((A/N: It's a miracle! I finally updated! This chapter is a bit longer, and has a touch of fluff at the end. Not much more than a touch, though.))

As was to be expected, the road between the town and Marr's pass was fairly uneventful, save for the Miasma stream.

"It's fire this year."

"No! That was last year! This year it's water!"

"I believe Pero is correct. It is fire this year."

"I don't care if it's Kupo nuts this year! Let's just go!"

"But Miss Analee, you see, we must be sure that we can traverse the stream with the correct element, or we will be repelled."

"In any case, our chalice's element matches the stream anyway, so we may as well just go on through"

There was something bothering Tawny as they entered Marr's Pass. Zolof was the only Yuke in the caravan, and thus the only one (in her mind) that should logically be adept at magic. Tawny figured that this group either preferred to use physical strength alone, or there was something very fishy going on. She settled on the first choice, not wanting to mistrust her new companions. Something else that bugged her was that although Riou carried his racquet on his back, she had never seen Analee with a weapon. Perhaps it was in the wagon? Either that, or, like Zolof, she too didn't fight.

Other than the Miasma stream, the only other interesting thing was an encounter with a caravan from Alfitaria. Its leader, Sol Racht, showed Tawny the basics of sword fighting and spell casting, of which, neither she was very good at. She kept missing the target with the fire spells, or not putting enough force into her thrusts. Riou reassured her that no one's very good to begin with, but it didn't help much.

Anyway, the Lilty siblings retrieved their spears and the odd group went back through the Miasma stream, headed toward River Belle Path.

Aside from the monsters that plagued the area, River Belle Path was a very nice place. The river was clear, as were the skies, and it just seemed like the perfect place for a picnic. Unfortunately, a picnic was not what they had come for.

"Riou, Analee, Tawny, and Pero, the chalice holder, will go for this one." Zolof said calmly. He wasn't worried about their safely; this wasn't a very dangerous area. Analee nodded and motioned for the others to follow. It was only then that Tawny noticed something about the female Selkie that she hadn't seen before. On her back, near her waist, was a beautifully decorated dagger.

"So that's why…" Tawny said under her breath.

"Hm? You say something?" Riou asked, coming up beside her. She shook her head. Riou laughed and placed a hand on her shoulder, causing Tawny's cheeks to turn a light shade of pink. "We're all a little weird here. If seeing one of us use a blade is the strangest thing you've seen so far, you haven't seen anything yet." He patted her shoulder and followed Analee and Pero. Tawny ran after them, a little confused by Riou's words.

"All right! There's the first one! New girl, you get it." Came Analee's voice. There was a hint of mocking amusement in her tone as she pointed to a small goblin.

"W-what? Me?" Tawny sputtered, holding her sword close to her body. Analee walked up to Tawny, put a hand on her shoulder, and smiled kindly. Then she shoved Tawny forward at the goblin, which caused her to land on her face in the dirt. There was muffled laughter behind her, and tears threatened to fall from her eyes. The goblin approached her and, out of curiosity, poked her.

"Even the monsters mock you, little Clavat! You're a disgrace! Look at you, all covered in dirt." Analee sneered. Her pain was quickly replaced with anger, and she pushed herself off the ground.

"Fine! You want to be that way?" Tawny threw her sword and shield to the ground and tackled Analee, pinning her to the ground. All Pero, Riou, and the goblin could do was watch helplessly from the sidelines as Tawny proceeded to beat the snot out of Analee.

Riou sat down where he was standing and watched silently.

"You think we should stop them?" asked Pero quietly. Riou waved dismissively in the air.

"Nah. If there's one thing I've learned about women, don't mess with them when they're mad. Besides, it's not often you get to see a show like this."

Pero raised an eyebrow, although it was impossible to tell. "Uh, show?"

The goblin made an exasperated noise and hobbled off.

------------

Tawny and Analee glared at each other from opposite sides of the group, both covered in bruises. Pero and Riou had finally managed to pull them apart, and they were 'grounded.'(Grounded here meaning that if either of them tried anything, they would get a hard smack from Riou's racket.)

After a quick trip back to the wagon to drop off Tawny's weapon (for she was obviously MUCH more effective with her fists than a sword), the odd group was again on the road through River Belle Path. They defeated every monster that they came across, and at last, it was time to confront the boss.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Riou asked the group one last time before they entered the cave. He said it to everyone, but he was looking mostly at Tawny. They nodded, and Tawny gulped silently, fear welling up inside her, making her feel slightly nauseous.

