************Update: Nov 6, 2003 ***************

GAH! It's been over a month since I updated Arelle . I'm so sorry! I have much to say, but little time. The thing is, I'll be going to flying to a wedding in a few days, and I won't be back until the 23rd. But I have the next chap of Arelle about half done now, so I should be able to get it up pretty soon when I get back! So, on the 27th, I'll have a new chapter up, even if I have to stay up the whole night to finish it ^.^ Sound good? Ok. Then, on the 27th I'll update, plus have a whole rant about WHY exactly I've been so absent recently, and also what my plans for the future of Arelle are. Alrighty then, everyone take care until I get back, ok? ^.^

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Author's Notes: Oops! This chapter is a day late . Well here it is, anyway. Sorry for the lateness!

Oh, and I've been working on this comic....yes, comic. Pictures AND words. Anyway, it's been using a lot of my story-thinking time, and that's why it's been harder to write Arelle. But I've been wanting to make an online comic for ages... Finally, my art has improved to the point that I can start! I know that my comic skills are really awful right now, but I know if I continue making comics, I will improve! Just like when I first started Arelle ^.^ So, I've got a few pages done and stuff, but I'd like to have the site up before I start announcing it officially everywhere, so just stay tuned.

Thanks for reading Arelle! Enjoy the chapter ^.^

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Renka sat on the bench, hands clasped together in front of her chest as she bit her lip nervously. The trial was about to begin. She looked to her left and saw Myrall and two other White Wolfs that had come to see the trial as they watched the front of the court in anticipation. All four of the White Wolfs that had come to see the trial were in commoner disguise, as things would really be terrible if they were caught going to their own commander's trial.

Suddenly, Renka saw Raaj being led to the front of the room. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest, and she bit her lip hard. He looked worn and tired, unlike his usual, energetic self.

The trial began—everyone became silent. They told him his crimes, and Renka winced. They made him sound like such a bad person, but that wasn't true. Raaj was the nicest person she knew! How could they be putting someone like him in prison? But it was the way of the White Wolfs—though they had their morals and ideals, in the eyes of the authorities and those around them, they were nothing more than common bandits.

The trial went on—Raaj pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to seven years in prison. Renka's heart skipped a beat. Seven years! So long! Seven years without Raaj. Seven years of waiting.

They were leading Raaj out of the court now, leading him down the hall that Renka's bench stood by. As Raaj passed her, he looked up and gave her a smile, but it looked so forced, Renka's heart throbbed.

"Raaj!" she cried as she jumped from the bench, wrapping her arms around him, sobbing. The guards quickly pulled her away.

"What are you doing?!" they exclaimed.

"She's umm, my little sister!" Raaj exclaimed.

The guards looked at each other, and let go of Renka. "Well, say your goodbyes, then…" they said.

Renka ran to Raaj, tears falling freely from her eyes. "Raaj! I…I don't want you to go!" she exclaimed.

"Renka, this is how it has to be. You have to face it. You're strong—you don't need me to stand tall, right?" Raaj said.

"You're wrong, Raaj! I CAN'T stand without you! I can't, Raaj! Because you're always there for me! I'm strong because you make me strong! Without you, I'll fail! You can't go! You can't go, Raaj!" Renka exclaimed, sobbing loudly.

Raaj put a hand on her head like she was a little kid as he looked into her eyes. "Don't cry Renka. Be strong! Don't say such things, that you would fail so easily. That's not the Renka I know! Because you're strong, Renka. You're strong because you're heart's strong. It'll be tough when I leave—especially at first—but you'll get used to it, and you'll grow. When I get out of prison, I expect you to have changed, all right? I expect you to be a beautiful, independent, determined lady. It'll be seven years, after all!" he said smiling. "I'll see you, Renka. Watch yourself! Just because you're strong enough to take on anything that opposes you, don't dig yourself TOO deep, eh?" he said, letting the guards take him away, down the hall.

Renka paused, her sobs stuck in her throat. "Raaj!" she exclaimed after him. "I'll be waiting for you!"

