Chapter 12
The female assassin
The bright moon and stars bathed the hills and mountains in their silver light. It reflected in Kratos his amber eyes while he watched the small group from a far distance. He always keeps an eye on them, as he had promised Mythos, himself and Lloyd.
What was he hoping for? It was a lost cause. This was all but the last push, might as well go down with it. At least that way, Lloyd would still join him, as the same, lifeless being. At least then, the boy would still be alive. Could that really be called a life? Maybe, maybe not. It was up to debate. One he didn't feel like having because it would be endless.
He was not surprised, when Yuan appeared, a few steps away from him, in the typical light of their way of teleportation. His teal eyes narrowed as they fixed on Kratos. Within a few big steps, he was next to him, grabbing him by the collar but only so that the man would look at him.
"Have you absolutely lost your mind?" He asked with a sneer, staring him down.
Calm as ever, Kratos raised his hand, loosening the grip on his collar and fixed the crinkles. "I could ask you the same question, Yuan."
"Don't turn this around."
"Did you really think I didn't see you? You could wear all the disguise you want, but I know your mana signature. Why were you dressed like a Desian, attacking the Chosen in the middle of the night?"
The two men glared at each other in silence for a long moment.
"That is hardly the same level, Kratos."
"Oh? I think not. Renegades have been a sight for sore eyes, a real pain in Mythos his side. They are set on stopping the Journey of Regeneration. For him to have to learn you are with them... Well, his wrath will be great and painful, for you. You know how he hates traitors."
"You betrayed your own son and the woman you loved! How can you put it on him, knowing full well what it did to her? Why would you knowingly put him through that?"
"I see it differently. Stop and think for a moment. If you lost your life to an Exsphere, what would you want done with yourself?"
Yuan blinked, seemingly confused by this question. It was a very odd one indeed. "Does that have any relevance..."
The man cut him off by continuing: "If it were me, I'd want to be useful to someone with the will to break this tragic cycle. Then…perhaps one could atone for some of their sins."
Another silence set in. Crickets were the only ones that made any sound. Yuan was trying to find a proper response. Was this even the answer he was looking for? Why was he even expecting a normal answer? This was Kratos after all. The man always seems the speak in riddles or metaphors.
"Atone? We have so many sins to our names, it is useless to even try." Yuan finally said, bitter.
"Maybe. But I was not referring to me, perse." Kratos gazed of in the far distance, where the group was sleeping, except of course for his son.
Looking over his shoulder for a moment, the blue haired man gave a nod. "I suppose we are both planning things we won't ever understand of each other."
"Let's keep it at that. Though I must warn you; if you dare to threaten the Chosen like that again, you will not get away so easily."
A small, wry smile crossed Yuan's face, only for a moment. Yes, this was the dynamic he was used to, the Kratos he was used too. Even after all these years and years, while some parts of him were predictable, he still was full of surprises. They both were, in their own unique way. And while they once were on the same side, they now were on opposite sides of a scale. Much like the state of the two worlds. How ironic.
"Very well. You stick to your plans, and I will stick to mine. We will no doubt meet again."
"Indeed." Kratos just nodded as he let the blue haired man walk, watching him go. After he was out of sight, he just went back to watching the group from afar.
With a wide yawn and a stretch, Genis sat up in his sleeping bag, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. His hair was sticking out every which way, being very unruly.
"Goodmorning, Genis. Did you sleep well?" It was no surprise his sister was up, probably having risen bright and early like she always did.
"Not as good because the sand was pretty cold." He answered honestly with another yawn.
Raine walked over to him, arming herself with a brush. "Ah, no! Siiis, I can do that myself. I'm not a little kid!"
Still half stuck in his sleeping bag, Genis failed to run and thus was submitted to a brush session from his sister.
"Just sit still and it will be over fast."
"Auw, not that hard!"
Colette couldn't help but chuckle while she watched this display from across the siblings. The young elven boy quickly surrendered, knowing that his sister wouldn't let up anyway.
"Hey Colette. Did you sleep well?"
"Goodmorning, Genis. I had a great sleep. Lloyd kept the fire going so we wouldn't get too cold. Isn't that sweet of him?" The blond girl chimed happily.
The brown-haired teen in question, just came walking back, from doing a round to make sure everything was still safe. Was it a trick of the early rising sunlight, or did his eyes seem less intense, less void? Genis wasn't too sure.
