But there's nothing to take minus some food and some worn down weapons and armour.

While Azael was occupied on the occurrence that morning, Leah was making herself known to everything around her.

"Is this what you guys do everyday?" she whined. "My feet are killing me. I wish I bought some comfortable shoes before we left."

Azael, lost in thought, took no notice in her complaints, but Nadia couldn't ignore her as much as he could.

"We get it, princess!" she exclaimed. "You're tired, but don't you think we're all tired right now? There's no use in complaining about it. Just deal with it."

Leah pouted. Nadia shrugged it off. The two girls weren't really getting off to a good start in getting along, and it wasn't helping much that there was something possibly watching them as they were bickering and arguing with each other.

Azael looked around warily, examining the trees to see if there was anything suspicious with them. Nothing so far. Maybe in the bushes? Nope, nothing funny there.

'Maybe I'm just being paranoid,' he thought. 'I didn't get much sleep last night anyways. I'm probably getting worried for nothing.' With that, he settled to continuing on in the dark forest with hopes of looking for help on where it was they were.

Who knows? Maybe whatever it was that was following them was someone who could help them on their journey.

---

They were lost.

Helplessly lost.

Helplessly and hopelessly lost, with no one around to ask for help.

Leah's and Nadia's constant bickering wasn't really much help either. It's surprising how they haven't killed each other by now.

"We've been walking for hours now and there's been no progress at all!" exclaimed Leah.

"What makes you think we're not making any progress at all? We could be close to some kind of shelter now or maybe even close to a village or a town!" retorted Nadia. "Stop acting as if you know everything. It's obvious you don't."

"Or, maybe we're walking farther away from a city or town and closer to our deaths! It'd be best if we just stop and rest for the day today."

"If we rest at the rate you want it, we'll never get anything done!"

"If we don't rest at all and continue to get lost, we won't have enough energy to get anything done!"

"That's what you're here for. Why don't you heal us or something? What, you're too tired to even think of a healing spell? Honestly, I don't understand why I let you in with us."

"If I heal you now, I won't have enough energy to help you if you really are in trouble fighting some monster in these woods!"

"Oh, I'll show you a fight–"

"Enough!" exclaimed Azael. All the arguing was really giving him an unwanted headache. "This is getting out of hand. Stop it with your squabbling before I'll have to tape your mouths shut to get some peace here!" He looked at Nadia, who was smirking at his attempt to keep her quiet.

"For you, Nadia, I'm binding your hands too."

The two girls then fell silent, and Nadia pouted, and they continued with their traveling into the forest in silence.

Just then, a flash of light caught Azael's eye to his left. He quickly looked back at Nadia, who saw the light as well. They weren't alone in the forest.

Azael slowly positioned his pack on his back, ready to run or to fight, but not too quickly to make whatever it was following them nervous and attack first. Whatever the case will call for, he'll be ready. Looking back at Nadia again, he saw that she was readying for the fight as well, protecting Leah with her shield and her sword out, ready to fight.

Azael shook his head. No, there won't be a fight this time. Nadia understood immediately, putting her sword and shield away, she held Leah's hand and waited for his signal to run.

Looking around in the forest again, Azael took in his surroundings. Yes, there were lots of trees to hide in, but there were also lots of trees for the enemy to hide in as well.

How about running to the river? No, it would expose the group and it might hurt them even more. Well, where else can they go? No where…Perhaps it would be best to stand and fight.

'No, they have the element of surprise and we don't know who they are' he thought as he slowed his walk to a stop. 'Oh, forget it. Let's just wing it and hope that God is on our side.'

Looking back at Nadia and Leah, Azael looked to his left, and then his right. No flash of light yet. Maybe they left? No, there it was again!

At an instant, Azael bounded blindly into the forest at full speed, not even thinking of looking behind him. He could hear clearly from Leah's shouts of terror that Nadia wasn't far behind.

The forest was a whir of green and brown as he fled as fast as he could from the unknown enemy, dodging branches and winding through trees as well as he could without letting the branches hit Nadia or Leah behind him.

