A/N: I'm back! I'm baaaaack! With something called Another Chapter!

Shlim4506: Yes, you are correct.. XD I was trying to confuse everybody but I guess no one can get past you and your novel-reading experience, lol.

Strawberryair: Mmmmm thanks. ;D

This chapter is inspired by Andrea Zapain, who wrote a blissful poem about Hiraeth, which is one of my new favorite words now, lol! I used to think of that word as plain loneliness, but now it holds a new meaning to me.

I hope this chapter makes you feel that way too!

-10-

Sophie stared at Keefe. "You're not going?"

The boy uneasily fingered his Examplifier. "Yeah. I mean, I sure want to, but I have better things to do."

"Keefe, why are you like this?" Fitz asked, looking worried by his friend's unusual behavior. "An hour ago you were saying that you'd do anything for us, and now you're saying that we're not important to you."

"Maybe I'm saying that because you really aren't!"

Silence.

Keefe sighed and ran a hand through his hair, which surprised Sophie- the Empath never let anything mess up The Hair.

"Keefe, I'm not sure you're alright. These days your behavior is changing... in the bad way. You don't seem like yourself."

"Maybe I'm not," Keefe huffed, "who you think I am."

"Exactly my point," Sophie told him. "You're turning strange."

"As your good friend, I feel like I have to agree with her, Keefe." Hirlen told the furious boy.

Keefe glared at him.

"So what? I've been like this my entire life- you're the ones who are turning weird. As I said, I have better things to do, like work on my new project. You can go without me, for all I care!"

Fitz stared at Keefe as though he couldn't believe that they used to be best friends.

Biana stared at Keefe as though she couldn't believe that she once had a crush on him.

Rester and Hirlen both stared at Keefe as though they couldn't believe that this was the lighthearted, easygoing Keefe they once knew.

Tam stared at Keefe as though he couldn't believe that he picked him.

Linh stared at Keefe as though she couldn't believe that he was supposed to be sane.

Dex stared at Keefe as though he couldn't believe that he was even in the same room with such a person.

And Sophie...

Sophie just stared.

Not at Keefe.

At the empty air surrounding him.

At the shadowed silence shrouding the room.

At the windows, the thin shafts of moonlight draping like curtains around them.

Anything but Keefe.

Anything but the boy she once thought she knew.

...

"We have to do something," Rester said as they briskly walked around the corner, on the way to collect more supplies. "I'm suspicious, as most of you will probably be. I'm thinking of using a tracker on him."

"Nice idea," Dex told him.

"Wait, isn't that a bit inhumane?" Sophie worried, catching up on the conversation. "If we actually track his every movement, that's like a really serious form of privacy violation."

"Well, we're elves, not humans, so no need to worry about being inhumane," Hirlen grinned. "Trackers are a good idea. I'll help you and Dex make one of those."

"I agree with Sophie, you know," Linh said quietly. "We shouldn't do this to him, how cruel he might be."

"Linh, this isn't a contest for who's nicer," Tam growled, "It's all about winning and getting that girl back from the enemy or whatever. Stop thinking about morals and start thinking of something useful for once."

Tam didn't, but Sophie heard the hurt gasp. Before she could do anything, though, Linh turned and ran up where they just came from.

"What's she doing?" Tam asked Rester. Shaking his head, the Technopath ran after Linh.

"Sophie?" Instead of explaining the situation, Sophie ran after both of them.

...

"It's okay," Sophie assured the sobbing Linh. "Tam didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know he didn't," Linh said in between sobs. "He's just so- so irritated these days. I don't know what happened- one day he's acting like he wants to protect me, and now it's like he wants to get me off and run away as fast as he can."

"Sounds like someone we know," Rester said grimly. Sophie met his eyes, and he nodded.

Keefe.

"After that incident... It's like Keefe's breaking us all up." Sophie breathed heavily. Rester nodded, the expression on his face dark.

"Can't we do anything?" Linh asked despairingly. "We're supposed to rescue Laieen. This isn't the time to mourn over things like this- I'm sorry."

"No, you shouldn't be," Sophie told her. "You're not the problem here. Keefe is. And maybe Tam, but he's probably stressed out from all the drama. It's not your fault, so don't worry," She sighed. "If only we knew what was going on..."

Rester looked at both of them with a knowing look on his face. "Nobody knows that yet, but we sure do know how to get that kind of information."

...

"What in the world are you doing?" Keefe yelled as they ran up to him.

"Calm down." Rester stuck a piece of thick, silver tape on the startled boy's arm.

"Hey!"

