As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

Dwarven Vow 20:
Cha bhi fios are math an tobair gus an tráigh e.
The value of the well is not known until it goes dry.

43-

It was a misty afternoon, and the ground was saturated with the lazy residue of what could have been rain but didn't seem to have much ambition to be more than a light drizzle. Visibility was poor, so the patrol stationed along the Non-Vegetative Zone took their assigned measurements and then stayed close to the tall fence that stretched the circumference of the restricted area. The older of the two had made the same patrol many times before, and she was instructing the young first-timer on the proper procedures. He may have been new to the patrol area, but he had more than enough experience with his patrol partner for their conversation to turn quickly into small-talk.

"So," Bryan began, motioning to the massive green canine that had returned from an up-close examination of the Great Tree and was now trailing attentively at Anna's heels, "did they ever figure out exactly what Noishe's deal is? Like, is he immune to the deadly effects of the NV Zone, or is there something different about the way it affects him, or...?"

Hearing his name, Noishe perked up his ears and turned his head to look at Bryan. It took his attention away from where he was going, and he blundered into Anna when she stopped.

"No. The best they could do was look for DNA in his fur and saliva, but they couldn't find any. The geneticists at the Elemental Research Lab in Meltokio were totally baffled. I didn't really understand what they were saying about proteins and domino-acids and whatever, but I think it just means Noishe is special." Anna was speaking to Bryan, but her attention was directed toward Noishe. She scratched his head, moving down his scalp and around to the base of his ear, and appreciated the way his eyes closed halfway in enjoyment. "Whatever it is, I'm just glad that we have someone who can venture into the zone of death for u-"

Bryan frowned and interrupted. "Aren't we, uh, supposed to call it the NV Zone? The captain got mad at me the other day for saying 'zone of death'…"

"Kratos just doesn't want us encouraging any of those silly rumors about how the Tree has turned evil and is out to get us or whatever- and we won't! I'm more interested in Noishe anyway. Who's my beautiful, mysterious, magical creature? Who is it? It's Noishe~!"

Anna leaned over to plant a kiss on the side of Noishe's head and his tail began to wag furiously, throwing water all over the two soldiers.

"H-hey, Noishe! Calm down! That's no fair!"

Anna's laughter was so loud, it seemed to echo off the nearby mountains and reverberate around the hillside. It was contagious, and Bryan couldn't help a smile of his own. He reached out to pet Noishe, his hand sinking further than he'd expected into the thick, wet fur around Noishe's neck. He pulled his hand free in surprise and found it coated with light green fur that he promptly rubbed off onto his uniform pants. In doing so, he stepped back and suddenly lost his balance. His arms flailed out, and Anna rushed over to catch hold of his wrist. She was able to help him regain his balance, but once he did so, she didn't let go of his wrist right away. In fact, she seemed to grip it even tighter as she paused, her expression pained.

"Anna, should we… take a break?"

"Huh?" Anna let go of his wrist and straightened back up. "I'm okay, if that's what you're asking. But if you need to sit down for a while and make some adjustments, it's no problem-"

"N-no, it's not that! I just lost my balance on a slippery patch of grass, is all. I just thought, since the captain said you need to take it easy-"

"I'm alright, I promise! But if you're not used to this kind of terrain yet, it only makes sense to stop and adjust the-"

"I don't need to adjust it anymore, actually. You're the one I'm worried about getting tired-"

"But you're the one who's still getting used to-"

They both stopped, eyeing each other as they realized exactly what the other was doing. An embarrassed blush spread across Anna's face, and Bryan mirrored it.

"I could really use a break, thanks."

"Me too."

The two found a spot under one of the lean-to shelters built against the fence. Anna unbuttoned a few of the buttons on her uniform, and Bryan removed his left boot so that he could start tinkering with the mechanical prosthetic on his leg. They both let out a sigh of relief, glad to be off their feet but still wary to admit their own weaknesses.