"Aaauw!" He was quickly distracted by Raine, brushing out a big knot.
"Stop complaining. There, done. Now, we can have the breakfast I set up."
"You made breakfast?"
The face Genis made was a mix of horror and anticipated disgust. Raine narrowed her eyes at him as she handed him a sandwich. "Just for that, you will have the first bite. I won't let you say no or go on a long walk with an empty stomach."
"What weird thing did you do with it this time?" He still took the time to study the food, smelling it.
"You will find out by taking a bite. Lloyd?" Raine held out the next sandwich to him.
While giving a small nod in thanks, he took it without question and just took a bite. For a moment, the teen tilted his head to the side, as if taken by the taste, curious about it. But then, he just went on eating.
"Colette, please try to eat something." The professor said this in a softer tone.
"I'll keep to tea for now. Really, I'm feeling fine." The girl smiled her standard, sweet smile.
Genis caught the brown-haired teen glancing to her for a moment, but of course, he said nothing. "Uh, you might be feeling better, but you also need to keep up your energy. You need to try to eat atleast something."
"We are trying to look out for you, dear." Raine added.
The girl nodded slowly. "Okay, I'll try. Sorry for worrying you all."
As she took the sandwich from the professor, she noticed the second glance from Lloyd directed to her. It was hard to tell what the glances were about, because his face didn't show any emotions. But, those eyes, they seemed to glimmer just a little, as opposed to the dull void they were before.
"So, where do we go from here, anyway?" Genis then asked, taking a doubtful bite from the sandwich. He winced right away; it was most definitely out there! How did Lloyd and Colette just eat through that?
"Considering Remiel's words," Raine started, getting out the map from her pack and rolling it out in between them. "we need to cross the sea. Far to the east is all we have to go on. I think we need to get to Palmacosta first, see what kind of information we can get there." She tapped the place on the map. It was indeed across water, on the very edge of a big landmass.
"Why do I feel like there is a 'but' coming?" Her little brother said with worry.
"I doubt many ships will be sailing now. I've heard the waters are treacherous these days. Even roaming with monsters. No one would dare to cross it, risking their life if this is really the case."
"Oh no, I wouldn't like the have that on my conscience." Colette said softly, looking worried and guilty. She's only had a few bites from her food.
Genis looked over the map in the main while. "Man, we really still have a ways to go. You want to get to Izoold, right? And see if we can still try to get a boat?"
His sister nodded to this. Her finger went to the desert looking area, to western edge. "This is where we are now." Her finger started crossing the desert, going east until the map was marked with two close together markers. "We go to the Ossa trail first. Once we cross that, it's a rather short hike to Izoold. I am sorry, Colette. But we have to try the faster options first. If we really can't get anyone to sail us, we have to go all the way around by foot."
They all saw the enormous detour they'd have to make; up north-west for a long hike and then east for even longer, before being able to go back south again, and another long stretch before they'd finally reach their destination. No one was looking forward to doing that.
"I suppose, there is no other way." Colette said eventually, bowing her head a little. It was clear she didn't like to be a burden, or even a danger to other people.
"For now, I suggest you all eat up, we have a long road ahead of us and I'd like to have the least unnecessary stops as possible."
"Yes, professor." "Yes, sis." Genis and Colette at the same time.
Lloyd, just nodded and went to grab another sandwich, which baffled the youngest member of the group to no end.
Smiling, the blond girl gave him the rest of her sandwich. He took it with a moment of hesitation, looking at her. "I'm really not hungry. I'll eat some later, I promise."
Mouth agape, Genis just stared to watch as the teen went on and ate the third sandwich while he himself could barely stomach the first.
The group then went on to cleaning up their little camp, packing up all their stuff. After this was done, they set off to the east, Raine leading the way, Genis close behind, followed by Colette and Lloyd closing the line, watching their backs.
Monsters would still bother them along the way, the warm sun coming up in the meanwhile making them all sweaty and thirsty. Well, except for Lloyd. The teen once again seems unbothered and went on, now getting ahead of the rest of the group when they eventually arrived at a scenery change.
From sand, the surface gradually faded into stone. The slight sandhills made way for some actual hills, in between a larger mountain range. Green grass chased away the last sandy colors and the climate immediately seemed kinder.
"We have to stop for a moment. I, I need water." Genis said, feeling dehydrated. His flask had been empty for a bit now.
