WARNINGS: Blood, violence, death, adult language, substance abuse

A/N: Swinging in with chapter 4! Be sure to read Chapter 3, first. Also, I talked to a FF moderator who added Anna to the character listings. I feel this that is noteworthy thing to mention. xD Now then, enjoy!


Matt, Lance, and Natalie stood before the same two armored guards that had taken the assassin away the night before, each wearing an expression of disappointment. The guards had just finished telling them that somebody had thrown a knife at the prisoner during the interrogation, killing him before they got any useful information out of him; whoever had silenced him had gotten away. The only definite piece of info they had was that he had been part of some group called 'Origin.'

Natalie thanked the guards for telling them and watched as they clattered off before she turned to Matt and Lance. "Well, now what?" she asked with a sigh, "That was our only lead."

The pair shrugged and Lance opened his mouth to say something when the owner of the inn they had stayed at walked up to them. The man looked nervous about approaching them while they each wore aggravated expressions, but still stopped in front of them.

"I wanted to let you know that some of my patrons today claimed to have seen a single woman wearing a cloak run into the woods south of here early this morning. They also said she was joined by three other hooded people a few hours later," the man told them quickly. He relaxed as their faces spilt into relieved grins.

"Sweet, we were just wondering what to do now," Matt said looking over at Lance and Natalie, "Thanks, old man!"

"Matt, you don't call people 'old', it's rude," Natalie chided with a sigh and an apologetic look at the inn owner. The man waved off the insult and wished them a good day before he left. "So, on to the woods, I guess?" the mage asked.

Lance nodded and they headed south. The tracks of a group of people heading into the trees were easily visible in the snow and the three followed the trail, weapons drawn and ready. They were surrounded by massive evergreen trees on all sides that blocked out most of the sunlight. Beneath each tree were patches of dirt and pine needles as the ground was protected from the heavy snowfall by the broad branches of the pine trees. Their footsteps were silent on the spongy blanket of pine needles and crunched when they stepped in the snow between trees. The only other sounds they heard were the occasional calls of unseen birds.

Suddenly, Lance stopped and knelt down. Natalie and Matt crowded close to see what he was looking at. A small pool of blood was staining the dirt. The gunner stood up and looked around. Now that he knew someone had been attacked here, he began to see the signs of the struggle. There were muddy scuffs from boots slipping and a single arrow was lodged in the dirt a little ways away. Some kind of struggle had happened here and he wished his girlfriend was still alive; she would be able to read what had happened. Shoving the pain of loss to the back of his mind before it made him do something stupid that couldn't be undone, Lance glanced around again. He turned to the other two and immediately barked for Matt to duck.

The swordsman threw himself down just as a dagger slashed past his head, slicing off a few strands of hair. While on the ground, Matt kicked out blindly and felt his foot connect with somebody's leg. As the person cried out Matt sprang back to his feet and moved to stand nearer his friends; Natalie on one side, Lance on the other. His eyes fell on the person he had kicked to find a man clutching his bleeding leg. Matt briefly wondered how the heck his kick had caused the man to bleed before a rustle of movement drew his attention back to the impending fight.

Two other figures dropped out of the trees and stood behind the man on the ground. All three wore hooded cloaks similar to the person who had attacked them at the inn. One carried a dagger with blood staining the blade and another dagger lay in the snow next to the moaning man on the ground. The third, to Matt's shock, held a sword in one hand and Sky Feather in the other. He heard Natalie inhale sharply on his right while Lance stiffened on his left.

"Where did you get that bow?" Lance asked in a soft, frigid tone that belied the sudden burning rage sweeping over him.

The hooded figure glanced at the weapon in his hand before laughing. He realized that the three in front of him were his target's friends.

Matt gripped his blade tighter, lifting it threateningly, "What did you do to the owner of that bow?"

"Even better," the man thought, laughing harder, "they don't seem to know that their little friend is still alive." His companions saw where this was going and let out sinister chuckles, even the man wounded on the ground.

The man with Sky Feather stopped laughing, "I killed her and took it, what else? Now if you don't mind we're a little busy tracking a rat." The three heroes in front of him stiffened.

