Author's note: Wow, I actually got a review! Thanks for the advice, so far I've been mostly keeping him out of combat, which seems to be working decently for now. Once he's fully healed we'll see what happens next. The big edits are still down the line as I rewrite these chapters. And edit them. Both really. Also, I just got Tales of Xillia, and have been playing it nearly non-stop. Expect the update to be a little slower because of it. Apologies.


Chapter 7: Path Decisions

"You're right… Jaffar isn't as mean as you'd think he is. He can actually smile!" Will said with a chuckle, surprised by the events of the previous night.

"Yeah, he's funny. Whenever I run errands, He's always around. I think mom told him to protect me." Nino said, lowering her voice to a whisper in a conspiratorial manner.

This seemed extremely unlikely to Will, but he nodded and smiled all the same. Unfortunately, he had business to attend to. "You know, I have that meeting today…"

"Oh, yeah… that means we won't get to hang out… well, I'll still see you tomorrow, right?" Nino asked, a large smile spreading across her face.

"Of course Nino, I'll see you again soon." He said, smiling that smile she loved seeing so much, and ruffling her hair. With that he left her, walking down the corridor to the meeting table.

One year it had been now since he joined the Black Fang. It was only now that the bastard, or 'My Lord Nergal' as Will was forced to call him, had finally decided to raise the Angel Squad's status. Not that it was really needed since Jaffar had recently become a member of the Four Fangs. Lloyd and Linus both seemed to have mixed feelings about Jaffar's promotion.

"As long as he isn't out to kill us, that's fine. But he's just so… aloof." Lloyd had said, while Linus nodded. "He's dangerous in some ways while very gentle in others. In this case the amount of danger he radiates just outweighs the gentle part of him."

Will had only nodded in response. He couldn't remember everything he did in that year, but it had been a long one. He made it through with the help of these two, Nino, and on the rare occasion Jaffar. The Angel of Death just wasn't quite as deadly as people thought. At least, that's what Nino seemed to think, and Will was ever so slightly inclined to agree.


Will sat at the campfire, rubbing his temple with a sigh. That's right… it was shortly after that everything went wrong. I can still remember those missions… He shook his head, sighing aloud.

"Bad memories?" Kent asked, poking the fire with a stick.

"You could say that." Will said, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly. He figured it was pretty obvious. "Sain and Lyn back yet?" He asked, and Kent shook his head.

"If they were, we'd already be cooking dinner." He replied.

"True enough." Will said with a shrug. The silence that fell wasn't a heavy one. It seemed for the moment Will and Kent had reached an agreement, one that didn't require words, for which he was grateful.

A few minutes later they heard huffing sounds form the direction Sain and Lyn had gone. Sain obviously wasn't as graceful or agile as Lyn on his feet, her Sacaen heritage and generally hunting prowess making her stamina something even the knights must admire. Lyn was dragging a good sized boar behind her, while Sain tried to help but was rather useless with how out of breath he had become.

"Got one." She said with a smile. "It took us a while, Sain fell down a couple holes, and the boar was pretty attentive around trees. I had to hide in the bushes and attack from below. A well won meal, if I may say so." Will raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed.

Sain staggered over to the campfire, plopping down next to Will. Once he had finally caught his breath, he directed his half glare in Will's general direction. "Next time… you do it." He said.

Will laughed. "But knights are best at a disadvantage, are they not?" He replied, raising one hand in a mock knightly gesture.

Sain smiled slightly, his words taking on a more jovial tone. "That's in battle, my friend. In finding food there are… different rules."

"Really? I did not know that. What are these rules, then?" Lyn asked Sain curiously.

Sain remained silent for several seconds, trying to think of a rule to impose on the warrior princess. Kent shook his head and spoke instead. "There aren't any. He just doesn't like looking so out of shape in comparison to you."

