Chapter 30

A/n: stupid computer. O well, im bak now. U lucky people. :D

Disclaimer: chappies 1-8 (duh)

Kally stormed over to the campfire where everyone was talking. They all looked up to see a pissed off Kally marching towards them.

Kally threw the dagger and severed rope on the ground. "Scarface," she muttered darkly.

Bobbie examined the dagger, frowned, and then passed it to Robbie. Robbie cursed.

"I knew we should've killed him when we had the chance," Jake said.

"Yeah, well, we didn't. Max, could you send some scouts out to look for Scarface and the prisoner?" Chris asked.

"Sure."

"I'm going too," Kally said.

30 minutes later, about 20 people rode off, looking for two bad guys.

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A couple miles away from the gypsy camp, three mysterious men were hiding near a small stream in a dark forest.

"What's the plan captain?" One of the men asked.

"We'll head for Rachia, do little favors for the Warlord to get on his good side, then, after we are promoted to military officers, we will kidnap the Tigress and make her pay," the second man said.

"You will do no such thing. If you harm a hair on her head not only will the King of Tortall and the Griffin's wrath be upon you, but I will tell the Warlord of your little scheme to get power. You will bring my betrothed to me unharmed or suffer the consequences. Get it? Got it? Good." The third man walked over to his horse, a fine Tortallan-Bred, gray stallion. "I shall head for Galla, I will expect word from you in three weeks, do not leave any details out." He galloped off, leaving the other two men muttering about stupid nobles and how they would dearly love to shove his face into a pile of dung.

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They had broken up into groups of two. Chris and Kally headed west, following a fresh trail, and heading into a dense forest. The fog had gotten thicker and it was hard to see a foot in front of them. Unknowingly, they were walking around in circles, right past the people they were looking for.

"Didn't we pass this tree already?" Chris asked. "It looks familiar.

"How can you tell any of them apart? These trees all look the same." Kally wanted to know.

"This one looks different than all the others; it's the only tree in this forest that isn't mangled. And it has one of my daggers sticking out of the trunk."

"When did you put the dagger there?"

"When we first rode by this tree. Just in case we got lost or started going around in circles."

"Well at least we know we've been going around in circles, but where are we?"

"Yeah, like I would know." They heard a twig snap behind them. Both whirled around in their saddles, looking left and right for the culprit. Chris dismounted and threw a dagger in the direction of the noise, a squirrel scampered out from underneath a bush. Shaking his head, Chris went to retrieve his dagger.

"I've always hated squirrels," Kally said.

"But they're so cute and fuzzy," Chris said.

"They are annoying little tree-climbing, nut-eating varmints that don't deserve to live."

"You mean, mean girl. I thought everyone liked squirrels, except me of course."

"You don't like them either?" Chris shook his head.

"One bit me when I was three, it hurt. But then Sammy, my dog, chased after it and ripped it's head off." He grinned, then his smile turned upside down and became a frown. "I miss that dog." He sighed. Kally dismounted and walked over to him.

"Poor little Chrissy-poo," she said as she hugged him. He glared at her.

"Don't call me that!" Kally smirked; annoying Chris was fun and very easy to do.

"What happened to Sammy? And how come you've never told me about him before?"

"I never told you about him before because there never was a reason to. Sammy was the four-year old Golden Retriever I got when I was two. He was a birthday present from my parents. He came from my father's hunting kennels, but Sammy had broken a leg one day while hunting. Normally, a crippled dog would have been shot, but he was the best of the best before the accident and my father didn't think he deserved to die, so he gave him to me. We became inseparable; Sammy would try to keep me out of trouble and never succeed. When it was time for me to leave for Shang five years later, I wanted to take Sammy with me, but, well you know how the Elders are about pets, I had to leave him. Six months later, Sammy died of a broken heart." Chris's voice cracked and he looked away. [A/n: I'm gonna start crying now. Poor Sammy.  :'( ] Kally stopped walking, they had been leading the horses as Chris talked, she turned to Chris and held him.

"That's so sad. I can't even begin to imagine what that must have been like. I never really had a pet, except for this old pony I used to ride when I was younger, but he was more Roald's than he was mine. Maybe we should stop here, just until this fog clears up. I don't think it would be very fun to get even more lost than we are now." Chris agreed and they went about setting up a temporary camp. Kally took care of the horses as Chris started a fire. She found some travelers' bread and dried deer meat (yum… ;P) in her saddlebag and joined Chris by the small fire with an extra blanket.

"You were prepared. Was all this planned?"

"No," she answered. "I just hate surprises, so I brought my survival kit just in case."

"Well, I'm glad you did, but maybe next time you can put better food in here,"

"It's not food, it's provisions for hungry people."

"Same thing. I'm tired," he yawned.

"You go ahead and sleep, I'll keep watch."

"K." Chris leaned against the trunk of a tree and instantly fell asleep. Kally winced as he started snoring, but she managed to make him stop. Half an hour passed and the fog was not clearing up at all, Kally felt extremely tired. She told Storm to keep watch before she rested her head on Chris's shoulder. She didn't notice the gleaming pair of eyes watching the weary Shangs from across the fire.

A/n: ok, ok, I know, waited way too long. Sorry. Yeeesh. I'm getting very greedy and I want 10 reviews before I post the next chapter. MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I'll answer reviews in the next chapter; I'm too lazy to do it now. Lol.

Bye. And remember to REVIEW!!!