"Alright, lets fill up here. This stream comes straight from the mountains, that is very healthy water." Raine nodded to the small stream of water to their left. Together with Colette, the three all took some time to drink and fill their flasks with the nice, fresh water.
Lloyd just looked over them, his eyes going around their surroundings, making sure all was safe. Still, Colette walked up to him and offered him a flask. "You must have a dry throat too. Please, take care of yourself and drink."
He took the flask and a sip. Was it actually refreshing? It was hard to tell, once again. The small group was then interrupted by a voice coming from higher above.
"Stop!" Up on the cliff, among the higher mountains, stood a young woman. Raine would estimate her around the age of twenty. Her black hair was tied up in a ponytail and intense golden-brown eyes staring down at them. What stood out to Raine though, was her clothing. The style was to be called very unique.
"Huh, who's this?" Genis asked curiously.
Before anyone could even answer, the woman continued. "Is the Chosen of Mana among you?"
"Oh, yes. That's me!" Colette chimed, setting a step forward already.
Lloyd and the unknown woman moved at the same time. "Prepare to die!" She called out as she jumped off the cliff. And Lloyd jumped in to move Colette out of the way to block this surprise attack.
"Ah!" The blond Chosen had hit something in the process and suddenly, the ground seemed the open up right under her attacker's feet.
"What? Nooo!" The woman called out as she fell down into the dark depths.
"Oh... Oh no, not again! What should I do?" Immediately worried, Colette looked over the edge of the hole to try see through the darkness.
"You don't need to worry about it. If she he'd fallen in, you could have been killed," was Raine's somewhat cool remark.
"But..."
"It looks like she is our enemy, you shouldn't worry." The professor crossed her arms.
"Hm, I do kind of feel a bit sorry for her." Genis admitted.
"I hope she's okay." The Chosen said, still looking worried and guilty.
Genis stepped closer, assessing the hole. "Even assuming her weight to be 45 kilograms, and this hole to be 10 meters deep, and calculating the gravity constant at 9.8, the impact shouldn't have been fatal."
It seemed Lloyd slightly tilted his head at this remark. Was it because he didn't understand why they were debating this at all, or didn't he understand what the young boy said?
"So, she's alive, right?" Colette looked at him hopeful.
"Probably." He gave a small nod. He looked over the hole once again. "But she's got some bad luck. Ending up right on top of a trapdoor and all."
Raine then finally approached the hole. "It's not a trap. It's a hidden maintenance passage for the mountain path."
"We should get moving." Lloyd said it queit but assertive at the same time. It made them all look at him.
"Shouldn't we try to find out who that woman was?" Genis opted.
To this, Raine shook her head, her arms crossed again. "She'll come after us again on her own. This area is too confined and the footing is poor. Lloyd is right in moving along."
Colette and Genis nodded. The girl made sure she pulled back the handle she had accidently (or conveniently) hit so that no other people would fall into the hole. The group followed the path, which was winding up a little, in between the mountains, before going back down again. They met some monsters along the way, but weren't that much trouble to deal with.
They arrived at the other end of the pass. This area had a wooden blockade to the mines, to prevent unwanted people from going in. The group intended to just move on, when this blockade was knocked down and the female assassin appeared before them once again. This time she was covered in dust and filth.
"W-wait!" She called out, readying rather unique looking weapons. Were those, cards?
"Wow, she caught up with us." Genis was rather surprised at this.
"Oh, thank goodness! You are okay." Colette wanted to step towards her, but the woman got into a defensive position.
"Don't move!"
Raine couldn't help to let out a light scuff: "A wise decision."
The assassin narrowed her eyes. "I won't be caught off guard this time! Prepare to die!"
She ran in, a full on attack, directly going for the Chosen once again. And again, Lloyd got in between, now going to stand before her and crossing his swords to block the three fast flurries she did.
Proving to be very agile, the assassin jumped back quickly, and then going for the side. Colette threw a chacram to prevent the attack at Lloyd. Genis started casting a spell, when he suddenly noticed... at strange, large creature looming in the back. Right then, it seemed to gesture with its long nails and a wind spell was cast.
Just in time, he thought of the technique Lloyd had thought them, as he called up the protective barrier to block most of the damage.
"S-something is fighting along with her!"
"Oh my, what is that? It looks like a spirit."