The flash of light was getting closer and clearer now. Panicking, Azael swerved to his left, but the light was too fast. It was following his every move without even flinching. Was it really an assassin out to kill him after all? Never in his life has he seen this much speed and agility before.

The light's following him, hunting him, and ignoring the girls behind him. No, it was he that the light wanted.

He turned to his right to try and lose the light, blindly swerving and dodging things now without even thinking of helping Nadia or Leah. It was already obvious from the start that it was him the light wanted. Nadia and Leah won't get in the way of that.

"Azael!" shouted Nadia, but he didn't hear. He was too busy trying to stay as far away from the light as he can. So much so, that he didn't seem to even notice the cliff up ahead.

In a split second, time seemed to slow down as if it would last for an eternity. Then, in another split second, time seems to fly by so fast that everything was a complete blur.

In an instant, he knew he was falling off the steep cliff. The fear of whatever was chasing him was quickly replaced with the fear of instant death after the long fall. Azael closed his eyes. He knew that this was it. Running for safety from whatever was pursuing him consequently led to his death fall. There's nothing left to do but pray for help.

Just then, Azael realized that he wasn't falling at all. Slowly peeking out of one eye to be sure, he was correct. Far below him was the ground, which seemed like an eternity to reach. But how come he wasn't coming nearer to it?

Looking up, he saw a hand holding onto his arm. It looked like a very strong hand, but not one that was familiar to him. Could it be the stranger that was following him, or someone else?

Nadia? No, her hand was much paler than this one. Leah? No, she wouldn't have the strength to hang onto him. Who could this be?

There wasn't time to question the situation at the moment. Azael was just inches away from his death drop, and he did not want to continue hanging over the cliff-side any longer.

"Pull me up!" he shouted almost hysterically.

"Hang on tight," said a voice. It was a deep voice. A man's voice.

Suddenly, Azael felt the ground. Sweet, sturdy ground. Looking up at his rescuer, he saw Nadia right behind him, grinning, while Leah quickly ran over to Azael, happy to see that he was ok.

The man wore a long, white and brown sleeveless coat with no shirt underneath, revealing his well toned muscles and dark tanned skin. He held a silver rosary similar to Azael's on his left arm, which rippled with muscles. It seemed obvious this man was some kind of holy man, judging from the rosary.

The silver rosary glistened brightly in the sunlight, but not as brightly as the steel knuckles the man wore on his right hand. Every sharp point shone like silver, and it caught almost every light emitted from the sun, almost as if it was the moving sun itself.

"Hey there, lazy." The man said.

Awestruck from the glistening weapon, Azael was surprised to hear the stranger speak.

Looking up at the face of his rescuer, he saw that he had rusty red hair which was slightly messy from the running, and some strands of hair stuck to his face from the sweat on his forehead. His eyes burned like fire in his auburn eyes, almost like an animal's. His features were sharp, but to Azael and the others, he seemed to have a warm welcome to him.

He was grinning at Azael, who grinned back. Leah smiled at the man, while Nadia grinned even more at the whole situation. As he stood up, Azael greeted the man with a great hug.

"Hey there, Mykou."


Preview of Chapter 3:

Finding the way to Morocc with Mykou leading the way, everything is finally looking up. The girls have stopped fighting, Azael gets another friend to practise his fighting techiniques with, and they're 2 days ahead of schedule, which means a couple days of partying before the big event. And what better way to do so by hanging out with a couple of fortune-telling gypsies and musical bards? Of course, some fortunes can be worse than others...


Ugh, my computer's not working right again...Sorry for the long update, guys. I tried my best to get this out as soon as possible. Of course, with a sick computer, I couldn't do much.

Well, chapter 2's finally up and hopefully chapter 3 willl be posted sometime this week, so keep a look out guys. I know right now it's a bit...bland...but things will get sinister and dark soon, I promise. )

oh, and uh, FYI, Mykou's pronounced almost exactly like Michael...Just figured you needed to know that. )

Winter-ness, out!