"She put up more of a fight than the rest of her pathetic village, at least," said the man wounded on the ground. A sudden force hit him and he stared down in disbelief at the two blades stuck in his chest before he died.

Instantly, the other murderers slashed out at Matt who ducked back, sliding his blade out of the corpse, to deflect the dagger strike. A second later and the man incinerated before he could even scream as Natalie called Hellfire down on him. Lance had the last person's blade locked against his own. Angling his gunblade slightly without breaking the lock, he pulled the trigger and a shot rang out, killing the third assassin.

The party stood there glaring with rage at the two corpses and ash pile. Lance bent down and picked up Sky Feather. His grip on the bow tightened until his knuckles where white and trembling. He spun around suddenly, "There's someone else in this forest, someone they were following. Let's see if we can find them; they might be able to help us track the rest of these bastards down."

Matt and Natalie stared at the determination and rage in his eyes and nodded. They followed the one set of tracks that headed away into the trees.

DDDDDD

Anna slumped against the rough bark of a thick pine tree, shoulders heaving and muscles screaming for rest. Gripping the wound on her arm, the ranger grit her teeth as blood flowed between her fingers. She needed to heal it, but her healing magic made too much noise. Footsteps pounding through the trees broke her attention away from her wound. Anna's heart plummeted; she'd never be able to get away again. She sent a silent farewell to her friends as the footsteps came closer.

Three people burst out from between the trees, freezing as they saw her spin around with her dagger held in front of her, blood from the assassin she'd stabbed earlier still staining the blade. Three people she was not expecting, but was dizzy with relief to see. Anna's arm dropped. She swallowed once, twice, and then a third time before she spoke in a trembling voice laced with disbelief, "…Lance?"

Anna watched, puzzled, as Matt's and Natalie's faces suddenly paled as if she were a ghost. Lance's face was expressionless, but the ranger got the feeling that he was just as stunned, if not more so, at hearing her. She wondered what their deal was. Yes, she hadn't expected to see them here; in fact—for a few moments—she had expected to never see them again. But, her being somewhere unexpected shouldn't have garnered such profound shock from her friends.

Feeling safe for the first time in forever, Anna tugged her hood down, "Guys? Are you okay?" They didn't say anything, just stared at her. Lance approached her slowly as if he were afraid she'd vanish if he moved too suddenly.

DDDDDD

After a short while of jogging, the three spotted a lone, cloaked figure leaning against a tree, clutching their arm. A bloody dagger was held loosely from the hand of wounded appendage. Just as they approached, she spun around, dagger raised and pointed at them. The three froze, not wanting to be attacked when they had come to help, and eyed the weapon. To their surprise the cloaked woman froze upon the sight of them and her arm fell back to her side, weapon loose in her hand before it dropped to the ground. For a few seconds Matt, Lance, and Natalie stared at the shadowed face of the person as the stranger seemed to stare back.

Time stopped when she spoke in a familiar voice, "…Lance?" Matt's and Natalie's eyes widened with shock at hearing a voice they had all been too sure they would never hear again.

Lance's mind shut down at hearing her voice. Logic told him that it was impossible that the person standing in front of him was his dead girlfriend, come back to life. For one thing, Anna had never used daggers before. And for another, he had seen Greenwood's devastation with his own eyes and there had been nothing to suggest Anna had escaped the massacre. It wasn't possible. And yet, the woman had clearly recognized them; she'd even called out to him first.

Even as his mind struggled with the sudden impossibility, the woman pulled her hood off. Tears filled Lance's eyes as he stared at Anna's face. There were huge shadows under her eyes, she was thinner, and her face looked exhausted, but it was definitely Anna. The gunner took two hesitant steps forward in case this was just some cruel hallucination. A shuddering gasp from Natalie as Anna asked if they were okay told him that she saw and heard the ranger, too. Lance lunged forward and crushed Anna to him, burying his face in her shoulder as the tears in his eyes suddenly flooded down his face.