Renka paused, watching as the guards led him out of the courtroom. As soon as he had left, Renka ran out of the courtroom through the side door, heading out to the city. Even though Raaj's words had encouraged her, her heart was heavy, and tears still streamed from her eyes.

As she pulled open the courtroom door, she realized someone else was on the other side of the door, and rammed into him on accident. The man was very tall and muscular, and Renka, embarrassed and not wanting him to see her tears, slid past him, running away into the alleys.

Drahkin stood stiff, his eyes wide. Who was that who had just rammed into him? He had only caught a tiny glimpse of her face, but he couldn't help but think that it looked very similar to Arelle's face! Drahkin stood only briefly in surprise before taking off after her. He searched through the alleyways, but there was no sign of her anywhere. Could it really have been Arelle? But what would Arelle be doing here? And she didn't look exactly like Arelle—she obviously had much shorter hair and looked a bit older.

Drahkin sighed. All these High-Elfs looked similar after interacting with so many different races. Anyway, it didn't matter. He had come to hear Raaj's trial, though he didn't want to be noticeable, so he had stood outside the door. Seven years, huh? Then Raaj was telling the truth when he said he had never killed before, since if he had, the punishment would be death. In a way, Drahkin was a bit relieved, though he wasn't sure quite why.

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Arelle sat solemnly on the grass, her eyes downcast. She heard Moren talking to her in the background, going on about Clerics and their morals and honor and such. Her eyes stared at the grassy ground before, until her mind was suddenly jerked into reality as she heard Moren sit down beside her. She looked at him, surprised.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Did you ask me something? I, umm….my mind was wandering again…" she said, a bit embarrassed.

Moren said nothing, but just looked at her. "Arelle, why do you want me to go to Felwithe?" Moren asked.

Arelle looked at him in surprise. "Eh? Well, that is… Well, for a lot of reasons, I suppose. I mean, it's where I was born and raised, and even though I have lots of bad memories, I still think of it as home, really. And you, well, you're my good friend, so when you say things like you hate Felwithe, it makes me sad. It makes me want to show you that Felwithe isn't so bad, you know? It worries me when you say you don't like Felwithe—that you don't want to ever come to Felwithe…" Arelle said.

"It does? It worries you?" Moren asked, curiously.

"Hmm? Well, yes…umm, it does worry me. But you don't need to worry about it! Because I respect your feelings. So, even if you hate Felwithe…well, I'm sure things will work out somehow, won't they?" Arelle said, forcing a smile.

"If I went to Felwithe…If I visited Felwithe, and saw if I liked it, would that make you happy, Arelle?" Moren asked.

Arelle looked at him wide-eyed. "If you—if you went to Felwithe?! Umm…yes…yes, I think that would make me happy," she said, smiling at him.

"Then, if it makes you happy—do you want to go to the Festival in Felwithe, Arelle?" Moren asked.

Arelle nearly gasped in surprise. "The Festival?! This year? This Festival? With you, and me? Are you serious?" Arelle asked.

Moren laughed. "Oh come on! It's not that big of a deal," he said.

"It is! It is to me! Why so suddenly? Because you never talked about it until now, and now you say you want to go within the month?" Arelle asked.

"Well, it isn't so sudden for me. I've been thinking about it a lot. Especially recently. I knew you really wanted to go to the Festival, so I wanted you to go. But I didn't want you to go alone! But then again, I didn't want to go into Felwithe. But, I'm going to have to go to Felwithe eventually, right? I know I can't keep a grudge against them my whole life. Something like that would be foolish. I know I have to face Felwithe, so why not do it and make you happy by taking you to the Festival at the same time?" Moren said.

Arelle smiled at him, her smile wide and cheery. "I'm so happy you're really coming to Felwithe! Let's go tell Akinen and Lilliah!" Arelle said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the camp quickly.

Moren smiled.

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"What? You and Moren want to go to Felwithe for some annual festival?" Lilliah asked as she stirred her pot over the campfire.

Akinen, who was gathering firewood, stopped and looked up at them surprised, as well.

