Author's Note: Here's the next installment! A quick note: the scene at the end of this chapter does not assume two weeks have gone by. In the scene at the end of the chapter, only eight days have passed. I will be methodically working through to the end of the two weeks with them in the next chapter, and then move along temporally from there with these folks. Then we'll return to our other characters and guide them through to wherever I end up temporally after Chapter 13. I hope it's not too hard to follow.

Disclaimer: I don't own High School Musical. I don't own Baldur's Gate. I don't own a tutu or point shoes, either, and I really don't want to.

"You can't be serious," Zeke insisted.

Heevo sighed.

"Zeke, I'm sorry. I cannot leave the city. What if Master Corthala were to return? He would assume the worst," he replied.

"You could leave a note!" Zeke parried.

"Master Corthala would think it a ploy," Heevo dismissed, "No. The decision is final. I must stay here."

"But you can't," Zeke pleaded, stepping forward a little, "I can't do this alone. I don't know where anything is in this world!"

"That's why there are maps, my boy. And don't say you can't do this. You have outclassed me with the spear by now. Any animal you meet along the way would be hard-pressed to defeat you. You will have several healing potions at your disposal to use if you get hurt. You're also taking the haste and invisibility potions in case you come across bandits and need to escape. You will be fine, Zeke," Heevo insisted.

Zeke shook his head.

"But what about the trip back? Say I don't find Master Corthala there---how am I supposed to get back? It's not like the Order's going to be waiting for me or anything!" Zeke screeched.

Heevo flinched a little. He had not wanted to think about that detail.

It had been another week, and there was still no sign of Master Corthala, nor written word, either. Heevo knew that a fortnight was far longer than Master Corthala had ever gone without word to him. Something was wrong.

He knew that the day Zeke had shown up. Perhaps that was why he had started the spear training so early. Perhaps he knew, somewhere in his mind, that Zeke would have to make this journey.

It didn't sound too frightening to a seasoned veteran like Heevo, though. Even looking at it from a neutral perspective, it seemed fine. Zeke would set out in the afternoon with the group from the Order, as Heevo had arranged. The Knights were heading to investigate matters in Tethyr, and the path to Imnesvale followed many of the same routes until one very important fork. It wasn't to be long after the fork for Zeke---a day or two, at the most---until he reached Imnesvale, if he followed the well-worn path. Heevo knew it to be fairly benign, from Master Corthala's reckoning, and so he was not worried for the boy.

Zeke would find Master Corthala in his secluded cabin outside of Imnesvale, and the two would return safely to Athkatla. That was how it was supposed to work.

But if Master Corthala were not in his cabin, then he was either living in the wilderness, trapped somewhere, or...

Heevo didn't want to think about that.

"Then you will send word from Imnesvale. If the cabin is uninhabited, you may rest there, or you may use the gold," Heevo explained, waving at the bag on the table, "To purchase a room at the Inn. Then you wait there, and I will make arrangements."

Zeke nearly looked convinced, but he was biting his lip. Heevo knew he had something to say, but didn't quite want to say it.

"Spit it out, boy," he commanded quietly.

Zeke looked up.

"I just didn't want to go anywhere without you. You're the only friend I've got left," he said quietly. Heevo stepped forward and put his hands on Zeke's shoulders.

"Look at me," he commanded. Zeke did.

"You are a strong, brave, capable young man. You know more than you think you do. Do not doubt yourself. I have faith in you. And that, Zeke, takes a lot to earn," Heevo admitted, smiling lightly. Zeke returned the gesture, albeit with less vigor.

"There's a good lad. Now go tend to your cooking. You're going to need lots of provisions for this journey," Heevo advised, pulling away with one last squeeze of Zeke's shoulders.

He was going to be all right, Heevo told himself. He just had to be.

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"I'm going to miss it," Troy said wistfully, staring back at the small cabin.

"Me too," Gabriella admitted, leaning on Troy's shoulder a little.

"But it's time to move on," Gabriella added. Troy nodded, placing a spontaneous kiss into her hair before turning around. Gabriella turned with him, slowly, and together they started down the road she had become quite accustomed to. In her guilty travels, unable to deal with the idea of the cabin and the boy inside that she loved so much but hurt so easily, she wandered down this road countless times. She didn't know where it eventually led, but she knew the scenery was beautiful.

Clad in the long purple robes that were in the wardrobe and carrying her pack on her shoulder, she felt a little silly. She felt like one of those medieval maidens promenading in the forest. It almost made her want to giggle, but she repressed it this time.

After a significant look from Troy, she had taken the book with her. It sat in her pack, its weight insignificant but still weighing her down a little. She knew Troy didn't blame her, but every time his gait changed a little as they walked, she felt her pack get a bit heavier.

But she had taken it, mostly because Troy had insisted. He had the sword, and the protection of the leather armor that he had found in the cabin. She had nothing of the like. She had insisted that she wasn't hopeless, that she had her First Aid skills and knew how to survive in the wilderness after all of those seminars she had taken. He just gave her that look of his.

"How do you survive when your arm's torn off, Gab? When a pack of wolves is chasing you, or a bear's coming after you because it thinks you'll hurt her cub? You can't outrun them, Gab. You've got to fight. And if it means hurting them until they give up, then that's what we've gotta do. And that book's your best bet," he insisted.

So she swallowed her argument and agreed to take it along. She didn't think she was going to need it, especially in a place so beautiful like this. She hadn't been attacked by any of the animals she had met, unless she counted that cute little squirrel that ran in front of her once.

"I hope there's a town close by," Troy commented.

"I haven't seen any, but I didn't go too far," Gabriella said.

They didn't say much else, just walked and looked at the works nature had wrought. Their hands were clasped, her right in his left, and although she felt silly and guilty and a little scared all at once, it felt right.

For once, it felt like they were going the right way.

Together.

Author's Note: Enjoy? Not enjoy? Cool, but please review.