Gareki placed the blade of his weapon into the cool water watching as more blood drifted away, flowing down the stream. He placed it onto the ground next to his boots before picking up Yogi's sword and placed it into the water. More blood washed off of it. He placed it onto the ground by his glaive before standing up looking around the bank for a rock.

He scoured the ground and eventually found one. Picking it up he sat back down where their weapons were and picked up his glaive before running the rock across the blade to sharpen it. He repeated this, breaking the silence around him as he listened to the constant cutting sound. He did this for a few minutes finally done before placing it back onto the ground next to him.

He reached his hand out preparing to grab Yogi's sword but suddenly he heard a shifting sound. His head snapped towards where Yogi laid on his back. His eyes peered at the rise and fall of his chest before slowly moving up to his face. He had a troubled look crossing over his features as if he were in a bad dream.

Gareki retreated his hand away from the sword before ditching the rock on the ground as he walked over to him crouching down before placing a slow hand over his chest directly over his heart. His skin was warm but that didn't surprise him considering Yogi was from a place clearly named the Sun Kingdom. He felt the slow thudding of his heart before pulling his palm away from his chest but not his finger tips. He kept them lightly placed as he dragged them upwards gracing his finger tips the rest of the way up his chest sliding up his neck before reaching his jaw line and that was when he pulled it away.

He scrutinized Yogi's face closely. Watching as his eyebrows furrowed twitching ever so slightly. Was he having a bad dream?

Yes. . . his actions seemed apparent that he was having one. It had to be the poison taking further affect. Gareki placed both his hands on his own knees before balling them into fist. What the hell had those lycans poisoned Yogi with? When had they done it? He contemplated down at his hands as he thought about when this could have happened.

Yogi was obviously by his side fighting the whole time. It didn't appear that he had been shot with a dart at all. But still the darts took some time to take affect so it didn't much matter if it looked like he didn't. He had been in his own fights with the lycans so it wasn't like he could watch Yogi the whole time and it probably had happened during that period. Then again, when they were leaving, plenty of arrows were being thrown at them in order to keep them from escaping. The lycans had clearly blown a dart Yogi's way while they crossed the bridge or maybe some where after they crossed the bridge they had hit him with it. Either of those could be accurate. But it could've happened at any point.

His eyes squinted trying to think of all the poisons he had learned about over the many years of his life time. Two were likely to be the culprits that were affecting Yogi now. But which one?

One was the poison that made you sickly pale and have a fever while unconscious soon bringing you to your death. It normally started near the heart and important intestines.

The second was the one that effected the brain and made the body break out in a sweat. It caused you to dream things you didn't want to happen. It was dangerous if the poison reached the heart but luckily it was a slow process.

He thought about them both and had to go with the second one. That one seemed to be the most precise. Yogi appeared to be having some kid of nightmare. So he had been right to choose that one. He admitted to himself that he hoped Yogi would hold on a bit longer and hopefully the poison hadn't taken over his heart yet. Pastel had been gone for an hour and still hadn't returned.

He was beginning to feel impatient. If there wasn't anything more in this world that he hated it had to be patience. He was a prince he was used to getting things the way he wanted them to be ASAP. So this whole waiting thing was sort of new to him. He wondered if it had been this way when Yogi was helping him come back to life. Pastel being slow. But he tried not to blame it on him too much, this maze was pretty big.

He went back over to the bank and sat down, crossing his legs before staring at the water silently. The moon light shining down on his skin making it look paler. He closed his eyes listening to the water moving and Yogi's breathing.

Two more days. Two more days to make it to Jiki's cave and then all of this rushing would be over along with the fear he had of dying. That fear had been inside him for a very long time. He almost didn't remember why he feared death, but he recalled it—just barely. From the time he had been born he had witnessed the slaughter of the people in his kingdom. Most died that day of war but others thankfully survived. The Ice Castle, his home had been fighting with the vangaurds about land owning reasons and they disagreed with what his mother and father had tried to issue with them. His parents wanted them to stay away after they heard about them killing our kind in the Lumines Forest on a hunt. Not just one but a whole group of us. His parents were never happy when it came to death with our own people. They despised it more then anything and there was hatred for the culprits who would dare kill us.

A war between us started leaving death and destruction in it's path.

He remembered some of the vanguards had made it into the Ice Castle after all the guards were too busy trying to fight their side off. They kidnapped and snuck my young body away and took me to their own kingdom where a bunch more children from my kingdom had been taken as well to be hung up right in front of their people.

Since I was the heir to the throne they had used me as a special punishment. The word rape seamed harmless but once it was actually about to happen to you then it became something so much more to fear. I remembered being tide, the smug grin on their kings face, the wicked eyes he peered down at my body with. I was only 9 years old at that time so the fear inside of me was stronger than ever. I remembered fighting, struggling doing everything I could to get away from him. The beating for doing this was intense and I was so close to death I could taste it from the blood in my mouth. I didn't get raped but It was so close to happening to me.

