Author's Notes: Thanks for the reviews! I'm glad you enjoy the storyline Aru Feuer, when I came up with it I was afraid it would be a little too simple to make an interesting story. A simple search for a sister. And as for updating soon, I generally update once a day (I have a lot of free time at the moment), but wanted to take this story a little slower, so it may be more like one every two days, I'm not sure yet really.

This chapter I've been trying hard to keep the relationship between Leine and Maialin interesting, with it still being strained between them, but I'm not sure whether it's getting too repetitive or not, so if anybody can give me any help there I'd appreciate it. It's the first story I've written with just two characters (at least at the start, this story will just have two), and actually the first one I've written with just two female characters, so no developing romantic relationships I can do either (although seeing my attempts at romance, that's a good thing!). Means I'm finding it a little difficult, so any criticism/points on how it's coming along would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and you may recall I said this was based on real people. Well, I realised some people thought I might be being really horrible to the poor person who plays Leine, making her behave in this way. So I thought I'd just point out that that's me. Well, my character. So my treatment of Leine is only insulting to myself! Also speaking of real people, Arziel and Maialin are not sisters, but the same person, two characters under one account. I doubt anybody cares, but it's worth pointing out! I'm also aware, if anybody who reads this (I know TheFrogKiller has) who read my old stories these characters are developing similarities to them. I tried really hard to keep them unique and different, but I feel they are pretty close. Leine especially is a literal combination of two characters I wrote before. But hopefully that doesn't distract anybody.

Anyway, I'll shut up now. Enjoy. Or don't, if you don't like it, I suppose. Either way, tell me in a review afterwards! I'll really appreciate it if you do!

THE QUEST BEGINS

Leine frowned in frustration as she tried to fit the saucepan into the already swollen pack. She paused, pushing on it and trying to jam it down the side.

"We really don't need all that stuff." Maialin commented casually.

"Yes we do. We need a tent to sleep in. And ground mats, I'm not sleeping on the hard floor!" Leine protested. Maialin rolled her eyes. "Sleeping bags, cooking utensils. Not to mention food."

"That food won't last us the journey." Maialin told her. "And the tent will just attract Charr attention, we're better off sleeping rough."

"I am not sleeping with nothing." Leine said firmly. Maialin rolled her eyes again.

"A pack that heavy? Who's going to carry it everywhere? You?" Maialin asked.

"Yes, me. If that's the price to be able to-" She stopped short when she tried to lift the back and failed. She paused, and put all of her weight against it, trying to drag it but only managing to slip on the floorboards of the house, unable to budge it. She paused and tried to lift it with a mighty heave. She couldn't. "Urm- I'm sure once we've used some of it up, we'll be easily able to carry it around. It'll only be heavy for the first part of the trip." She tried to argue. Maialin sighed heavily.

"Fine. I'll carry it." Maialin grumbled. "You could have just asked." Leine blushed. "We'll lose most of this stuff quickly, don't expect it to stick around. One ambush and the whole camp site is gone. Then we're down to our bare wits and skill for survival." Maialin paused. "In other words, you're doomed." Leine was almost glad to see that some of Maialin's old sense of humour had survived.

"Well, I guess this is it. We need to go." Leine sighed. Maialin laughed.

"Not yet." She said as though it was obvious. "You need to get changed."

"I what?" Leine was still in her traditional mesmer gear, a large fancy green jacket with golden lining, a white shirt, tight green trousers and her green high heeled boots. "This is the usual mesmer stuff."

"You won't make it two feet. Where's the armour? And what's with the boots?" Maialin was almost laughing at Leine.

"My boots are fine!" Leine protested. "And we don't all need armour, you know."

"Fine. But don't come complaining to me five minutes after we've left your feet are hurting." She sighed. "You mesmer are worse than the elementalists when it comes to practicality." Leine folded her arms, agitated. "Well, grab your satchel, and let's get moving then. Time to say goodbye to your home. You might never make it back." Leine visibly shuddered at the thought, causing Maialin to smile slightly.

