The harvest festival wasn't as big as I thought it would be. Kyle and Aria shared their harvest with everyone in town but that was the full extent of the festival. It was more of a day for relaxing to celebrate the hard work everyone had done over the growing seasons.

I was sitting around the fountain with the other kids. Leonel had Yuri on his lap. Yuri was a cute five year old who giggled a lot and was currently trying to grab my tail. I wore the scarf and ribbon that Leonel had made for me and everyone said I looked cute. Aaron was sitting with us, his foot was feeling much better today.

"I love the harvest festival." Leann said. "Everyone in town gets together and share the blessings of the land."

"It's just a silly festival." Orland said but I could see that he was interested as well.

"I think it's great that everyone can get along in this town." I said.

"Kei, did you have a harvest festival at your home?"

"Not like this one." I said. "During our harvest festival everyone in town would contribute food for a feast at the end of the day."

"That sounds fun." Leonel said.

"Everyone has off work today so we can do what we want for the rest of the day." Leann said.

"We can play soccer." Everyone agreed. I liked soccer since they first showed me how to play. We had to play in the field at the entrance to town but it was open with a lot of room to run. We divided into teams of three except for Leann, who didn't want to run around in her dress. It was a fun game with Aria scoring the first goal against my team. Yuri sat with Leann and smiled and cheered throughout the game. The game was proceeding well until Orland kicked the ball to hard and it went past the small fence that marked the town's boundary.

"Orland go get it!" Aria ordered. Orland huffed but before he could move the ball was thrown back. Aria picked it up and we turned to the interest. There was a man there but we couldn't see his face due to him having his cowl up.

"Thank you." Aria responded shakily. She was nervous, I didn't blame her. He raised his hands and removed his hood. When the hood fell back we realized it wasn't a man but a young woman, in her early twenties no doubt, with shoulder length red hair.

"I'm sorry if I startled you." She said. "I'm looking for the local inn. I've been travelling a while now and I'm tired."

"The square is just past here. Make a right once you get there." Orland explained. It was the nicest I'd seen him act towards a visitor. The woman thanked us and left. No one felt like continuing the game after that.

"That was weird." Aria said.

"I agree." Leonel said. "Kei, did she look familiar?"

"No." I sighed. "I've never seen her before." The woman didn't seem like the others and she lacked the distinctive blood scent that the other two had. I still couldn't be sure but my instincts were telling me that she wasn't dangerous.

"I wish those people would just leave you alone." Leann said to me. The others nodded in agreement and I felt better.

The rest of the townspeople spent the day relaxing and talking. I was relaxing on a patch of grass in the autumn sun, the day couldn't be more perfect, just enough sunlight with a light, crisp breeze.

It was perfect. So perfect in fact that I didn't even hear him or pick up his scent as he got closer.

"Hey there." Leonel said and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I turned around and saw him laughing.

"I didn't think it was possible for me to startle you." He said.

"You caught me in one my rare, fully relaxed states." I explained. "You probably could have driven a tank by and I wouldn't have noticed."

"Anyway, dad's looking for you." Leonel said. Barrett must have vanished as soon as the festival ended. "He's at the school." Probably still looking at the book, I thought.

"Thanks Leonel." I knew Barrett didn't like being kept waiting so I rushed off to the school. I had never been inside the school but I knew something was wrong. The entrance was open slightly. I slipped in easily and heard sound coming from the left of the hallway.

"…Book…Give it to us…die." I couldn't make out anything more. I couldn't recognize the voice but it was definitely male.

"Try it." That voice I definitely recognized.

It was Barrett.

I crept carefully to the entrance of the room where I heard the voices coming from. The door was open, I assumed it was the library. I could see them clearly from my hiding spot behind a shelf. Two of them, and although I couldn't remember ever seeing them I knew they weren't friendly. A third man, much bulkier than the other two men had Barrett in a very compromising position. He was pinned under the guy's boot on his back, the other two had swords pointed at his chest and throat. Any sudden movement would see him skewered instantly. Papers littered the ground beneath him suggesting he had been surprised.

"We don't even want the little half breed right now." The man towered over Barrett. "Give us what you took and we'll let you live."

"Kill me and you'll spend hours looking for it yourself. Of course, by then others will know you're here." Barrett countered earning a cut on his cheek. I let out a sharp gasp that, unfortunately for me, they heard. I closed my eyes as the footsteps got closer and then someone grabbed me by the back of my shirt. "Look at what we have here." He dragged me out from behind the shelf.

"Let her go." Barrett said. The big guy smirked and took his boot off of Barrett's chest but he still had a sword pointed at his throat. The guy who held me pushed me down onto my knees. I saw the guy take his sword away from Barrett's throat and allow him to sit up.

"I believe you were just about to give us the book." The guy stroked my head as he talked.

"Are you going to kill Kei now? She seems important to whatever you're planning." Barrett said.