But I was fortunate enough that guards from my castle had come and saved me before any thing bad could fully happen. Most of the children from my kingdom hadn't been so lucky. It took me a long time to be comfortable with people touching me after that event happened. But that had been a very, very long time ago. I wasn't afraid of physical contact anymore but I was afraid of dying in the way the vanguards kings had treated me.

Eyes grew heavy as he slowly opened them. He turned to Yogi seeing he was still breathing. He turned back around picking up his glaive and sat it across on his lap. He looked down at it, sliding his fingers over the long silver blade. Eyeing it's sharp curves. It was cold to the touch. One of his hands gripped around the black staff trying to feel it's frigid cold to wake him up. It had worked for a minute or so but then his eyes lowered, struggling to stay open.

"I need to stay awake." he whispered as he opened his eyes wider but they dragged down once again. He saw the water rippling in front of him as the waves dragged on down the stream. The moonlight making it brighter. It was a distraction but even that didn't keep him awake as his eyes closed making him fall asleep instantly.

"Sleeping on the job are we?" said a familiar voice. Gareki snapped his eyes open and jerked upwards throwing Pastel off his chest. He held his glaive out protectively but noticing it was only Pastel he lowered it down.

"I could have killed you." He stated in a serious voice making it clear that he always had his guard up.

The cat sighed." I can see that. Remind me never to wake you up again." he hopped over him stepping towards Yogi. Gareki glanced over to the blonde just now realizing he had fallen asleep. But he had thought he stayed awake? He sighed in disappointment at himself for not watching Yogi fully.

"Is he okay?" he asked making his weapon disappear. feeling as though he didn't need it.

"Yes, he is fine. . . luckily."

Gareki noticed the stack of plants he had seen around the maze while they were walking. Pastel must have brought them. It was a lot, no wonder the cat had been gone for so long. Speaking of so long, he noticed it was morning—the second day to travel to Jiki's cave. Pastel had said they were close so he hoped they wouldn't step into anymore trouble. But he knew that was going to happen sooner or later.

"When did you get here?" he stood up and walked over to the stone wall where he hung Yogi's and his clothing. He picked up his pants and pulled them on.

"I actually just got here. These plants weren't easy to grasp as you can tell it took me a long time to get here."

Gareki couldn't help but roll his eyes at that, he had thought the cat was in danger half the time." Yeah, I know." he zipped up his pants before going for his shirt." Did you find everything?" he wasn't sure why he was asking since he had a whole stack.

"Yes, I'm going to need you to mash these up. It may look like a lot but you'd be surprised by how little this'll look once it's grounded up."

He nodded as he buttoned up his shirt." Alright."

Pastel passed him a bowl made out of the remains of a fruit. Gareki found a rock and started smashing plants into it. His eyes stayed on Yogi wondering if his heart had been effected yet. But he was still breathing which gave him reassurance that it hadn't.

"How did things go while I was gone? You got yourself into any trouble?" Pastel asked in an attempt to make conversation despite them both not being very fond of each other. Gareki's eyes averted over to him.

"It was quiet." was all he said in response before his eyes went back to watching Yogi. Pastel noticed this and inwardly smiled at the way the Avatar stared at him." You're keeping a good eye on him," he said smugly.

Gareki moved his eyes over to him." How did you get down here?" he pointed the subject towards him. He had been wondering that ever since Yogi had told him the deal of helping him back up onto the surface. "It strikes me as odd that you just so happened to end up down here."

Pastel squinted at him. "It sounds like you're accusing me of lying about it."

Gareki shrugged." That's not what I'm insinuating. It just sounds weird to me that you were in Dampis Desert when Kiridian Empire is in the far East. You're a long distance away from your home and I'm just wondering why."

Pastel sighed before sitting down." I wasn't really going to show you this but looks like I might have too in order to prove myself."

Dark eyebrows furrowed." Show me what?"

"This." Suddenly a bright light appeared from around Pastel's neck. Gareki stared at him before closing his eyes at it's brightness. A small wind blew towards him, ruffling his hair away from his forehead. Seconds later it dimmed down into a low glow. Opening his eyes he saw a black collar with a red gem inside of it.

His eyes examined it." What is that?"

"This is a Kiridian Gem Nai, the prince gave to me. I've had it for a very long time now but I kept it hidden from your blonde friend there. He's an Outsider so I thought he was going to try and steal it from me."

"Yogi is an Outsider but he isn't the evil kind you mistake him to be. When he told you about only trying to get to the Realm Gates it's true, he only wants to get back to his own kingdom." Gareki defended. Pastel shook his head." Did you believe him the first time he told you that?"

Gareki opened his mouth to answer but closed it. He hadn't believed Yogi when he first told him that. The cat nodded." Now you see my reasons for not trusting him completely."

"And you're telling me this, because. . . ?"

"Well you're an Avatar, you don't steal like an Outsiders reputation is known for to do."