"Sis, concentrate!"
Still, it seemed the smartest move to take down the assassin. So, Lloyd concentrated on that, Raine did her usual support and Colette actually tried to keep away from her and instead went for the spirit. To distract it so it couldn't cast any spells and Genis could keep on doing his.
It took a little bit, but finally, both went down. The spirit disappeared into the air as soon as it hit the ground. The assassin, kneeled on the ground, having suffered cuts and bruises, even some burns from Genis his spells.
Lloyd took a step forward, raising one of his swords.
"No, stop!" Colette called out, jumping and grabbing his hand to stop the motion. She was almost hanging of his raised hand.
He looked at her, still stoic in his face, and just the faintest of light in his eyes. Her bright blue eyes looked back, pleading.
"Don't do it. I know, she tried to attack us. But I'm sure if we talk, we can understand each other. I'm on this journey to save human lives, not to take them. So, please. I beg you not to do it."
Slowly, Lloyd backed off, lowering his arm and not taking the swing. The assassin watched this in disbelieve, and then bit her lip.
"Ugh, I don't believe your sweet talk. Just you wait. I swear I will kill you next time!" With this, she vanished in a puff of heavy smoke.
"What? Hey wait!" Genis called out, but it was useless. "Why are people trying to kill us?" He wondered.
"Hm, there are always those who reject salvation. Do any of you need healing?" Raine's eyes went over the three of them.
Colette shook her head, seeming to be a bit shaken by the whole ordeal. Lloyd sheathed his swords with his simple swirl and also shook his head.
"I'm fine, sis." Genis was the only one who spoke up.
"Good. We need to be aware that we are in constant danger. So always be ready."
To this, the three of them just nodded, the two showing emotions doing so solemnly. The professor cupped her chin in thought for a moment. "Hm, those clothes..."
"Is there something the matter, professor?" Colette informed.
She shook her head. "No, it's nothing. Anyway, let's get going. Izoold is not far now. We can rest there and ask if anyone is willing to sail."
The group continued on, now more on their guard, towards the small fisherman's village. It was rather quaint, log cabins being the homes of the people living there. The very first one turned out to be an inn, a very welcoming sight for them.
"Welcome, all." The female owner said to them with a warm smile. "Would you all like to stay? Accommodations are a hundred gald for the night."
"We only need a couple of hours and some food. Is that also possible?" Raine informed.
"Of course, I'll make it fifty then."
With a nod of thanks, the professor handed over the gald.
"Thank you, I'll make up the beds. Would you like rest first or have something to eat?"
"Rest, please." The professor looked to Lloyd. "Are you keeping watch again?"
The teen gave a nod, of course saying nothing more.
"In that case we just need three beds."
"Of course, give me a moment. You can unload your belongings here behind the counter."
They did what the owner suggested, taking seats to wait for her to be done, which didn't take too long. Colette looked to Lloyd as the elven siblings entered the shared room.
"You sure you don't mind keeping watch again?" She informed. The teen shook his head. "Alright. We'll probably will rest for a few hours. Thank you again, for being here and looking out for us."
She gave him a sweet smile and then turned to go in the room, closing the door behind her. For a moment Lloyd stood motionless, as if he needed a moment. Then he left the inn, to keep watch outside.
It was indeed a couple of hours, the group of three needed to rest up after the long walk and the fight with the unknown assassin.
"I'll get Lloyd to join us for our very late lunch." Colette chimed to the siblings and walking out.
"You could practically call it diner." Genis remarked, glancing out the window to see the sun setting. He noticed his sister being in thought. "Sis, what's the matter? You've been quiet since that woman showed up."
"Is that so? Hm, well. There is just something off about her, but I can't quite put my finger on it."
"Don't break your head over it, sis. Isn't worth it."
The owner was setting up food for them in the meanwhile on the table, setting it for four. Raine watched for a moment.
"I hope Colette will eat some more now."
"Yeah, she's eating very little and even things that are very off, like your food. Auw!"
His sister had hit him over the head for that remark. "Hm, she also seems to be really close with Lloyd, even though we barely know him."
"You always have trouble trusting people, but at the same time you lecture me when I judge someone." Genis cowered after his remark, expecting another hit. It didn't come.
Raine crossed her arms. She knew her little brother made a good point. She had good reasons not to trust people. They were quick to turn on you, once they learn what's in your blood, something you could not help. She didn't think Lloyd was that kind of person, but he was just so shrouded in mystery, she couldn't help but be on guard.