"Why would we do that? It's like you said, she's very important." He continued to stroke me. It was a deliberate action, almost demeaning in nature. He was probably doing it to see whether or not he could get Barrett riled up. The action stopped and he gripped one of my ears and pulled it. I felt cold metal placed against my head. "However, needing her alive does not mean we can't torment the little thing. She's pretty cute right now, I wonder how cute she'd look if we put a little nick in one of these ears or cut them off."

"Stop!" Barrett yelled. I opened my eyes and looked at him. I saw panic on his face. "It's on the far left shelf in the back."

"Go get it." He ordered the other two and they left to go search. "Now then, was that so difficult?" He let go of me and I moved over to Barrett. "Why?" Barrett asked.

"I told you, we're not interested in the girl right now. Poor Luis and Henry are still licking their wounds from last time." He laughed. Henry must have been the other one on Blessia Island. "I highly doubt the girl is going to be in town much longer anyway, especially once they learn about this."

"How do you know about that?" Barrett demanded.

"It doesn't concern you." The two came back with the book. He took the book back from them and flipped through it. "Perfect." He made a motion and the two guys flanked us. They held my head and forced me to swallow a white pill. I saw them forcibly open Barrett's mouth and shove the pill in.

"What was that?" I demanded.

"Just a little something to knock you out for a while." He said. I wanted to fight him but I started to feel drowsy and my vision was fading. I saw them leave before finally losing consciousness.

I woke up to rough shaking and someone with a very loud voice. "Kei, get up! Barrett!" The voice said. I blinked open my eyes and saw Kyle bent over me. His face turned from worry to a relieved smile. "Kei." He helped me up. I looked over and saw that Barrett was still asleep, and snoring at that. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"I-I'm fine." I stuttered. He hugged me tight. I heard Barrett groan and he woke up. "I'm going to kill them." He muttered and I laughed quietly.

"Barrett." Kyle's voice had a warning tone. "Byron's not going to like this."

"I know." He said. "He's going to take her now."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. One of them had mentioned something similar.

"Kei." Kyle looked at me. "I was hoping you wouldn't find out about this. The townspeople are concerned about the recent trouble. Barrett and I have managed to keep it away so far but Byron decided that if there was another incident directly related to you," Kyle paused, "he would hand you over to them."

"He's going to let them take me?" I muttered to myself. Kyle held me close and I buried my head in his chest.

"My father will probably keep you confined to your home until they came." Barrett told me. "The people in town are frightened by those strangers. I can't condone my father's decision but I understand it. Let's get you home Kei." They both took me home and made sure it was safe before leaving. Before he left Barrett turned to me. "Unfortunately, I have to tell my father what happened. Make your decision before tomorrow morning." He said before leaving.

It was late, six at night the clock said. I wasn't tired, I probably couldn't sleep if I wanted to. Kyle and Barrett were trying so hard to protect me but it wasn't working. Byron will put me on lockdown until they come back and then he'd hand me over to ensure the violence stops. I thought about what Barrett said and realized there was another way for the people in Alvarna to live in peace.

I was going to leave.

The thought frightened me, being alone outside the town made me an easy target. The town, though in danger, provided more protection. For some reason they were afraid to directly attack the town like last time. If I left now the town and its people would not meet the same fate as Corseca.

I grabbed my pack and began putting stuff in it. I packed a set of winter clothes and another set of regular clothes. I got some basic supplies such as rope, flint and bandages. I filled the remaining space with the vegetables Kyle had given me. Lastly, I picked up the belt knife Aria had given me and fastened the sheath to my belt. It was eight by the time I was fully ready to leave. I took one last look around the place I had called home for almost two months before walking out the door. The night air was cold and it would only get colder as the days passed. I wasn't even sure where I was going but I knew I couldn't endanger the people of Alvarna anymore.

I got to the entrance of town and was surprised to see the others waiting for me. Leonel, Aria, Sera and Serena, Leann even Orland was there. Leann, Sera and Serena were wearing clothes made for travelling. All of them were carrying packs. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Leonel tipped us off that you might be leaving." Aria said. "We're coming with you."

"You're not coming with me!" I yelled at them. "You could get killed!"

"You can't exactly stop us." Orland said. "We'll just follow you."

"Do your parents know about this?" I demanded. All of them had guilty expressions.

"No." Aria and Leonel said. "None of our parents know we're here." Aria said.

"We know what's going to happen to you if you stay." Sera said.

"We don't want that to happen." Serena added. She and Sera were wearing travelling clothes.

I couldn't believe they cared enough to join me but part of me was glad they did. "I can't let anything bad happen to you or anyone else in town. That's why I'm leaving."

"Where do you think you're going without this?" Orland threw what he was holding at me and I caught it. I looked it over and saw that it was a sleeping bag. I didn't have one, he must have known. "We're going to make sure you come back, cat ears." He smirked slightly when he said it.

"We want you to live in Alvarna. It's no fun when friends move away." Leann smiled. She handed me a paper that I recognized as a map.

"You guys are good friends." I told them with tears streaming down my cheeks. We set off together, I had given up trying to convince them otherwise but I was unsure of what I was leading them into.

I was originally going to have just Leonel and Aria leave but I decided to have all the kids leave. You'll see why in the next chapter.