"Ah… it is sad indeed. I cannot impress her with my skill if she is better than I." Sain moaned and Lyn rolled her eyes. She was beginning to understand Sain a lot more after a few days with the man. He was playful, and certainly preferred female company. Beneath that she was able to see now his noble disposition and desire to do what was right.

"Here Lyn, I'll cook the boar." Will said, though Lyn looked like she was unwilling to part with it. "I've got some experience under my belt, and it'll at least be edible. I promise your hard work will not go to waste."

No one argued the point any further. Sain had relayed Will's story of cooking for his team on missions to Kent, so both of them had some faith in his cooking skill so long as he wasn't making the whole thing up. Lyn seemed to assume he had traveled a lot on his own and had learned it during his travels through simple trial and error.

"Check out the perimeter. We can't afford a fight tonight." Will said, and the three all nodded. While Kent, still nursing his injury, went to feed the horses, Sain and Lyn split up in opposite directions to check the perimeter.


An hour later, they had all sat down to eat. The perimeter was safe, and the horses were settling down in the grass to rest. Will handed out boar to each of them, taking a rather large bite.

Kent seemed to hesitate about eating. "We aren't a great group. Four people against Lundgren isn't going to be enough. Even with the Mani Katti." He said, looking at Will. Since he was the tactician, troop management fell to him.

"I'd prefer to keep our numbers low, at least for now." Will said. "It'll be easy to keep moving if we're not protecting caravans of supplies and soldiers."

Sain nodded. "When we get near Caelin we'll worry about our numbers a bit more. For now, let us focus on what's ahead of us. We have a ways to go before we reach Lycian lands."

They looked at the mountains that were looming overhead. Lyn could swear that she recognized them somehow, but she was having trouble placing them. Perhaps she had only seen these mountains from another angle.

"We'll need to go over those mountains if we're going to get to Caelin faster." Will said, putting down his food. He looked towards Lyn, who also put down her food after a moment.

Lyn looked at him curiously. "Is there a problem, Will?" She asked, noting he tunred away from her to look once more at the mountains.

"If you want to go another way, please tell me now." He said, still not looking at her as he stood up. "Because otherwise… we're going straight through the Taliver Mountains."

Lyn let this sink in for a moment. Of course, what she thought Will must fear wasn't that she wouldn't want to go, but that she'd be too eager for it. It was her chance to take revenge on the people who had killed her people after all. Her family was dead because of them, her friends and life had been ruined. Does he think it is not right to kill them for what they've done? They deserve it! Now I possess the Mani Katti, and with his tactics we could no doubt take on as many of those bandits as came our way! What is there to hesitate about? Her gaze began to turn stony, as she glared at Will.

"I know you want to go to get revenge. It's likely all you've thought of for the past six months before we met." Will said, causing Sain and Kent to look towards Lyn, a mixture of pain and pity in their eyes. Will seemed slightly displeased the role of villain had been forced upon him. "But you can't. Certainly not now. We have to move quickly, and if your attention will be drawn away to them, instead of reaching Caelin…" Will looked down. "I will not lead you to your death, Lady Lyndis."

The silence that fell was heavy only because Lyn continued to glare at Will, her anger easy to see. Kent spoke up after a minute or two of silence, deciding to no longer let his sadness for Lyndis's plight affect him. "We have no chance of killing them in their stronghold; we would need an army of well-trained soldiers to do that, not to mention a powerhouse like Lord Wallace. Two fighters, an injured knight, and a tactician are nowhere near enough."

"Lord Wallace? The old guy that retired a while back?" Sain said, seeming to recall who9 Kent was talking about. "I remember he had quite the booming laugh."

"That's certainly true, but as I said he's retired now, and none have been able to quite match his level of power or command in the general department." Kent said, with a small sigh. He hadn't participated directly, but he had been present at the training sessions for those trying to replace Lord Wallace. None of them had seemed exceptionally impressive to him.