"Wh-whoa! What's wrong?!" Anna shouted as Lance suddenly lunged forward, grabbed onto her, and started crying. Looking past her sobbing boyfriend she saw Matt and Natalie were crying, too. The ranger tried to back up, but Lance tightened his grip on her. She resigned to stay put as she asked, "Seriously guys, I'm shocked to see you, too, but what the hell is with the waterworks?"

Her only answer from any of them was some sniffling. Anna started struggling, trying to break away from Lance to ask what the deal was, but froze when he whimpered. She'd never heard Lance make a noise that even remotely sounded like that, and the pain in it made her own eyes water.

Finally, the stress and fear of the last few months, the anguish of having failed her village so completely, the loneliness she had suffered, and the exhaustion she felt for having been running for days on end snapped out of the tight hold she'd had it under. Anna's knees gave out and she collapsed to the snow covered-ground, dragging Lance down with her, and she started sobbing.

For ten minutes after even Lance had calmed down, Anna cried. Now that she had started, she couldn't stop. Lance's tight hold loosened enough for him to pull back slightly to kiss her forehead. Matt and Natalie knelt on either side of her and wrapped her in a hug. A hiss of pain from the ranger was what finally broke through her sobs. Natalie pulled back to see the blood running down Anna's arm. Flipping into being a healer, she demanded Anna sit up straight so that her wound could be checked. The sudden personality shift caused Anna to burst out in watery laughter that sounded slightly hysterical.

Lance was reluctant to let his girlfriend go now that he had found her alive, but Natalie snapped that wounds took priority right now and he released Anna. He stayed right next to her as her wound was healed, staring at the impossible miracle that was her being alive.

Anna had calmed down during the process. She sighed half-annoyed and half-content as Lance pulled her back into his arms as soon as Natalie finished healing her arm. "I know why I started crying, but what was with you guys? You looked like you'd seen a ghost when I spoke," Anna asked, wiping her face on her shoulders.

Matt was the one to answer in a subdued tone, "We did." Anna blinked in confusion and the swordsman elaborated, "When we got to Greenwood, we found the place burned to the ground and a graveyard nearby. We were sure you had been killed."

Natalie spoke next, "We thought you'd gone out fighting against some huge monster, but then the three people we just fought claimed they were the ones responsible for killing you and the villagers. Either way, we thought you were gone."

"And then some hooded figure spoke in your voice," Lance said quietly, "I didn't think it could be true, but it was; you were alive the whole time."

Anna's swallowed as she heard that they'd believed she had been killed alongside the rest of Greenwood, "Well, obviously I'm not dead; dead-tired maybe, but not dead-dead." Her voice fell, "I didn't even think about what you guys would assume when you found Greenwood like that. I should have left some sign, something to tell you guys that I had made it, but it didn't even occur to me. I'm so sorry."

Lance hugged her tighter, "It doesn't matter now. You're here, you're alive; everything is good for now."

"Better than it was," Natalie murmured. She stood up, "Now let's make camp. I know it's early, but I'm freezing, hungry, and tired. Anna can tell us what's been happening after we have a fire."

Anna stood as well with a sigh, "I guess I have to sooner or later." She retrieved her dagger from where she had dropped it in the snow next to her.

Matt gathered some branches and they made their camp right where they were. Soon a crackling blaze was warming them and they munched on some of the food the inn owner had given them. Anna devoured her share even faster than Matt, oblivious to the worried stares her friends shot her way until she looked up.

"I, uh, haven't exactly been eating well," Anna said with a sheepish laugh.

"Or sleeping well; you have some impressive shadows," Natalie said with a worried look.

Anna's face fell, "I've been avoiding towns, people, everything for months now. Being on the run doesn't exactly leave lots of opportunities for sleeping and eating." She glanced around at her friends, "You mentioned that some cloaked weirdos said they killed me along with the rest of Greenwood, right?" At their nods she went on, "A while back we got a warning from a traveling seer about a coming threat. I'd thought at the time he was just another fraud, but he wasn't. I figured that even if there was a threat coming, I could handle it on my own. But, I couldn't."

Her friends frowned, wondering who could have warned Anna and what about.

