Author's Notes: Considering that Mint just punched Rue in the face so early in the story, I think this fic deserves a PG rating instead (sweatdrop). I am considering this fic to lead into a Rue/Mint story; despite how it looked overall…we'll just see how the story will shape up from here. BTW, what is the name of that desert city again? Please help!

*****

Pain. My life incomplete, cast away. Useless.

It would have been something more. But I have been robbed of that privilege.

It is his fault. I will not rest. Until his head will be used as a decoration.

He will know what pain is like.

Mana…

He had dreamed again.

It surprised him at first, the dream he had almost forgotten. It had been five years since the last one, since he felt the pulse of life from the other one. The other then vanished two years later, before he had the chance to regain the proper strength to hunt him down.

And then the signal died. He had assumed that the other had died, but the master told him much later that it had not been the case; the one who died was like the other, but not him. There were mixed feelings about this information, he felt angry that the other survived but at the same time he felt excited, knowing that this is his kill and no other.

No, he will die by his hand. To pay for his crimes. To pay for the pain and for the loneliness. For the family that he had left behind. He will avenge for their isolation, by killing the one that ruined their lives. His brother objected, of course, but he also knew that this is the only thing to do it. This was literally his life.

Faintly, he heard the master's calls. Without hesitation the shadow walked away, pleased that he had introduced himself properly to the other.

The other should watch his back more carefully next time.

*****

"Finally! Something to shade my head with!"  Mint cried out in relief as the caravan stopped by the oasis, taking advantage of the trees from the dreadful heat and busy re-filling their water bottles. Her spirit rose a bit, knowing that they were practically halfway to civilization. The strange occurrence that happened to Rue a while ago was no longer in her primary concerns, but stowed away in her memory for future reference.

Eager to check out the place, Mint did a small scouting over at the perimeter in the area. A shiny object caught sight of her eye. A copper colored coin that was half-buried in the sand at the edge of the oasis. She bent over to pick it up, looking at it very curiously. It didn't look anything like the money they exchanged in the port, even though it felt and weighed like one. Strangely enough, the coin wasn't as hot as she expected it to be, considering that it was left in the open sun for quite some time. It must be something magical, she thought and reminded herself to show this to Klaus later.

Something banged at her legs, and Mint almost dropped the coin and lost her balance. She looked at the culprit "Hey! Prima, watch where you're going!" she snapped.

Prima, for once didn't tease her big size getting in the way than admitting he was being inattentive. He was looking at Rue's general direction. "Mint? Rue just lied to us why he acted strangely a while ago." He whispered, as if Rue could eavesdrop at them from this distance.

"Rue?" Mint was surprised despite herself. She was supposed to be the sneaky one in the story. He keeps annoying secrets to himself and compromises things a lot but not as a person who twists words. "You must be imagining things." She said, not really interested to what Prima wants to say right now. She was distracted at the coin she found.

"Well, if that situation hadn't been serious, I could assume your bad influence is rubbing off in him."

"What did you just say?!" That got her full attention, as the redhead glared at the doll.

"Rue is keeping a secret from us. And he's not telling." Prima said a bit forcefully so that their conversation wouldn't be off track. Also, he really wasn't in the mood to annoy Mint right now.

"Then why are you so worried about? Rue's the silent type, remember? He's supposed to be quiet." Mint reminded him. "He's kept a secret and two from us in the past."

"Well, I think you should talk to him. My sister isn't helping him very much."

That was a surprising fact. Mint had assumed that Elena and Rue were close enough to exchange secrets; at least that's what she thought a few months ago. But then again Elena wasn't the kind of person who realizes the seriousness of a situation.  It was probably one of the reasons why she was so much easy to talk to. "And what makes you think he's going to tell me anything more, unless you suggest I should tie him on a tree and harass him? (Author's note: not in THAT way, you  hentais :P!)  Besides, if he feels that it's something really important, he'd tell us sooner or later. Just give him some space to think. Kami-sama knows, he does that a lot."

"Well, I guess you're right." Prima said doubtfully. But was beginning to see her point.

"Of course I am!" Mint said, giving the doll a playful push. "So leave me alone and go, you annoying little monster. You'd better keep an eye on your sister before Rue does anything nasty to her."

"Nah, Rue wouldn't do anything that sneaky. Unlike you!" Prima stuck out his tongue,  and ran away as fast as his legs could carry him before Mint could retaliate. 