The teen wasn't too far; Colette found him standing at the edge of the land. On one side, there was a very small stretch of sand, hardly worth to be called a beach. On the other, the grand ocean, deep blue and calm, gentle waves hitting the land.
"I love the sight of the ocean. It reminds me of home. The smell, the sounds, I could never get enough of it." Colette watched the children, playing around in the sand. The people going about their daily lives, most of them fishing or selling said fish. "I love this world…"
Lloyd set his gaze on her. Even though the words were quiet, he heard her. The words had so much more meaning and heaviness. Had he noticed? Still, this was hard to tell. But Colette smiled at him nonetheless.
"Are you joining us? We are having lunch, or uh, diner."
He nodded and followed behind, watching her back as they went inside. The round table had been set full of all kinds of food and was neatly set for four people. The elven siblings were already seated, but of course were waiting to eat until the small group was complete.
"O-oh, wow. This is all for us? You really shouldn't have, miss." Colette looked at the owner.
"Now don't be silly. I'm happy to have guests and spoiling them," she answered happily, waving the worry away. "Please, enjoy."
"Thank you very much." The Chosen bowed to her and took her seat.
Lloyd joined last and stared at all the food, almost as if he longed for it.
"Let's dig in, I'm starving!" Genis said enthusiastic.
"Alright. Thank you for the food." Raine nodded to the owner, who smiled and nodded back. "Let's eat."
Both boys were fast to dig in, seeming ravenous. Raine kept her very sophisticated posture, eating with a straight back and with the knife and fork provided. Colette used those too, of course, but she took very small and slow bites, from various things even.
Genis had a small stomach, so he ran out of steam pretty fast. Lloyd just kept going however. Just where does he leave it all, the boy caught himself thinking.
"Ah, before I forget to ask. Miss, do you know of anyone here in the village who has a ship?" Raine asked the owner.
"Hm, well. That would be Max. But I doubt he'd be very willing. The sea is very dangerous of late. You can find him at the docks."
"I see. Thank you for the information." Raine nodded to her and then looked over the others. Only Lloyd was still eating. "We still have to try and convince this man to take us."
The others nodded and the professor looked from Colette's still rather full plate to the girl herself. The smile she gave, was the classic 'I'm fine' smile, which was a lie in this case.
"Are you still not feeling well, Colette?" Raine informed.
"I really feel fine, professor. I don't feel like have any less energy, just not much of an appetite." Her head hung a little after saying that.
"Well, at least you still have energy. I'm glad to hear that." Genis said to that, still sharing a slightly worried look with his sister.
Raine drank the last of her tea and stood up. Her cool eyes were set on the brown-haired teen. "Are you quite done?"
Poor Lloyd had no choice but to put down his fork and give a nod. There was not that much more left anyway.
They retrieved their belongings from behind the counter and said their last thank you to the owner (even Lloyd did, softly). As the sun was setting, seemingly sinking in the ocean in the far distance, they walked towards the docks. There were two ships and both were rather small, so it was hard to say which was meant to ferry people.
The ship one their left was the first they tried. Raine led on, approaching the man cleaning up, probably just about ready to go home for the day.
"Excuse me, sir. Do you have a moment?"
"Eh, what is it?"
"Is this by chance a sailing ship?"
"Nah missie, this here is a fisher's boat. If yah want a sailing ship, you go to Max." The burly man nodded towards another at the other dock. "But don't get yah hopes up."
"I see. Thank you." Raine kept polite and nodded.
"This isn't sounding good. So many people are saying we won't be able to cross the ocean." Genis remarked as they headed to the man called Max.
"We need to try to get him to do it. Maybe offer money. Or even make use of the fact that the Chosen is with us."
Right away, Lloyd shook his head at his, and Colette looked shocked at the suggestion of the professor. "We can't do that! Don't guilt people into doing things for us."
"Assassin's." Was the one word Lloyd uttered after that.
The professor let out a sigh. It was so troublesome. Colette with her big heart, not wanting to use her title. But she also knew, the brown-haired teen made a good point. If they leave clear trails, the ones after them will just find them very easily.
"So, if he says no, that's that? We will have to go all the way around?"
