Autor's Note: As always, italics are the character's thoughts. And sorry for the long, long wait. This however is a short chapter. More soon.

TiaKisu: Hehe, actually I had Trickster in mind when I started this. Honestly, that was my favorite episode, and I wanted to develop some of the issues it touched on, particularly Rumina working with the crew. And in fact, Ed did mention that Rumina would loose her powers. I decided to play with that idea, too.

Chapter 7

Darkness Falls

Rumina ran as fast as she could, trying to dodge the arrows. But one hit her in the back, sending a sharp pain through her spine, and she fell face down onto the forest floor. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa," she yelled out in pain. She had never felt an arrow before, and never been shot with one.

She tried to escape in desperation. Her heart pounded louder and louder in her chest. Who was this human who was after her? And more importantly, why? Her back throbbed with pain as she slowly crawled on the forest floor with all her might.

"Don't move," a harsh voice spat out. At that moment, she froze, not wanting to anger her captor. And what could she do? She was on the ground and incapable of running. The best option was to comply with this worthless man's requests.

He slowly moved closer to her, scanning her with his arrow. She wished that he would speed up. She did not like the fear of wondering who was after her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breathe as he approached her.

"Well, well, well. If it is not the great Rumina…"

Rumina opened her eyes to look at her captor as he stood in front of her, arrow pointed at her face. And to her shock, she remembered the man, Aban. She had attacked his village over a year ago, killing everyone. Well, almost everyone. She squinted at him with scorn. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead."

He chuckled at her half-insulting question. "Well, obviously I escaped your attack. And thank you for the smoke. It allowed us to capture the woman who had destroyed my village."

Her eyes grew wide. "Us?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce my partner. Emir, this is Rumina. Rumina, this is Emir. Now be nice."

A tall man walked in front of Rumina. She gasped. He was actually very handsome.

She snapped out of her admiration of Emir and realized her predicament again. She squinted at both of them. "You're lucky I haven't yet turned you two into toads," she spat.

Aban grinned evilly, "You wanna try now."

She squinted again at him but did not reply. She still was ashamed that she lost her powers but did not want to admit it, especially to a worthless peasant like him.

He smirked and pulled her up, causing Rumina to squint in pain. "Tie her up," he called to Emir.

She raised her eyebrow. Didn't he have enough fun? What's the point of tying me up, anyway? I can't run even if I wanted to. Or did he just want to humiliate her more?

Emir walked around to Rumina's back and grabbed the arrow sticking out of her back and yanked it out, causing her to yelp in pain.

"There, there. Don't be such a baby," Aban taunted.

Rumina scold at him harshly but only received another smirk.

With that, Emir grabbed each of her hands and tied them behind her back. She half-struggled to get free but figured it would be useless.

"You will pay for this, I swear," she hissed at Aban.

"I don't think so," he replied with a grin.

Emir tightened the last knot binding Rumina's hands and glanced at him but remained silent.

She looked at Aban cold in the eye.

He smirked at her then turned to Emir. "Come. The village awaits us."

The path to the village was a rough one. Emir helped Rumina keep balance as she dragged her feet through the dead forest floor. He did not say a word during the entire trip, while Aban continued taunting her. Rumina just tried to ignore Aban and concentrated on not to cause herself any more pain as she walked. She smiled inwardly, baring the thought that this handsome man was helping her.

"Okay, this is it," Aban called. They pushed through the last remaining shrubs to reveal a thriving village. "This is my village."

"Your village?" Rumina questioned.

"Yes, my village. After you destroyed my former village, along with my family, I started a small settlement that continued to grow and prosper." He then stepped closer to Rumina and put his face so close to hers. "But I never forgot about my quest for revenge," he hissed at her.

Rumina frowned and span her bloody saliva in his face.

Aban wiped his face. "Very well. Take her to the dungeon," he yelled.

Emir led Rumina to a large stone house that consisted of many rooms. The halls were lighted by torches on the walls. There were no windows in the hallways. He stopped at one of the rooms and opened the door, revealing a cold, dark room. He walked Rumina to one side of the room, then untied her hands, and chained them above her. She did not fight. One, she knew she could not escape anyway. And two, she seemed to trust this man. But before he left, she gave out a small plea. "Please, let me go."

Emir looked at her and curved a small smile. He gently caressed her cheek before leaving.

Rumina closed her eyes and tried not to cry.

Emir locked the door to the dungeon. But as he put the key in, he paused before turning it.