Chapter 10: Sickness

They returned to the Dunbarton that afternoon with Sapphire in Akaro's hold as she clutched to his shirt. He looked down at her and then then held onto her close as they arrived at the same inn they had stayed at before. Once inside, Faye ran to the front and rang a bell. Once the inn keeper got to the front, he took one look at the group, narrowed his eyes and stepped forward.

"What do you kids want?" he questioned, his voice was harsh.

"We need a room, our friend is sick!" Ammy cried looking at the man.

"No, last time you guys stayed here, you all got wasted and it was a disaster!" He said turning to walk away.

"Hey man! That's not cool" Cail said, trying to get his attention, but the inn keeper walked away, brushing the group off.

"Damn it!" Cussed Akaro as he didn't like the fact that his friend was sick and they had no were to go.

Just then an idea came to Faye's mind as she headed to the door. "We can go stay at Manus, the healer, he wouldn't turn anyone down" She said as she walked out into the street, the group agreed and followed her.

The healer's house was not too far from the inn, so they didn't have to worry about travelling far. Once there, they ran on inside the small building where they came upon a dark skinned man, which short black hair, soft brown eyes and a gentle smile.

"Is there something I can do to help you with?" He asked, his voice was kind spoken.

"Yes, our friend is sick and we have nowhere else to go, we tried the inn, but we were rejected and cast out. We came here hoping that you would allow us to rest here. Even if not us, but our friend, for she needs to recover" Ammy said, looking up at the man, her bright eyes shining with worry.

The man just smiled, and chuckled as he patted Ammy on the head.

"Aye, poor child, you can rest here until your friend recovers, free of charge" Manus said, walking towards the stairs, gesturing them to follow. The group did so and they were lead upstairs to a small bedroom, it had one bed, but to the group, it was good enough to help their friend recover. She was lain on the bed as the group looked at her.

"While she recovers, we can use this time to stock up on supplies and try to gather more information about where to go from here" Cail suggested looking at the group as they figured it would be the best thing to do.

"I will stay here and watch after her," Akaro suggested as he sat by the bed. "You all go out, I don't mind" He said turning his attention back to Sapphire and in the corner of his eye, he saw the group head out.

Once the group was downstairs and outside into the busy street they looked in both directions. They didn't know where to begin to look for clues because the last time they had been here, they didn't have much luck finding a lot of clues. In the corner of his eye, Necro caught the glimpse of someone that was rarely seen. It was Price, the wandering Merchant who was easily distinguished by his old grey color hair, his tealish blue eyes and his friendly smile.

"Where, there's someone who might know something" He said as he approached Price. "Excuse me, may I have a word with you"

Price turned his attention to the young man and greeted him with a friendly smile. "Anything you want, go ahead and ask away, if I can help I will, I have answers and stories and know a thing here and there, for traveling around all the time, one comes to learn, the secrets of the world"

"So you have heard then, about the cries?"

"The cries that echoed the lands, I heard them and for one who spends most of his life outdoors, I was even scared"

"Well, myself and the people I am traveling with, have come to learn that the noises arose from Peaca and what lurks inside have escaped"

"So hell has been unleashed upon this land once again.."

"Yes, it appears it has, that is why we seek to defeat them, before this world is purged into darkness, but for the time being, we have no clue on where to look"

"I recommend trying the town of Tir Chonaill, it was one of the very first towns build when settlements were made in these lands, you might find answers there, the village folk might have stories to answer the questions you seek." He said with a smile before glancing up at the sun. "And with that, I must go, a travelling merchant can never stay in one place, may your quest lead you to where you need to go" he said before walking away. Necro watched him leave before turning around and heading back to the group.

"Well, what did he say?" Asked Lloyd

"He said he head to Tir Chonaill, the people there might have some answers."

"Tir Chonaill? That's me and Cail's home town!" Ammy said smiling as she was excited to know they might be going home.

"As it is mine." Necro replied.

"Really? Why didn't you say anything? Or better yet, why haven't we seen you before a few days ago."

Necro just shrugged. "I keep to myself mostly and figured that it wasn't of any importance to mention where I was from." He turned to look at them again. "In the meantime, we should gather supplies. Walking on foot will take us another 3 or 4 days to get there, and it's all up hill" He said before walking away from the group.

Back in the room upstairs, Sapphire had begun to stir in her sleep as she slowly opened up her bright eyes. It took a minute to register that she was in a room and not in the plains of Sen Mag. She turned her head to look at Akaro. "Where..am..I?" she asked as she looked around once more, her voice was groggy.

Akaro perked up and turned to look at her as a gentle smile graced his face. "You're in Dunbarton, in the healers house"

"How did I get here?"

"I carried you here. You collapsed after the battle and then we brought you here after learning you had a fever"

Sapphire sat up for a moment and looked at him, as a soft smile appeared on her face. She looked at him and then looked away. "Why would you carry me…?" She asked him.

Akaro moved over to sit next to her. "Because you're my friend and that's what friends do. They look out for each other. As a group, we all need to look out for one another, and make sure everyone is always at their best. We stand by one another." He said chuckling a little, which brought another smile to her face.

"I know.." she said sleepily as she looked up at him, a few strands of her hair falling over in front her eyes. "Where did the others go?"

"They are out looking for clues on where to go next and stocking up on supplies. We are leaving once you get better" Akaro said, carefully taking his hand and brushing the hair from her eyes and moving it behind her ears as he looked down at her into her eyes. Sapphire smiled and closed her eyes as she leaned over to lie her head on his shoulder, which caused Akaro to blush softly. After a few minutes, He noticed she had fallen asleep; he couldn't help but relax as he carefully took his arm and wrapped it around her waist, pulling her closer to him as he held her, while she slept.

Authors Note: D'awwww nice way to end off the chapter right? Looks like the story is coming together quite nicely as I am enjoying this. Also, Price FTW! Whoot!~ hope you enjoyed. ~ And I am not really trying to create a romance between those two to be honest. It's just everyone in the group has someone who they are close to and just so happens those two become bestfriends.