"A giant creature split the ground at Greenwood. I fought with it, but couldn't hurt it. The monster was what burned the village. That must have been four, almost five, months ago, now," Anna paused off to let out a hollow, broken laugh that had Lance wrapping an arm around her shoulders, "That long already, huh? Anyway, I held it off—well, more like played bait—while the villagers fled. The thing just vanished while it was hunting me. I ran after the villagers, but-"

Anna's voice broke and her shoulders hunched, trembling. Lance squeezed her shoulders as he listened with rage and horror, having a fairly clear idea of what was coming.

After a few seconds the ranger continued in a flat voice, "They were waiting for them. Some of those cloaked assassins caught and killed all of them; slaughtered them like cattle while I was trying to buy them time to run." Tears formed in her eyes as she remembered. Her voice was brittle as she went on, "When I found them, the bastards were still standing over the bodies and they laughed at me, laughed as they stood soaked in the blood of almost everyone I had ever known."

Matt and Natalie stared at Anna as she gazed into the fire, not really seeing the flames. They knew she was seeing her people and reliving the overwhelming rage and hopelessness she must have felt at the time.

"I snapped and killed all five of them," Anna said in cold, dead voice. "After that, I dug graves and buried the villagers," her hands came up to cover her face. "It took so long; there were so many bodies." She took a few deep breaths. "I went to Goldenbrick to find the seer, Dramal. He told me about what the monster was, but he knew nothing about the assassins. He told me about his vision of the monster and called it the Primordial. Dramal explained that impure magic will hurt the monster, but will also make it stronger. It's true, too; magic doesn't work very well on it—I tried. Then he told me about some ancient weapons that could be used to defeat it. After that, I ran. I ran, hid, and stayed away from civilization as much as possible, waiting for you guys to come back."

Lance frowned, "We heard that a hooded woman stopped by Whitefall a month ago or so asking about the Jewel. That wasn't you?"

Anna looked up, "No, that was me. I heard about the Jewel being stolen from a merchant and wanted to check it out. I'm almost positive that the Primordial took it; the tracks match its feet." Her face darkened, "Going there was a mistake. The same day I left town, two assassins followed me on my way back to Greenwood. I disabled them and tried to get some answers. One of them started talking, but his companion killed him before I could learn much. I got their group name and found out that they had somehow called the Primordial to Greenwood."

"Did they call their group Origin?" Natalie interrupted quietly, causing Anna to start with surprise.

"Yes, they did. How'd you know?" the ranger asked.

Matt was the one to respond, "They tried to kill us in Whitefall last night. We turned the assassin over to the guards, but all they got out of the bastard before someone killed him was that name."

"Did you learn anything else from the two that attacked you?" Lance asked. Almost immediately he wished he could take the question back as he watched Anna's face tighten further and a haunted look came into her eyes.

"He told me that they killed everyone in Greenwood to 'break me', but I had already left when they came to finish the job," Anna murmured. "They've been hunting for me this entire time, but it wasn't until I stopped in Whitefall that they started attacking me. I ran into them again when I was giving thanks to Mighty Oak—I had gone back to the village to check on the Jewel and he was my last stop. He sent me here, but I don't know why; maybe because he knew you guys we're coming." Her voice dropped to a whisper, "I don't even know if he made it. They were still attacking him when I ran and those three earlier were part of the group that were fighting him."

Lance was quick to reassure her, "He was fine when we saw him." He smiled as Anna's face broke into a smile for the first time since they'd sat down.

"Yeah, he was a little drained when we came to ask him about what had happened, but he was doing okay. He sent us here," Natalie chimed in.

Anna sighed with relief, "That's good; I've been worrying about him since I left there two days ago."

Matt spoke up suddenly, "Wait, you've been running for two days now?" Anna nodded and the swordsman gaped at her, "Have you been eating or sleeping?" The ranger shrugged and muttered something about catnaps, "How are you not unconscious right now?"

With a bitter snort Anna said, "Panic tends to help with ignoring little details like eating and sleeping. I didn't have the luxury of time to stop; there were six of them and one of me. Besides, I've been running on little sleep and food for four months; what was two more days compared to that?"