The two women soon arrived at the gate, Maialin hauling the bag on her back (which was indeed heavy, she was already sweating under its weight), and her staff strapped there also. Leine had already put her mask on, her collar propped up to protect her pale neck from the sun as she always had it, her staff too resting on her back. Both the women now carried satchels, Maialin's a battered brown leather one slung over one shoulder, and Leine's a small green leather handbag. At least, it looks like a handbag to Maialin. She had a bad feeling Leine wouldn't survive for longer than a few minutes outside of the city walls. Leine paused as Maialin walked out.
"What is it?" She said, her voice slightly strained by the weight pulling down on her back.

"Just-" Leine stumbled over her own words. "Just a little nervous, that's all." She explained.

"Leine. This was your idea. If you're too scared to go-"

"No. I'll do it." She squeaked. She took the step onto the burnt ground, her boot clicking as it touched down just like it had on the day of the Searing two years ago. This time there was no soft ground, and she was painfully aware of the noise of each of her footsteps. Maialin seemed to scowl at her, suggesting she was as well, but then again she seemed permanently annoyed at Leine, so it could be anything. Leine hated the attitude she got from Maialin, she was simply trying to help her, risking her life to help her, and all she got was looked down upon for her lack of experience. It was deeply annoying.

Leine snapped out of this strain of thought to scream in shock as the ground erupted before the two. Two huge insect like monsters with deadly pincers and tails, broke out from beneath the dirt.

"Devourers!" Maialin cried. "Get back!" Leine stumbled back, falling over in terror. Maialin sighed and cast a spell, leeching the life away from the closest monster. This simply attracted it to her, so Maialin began to fall back. When fighting in the army, she'd always have somebody to get up close to the monsters and distract them while she cast spells. It wasn't the case here. She knew she had to put as much distance between herself and the approaching beast as possible.

Leine scrambled to her feet, and ran, screaming all the way. She ran up a nearby slope, or at least attempted to, but slipped. The devourer was on top of her in seconds, lifting up its tail for a lethal sting.
"MAIA! HELP!" Leine sobbed, but Maialin was distracted elsewhere. Leine clenched her eyes as the tail came down and awaited the cold embrace of death.

Maialin heard Leine's scream, but had problems of her own. She couldn't put enough distance between herself and the devourer, and it unleashed a huge ball of poisonous green energy at her. It hit into Maialin ,knocking her over. The creature scuttled towards her, but she started firing similar bolts from her staff, before slowly leeching the life away from it to restore herself. The creature seemed to falter for a moment, giving Maialin enough time to get to her feet. She quickly began to cast as the creature scuttled closer, preparing a more powerful spell.

Leine was hesitant to open her eyes. She wasn't dead, but she certainly hesitant to find out why. She just lay on the floor, shaking. A sudden force slammed down on her and she screamed, opening her eyes. It was the devourer, dead. A man dressed in the armour of the Ascalon Guard stood over it, his sword covered in its blood. He didn't stop to say anything before running to Maialin's aid, leaving Leine hopelessly trapped under the corpse.

"Ewww! Hey! Help!" She cried as she squirmed, but she was ignored.

Maialin unleashed her spell upon the devourer, and it faltered, feeling its life being sucked away. It stumbled, scuttling from side to side, and collapsed. The Ascalon Guard sheathed his sword and nodded.
"Thanks." Maialin panted. "Sorry about my friend, she's a bit inexperienced."

"GET THIS THING OFF OF ME!" Leine screamed in a panic. Maialin managed a cute smile to the guard.

"No problem ma'am. But you may want to be more careful, things get much more dangerous beyond the city." He warned.

"Yes, believe me, I know." Maialin grumbled.