Gareki added in another plant before smashing it." So what does this gem have to do with anything?"

"The reason why I'm so far away from home is because I was stolen away by two bandits of the Fire District. Nearly everything in this world that steals knows how valuably important this gem is. Nai has two more of these in his castle but they decided to take me and go back for them. They were planning on taking me back to their district but I managed to get away from them. I lost my way in a sand storm after that and ended up down here. Now you know my story. And it's the truth."

"And you tried to get out of here but you couldn't." Gareki finished.

"Correct."

"Okay, I believe your story but what you thought about Yogi isn't true at all, I hope you realize that is isn't evil like other Outsiders are. He's innocent."

Pastel nodded."I'll take your word for it and stop pretending like I trust him. He's shown that he isn't what I thought he was and now I've decided to fully trust him so now I'm going to leave this collar on signifying that I do."

"He won't take it from you but are you sure you want to leave that out in the open? What if we make it up to Dampis and then those bandits show up again then they'll know it's you just by looking at it."

"I think not, since you two will be with me. And your magical abilities will be restored so it'd be like I have two body guards." Gareki abruptly paused at the words 'body guards'. "You should watch your mouth. I'm a prince and I'm not anyones body guard are we clear on that?"

"Sorry, I forget sometimes that I'm talking to royalty. You just don't fit the picture."

His faced hardened finding that as an insult." What's that supposed to mean?" he said in a low voice feeling his eyebrows crease.

"Relax, you're getting worked up over nothing. What I meant to say is that you just don't appear to be a prince considering your attire and. . . tattoos."He paused to cock his head as he examined them on both his arms." You look more like a huntsman or an assassin."

"I'm only dressed like this because I was being stealthy and this is more for going out on hunts, something that isn't valuable such as my royal clothing that'll get dirty. It wouldn't make much sense if I wore my prince attire on a trip like me and Yogi have been on. And If you're saying all this because of my tattoos then you should know that Avatarians who are next in line for the throne inherit these tattoos out of battles."

Pastel smiled." You must have gotten into a lot of those. You look rather strong."

"There are guards in my castle who are stronger but I'd say I'm a close second for now. But once I get my full powers back I'll be stronger then I am now." he smashed more plants into the bowl. It was beginning to look even less just like Pastel had said.

"I do find your culture pretty impressive despite the blood sucking." Pastel commented as he licked his paw cleaning his face." But did you do those tattoos by yourself?"

"Mostly," Gareki said quietly.

"Did it hurt?"

"Like hell. But I got used to the pain."

"I couldn't imagine Nai having to do anything like that."Gareki looked down into the bowl as he kept smashing. " What's he like, your owner?"

Pastel stilled as he thought about it.". . . He's fair, gentle, intimidating at times. He's over all a good prince of Kiridian Empire. Everyone always has something nice to say about him. Despite that his parents died because of Outsiders corrupting the castle a few years back but things have been restored mostly back to their peaceful ways."

Gareki clenched the rock in his hand hearing about this. "Just like my father," he whispered. Pastel looked up from licking himself." Pardon?"

He shook his head silently telling him it was nothing as he returned to smashing plants. He checked on Yogi who was still breathing and his heart was still beating in the same pattern from the last time he had checked it. The poison was still taking it's time.

Pastel continued telling him about Kiridian Empire. Saying that the people were nice there and peaceful with new comers that came along for a visit. One thing that he told him that struck him as odd was that none of the people nor did Nai have any magical skills only Pastel had the ability to make flames appear that's why his kingdom was normally the one to be stolen from because no one had any magical skills to protect themselves as well as their belongings. Even the royal guards struggled. Pastel also told him that the kingdom was near an ocean which surprised Gareki. He hadn't thought that an ocean would be in a desert.

"His castle is right near it." Pastel stated.

"Sounds like a nice place. If it weren't so hot I'd admire it more like you do but I can't bring myself to have enthusiasm about it. But Yogi will, considering he's from a hot place."

"He looks like he would." Pastel agreed. A moment passed and Gareki was finally done making the medicine it had turned slimy."Just place it where he was shot." Pastel instructed. Gareki held Yogi up with a hand while his other placed it's finger tips into the medicine before sliding it over the purple bump on Yogi's back shoulder thoroughly. He pulled his hand away examining his work.

"What do I do now?"

"Pop it." Pastel stated plainly. Gareki did a double take before turning to the cat with a frown." Pop it?!"

"Yes, you heard me. Do it."

"You have got to be kidding me," Gareki said as he turned back to the purple bump. He raised his hands, hesitating.

"You want the poison out of him don't you? Then go ahead and do it without hesitating." Gareki stopped and glanced at him. "I thought that was what the medicine was for."

"No, the medicine is for him to heal after you pop it." Gareki turned back around moving his hands to the bump on either side before adding a small amount of pressure. He gasped as dark purple slime squirted itself on his cheek making him cringe. Ughh!

Pastel smiled." I'm glad I have paws."