Matt's reply was to hold out another strip of jerky to the ranger. The ranger laughed as she took it and stuffed the tough meat in her mouth while Lance and Natalie rolled their eyes. Anna sighed as she snuggled closer to Lance. She knew she had missed them a lot, but now that her friends were here she wondered how she had even survived during those long months after her life fell apart. As she listened to the heartbeat drumming next to her ear, Anna suddenly wondered with a thrill of fear that perhaps she was dreaming this reunion up.

Lance felt Anna stiffen against him a moment before she pulled back and sat up, an unnamed fear in her eyes. "What's wrong?" He asked her with concern. Matt and Natalie echoed his question.

The ranger refused to meet their eyes, "It's nothing."

"You look terrified of something so it obviously isn't 'nothing'," Natalie flatly countered.

"Okay, then it's stupid," Anna stubbornly tried.

Lance frowned, "I highly doubt that it's 'stupid', either."

Anna's eyes flickered up and around at them before falling back down again. "I wanted you guys here so much the last few months; you have no idea how much. It was the only thing that kept me going most days. Now I'm not sure this is real. I'm afraid that I'm going to wake up soon and be all alone in some tree, cold, hungry, and miserable. I don't want this dream to end," she admitted in a small and scared voice.

Her friends glanced at each other sadly, unsure of how to handle this new fear. Finally, Lance reached out and tilted Anna's head up with one hand on her chin. He held her gaze seriously for a few seconds before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her lips.

Lance pulled back and watched Anna's face, "This is not a dream. We're here and we aren't going anywhere without you. I refuse to lose you again." His eyes were filled with sadness and determination.

Matt spoke up next, "What he said, but without the kiss. Ow!" He yelped as Natalie elbowed him.

Natalie turned to Anna with a smile that grew a little wider as the ranger laughed, "This," she motioned at the four of them, "we, are real. I know that having us say that probably won't convince you completely. You'll have to see it for yourself when you wake up in the morning and see that we're still here." Anna swallowed, but nodded hesitantly.

"Speaking of sleep, I'm sure you need some. We can talk more in the morning, okay?" Lance suggested.

Anna pulled her bedroll out and spread it on the pine needles under a nearby tree. She crawled inside the roll and held it open, smiling as Lance squeezed in behind her and pulled her against his chest. The ranger watched as Matt and Natalie curled up under both their blankets close by and fell asleep. Despite her exhaustion, Anna stayed awake, still fearing that her dream was coming to an end.

Lance was still awake behind her and could tell by her tense form that she wasn't sleeping. He began rubbing a soothing circle on her arm and smiled as her body relaxed against him and her breathing slowed as she finally drifted off. Keeping the little motion going, Lance contemplated the day's events. He could sympathize with Anna thinking their reunion was a dream; he felt the same way and the only thing convincing him it wasn't was the fact that Matt and Natalie were there. His mind slowed as sleep started to claim him and his last conscious thought was how glad he was that she was alive and safe and here in his arms again.

DDDDDD

Anna slowly came back to consciousness the next day to warmth pressed against her back and around her waist. She sighed and snuggled closer to the heat source, letting her mind come to alertness on its own. The ranger's face pulled into a little frown as she heard voices speaking nearby with hushed tones. Instinct born from months of traveling alone forced her mind to snap fully awake, and she tried to sit up to see who was nearby. The pressure on her waist tightened, holding her down, and Anna began to panic.

"Shh, it's just Matt and Natz," Lance sleepily murmured into her ear.

Anna quit struggling as she remembered that she had been reunited with her friends the day before. She let out a small relieved laugh, "I guess you guys were right: it wasn't a dream." She felt Lance nod against her head. "Well, now that I know that, mind letting me up? I want some food," Anna asked lightly.

Lance groaned, "I'm comfy."

"And I'm hungry, pleased to meet you," Anna replied with a grin. She giggled as she attempted to squirm away from his reprimanding poke.

With one more groan, Lance let go of Anna's waist and watched her crawl out of the bag and walk over to where the other two were sorting through a pile of plant life they'd brought back. The gunner ducked his head into the sleeping bag and inhaled Anna's scent as he waited for the impending fireworks.