The cave opened up to one of the most beautiful scenes She had ever seen. There was a crystal-clear waterfall, complete with a small rainbow across it from the refracted light through the water droplets. Despite the peaceful look of the place, the air was heavy and full of tension.

Tawny gasped as a giant crab-like monster emerged from behind the waterfall, various weapons protruding from its giant, shield-like claw.

"Analee, attack from behind when you can. Pero, place the chalice as close to the monster as possible, and draw its attack. Tawny, stay away from its claws and attack whenever you see an opening. Whatever you do, don't try to help me!" Riou shouted instructions. Analee and Pero nodded, but Tawny was at a complete loss at what he meant by not helping him. Even so, she did as she was told. After a few seconds, she saw what he was talking about, and it shocked her.

Riou deliberately ran outside of the chalice's barrier with his bandanna over his nose and mouth to keep out the miasma. As soon as he was as far away as possible, he closed his eyes and faced the monster. Crimson flames burst from the ground around him, licking at his legs, but he didn't flinch.

"Get out of range!" He shouted. Tawny didn't have time to wonder, as she was thrown to the ground from the impact of the crab-monster's claw slamming into her, knocking the breath out of her. The monster charged at Riou, but it was too late. He opened his eyes, and a huge vortex of fire appeared above the monster, engulfing it in hungry flames. The monster collapsed, body charred and dead.

Riou returned to the chalice's protective dome, and removed his bandanna from his face, returning it to his forehead. He fell to his knees a coughed a few times, expelling the poisonous gas from his lungs. Tawny just stared from her position on the ground, not bothering to get up after having been knocked down by the crab.

"What… was THAT!" She shouted, both amazed and horrified. Analee scowled at her, bending down to help Riou up. Pero's expression was impossible to discern do to the helmet covering half his face, but Tawny imagined that he was indifferent, anyway.

"Firaga. Third-level fire spell." Pero said suddenly, extending his hand to help Tawny off the ground. Her cheeks turned scarlet out of embarrassment, and she scrambled to her feet, adjusting her hood.

"Sheesh, you act like you've never seen a spell before." Analee scoffed, dusting off her skirt.

"I haven't," Tawny said, eyes wide. "Nothing like that, anyway. I thought only Yukes were good at magic."

Riou, now fully recovered, smiled at her. "I told you, we're all a little strange here. I've always been envious of Yukes because of their magical ability, so I trained myself in magic."

Pero picked up the chalice and made his way to the Myrrh tree. The tree gave a single drop of myrrh before drying up for another two years.

"Kupo!" The four looked down to see a moogle in a bizarre outfit with a mailbag. He gave them each a letter and sat down on his fat rump to wait for their replies.

Analee made a face of disgust at the envelope in her hand. It was sealed with a heart sticker. She opened it, read it's contents, and, with a feather quill that she produced from her satchel, wrote the word 'NO!' at the bottom in large letters. She stuffed the note back into the envelope and threw it at the moogle.

"Ooh! The nerve of him! Why can't he get it through his thick skull?" She screamed. This seemed to be a common occurrence to the other two, as they didn't flinch at her outburst. Riou and Pero dropped a few coins into their envelopes and handed them back to the moogle.

Tawny's letter was from her father. It said:

Dear Tawny,

I hope you're getting along with the others. There were a few people sad to see you go, but I reassured them that you'd be back within a year. If you get this, then I assume you're still alive, and everyone's happy. See you when you get back!

Love;

Your Dad.

Tears threatened to fall from Tawny's eyes and she tore the letter up. Her father didn't care about her. All he cared about was looking good to the rest of the town. The moogle took this time to hobble off with his letters.

"Hey, are you all right?" Riou asked cautiously. Tawny stiffed, trying to keep back tears.

"I… don't want to go back home." She managed to say, looking at the ground.

Before she could do anything, she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her and squeeze her gently. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized that Riou was hugging her. He let go and held onto her shoulders at arm's length.

"Feel better?" He said with a smile. Tawny gaped at him in shocked silence, as did Analee and Pero. Riou looked at the group with a confused expression.

"What? She needed a hug." He said innocently. Analee shook her head, and Pero quickly picked up the chalice and started walking back to the wagon.

((A/N: See? It's longer! About three pages, actually.))