Quicker than quick, The Technopath ripped the tape off. Keefe glared at him, a painful expression crossing his face.

"Ow, dude! Ow! That hurt!" Keefe pretended to pout, but soon got over it. "What's the deal, huh? Pranking your friends?"

"I guess," Rester shrugged, as though it wasn't a big deal. "Just trying out something."

Keefe rolled his eyes. "Well, keep trying it out, just on someone else. That hurt-"

"-As you've told us already, like, a thousand times."

"Fitz, I thought you were on my side!"

"Well, I was- until you decided that none of us were important."

Keefe glared. "I never said that, you liar!"

The rest of the group gave each other knowing looks, and Sophie felt sick to the stomach.

He forgot about the whole incident. Already.

Sophie thought of their old days, a wistful smile faintly appearing on her lips for an ephemeral time before it vanished, soon to be replaced with a frown. A shockingly painful blast of hiraeth streaked through her heart, scarring the insides of her soul and creating an aching longing for a home...

A home that she could never return to.

Why is there such sadness in my heart?

A loss I know not of
A loss my heart is well acquainted with

I do wonder if my soul has seen things
That my eyes have never seen

I miss a place I can't remember
I wonder if it existed at all

My soul feels old, rooted to the earth
A weeping willow with deep roots
Bare branches, reflected in an endless mirror

Extending beyond the limitations of time and space

~ Andrea Zapain, Hiraeth

...

Avikka felt lonely.

Lonelier than she ever had been.

Why? She thought, trying to be rational like her leader had taught her. It didn't work out well, though, given the fact that she was panting a mile a minute.

To be fair, the hill was a bit too steep for her taste. And Sruthan was walking a bit too fast for Avikka's relatively shorter legs.

Yes. Sruthan. Her leader had finally given her his name.

Did that mean that he trusted her like she trusted him? Sruthan had told her in one of their recent meetings that he did not normally tell people his name, because as the leader of a widespread organization he had the responsibility of maintaining a reasonable amount of secrecy.

If he told her his name, it meant that he thought of her as someone in his group. Like a partner in crime, but in a good way.

Avikka had no clue why she so desperately wanted to please Sruthan. She knew he was her leader, and it would make sense to please one's superior. But whenever Avikka saw or talked to Sruthan, something liquid seemed to boil up inside her and make her want to fulfill all of Sruthan's wishes and obey all his commands.

Perhaps it was normal? Maybe it meant she was a dedicated member of the group?

But she didn't even know what she was working for- what the purpose of the whole thing was.

Well, if Sruthan told her to do it, she'd do it.

Right?

"We're here." Sruthan looked around once to ensure their privacy, then pulled out a silvery jewel from his pocket.

The jewel sent thin shafts of moonlight draping like curtains around them...

Somehow, it felt familiar.

She stared in awe as Sruthan beckoned her towards the strange light. "Come on, Firelight. The future is awaiting us."

Avikka nodded and turned to follow Sruthan, when, all of a sudden, she felt something she had never felt before. She felt... She felt as though there was something she was missing. Something she should be knowing, but that her leader wasn't telling her.

One of her bodyguards nudged her, but Avikka felt the somehow familiar impulse to knock him down. A wistful smile faintly appeared on her lips for an ephemeral time before it vanished, soon to be replaced with a bewildered frown. Avikka frantically shook her head.

"What's the matter, Miss?" A guard asked, seeming suspicious. Not wanting to receive negative vibes, Avikka stepped into the silvery light, gritting her teeth as the coldhearted particles dug into her skin, piercing her nerves. Trying not to lose control, she squeezed her eyes shut.

During the fleeting moment in which Avikka was leaping towards unknown territory, she felt that pang in her heart again.

What was it that she was missing?

What was it that she didn't have?

Avikka stared at the strands of light that surrounded her. They looked soft, as gentle and as endearing as any other glittery substance. But Avikka knew from the personal experience she was having right then that they were far less welcoming than they looked.

Why did they remind her of someone she knew?

Someone she was following at that very moment?

Someone she had vowed to never mistrust?

She was feeling that feeling again. She was missing someone. She longed for someone. She needed that someone to hold onto and spill all her secrets on and tease each other and eat together and laugh together and cry together.

She missed a place she couldn't remember. She wondered if it even existed.

Thick hiraeth grasped her heart in its firm grip and refused to let go.

A/N: Ahh! Drama! So much drama!

I actually have nothing to say right now, because y'all have it in the chapter and I don't want to ruin the (hopefully) depressing mood I created, lol.

See you guys in Chapter Eleven! Wow- 11 already?