They weren't long in coming, "None of these are edible! Matt, put that down, it'll make you throw up; and before you say anything, yes I'm sure. Please tell me you didn't eat any of these? I'm down here, Matt, and I guess that answers my question."

Lance snorted in amusement and finally emerged from Anna's bedroll to see Natalie with her face buried in her hands, muttering, and Matt looking around dazedly with wide eyes and dilated pupils. Anna was standing over the swordsman with her hands on her hips and an amused and exasperated smile on her face.

A quick heal spell from Natalie had Matt back at attention, and he looked around in confusion. "Where'd the flying penguins go?" he asked.

Anna shook her head as she burst out laughing. "I missed you guys so much, although I'd hoped that you would have learned what's edible and what isn't by now," the ranger said with a grin. She sighed, "I give up. Let's just have a standing rule that nobody eats any plants unless I brought them back." She grinned as Natalie muttered in agreement.

The mage turned to Anna, "Did you sleep okay?"

"Better than I have in months," the ranger replied, the shadows under her eyes were much lighter and her face was covered with a wide smile.

"And do you still think you're dreaming?" Natalie asked.

Anna smiled a bit wider, "Nope."

Lance released a relieved sigh at her at response, "That's good. Any idea of where we should go now?"

Anna chewed on her lip thoughtfully. "Let's go to Goldenbrick. I doubt their Jewel is still there, but I want to check just in case. Plus, I'd like you guys to meet Dramal," she decided, moving to pack up her things.

She strapped her dagger to her waist and started digging through her Adventure Pouch as she commented, "I wish I hadn't left Sky Feather behind yesterday. Oh, well." The ranger turned when Lance coughed pointedly to see him holding her missing bow out to her, "I love you so much right now. How'd you find it?" Anna said with a bright smile.

"Took it back from the bastards yesterday," Lance said. "I've been meaning to ask why you have a dagger now, by the way."

"A group of guys tried to mug me in Goldenbrick," Anna said nonchalantly, "Apparently, lone girls only carrying a fancy bow as their weapon are easy targets." She grinned at the glare Lance gave to a nearby tree, "Don't worry, I showed them. Anyway, I'd been taught to use a dagger in the past so I bought a couple as thief deterrents. It's a lot more effective than stabbing things with arrows." She shrugged, "I'm not very good with them yet, though."

Lance nodded thoughtfully, "Matt and I can probably help you. Daggers are a lot different from swords, but having a couple sparring partners should be helpful."

"You got that guy yesterday just fine," Matt added. He grinned suddenly, "Yay! Now we have a reason to steal-" he cut off with a swift glance at the two women, and hastily adjusted his statement, "I mean buy daggers!"

Anna and Natalie sighed, but didn't bother getting any more upset with the swordsman.

DDDDDD

A week later, the party walked into Goldenbrick. All of them were in high spirits; Anna wasn't dead, they were back together, and they had a destination. There were still nights when the ranger woke up from nightmares, but they were getting less vivid and Lance was always there to comfort her. The gunner didn't want to let Anna out of his sight, but the ranger could understand his paranoia.

Each evening, Anna sparred with Matt or Lance and was beginning to get the hang of using daggers. They couldn't teach her how to wield the dagger properly, but they could point out holes in her guard and she was slowly working out what did or didn't work. Lance had commented that she'd probably be fine against most monsters and people, but cautioned her to stay back and use her bow unless she absolutely had to fight in close quarters.

They had stopped by the Greenwood Graveyard on the way and she had heard Matt say something to Lance in such a serious tone that she wondered what it was about. "I never want to see you try that again," he'd said with Natalie nodding fervently. The conversation had come up as they told her how they had found the graveyard and Anna had said something about how they must have felt .That night, the ranger had tried asking them what they'd meant, but they had just said to ask Lance. Anytime she questioned him, though, he just flinched slightly and said he'd tell her later.

The sandy streets of the resort were empty as the four walked to check on the Jewel. A chill wind blew down alleyways with an eerie moaning sound and the party shivered. They turned the corner leading to the altar and saw, to none of their surprise, that the Jewel was gone. Once again, the ground around the altar was covered in massive clawed footprints.