"Ewwwww! I think there's some bug blood in my hair!" Leine squirmed desperately, trying to move. Maialin sighed heavily, walking over and throwing the bug corpse off of her. Leine scrambled to her feet quickly, shaking. "I'm going home!" She snapped, turning to run away. Maialin grabbed her by the wrist as she did so and held her back.

"You're not going anywhere." She said firmly. "You can't run home at the sign of the first challenge."

"It nearly killed me!" Leine sobbed.

"That's what life is like out here." Maialin growled. "Now, you wanted to come, you wanted to prove yourself, didn't you?" Leine sighed. Maialin was still good at reading people. "Stop being a coward and do it then!" There was a pause. "And no, there's no bug blood in your hair." She added with a smirk, and Leine breathed a heavy sigh of relief, still shaking slightly.

"I'm sorry Maia." She said gently. "I don't think I can do this." She was still shaking. "I want to go home. You can hire help, like you said."

"You changed your mind quickly. Isn't that exactly what you told me not to do?" Maialin said, anger in her voice. "Leine, don't waste my time. My sister's life is at stake here, who knows where she might be or what she's going through. I don't need you around to slow me down. If you're going to be a problem, walk back in the city right now and I'll go on alone."

"You'll never make it alone." Leine stated. "Take some help."

"You're my help, Leine. You forced yourself on me, and now you want to run. I'm not turning back. But you can." Maialin turned and began to walk away. Leine stood there for a moment, the realisation that if she went with Maialin, she couldn't go back, setting in. She may never see the city, or her home, or the friends she had made ever again. That she might die around the next corner. Then she focused on Maialin, who was marching away purposefully, yet somehow not getting far, as if she wanted to linger. She had been really mean to Leine since she had returned, talking down to her all the time, implying she was petty, claiming she knew nothing of what the soldiers had been through and everything else she had done, yet Leine still tried to help out. Maybe she felt guilty, she wasn't really sure. But right now Maialin was smugly marching away, like she had won.

I'll prove her wrong!

"Hey! Wait up!" Leine called, chasing after her. Maialin half smiled hearing her voice. "Like you could survive without a backup." She said playfully.

"I'd much rather have a melee fighter." Maialin told her plainly. "But I'm glad you're here." She added much more warmly. "Even if its just for the company."

"Well, I would use a sword, but they're heavy, you know?" Leine laughed innocently. "Besides, my nails are at greater risk of breaking with a sword." She added with a sarcastic smile. Luckily Maialin realised it was a joke and laughed.
"We've got a lot of ground to cover." She began, becoming much more serious. "We need to head West, along the wall. That'll at least give us some support from the guards should we run into anything. Hopefully we can make the end of the wall by nightfall, set up camp there, before continuing the journey tomorrow."

"I'll just follow." Leine smiled, realising she didn't really have a clue about the area at all. Maialin smirked.

"Come on then." She gestured. The two began to walk.

Leine was soon gasping for breath, wiping sweat from her brow and becoming very concerned about how she must smell. She finally stopped, and dropped down on a big rock.

"Can we rest, please?" She panted. "It's been hours. My feet are-" She suddenly remembered what Maialin had said before they had left. "I'm exhausted."

"Leine. It's been about ten minutes." Maialin said flatly.

"It has not!" Leine cried in defence. Maialin paused, letting the heavy rucksack drop off of her shoulders and taking a deep sigh of relief at the released weight.

"I could use a rest, I guess." She muttered, sitting down and rolling her shoulders, trying to get out the dull ache.

"You alright?" Leine asked, looking through her handbag.

"That bag is heavy, that's all." Maialin answered.

"I know. Sorry." Leine blushed.

"I'm sure we'll appreciate it later." Maialin smiled. Leine pulled perfume out of her bag and sprayed it on her neck, trying to counter the sweaty smell. Maialin rolled her eyes, digging through her satchel and pulling out a water canteen, taking a mouthful. She had mastered long ago just how to drink the right amount to keep you going without wasting any precious water. She doubted even Arziel could find a drop to drink in a place like Ascalon, not anymore. Leine looked up at the scorching sun from under her mask, which was stuck to her face by sweat. She peeled it off and rubbed her face with a cloth, wiping it clean.