"That brat. He's getting better at running off." Mint muttered under her breath, resuming her study back to the coin. Seeing no other distinguish symbols or any of the sorts, she placed it in the safety of her pocket, knowing that this would be something important in the future.

*****

After chopping the third pile of wood for campfire, Rue felt his Arc Edge feeling a bit heavier than usual. He realized that he didn't really completely recovered from his faint…if you could call it a faint…this last few minutes.

"Rue," Mira said, obviously her fighting and maternal instincts telling her that Rue was feeling a bit tired. "I think the wood is enough for one night. You should go back to camp and get some rest. I'll take care of this."

Rue nodded silently, strapping his weapon on his back. As he gratefully returned to the warmth of the campfire he could see Elena and Prima Doll busy cooking for their meal, since they traveled by night, they only really rested during the day, in which case the siblings were preparing their dinner/breakfast.  Klaus was studying something at the outskirt of the camp with Mint looking over the doctor's shoulder eagerly.

"Hey, where's the wood?" Prima asked him in surprise.

"Your mother's has it. She's on her way." Even to himself, Rue's voice sounded strained.

"Gee, Polly, you looked paler than usual. Are you sure you're alright?" Elena said, looking up from the fire. Klaus was too absorbed with Mint's coin to notice their conversation.

"I'm OK. You don't have to worry about me." Rue assured her.

"Well, every time you say OK you're usually not. So it's an ambiguous answer ."  Mint said, still looking at Klaus' shoulder for a moment before turned her attention to Rue. She was a bit glad that the swelling stopped, but his pale face and the bruise made him look like an unhealthy looking vegetable. "Geez. Look at you. You looked like you ate something  you shouldn't have."

"….."

Mint dig in her small bag of personal possessions, "Anyway, I think I have something for that…AHA!" with a look of triumph she fished out a small bottle. She took off the stopper and offered it to Rue. The boy looked at the bottle suspiciously then at Mint.

"What?" Mint said, a bit offended. "If I'm planning to poison you, at least not in front of Klaus' family, for crying out loud."

"Well, I'd rather want to know what's in it first." Rue said truthfully.

"Men!" Mint threw up her arms in exasperation. "I don't have to explain everything, do I? It's just going to help you loosen up a bit!"

The liquid looked innocent enough, and it didn't smell anything lethal. Rue took a cautious sip, and then had a coughing fit as soon as the warm liquid slid down his throat. "What is this?" he managed to choke out the words.

"It's sorta like whisky (*)." Mint began.

"Whisky?" Elena said innocently, blinking "What's whisky?"

"You carry whisky?" Rue asked Mint incredulously. As if she just sprouted out from a rock or something.

"What else should I carry? Milk? (**)" Mint retorted. "And besides, you didn't let me finish. I said it is sort of like whisky. Maya gave it to me before I left, it's kind of like East Heaven's healing potion. Of course with a foul taste like that, you wouldn't mind dying."

"That's true." Rue agreed. The awful aftertaste still lingered in his mouth, but he did feel a little better.

"You should sleep it off a bit, and then you'd feel a lot better in the morning." Mint said, returning the bottle in her bag. "Make sure he does go to sleep, Elena." Mint told her friend.

"OK," Elena replied cheerfully.

"Hey, Mint! Let me try that too!" Prima Doll called out, very curious.

"NO!" Rue, Mint and Klaus chorused, Klaus still not looking up from his work.

"Just a thought," Prima said, a bit disappointed.

Without a backward glance Mint returned her spot a while ago. "So?" she asked the doctor.

"You're absolutely right. I've never seen anything like this before." Klaus said, still analyzing the strange coin. "I hope the city records could shed some information into it." He looked at the princess. "I think I should carry it for now, I'm sure the residents can tell us something about it."

"Go ahead, Klaus. It isn't helping me if I don't know what it does. Just how long are we going to travel to reach the city again?"

"Four more days."

"Oh, great."

"Don't worry. The city is located near an underground lake. It's probably more cooler there than this oasis."

"Then I'll be very glad once we get there."

"So do I. I heard that the place is a very well protected and safe…. almost like Carona. I'm sure we won't have any problems."

"I sure hope so."

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(*): Oddly enough, Mint actually knows what whisky tastes like. Hmmmm.

(**): Never carry milk in long journey. Unless you're planning to make cheese.