Lyn looked at the ground, grinding her teeth as she attempted to let her anger go. "You're saying… I should let those murderers go?" Her voice was dangerously low and dark for her. She seemed to realize that this wasn't an easy decision to make for Will, even if she didn't like it.

"For now, yes. We're on a mission to save Caelin. You can't do that if you're dead." Will said bluntly.

"Why should I care? That man wants me dead anyway!" Lyn started, getting to her feet. "He might have even killed my grandfather by now! Why should I die there for something that isn't mine, when I can get revenge for what I've lost?" She cried, and Will turned on her.

"Listen to you whining and complaining like some sorry little victim." He said angrily. "You think you're the only one that's lost something in this world? You think everyone else has an easy life while only you suffer? You think no one else has ever wanted revenge?" He asked her dangerously, advancing on her as he did so.

Kent and Sain could do little more than stare. Both Lyndis and Will were about to snap. It seemed there was tension between them, probably from the fact that they were hiding things from each other. Both Kent and Sain had talked to her about her parents, but she had hidden it from Will. She had said they were wonderful.

Then she had gone into how they died. How her father had sent her away on a horse with his dying breath. How she had vowed not to stop living until those murderers were dead. She told them after relaying this… she didn't plan to tell Will. All while failing to see the two also knew Will's story, the one he refused to tell Lyn.

"OF COURSE I WOULDN'T KNOW THAT! I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT MARQUESSES AND WARS! WHY WOULD I WANT SOME THRONE? I'M JUST A GIRL FROM THE PLAINS!" She shouted at him, while he took it in stride.

"I didn't say anything about a throne." He said simply in the calmest tone he could manage. She stopped yelling, though her demeanor remained. "I was talking about… your chance to have a family again. Not everyone gets that chance." After finishing what he needed to say he turned away from Lyn, and walked back to the tent.

It took another minute for this to sink in fully before Lyn collapsed to the ground, crying into her hands. She didn't want to cry… but she couldn't help it. He had been thinking of her safety. Only her's. Her chance. Her life. And she had yelled at him. The one person she wanted to trust the most.

"Milady…" Kent began but she shook her head, and he fell quiet. To be honest, he wasn't even sure what he could say to ease her tears.

Sain threw another log on the fire, surprising Kent as he spoke with a tone that was unlike his usually playfulness. "It's hard to build trust, when each of you knows nothing about the other. There is a bond, and yet… it is shaky. The tiniest strain on it might break it." He said.

Kent nodded, deciding this was his best chance to speak. Sain had a strange power to ease the tension in conversations. He was gladder for it now than he had ever been before. "Perhaps you and he cannot tell each other everything. I know he can't bring himself to tell you his past out of fear of being hated. Yet eventually you can learn about each other. Even if it's only one thing at a time. You must…" He trailed off. Lyn got up without speaking, and started to walk away.

Kent and Sain sighed. "Do you think she might…?" Sain began, but Kent shook his head.

"Don't be stupid, Sain." He replied, making Sain sigh.

"I didn't mean THAT… I meant do you think she'll choose to go through the mountains?" Sain said, glancing at the mountains before looking at Kent.

Kent considered this for a minute before shaking his head. "I really don't know. We will simply keep watch… and wait. As knights of Lycia, and perhaps even more importantly… friends."

Sain nodded, and then took his turn to rest while Kent kept watch over the camp. Kent continued to glance at the part of the forest that Lyndis had gone, hoping she would come back soon and he would not have to look for her. Though it was likely best she not return to the tent until Will was asleep.


They're right… both of them. Lyn thought, swinging her legs idly form the tree she had climbed, and looking up at the moon. "I guess we really don't know much about one another at all, and yet…" She shook her head. "I do trust him, no matter what they say. I think we're both stronger than that. We wouldn't let a fight break our friendship up so easily… right?" Despite her efforts to reassure herself, she couldn't help the creeping fear of doubt that entered her mind. After a few more minutes, she swung herself down to the ground, and began her trek back to camp.

