Howdy, folks. Sorry for the delay again, not that a day is so bad.

Thanks to my lovely reviewers:

Colinou

QuiteARandomFan (more cake for you)

Vvarden

crashandy

Spartan10007

canadasam101

nightfury6598 ("why" indeed)


"Haku?"

Maara's hesitant voice caused him to whirl around in surprise. He had been pacing in the front room of his home, muttering angrily under his breath. Rádgatá had evaded him yet again, and his patience had reached its end.

"Oh. Maara, I didn't see you there." His politeness was forced, and she knew it. "Was there something you needed?"

"Haku, what's the matter?" she asked, moving away from the door. "You haven't been yourself lately… Vasara and I are worried. You're not eating much, you just sit and brood…"

"Am I not doing my duty? Do I neglect my people? Are you wanting for anything?" He regretted his harsh tone immediately, and when he stepped closer to Maara she recoiled.

"No. Sorry for disturbing you, Chief." Her use of his title was like a slap to the face as she turned to leave.

"Wait, Maara! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" but she was already gone, probably to go find Mika and cry. His chest hurt at the thought, and he sank into a chair at the table.

"You shouldn't treat others poorly, just because you don't feel right, Haku." His head snapped up, and he saw Vasara standing at the bottom of the stairs. He hadn't known she was home.

"You're right. I feel awful, I've been a terrible brother lately…" he shook his head sadly, beginning to pace again. "I don't know why I feel this way. So out of sorts. Maybe I'm coming down with something."

With more wisdom than he knew she possessed, she came up to him, stopping him with a hand on his shoulder. "The only thing you're coming down with is heartache, brother."

His jaw dropped. Am I acting this way because of my feelings for Rádgatá? "I… You're right. Again."

"What happened?" she asked softly, and his temper flared.

"I don't know. Nothing that I know of. She's been avoiding me. It's not like her, to hide from her problems… oh gods, am I a problem to her now?" Haku groaned and rubbed his face with one hand.

"I don't know, Haku. When's the last time you spoke to her?"

"Probably… before I became Chief."

"Oh, my… I had no idea. I thought everything was fine…"

"So did I! Until I realized that I can never get ahold of her when I want to. Even the dragon is avoiding me!"

"That's very strange…"

"I never expected her to be such a coward." Another wave of regret hit him at his choice of words.

"Haku, that's not fair. You have no idea what's going on, I mean, maybe she thinks she's doing you a favor."

"How would this be doing me a favor? I'm not eating, I can't sleep, I'm constantly distracted and irritated…" Admitting his 'symptoms' only made him feel worse.

"Well, how do you think she feels?"

"I don't have the slightest idea! I would if she would actually talk to me and tell me what's going on, but she won't give me the time of day!"

"Hmm." Vasara pondered this for a moment. "Do you know where to find her?"

"No. I look all over the village, and I could probably just have Kova take me to her camp, but I don't want to invade her privacy." He laughed humorlessly. "I feel like I'm being pretty considerate. With no reward."

"Well… and I only tell you this because I don't want anyone else to fall prey to your foul mood… I know she's going to be on the eastern shore tomorrow morning. Fishing and whatnot."

"Of course…" Haku could have slapped himself. He figured she would never go back after nearly dying there, but he supposed he had never really understood her logic.

"So, you could theoretically get up before sunrise and make your way over there. You'd probably have to walk, because Flashfangs aren't the quietest of dragons, and if they hear you, they're not going to stick around. But, she won't run from you if you manage to approach her directly. Probably."

Probably. I can work with probably. He reached out and wrapped his arms around his sister. "Thank you, Vasara. Thank you so much." He hadn't felt so optimistic in weeks. The next morning, he awoke before dawn, quickly dressing himself and heading downstairs. He debated bringing his bow, but figured he wouldn't need it. Instead, he grabbed a few pieces of fruit. Hopefully he could bribe Shade into sticking around while he spoke to Rádgatá. With that hope he set off, knowing it would probably take at least an hour and a half at a brisk pace to get there.


Aeri woke with the sun. Yawning, she got up, nudging Shade with her foot. "Come on, we have to get going if we're going to go fishing before we head to the village."

