Hello faithful readers! I am quite sorry about the wait, it seems like life takes up far too much of our time...at least thats how it seems to be for me.

Disclaimer: We are not Tamora Pierce. Quite obviously considering Tamora Pierce is one person, not a group of people. Unless she is a group of people and we just dont know it...that would be odd.

Enjoy!!

To Fight. To Love. To Live.

A New Mission


The next day passed somewhat quietly for the two rider groups. Spiderdeath spent most of the daylight hours regrouping with the Sixteenth's help. They did not know if more Spidrens would show up, so they planned on only spending one night in the same area.

Alex left with a written report for fief Bunnett in the early hours of the morning. Although accounts such as those were often cumbersome for the Riders since they would have to lose one of their team to send it, it was required when there were losses of more than two.

The sun was just beginning to set over the ridges, and a small fire sprung up in the center of camp. There Cassidy and some other Riders were taking full advantage of their downtime. She and her former training partner, Max, were deep in discussion.

"I am quite sad right now, Max. You swore that after getting assigned a Group you'd have battle scars on the first day from your heroic acts. I don't see any." Cassidy stuck her bottom lip out with a twinkle in her eyes.

Her friend stuck his tongue out. "That's just 'cause they're hidden. Of course if you really want to see them…" He moved to lift up his shirt before Cass grabbed his arm.

"No thank you, Maxwell. I would really rather not see your 'scars'."

"Now that's not fair," He whined. "You saw Leo's scar! And that was on the first day!"

"That is a completely different story. Leon's pony ripped his tunic off of him. And that was a birthmark, not a scar."

"In the shape of a butterfly!"

Next thing he knew, Max was being hit on the back of his head.

"That's not true, you lousy liar!" Leo exclaimed as he took a seat next to Cassidy.

Max pouted. "Well from my angle, it looked like a butterfly."

"You aren't one to joke about butterflies, Max. If I remember correctly, that was your nickname for quite a few months." Cassidy's lips rose in a smirk.

Leon sat up straighter with laughter written across his face. "Aha! that's right! I remember that morning when you were up in the tree trying to map the courtyard, Sarge came right up under you. You fell right off the branch!"

"Ha! You really did look like a butterfly, arms flapping like those delicate little wings."

Max growled. "Delicate! I am not delicate!"

Leon let out a snort. "Sure seemed delicate then."

Some other Riders had come to sit around the fire, listening to their stories and laughing along. Others began to add their own tales from their training.

From the far edge of the circle, Danny sat silently, listening in on the exchanging of stories.

"Hey, Todd, remember Liza!" One of the Spiderdeath Riders exclaimed from near the fire.

"You bet I do! She was a hoot, that girl."

The one close to the fire let out a chuckle. "I remember one time she was sprintin' down a hill, tryin' to get to lunch before the bell. It had just rained and she was wearing those Godsforsaken boots of hers, the ones so old they had no traction left. She kept sayin' they was her lucky shoes. Those were certainly her downfall that day, pun intended. She slid down that hill faster than water down a mountain. Even then she didn't get rid of those things, even when she got put into the Sixteenth. I told her, those are gonna get yourself killed som—

"Enough!" Danny stood up and growled at the man. "There are still chores to be done."

Without another word he stalked away from the now silent group. After a moment they began to move again, getting up to ready their packs for an early morning the next day, all but one.

Cassidy quickly stood and went after Danny, refusing to listen to her friend's attempts at getting her attention. He had stooped over to pick up a stray strap of leather, but she stomped down on it before he could reach it.

The older man straightened and nearly had to take a step back when he looked into her smoldering glare.

"If you can't remember them with a laugh, then why think of them at all? Why did you even get to know them in the first place if you won't respect their memory? He was just telling a funny story about a comrade, it just happened that that comrade was once in the old Sixteenth.

"Yes, they're dead. But we are still alive, the Sixteenth. Spiderdeath is still alive. They lost three of their number only a day ago, already they are moving on. But look at you. A year has passed, and yet you can't let go. You expect everyone to mourn with you, to think about their horrible deaths. That'll only get us killed. Think for a minute, Danny. Do you want to lose another group because we didn't have a leader to look up to? This is only our first year, none of us are ready to take complete command."

Danny's eyes flashed at the young Rider and his voice dropped low. "You have no idea what it is like to lose your own in a bandit attack. It is impossible to just forget."

"We're not asking you to forget!" Cassidy snapped. Her lip quivered for a moment, but she was quick to bite it and carry on.

"And for your information, I do know what it is like. My family was ambushed when I was little. My brother was killed right before my eyes. I watched as his life spilled out of him at my feet. That is why I am a Rider! I turned my grief into my determination. What will you let yours become?"

Her braid whipped around her head as she stomped off towards the ponies. Danny could only stand shell shocked as she left.

Danny felt a hand on his shoulder and spun to meet Leon's eyes.

"She is right, you know. We are the Sixteenth now, Danny. We can be there for you, but only if you let us. You've told us your story, but sometimes that's not enough. At least, it doesn't seem so for you."

For the second time that night Danny did not know what to say in return, though he did not have to as Leo went to check on Cassidy and his own ponies.

Dark had completely fallen as Danny sat with the Spiderdeath leader, Nik, in front of a larger fire.

Nik threw a handful of purple powder into the flames. As soon as they touched, the flames grew and changed in color to a soft orange with purple tints. In the middle of the flames a face appeared.

"Commander Buri," Danny greeted. "We sent our reports to Corus this morning, they should arrive soon."

Her face nodded in the fire. "Nik, I would like you and the rest of Spiderdeath to return to the Palace for a week before returning to fieldwork. I think you will all need a rest. You will get further orders when you arrive in Corus, but I would like you to warn your Group now that there is a high chance of being sent into that area once more. Those Spidrens could become more of a problem if the issue rests for too long."

The Spiderdeath captain nodded and gave his thanks and moved away from the fire to tell his Riders.

"Danny," Buri addressed him. "I want the Sixteenth to investigate what happened to Spiderdeath and, if possible, what is going on with the Spidrens. From what Nik reported earlier, they exhibited extremely abnormal behavior than what we have seen from those Immortals so far. I also want reports every two days on what your progress is, preferably not written. You will need all of your members for this mission, I believe. I'll try to get Daine out there with you. Keep me updated."

With that the fire spluttered and died, the red embers casting an eerie glow in the darkness.

Danny sat thinking about what he was going to tell his group the next day. It would require everyone's full cooperation and attentiveness to find the reason behind the Spidren's strange actions. Would they be up to this challenge? Would he be up to it? Only time would tell.

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Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Keep reviewing, it makes us all very very very happy!

+dares to dream+

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-_-RiderGroup16-_-

20/7/09