Kent looked up. "Milady, you've returned." It was more a statement than a question, but she nodded just the same.

"Yes… Kent, is Will still in the tent?" She asked a little quietly, and Kent nodded.

"I think…" Kent said, glancing at it. The light was still on, so Will must not have fallen asleep just yet. "He's probably forgotten you two are sharing it. He might be drawing up a new route, or battle plans as well." Kent shrugged. "I did not check, to be honest."

Lyn smiled. "Thank you, Kent. Goodnight." She walked over to the tent, and opened it.

Kent watched her go, the smallest of smiles playing across his face. "Good luck, Lady Lyndis."

Will had been lying in his sleeping bag, thinking. Memories and other things sprung to his mind, but the most prevalent thing was what path to take tomorrow. He sighed to himself, knowing that forcing a decision upon Lyndis was the worst way to go. "I will have to go with the Lady's decision…" He whispered to himself knowing that it was sad truth. He was following her as her tactician. She was the leader of the group. What was most important was what she wanted, not what he felt was right.

"Will?" Lyn asked, entering the test. He gave a small grunt, despite himself, to show that he was awake. "Kent said you were probably still awake."

"Bah, Kent knows I don't sleep much. I think too much for that." Lyn sat down as he sat up, both looking at each other.

"You should. Otherwise you'll collapse from exhaustion. None of us want that." Lyn said, and Will shook his head.

"I was never much of a fighter… despite his efforts; Jaffar never was able to teach me well enough for me to be of much use. He did try though. It was… nice of him." He said, and Lyn felt that pull. One in her chest. Yes… she felt pained because once again, she realized how little she knew about him.

"Who's… Jaffar?" She asked nervously.

"He was a friend of mine." Will said simply. Lyn couldn't help but noticed the 'was' he used.

"Was? What happened to him?" She asked.

Will felt it again. That burning desire not to be hated. He would have to tell her soon, too much of his past was wrapped up in it. But… he couldn't do it just yet. He wanted her to reach her goal first. Caelin was more important than his personal feelings. Then he'd tell her, and leave as he would have to. Most likely that day would be the one when he would never see Lyndis again.

"We… went our separate ways." He said slowly, choosing his words.

Lyn thought about this, but bought into what Will had said. "That's too bad. It's always sad to lose a friend." Will nodded, and she noticed he looked less tense now. So that still hadn't been the full truth. "I too, have a friend. Though I don't know where she is now." Lyn said. Well, a bit for a bit is fair… right? I do want him to trust him, even if I have to give more right now.

"Really?" Will asked, obviously intrigued. This was the first he had heard of anything outside her life on the plains or just simple interactions.

Lyn nodded. "She's determined to become a Pegasus Knight, but she a hopeless case when it comes to doing… well, to put it bluntly, anything with men." She said, giving a small giggle.

Will laid back, a small smile playing across his face. "Hmm… She must be really cute then?" He asked, and Lyn grew angry.

"Why do you say that?" She asked, and Will countered quickly, realizing his mistake.

"I just meant her fear must have a source, and if she was cute and some guy hit on her or something…" He trailed off. Bad lie, but it seemed to have worked. He'd never admit he'd just had a Sain moment.

"Oh, well, it's not like that. I mean she is cute of course, but it's more that she is just really really really really really really really really shy around men of all shapes and sizes. Well, maybe not the little ones." She said, putting a finger to her chin in thought.

Will laughed. He couldn't help it. Of course he stopped once Lyn glared at him. "Sorry… but it will be very hard for her to find any work. Most of it involves at least one man, if not several." He explained, and Lyn couldn't help but nod.

"She's told me about the customs of the Knights to go out and find work before being knighted… it's too bad she can't work for the Ilian guard directly. I really hope she's okay." Lyn said, wondering where her Pegasus riding friend might be on the continent now.