"It's so hot." Leine panted. "I had no idea it would be so bad travelling."

"I know. The metal of my armour gets hot very fast under this direct sunlight." Maialin touched her own armour as if to demonstrate. Leine removed her green gloves revealing her well manicured and neatly painted fingernails. She placed the gloves in her bag, the heat being too much to keep wearing them. Maialin, for the first time, paid attention to how Leine was dressed. Her hair was perfectly arranged, her face neatly made-up, her fingernails, as mentioned, painted. She wondered how anybody found time to look like that in the disastrous world of Ascalon, but she realised it was Leine just trying to cling to her old life, how she was raised. There was something comforting in that, a little reminder of the Ascalon that was, even if Maialin despised the way most of the citizens, including Leine, behaved. She also liked just how superior it made her feel, how utterly unprepared Leine was for the harsh life they were going to have to face during their journey. It made her feel good about herself, in the army she had been the inexperienced young one that everybody talked down to, now she was the expert, and it was a nice feeling. It made her feel good, like she knew what she was doing. She felt in charge and she felt clever, and that was useful, it made her act more decisively.

Leine meanwhile, hated her position. She felt weak and insignificant. They had had one battle, and she had barely pulled through. She didn't mind letting somebody else show her around and be in charge, it made matters easier on her, but she hated that feeling of being out of place and completely baffled by events. And the fact that she struggling to handle the simple travelling worried her. She knew it hadn't been that long since they had left, but she had been so exhausted she knew she couldn't handle another five minutes under the heat.

The time soon came for them to press on, and they left. Leine tried to take her turn to carry the bag, but as it was proven back in her home, it was simply too heavy for her. Maialin had continued to take it, seeming not to mind, to Leine's surprise. Maialin must have liked being clearly the strongest.

Night fell as they had expected, but they made it nowhere near as far as they had hoped. Leine hadn't been able to keep the pace Maialin had hoped, and she insisted on stopping frequently, unable to keep travelling. Luckily this meant they could set up camp underneath the wall, and then head out early in the morning. There would be no need for either of them to take watch with the Ascalon Guard around.

"I get that this pole goes here, but what is this one meant to do?" Leine asked, trying to assemble the tent. Maialin giggled, setting up a fire. She knew it would become cold very quickly once the sun had set. "What does this bit do?" Leine held up a little metal cylinder. "What possible purpose could an item such as this have in a tent?"

"It holds the poles together." Maialin said casually. Leine looked at it.

"Oh?" She seemed puzzled, before sliding it on. "Oh!"

"Leine, we're not making the process we need." Maialin told her.

"Okay, okay, it is my first time setting up a tent, you know." Leine replied.

"No, I mean for the journey." Maialin explained. "Tomorrow, I think we should leave the wall and head south."

"South? Why?" Leine asked.

"I know a short cut. It'll cut a day off our journey, but we'll be away from the cover of the wall." Maialin said in explanation. "And it-" She paused, reconsidering bringing up her next point. "We'll be away from safety, but it'll be much quicker." She said instead.

"Okay. Let's do it." Leine said cheerfully. "I'm ready for danger! I'm not going to chicken out again like I did today. I reckon I can face it." She suddenly remembered the claws of the devourer and the weight as it crushed her. "Urm, from a safe distance, of course." She added with a blush. She fiddled for a bit and let out an annoyed grunt. "I give up! This is impossible!" She snapped at the tent. Maialin got up and walked over to her. Leine looked at Maialin, smiling as innocently as possible.

"Fine. I'll set up the tent too." Maialin grumbled. "But just this once." Leine smiled, and went to sit by the fire, the cold now making her long for the warmth of the day. Maialin got to work with the tent, having set up enough in her life to know the method like the back of her hand.

The two women had a long journey awaiting them.