The next morning when Azalea woke up, she noticed Sante was still asleep, snoring away. Quietly, she got up and walked out of the tent. Along the way, she grabbed her bardiche and headed out the entrance. The sky was bright and the air was cool, the birds were chirping in the trees and everything was peaceful.

"I'm kinda hungry. Maybe I'll go get something to eat in town." Azalea thought to herself, "Then again, I don't really have any money, do I? Oh well, guess I'll just have to hunt something for myself."

Azalea equipped her weapon and walked off into the woods. As she waded through the shrubs and branches, she could hear the distant sound of gunfire.

"Hmm… wonder who that could be…"

She quickly got her answer, as a young man came hurdling through the branches towards her. He was flailing his arms, screaming in terror as he flew backwards toward Azalea. Azalea ducked out of the way just in time. If she had been a second slower, she would've been flattened against an oak tree. As she stood up, she took a look at the now unconscious man, lying against the tree.

She heard the man groan with pain. He was clearly out of it though, as he was mumbling to himself about something. The man had medium dark red hair, which partially concealed a single stubby horn in the center of his forehead. He had on a long blue t-shirt covered by a crimson shroud. His pants were also baggy red jeans, and he wore dark blue sneakers. Azalea almost immediately recognised him.

"C… Crimson?" Azalea gasped.

"Wha… huh?" the man mumbled, "Who?"

"Crimson Nile?!"

"Tha's me… Cri's'n Ni'le" he stammered.

"What the hell are you doing here?! I thought you had a job in Vacuo!"

Crimson didn't respond for a moment, instead, he just steadied his head and tried to focus his mind.

"Hello?" Azalea asked, waving in front of Crimson's face, "Anyone there?"

Crimson finally regained his bearings.

"Huh? Wait… Aza?!" Crimson exclaimed, "Why the hell are you here?!"

"I asked you first jackass!" Azalea protested.

"Well… that's not important! What's important is why you're here next to me."

"You flew at me!"

"Bah! I did not! You know I can't fly!" Crimson smirked.

"Jackass!"

Sante soon came along after hearing the shouting, stumbling through the shrubbery.

"Hey. What's happening here?" Sante inquired, still yawning.

"I uhh… I found an old friend." Azalea replied.

"And business partner." Crimson added.

"Former business partner." Azalea corrected.

Sante looked toward Crimson, leaning against the tree, trying to stand up.

"And you are?" Sante asked.

"Nile, Crimson Nile. Merc, dealer, and espionage extraordinaire." Crimson responded.

"So… is he coming with us then?" Sante continued.

"Well, we can't just leave him here. He'd die if we just abandoned him." Azalea said.

Crimson gave a puzzled look, but then shrugged as the comment was true.

"I guess I'll have to come along then. Wait, where are you guys headed?" Crimson inquired.

"We… well, we don't really know." Azalea responded, "We were kinda just going."

"Why not head up to Vale? Isn't that where you would normally get your missions?"

"We would… if there was still someone there to give me a mission."

"Why? What's happening in Vale?"

"Grimm attack. Large one too. It destroyed most of the city." Sante added.

"Wait. A Grimm attack?! How could a Grimm attack destroy most of the city?!" Crimson exclaimed.

"We don't know. All we 'do' know is that it was aided by someone inside the city. Whether they're dead now or not isn't any of our business though. We just need to get to safety." Azalea continued.

"Well, why not go to Vacuo? It's… relatively calm there… as far as calm goes in Vacuo." Crimson suggested.

"Eh. Why not? It's not like the villages around here are going to pay us very much for work." Azalea replied, "How about you Sante?"

Before Sante could answer, Crimson budded in, "Wait. Sunte?"

"Sante." Sante replied.

"Sonte?"

"Sante."

"Sente?"

"Sante." Sante said, getting more annoyed.

"Oh… Santa."

"No! Sante. S-A-N-T-E, Sante!"

"Oh. Sante. Got it."

"Yes, Sante. Now, I'm more than okay with going along. It'll mean I get to leave this area for once. I don't really travel much."

"Alright. That settles it. We're going to Vacuo." Azalea chimed.

"Wooh. Can't wait." Sante added, sounding slightly sarcastic.

Sante walked over to Crimson and helped him up, wrapping Crimson's arm around his shoulder. The three then headed back to camp, cleaned it up, then headed back to the trail.