"She'll be fine. I mean, she's your friend, right? People involved with you have to be made of some pretty strong stuff themselves." He said, with the smallest of chuckles.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lyn asked, putting her hands on her hips indignantly.

"Oh uh… Nothing!" Will said, and Lyn laughed as well. The pleasant laughter filled the tent. They continued to make pleasant conversation for a while longer, before they dimmed the light and went to bed.


"Good… they're doing better." Sain said, as he exited the tent. "Alright Kenty, time for you to go to bed." He said.

Kent twitched. "Do not ever call me that again." He said, and entered their tent. Sain shrugged and smiled widely.

"Whatever you say…" He threw a new log onto the fire, and let his gaze wander over to Lyn and Will's tent.

"About the mountains… let's go." Lyn said to Will from her bedroll, clenching her fist. Will looked at her, and nodded slowly. "Thank you for worrying about me." She said simply, and he nodded again. "And… I promise… I promise I won't run off looking for them." She said, and that got him to smile slightly. "But if they come for us…"

"We squash them." Will said simply in response, putting a fist into is hand. Lyn smiled, and without thinking she hugged him lightly, rolled herself onto her back, and fell asleep. Will shook his head again with a small blush. Lyn didn't realize that was going to keep him up longer than he wanted. Getting up after making sure Lyn was asleep, he grabbed his notebook, and opened it to the newest page.

The Taliver Mountains it is. Luckily I've got some good strategies written down already, so I'll get some sleep tonight. Hopefully, we won't run into much trouble, and we'll be on our way. I don't want the others to worry, so I'll get some sleep for tomorrow. Then the real adventure begins.

After finishing his writing, he placed his quill down, and closed the notebook. It seems things had turned out for the best, in spite of the worries he had during the day. Now with Sian, Kent, and the Mani Katti, things had gotten much more interesting. He was certainly glad he had decided to stick around. Deciding he better make good on what he had written, he returned once more to his bedroll, pushing thoughts of Lyn's Pegasus friend, Sain's strange ability to ease tension, and Lyn's hug from his mind.


Day broke, and many things were happening. The worst part of it was that he was exhausted. But no sleep for him, it was instead 'do this for me' and 'do that for me' and by the saint it was ticking him off. It had only been three days. Three. Days. How he'd make all the way to Ostia, he'd never know.

"ERKY! COME HELP! MY DRESS RIPPED ON A BRANCH! BURN THE TREE!" Came an angry yell. Erk sighed.

"Shut up and keep moving, Serra. And please stop calling me Erky." He said, walking up to the Cleric girl. She had indeed ripped her dress on a nearby branch. Though what she had torn it on was more a bush than a tree. The rip now revealed most of her left leg. "Can't you just sow it back together?" He asked with a bit of a sigh.

"You think someone as important as me has time to sow it?" She said, incredulous that he would even ask that.

Erk sighed as they continued on after he told her in no way was he touching her clothing or person. Serra continued to complain about some random thing or another, all of which would return to her ruined dress. The girl clearly didn't even know how to sow… that was just sad to him. She was a devil cleric. There was no explanation that fit her better. He was doomed.


"Huey... I don't see Lyn." The young girl cried to her pegasus, as they flew over a mountain peak. Then, she spotted a village. "Hey, let's look down there! If we're lucky, we might find something about Lyn!"

The pegasus Huey gave a tired nod, and headed down into the village. She could tell they would probably need another rest after this. They had been flying for over twelve hours without rest, with nothing to show for their efforts.

"Oh no!" She cried, spotting people below her. She tried in vain to get Huey to move to the side, but it was too little too late.

A loud crash echoed through the mountains, as she and her pegasus landed on one of the men, and the other three promptly jumped at her.


They had been running for such a long time. Their pursuers never gave up the chase. Neither did they give up their flight. They would keep running for as long as it took. They would not let them have their way. For the one that had rescued them, and then drawn off the pursuers for their sake, they wouldn't get caught again. Not again.