He groaned, but got up anyways, blinking at the sunlight streaming through the trees. Aeri straightened out her bodysuit, forgoing her usual shoulder armor. She could come back for it later. It took her less than a minute to put Shade's saddle on, and once she had, they took off for the shore. She had recently begun fishing with a net, as it was more efficient than using her spear, and it saved her the trouble of having to get the fish smell off her weapon. Once they were at the beach, Aeri removed the large basket from the side of the saddle, setting it down on the sand.

"Go play, bud," she encouraged Shade, who promptly took off down the beach in pursuit of a flock of birds. Smiling to herself, she opened the basket, removing the net and the knife she used to gut her catch. The net itself was rather ingenuous. One part of it was weighted, so that it could withstand the movement of the sea without clumping up. The net was looped around a circle of rope, and when she pulled on the end of the loop, the net would quickly cinch shut, leaving her with a length of rope to haul in the inevitable pile of writhing fish. Clambering up onto a rock that jutted out into the surf, she peered into the shallows, immediately catching sight of a school of shimmering fish. "Gotcha," she whispered, then gently tossed the weighted end of the net into the water. She waited patiently until enough unsuspecting fish swam within range, then yanked the net up. As always, it cinched up tightly, trapping almost a dozen fat fish, and pleased, she walked along the edge of the rock back to the beach, pulling her catch through the water below her.

Dragging the fish up the sand, she crouched, and with one of her knives, set to work. Humming to herself, she allowed her thoughts to drift, until far down the beach, Shade jumped to his feet, sniffing the air. Aeri looked up and saw him turn towards her and let out a horrible shriek before breaking into a sprint in her direction. Straightening from her crouch, she took a step towards him. "What's the—" Something heavy crashed down on the back of her head, and everything went black.


Haku heard Shade's screeching and broke into a run. Something was very, very wrong. The trees thinned, he was almost there, when the sound of guttural voices stopped him in his tracks.

"I wouldn't come any closer, dragon, unless you want your rider to taste the steel of my blade."

Haku listened with growing horror as Shade hissed and roared, and he snuck forward through the undergrowth, only to see half a dozen burly men facing down the black dragon on the beach. Wait… the two on the right looked sort of familiar. It took him a moment to place them, as he hadn't paid much attention to them the first time he'd encountered them. They were sailors from the trading ship! What were they doing here? His heart stopped when he saw that one of them held Rádgatá's limp body up with one arm, the other hand pointing a wicked-looking knife at her exposed throat.

Then one of the large men moved, revealing a skinny figure, who continued to sneer at Shade. "Come, now. You know how this works, beast. If you don't come with us, she gets it. And we won't make it painless, neither."

Shade roared his fury at the man, and a few of the larger thugs looked nervously between themselves. The one holding Rádgatá shifted a bit, before hesitantly calling out, "Currel, maybe you shouldn't taunt 'im."

"Oh shut up. He's a smart beast, he'll do exactly as we say. Now let's go, before someone sees us."

For the first time Haku noticed two rowboats pulled up onto the sand, and his heart sank even further. They were taking her to a ship. But where? And how could he stop them? He had no weapon, no way to act. Helplessly he watched as the men shoved the boats into the shallows, leaping into them and picking up the oars.

I need backup. Sprinting through the forest, it still took him almost an hour to get back to the village. He burst from the trees, searching around wildly for his sisters. The village was awake, people peacefully beginning their days, completely unaware that time had run out. At the sight of their Chief bursting from the trees, shouting and running as though being pursued by demons, many people dropped what they were doing and approached him.

"Chief, what's the matter?"

"What's going on?"

Haku couldn't speak as he gasped for air. "Maara…"

"Haku!" Maara was running up to him. "What's wrong?"

"Men… pirates… took Rádgatá!" he shouted breathlessly.

Her eyes widened with horror. "Oh gods, no!"

"We have to go after them."

"I agree, Haku, but that's not our only problem." She pointed out to sea, and following her gaze, he could just barely make out the tiny shapes of ships on the horizon.

Oh, no.


Uh oh. What happens next? Stay tuned until next time...