A/N

Alright. This is very important. Im going away to Melbourne for 2 weeks so i have left this chapter unfinished for now. When i get back, i will finish and post the full chapter. Its almost finished though so thats alright. You shall understand the chapter title soon. Also, this chapter hasn't been thoroughly checked for errors yet, but that will be done. Review comments will come next time. Vic.

Last Chapter...

When Faleron walked to Merric's room the next morning, he didn't expect Nenala to come out. She smiled sheepishly and walked on to where her rooms were. Merric was sitting on his bed and looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep the last night. In truth, he actually hadn't. He and Nenala had spent the whole night talking. About family, and their previous years with Neal and their other friends. Faleron raised his eyebrows and Merric blurted out, "It was a completely chaste night!" Faleron smirked. 'Sure.'

AN/ This chapter is set in 3 places! I haven't forgotten Tobe!

BTW sorry that Thayet was a tad OOC, i had to take extreme measures.

Chapter 5: Tobe's sadness

Fanche looked over the walls of New Hope. She knew something had gone wrong. It had to. Kel wasn't due back to the village for a few days yet, but when Fanche thought something had gone wrong, it usually had. Womens instincts. Saefas came up the stairs and walked up to her.

"Are you up here again? You know she isn't going to be back today." Fanche nodded and came down to the village with her husband.

Things were quiet at New Hope. As the war was winding down, few raiding parties were trying to take the fort, and there were few people on the road. A few days later though, a knight was seen on the road coming towards the fort. Fanche and Saefas came out to greet him, as did Tobe and a few other onlookers. The gates were opened and the man and his horse came through. He had been riding hard, and smiled when a stable hand came to take his stallion to the stable. He walked up to the two heads of the village, and shook their hands. Saefas said, "It's good to have you back, Sir Merric, but I thought that you were coming back a few weeks after the Lady Knight."

Merric's face dimmed. "Thats why I came."

As Kel had done when talking to the people of Haven, Fanche did to the people of New Hope. She stood on a crater in the main mess, where everyone could clearly see her. She opened her mouth to speak, and the crowd hushed.

"As you may well know, a messenger came to us this morning. He came straight from Corus, from the King." There were a few whispers, but Fanche cleared her throat and they fell silent.

"He came with grave news, some of which he did not wish to disclose to you. I warn you not to panic, or do anything rash." With this she looked directly where Tobe was sitting with his friends. "Last week 4 nobles were captured and led into Scanra. All of them were familiar to you. Sergeant Domitan of Masbolle, Sir Nealan of Queenscove, his fiancee Yukimi Noh Daimoru and..." she paused. "Lady Knight Keledry of Mindelan."

The crowd went into uproar.

Scanra

Kel was dividing the bread they were given when Dom was taken. Lucas came, grabbed his arm and took him out of the cell. She sat down next to Neal. "Where do you think they are taking him?" Kel asked anxiously. Dom hadn't even given a fight. He had simply let himself be led out. Yuki sat next to her. "You don't think he's going to be tortured do you? What if...?" She didn't ask. She just sat down. They hadn't given up, they just didn't know what to do.

Dom got back a few hours later. He was sweating, and his eyes were red-rimmed. Otherwise, he seemed unhurt. As soon as he was thrown in, the others rounded on him. What did they do? Where was he? At first all he said was, "We are escaping, no matter what." Later, when Neal and Yuki were asleep, Kel couldn't sleep. She had lost track of how long they had been there, and was trying to see the moon in the high window to find out where in the moon's cycle they were. Dom walked up to her and asked, "Do you need a lift-up?" Dom put his hands together, so Kel could put her foot on them and he lifted her up. She looked up to thee moon, and calculated how long they had been there. He let her down, and she said, "Thanks. I can tell Neal that we have been here two weeks." She lay down on the thin straw and tried to sleep. A cool breeze drifted from the window, and Kel, still in the gown and thin cloak she had come in, started shivering.

Dom looked at her, and noticed how cold she was. 'Neal and Yuki have it good, they can stay close together to keep warm.' He decided that even though Kel didn't love him, (or so he thought) that he would make a move. We crawled up to where Kel was and called her name. She was still awake, and turned around. "I know you are cold, so just don't say anything and go with it". With that, he put his arms around her and brought himself close to her. Kel sighed inside her mind. She knew it was improper, but it felt right. Besides, she was starting to warm up. 'Just when i start to forget Cleon, the crush is definitely back.' She settled into him and rested awhile. She was dozing when Dom's voice reached her ears again. "Kel, i want to share something with you. What they did to me today, you must avoid at all costs. It was... crazy. They want to know information, but they can't get it straight from my mind so they... they lifted thoughts and played on them." He stopped. He was thinking about what to say next. "Kel, they played with me. Mentally. The mage is incredibly powerful. He... played with my fears, so that i tell him what he wanted." Kel leaned against him more. "Did they get any... information from you?" "No," came his firm answer. He said no more that night. Kel thoughts were reeling. What that mage did sounded very similar to how the chamber of the ordeal tested knights...

New Hope

Tobe cried himself to sleep that night. In a small childish way he thought she had abandoned him. Of course, he was grown up enough to realise that this was not the case. Nevertheless, it didn't make him feel any better. 'Why hasn't anyone done anything?' He thought in his mind. 'Why don't they care?'

By the morning time, Tobe had vented enough anger inside to walk up to Merric and asked outright why nobody had rescued Kel yet. Merric smiled tightly and patted the chair next to him.

"Trust me, boy, we have tried, and it didn't work. Kel, Neal, Yuki and Dom mean a lot to us, but that doesn't mean that we can just launched a big rescue mission."

"But..." Merric continued. "What I mean is, they will expect that from us. We need something more delicate. Daine is at the palace by now, she may even already be headed out for Scanra. Not all hope is lost."

Tobe got up and walked outside. He felt a little better, but he still needed comfort. He went to the stables and leaned against Hoshi in her stall, who had been left behind in New Hope. Tobe loved Peachblossom more, but he was along, in the stable in Corus. There, Tobe just patted Hoshi, and let his battered mind rest for a while.

That night he moved his things and pallet into Merric's room for the time being.