"Yes, that's right! Moren said he'd come to Felwithe! So? You guys are coming, too, right? It'd be lonely if you stayed here…" Arelle said.

Lilliah looked at Akinen, who looked at the ground. "Felwithe…eh? So many memories…I don't know…If I want to go back there yet…" Akinen said.

Arelle paused. "But Akinen, you can't just run away forever! You've got to move on with your life, right? So if you fear something, you should face it! Like Moren!" Arelle said, tapping Moren on the shoulder happily.

Akinen looked at her. "Ah…as usual, yer advice is probably correct, yet somehow annoying, lass…" Akinen said, smiling.

Arelle looked at him hard. "Akinen, don't you miss your family? Don't you think of Felwithe sometimes, of your life there? I know you must, because you grew up there, just like me. Just like me, you have painful memories from there, so you want to stay away, right? But we're both bonded to that place, because that's where we were born, grew up—that's where our family is! Just because you have a scar on your face doesn't mean you should forsake your family and homeland, right? Just like because I lost control of my magic doesn't mean I should forsake my family and homeland. Don't you want to see Felwithe again?" Arelle asked.

Akinen paused, his eyes downcast. "Yes…yes, I do want to return…As odd as it is to say, I do want to get over my past. I want to move on, like ye said, but…" Akinen said quietly.

"Then come with us, Akinen! The three of us will face our pasts together, ne? We'll move forward with our lives by all going to the Festival together!" Arelle exclaimed happily.

Akinen laughed at her. "Ye certainly are in a good mood today, aren't you, lass?" Akinen asked, smiling.

Arelle beamed back at him. "Yes. Today, I'm very happy," Arelle said.

"Then I'll come with ye, I suppose. Like I couldn't come with ye, after that inspirational speech," Akinen laughed.

Arelle turned to Lilliah. "And you, Lilliah? You don't have some tragic past tied to Felwithe, do you? You'll be coming too, right?" Arelle asked anxiously.

Lilliah smiled. "Yes, if Akinen goes, I'm certainly going with him! And as for tragic ties to Felwithe—I've never set foot in that city in my life, so the answer would be no," Lilliah said, smiling.

Arelle looked at her surprised. "Oh? You've never been to Felwithe, the city of the High Elfs? Then that will make this trip even more fun!" Arelle exclaimed happily.

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Pluton: I know this chapter took you awhile to write but the end result was well worth it - very nicely done! And I'm not just saying that because "Pluton" has made an appearance - well not entirely anyway! :) Speaking of which - why is it that Pluton's appearance is him hitting on a young girl! Tess must be talking too much again! ;) Seriously, this chapter was captivating and very well written - especially for a 2 part chapter. The only problem is I usually read your updates on Friday but since this was up and I read it on Thursday - well you're just going to have to post the next chapter tonight! :)

So, when are Pluton and Lilliah gonna get together? We were quite the item in EQ! /ducks and runs for cover. *hugs to Lil!*

And lastly, a little bit of EQ trivia if anyone cares: Pluton never walked anywhere - he was too good to let his feet touch the floor. Seriously, he floated everywhere since he hated looking up at people all the time. Gnomes really are short! And no I'm not going to tell you how many hours(days) it took him to get his cloak of levitation! :)
Amai's Reply: Hitting on a young girl, huh? Well, unfortunately Renka's sort of taken at the moment... Maybe I should introduce another girl into the story for you, hehe ^.^ And sorry bout the levitation thing--I should have known Pluton would never allow himself to look up to at someone! Really, though, his 'presence' is so mystifying, even when you're looking down at the little guy, you're still in silent awe ^.^ Oh, and just letting you know that you will be appearing again soon...just so you don't think you were some minor character person.. ^.^

Blue the Echidna: O.O Tis a gnome!! I love EQ gnomes! That festival sounds like a highschool dance to me. :p
Amai's Reply: Lol! I guess the kids probably look at the Festival as like a highschool dance, anyway ^.^ Looking at it like that, though, Moren asked Arelle to go to the highschool dance with him! Awwww! ^.^ Thanks for the review!