Lance eyed the tracks carefully, "You never actually told us what this Primordial thing looks like. How big and nasty of a monster are we tackling?"

Anna shuddered as she remembered the monstrosity, "Very big and very nasty. It was taller than all of the houses in Greenwood, had three dragon-like heads with no eyes, massive fangs dripping with acidic saliva, thicker around than Mighty Oak, and has two scorpion tails. The worst thing of all was that none of my arrows could pierce it."

"It doesn't have wings or turn invisible, right?" Matt asked anxiously.

The ranger shot him a strange look, "Those are weirdly specific concerns. It doesn't have wings and I'm pretty sure it can't turn invisible, but it might be able to teleport. It just vanished suddenly at Greenwood, as do any tracks I've seen from it, so maybe."

"How'd it set Greenwood on fire and what happened when you tried magic on it?" Lance asked.

"Each head does a different element of attack; fire, lightning, and ice. I mostly saw the fire one, but it did do the other two once or twice," Anna replied. "I tried an Aqua Arrow on it when it attacked me. The arrow shaft broke, but the magic left blisters on its skin; it also got stronger."

Natalie frowned, "What does it want with the Jewels, though? I thought they were just to keep Godcat sealed?"

"We should have destroyed those things," Lance grumbled.

Anna shrugged, "I have no idea. Dramal told me to find a temple underground, but he didn't know what was there or where to start searching for it. I'm hoping he might have had another vision."

"Then let's go to this seer guy and ask him," Matt said and started walking.

"Wrong way, Matt," Anna laughed as she turned down an alley to the slums.

The walls became closer and closer together the further they walked. Many of the buildings were in shambles with cracks running up the walls or had broken windows and doors. A number of shady characters loitered around despite the chill, eyeing the party as they passed.

Natalie looked around uncomfortably, "You came looking around here for a person you'd only met once?" She sidled closer to Matt as a wolf whistle came from a group of drunks.

Lance frowned, eyeing a pair brawling in an alley, "I don't think I like the idea of you having poked around here alone."

The ranger waved a hand dismissively, "I found Dramal at the altar and he led me to his house. There weren't even any people outside here, then." She suddenly snorted and complained, "The tavern was where I had trouble. First, the barkeep eyed me like I was a tasty piece of meat and asked if I wanted to have a good time."

Her boyfriend gaped at her, "He did what? That's it, where is he? I'm going to kill him." He glared at Natalie when she laughed.

"You can put away the overprotectiveness, Lance; I told him I have a boyfriend and he backed off. Sort of," Anna muttered that last part.

"What was that?" Lance suspiciously asked.

Anna smiled innocently as she led them down another alley, "What was what? Anyway, after I left the tavern, some guys who saw me there tried mugging me and I had to get away from them; they were why I got a dagger." She sighed, "The moral of my tale is that men are pigs—present company notwithstanding. Well, usually, anyway."

Matt piped up, "That, or girls shouldn't wander around busy towns alone."

"Well, it wasn't like I could get in touch with you guys," Anna heatedly reminded him.

The swordsman shrugged, "Touché."

Finally, the ranger came to a stop in front of a dilapidated building right at the edge of Goldenbrick. She reached out and knocked on the door a few times. There was a brief silence before a small peephole slid open briefly and closed again. A few seconds later and they heard the clicking of a lock and the door swung open. Standing before them was an elderly man with bushy, white eyebrows and a long, white beard. He warily looked past the party, down the alley before standing back and ushering them in. The four filed inside and watched as the old man closed and locked the door before turning to face them.


A/N: And they are back together! Hooray! And there was a tear fest. And shrooms. All-in-all a good chapter in my books, but I might be biased. :P I have a fond attachment to Matt's shrooms habit; it's just too funny to me. XD Not that I think drugs and their effects are funny in real life, or that any of you should do shrooms. Excessive drinking, drugs, and smoking are bad, people. Don't do them.

Now then, that's enough preaching out of me! Leave me a review and I'll see you this weekend!