Nodding to this, Colette folded her hands together. "Think of it like this: this way we can meet more people and help them out. That is what we should do, not bring them into danger."
"That is not the goal of the journey, Colette. It is for you to release the seals and go to the Tower of Salvation."
"Maybe we will find a seal on that route too! It's very possible. There are four after all, not counting the tower. I doubt they are close to each other."
This was a good point. They approached the man called Max, who was also about to pack up and head to his home. He looked at the group of strangers approaching him, seemingly already suspecting for what reason.
"Look, I'm not taking any one on my ship. It's way too dangerous. It isn't worth it. A lot of ships have already sunk and I have no plans to do the same. I'm sorry, but you'll just have to go the long way around."
Well, that was very much to the point. The four of them exchanged looks, Colette mostly looking at Raine and shaking her head; don't push it. With a sigh and a nod, the professor just gave in. She should be happy really; now they didn't have to cross the water.
And so, left with no other option, the four decided to head out. They could walk for a bit longer until it would go completely dark and they'd have to set up camp. Traveling in the dark would not be wise; fiercer monster tended to come out then. Also, it would be harder to watch out for the people following them.
With the sea always on their right and mountains on their left, they followed the road. Again, monsters did attack, but the group had no real trouble defeating them. Just in front of a wooden bridge, they decided to set up camp, having the mountains as their back cover.
Lloyd gathered wood and made the campfire. Since they already had food, Genis didn't plan on setting up for diner. Though he was pretty sure that if he'd ask the teen, he'd gladly have some more. It was silently agreed that he'd be the watch, once again.
"Would you like me to go over our route now, or in the morning?" Raine asked when they were all seated on their sleeping bags.
Her little brother just shrugged; he really didn't mind. Lloyd made his own indifferent gesture. Colette was the only one who spoke up.
"It doesn't really matter, I think. If you want to do it now, that's fine."
"Alright."
Raine spread out her map once again, as close to the light of the fire as possible, but also watching for the cinders. Her finger rested on the left most land still, now further up north. The big landmass above just about not touched this one, which explained the bridge that was in front of them.
"We follow the road north, until it will go east." Her finger made the trail. "We can choose to either go a little out of our way to Hima," she pointed a little more south. "Or we can go further towards Luin to rest there. Do remember: we have no real clues where the other seals could be. We'd have to maybe hear from other people who've seen a lot of monsters in one place, or be lucky and spot another stone for Colette to place her hand on."
Scratching his head, Genis drooped right after. "Gee, we don't have much to go on, huh?"
"That is our situation." His sister just said to that.
Colette just gave a hopeful smile. "I'm sure people will be helpful. If we really get lost, we can always ask for directions."
"And what do we ask? Where is the next seal? People don't know that." Genis remarked, sounding harsher than he meant.
The brown-haired teen looked them over. It seemed he wanted to say something, but he decided not to. If it really was needed, he could get direct directions, either from his father or from the great leader himself. Only when they really get lost, and not any sooner.
"We just have to trust and believe." Colette said then, somewhat softer. "The Goddess Martel will guide us."
Slowly nodding, the elven siblings shared a look. They weren't as faithful as Colette, then again, there were few that were as faithful as her. Next to the priests and such, of course. There were people praying for salvation, but also more than enough people who had lost faith all together.
And sure, Raine had been close to it all for some years now. On top of that, this Journey should also restore faith. But from what she heard and seen in the past, honestly, she had her doubts. Then why was she going along? Colette, was the sole reason. That girl needs all the help and guidance she could get.
Maybe, somewhere deep within, she was still having hope. Raine hoped that the world could be better, the people could see their mistakes and make things right. But such things need time. Just bringing Salvation, won't be enough. Worst of all, Colette will not even see it. She has to sacrifice herself for it.
"Professor? Is everything alright?" Colette asked worried.
Being shaken out of her dark thoughts, Raine looked over to the girl. "Sorry, I was just in thought. Let's turn in for the night. We will have a long road ahead tomorrow."
"Alright, that's fine." Her little brother stretched and let himself drop on his sleeping bag.
Colette looked over to Lloyd. "You really don't mind keeping watch again?" He just shook his head, silent as ever.
The three just settled in their sleeping bags, as once again the brown-haired teen kept watch and poked the fire to keep it going. He then set his eyes in a certain direction, staring endlessly it seemed. In the far distance, a pair of familiar, amber colored eyes stared back.