"Okay, they were going to kill you for terrorizing the city. Your name is Ariana. Your parents died when you where still a little kid. Your brother ran off when he got a bunch of girls pregnant, so you've been on your own. That just now was your first time in a zoid and you don't even know what an organoid is?" Raven questioned the girl as they sat around the small fire while the coffee pot was warming up.

"Yeah, you got it about right." Ariana paused for a moment before turning back to Raven. "And you still haven't told me what an organoid is!"

"If only all could be as ignorant as you." He mumbles and pointed to Shadow and Yenti.

"What about Yenti?"

"An organoid..."

Ariana looked at him comically. Not yet understanding what he meant.

Raven scoffed in disgust but continued trying to explain it to her. "Shadow and your companion, they are organoids."

"Oh," Suddenly feeling really dumb she sat back, sinking into her poncho style cloak. "I'm a little slow..."

"I have figured that out by now."



Soon the coffee was ready and Raven poured them both a cup. Much time was passed in silence as both where deep in thought. Raven didn't know what to do. This girl knew too much. He certainly couldn't just boot her out. Something else kept him from telling her to get lost as well. Something deep within him told she would be of great worth in the not too distant future. But how could that be? She knew so little about zoids whereas he lived only for their battles and destruction.

"Alright, I have a few questions to ask you. Answer me truthfully." Raven said as he finally broke the overwhelming silence.

"I'd be too scared to lie to you," the girl replied, almost chuckling.

"Excellent. Now, if I where to tell you to go back out on your own, what would you do?"

"I would get the heck out of here and go back to being a theif in my homelands."

"That's not the smartest thing to do."

"It's the only thing I know."

"And what would you do if I told you could stay here, to travel and battle with me?"

"I would be extremely curious as to why you even wanted me to hang around, but would anyway."

Raven sighed deeply, for once in his life utterly confused about what to do. "Something is telling me you need to stay, that you will be of great help in the future. I don't know why. It just is. So the choice is now yours. Go or Stay."

Ariana sat quietly for a moment, thinking on the terrible decision before her. To go back would mean to be with all things familiar again. She would live the life of a thief again. But to stay, how much safer was it? To stay with this boy would mean plenty of chances to fight against others and do it with someone who too enjoyed battle and violence as much as herself. It would also mean doing a lot of things with zoids and it would give her more of a chance to learn about the stuff that was all around her, the zoids. But was this Raven trustworthy? Would he just kill her in her sleep?

"I'll stay," Ariana announced after her long period of thought. Whether or not this boy was trustworthy was just a chance she would have to take.

"Good," Raven replied, tossing a blanket at her. "You have first watch."

"Oh, that's just dandy," she mumbled as she moved to a high point on the land beside where Yenti was laying in the grass.

After watching her sit beside her organoid for a moment Raven walked over to Shadow. "Keep a good watch on her. I don't want to wake up dead or everything stolen."

Shadow roared in agreement and turned to watch the two girls as Raven walked off to set up his own makeshift bed for the night. The future would certainly prove interesting now that there was another human floating about camp. Would it be for better or for worse?