"Having trouble?" Anna asked as she noticed him struggling with one of the sliders along the side. "What kind of prosthetic is that? It's a newer Lezareno model, right? One of Lloyd's friends has something similar, so maybe he could help you get a better feel for it."

Bryan looked up in surprise. "Really? Which friend? I didn't realize."

"Er, I guess he could be called a friend…" Anna leaned back against the fence as she recounted the story. "More like a pen pal. He's taken a vow of silence as a monk, so it's easier for them to keep up through letters."

Bryan's eyes glinted in curiosity. "A vow of silence? That must take an amazing amount of willpower! Just being a monk in general- I can't imagine it."

"He always was a very religious sort of person." Anna glanced away. "And… well, it was either the abbey or the hospital after he was acquitted from terrorism charges on an insanity plea…"

"...oh…"

"But Lloyd says that he's very happy! So all's well that ends well, I guess."

Bryan just shook his head. "Lloyd can make friends with the strangest people. I wonder where he gets it from."

"Hey, now!"

Anna pouted, but the expression was just for show and it dissolved into a giggle once she was satisfied with Bryan's surprised reaction. She leaned back again and heaved a long sigh, drawing Bryan's attention to the position of her hand. Since they'd been chatting, she'd kept one hand resting protectively against her lower abdomen, along the bump that was just conspicuous enough to be noticeable from a short distance. It was further emphasized at the moment by the tight fit of her uniform just below the waist- no wonder she'd unbuttoned it the first chance she got.

"You know, you can always request a larger size uniform if that one's getting too small-"

Anna held up her free hand to cut him off. "Actually I can't. At least, not if I want to keep patrolling. I promised Kratos."

"You promised him what?"

"Well, he's been so overprotective the last couple months, pressuring me to go on reserve… I made a deal that I'd step down from the active patrol once my regular uniform didn't fit anymore."

Bryan couldn't help a laugh. That seemed such an Anna thing to do. "You could always snatch a bigger uniform from the storage room when no one's around. The captain wouldn't notice… probably."

Anna pouted again, this time for real. "Even if he didn't notice, I could never do that! That'd be lying to him, and Dwarven Vow eleven says that lying is the first step down the path of thievery."

"You'd… you'd also have actually committed thievery…"

It was a valid point, but Anna ignored it. "I wonder if I could find this same fabric," she mused, looking down at her shirt, "or at least something similar enough to do some alterations. Our agreement never said I couldn't make changes to the uniform I already had."

"A maternity uniform for an armed militia?" Bryan scoffed. "Now I've heard of everything."

He was trying to make her laugh, but the seriousness in her expression made him wonder if he'd spoken too harshly. He opened his mouth to apologize, but didn't manage to speak before she did.

"...but that would be an awfully underhanded thing to do… when Kratos is just trying to protect me…"

Her voice cracked, and she sniffled as though she were choking back tears. Bryan saw her expression change and reached out in concern.

"Anna? Are you okay?"

"S-sorry!" She straightened up, wiping tears from the edges of her eyes. "I got a little carried away there. I've been all emotional recently, and… well… I just started thinking about how Kratos would react to that situation. He has so much weighing on him, another frustration like that might just… oh, I don't want to think about it."

"Is he okay?" Bryan hadn't interacted with Kratos much since the incident a few months back, only briefly receiving orders from him when rejoining the active militia. He had sensed a difference in Kratos' demeanor, but couldn't put his finger on just what it was.

"He…" Anna began, and sighed. "...he's grieving, I guess. In his own way, on his own time, he's dealing with a loss he wasn't prepared for."

"The man who died during the incident- he was the Captain's close friend, right?"

"Yes. Yuan and Adora's mother were both very close to Kratos." Anna held her hands close to her chest. "And that's another thing- Adora's mother, Yuan's fiancee, died in almost the same way. She was stabbed and killed trying to protect the Great Seed. Kratos couldn't do anything back then, so I guess he feels like… like he should've been able to do something this time. He was hired by Yuan to protect Adora, and not only did he lose Adora, he lost Yuan too-" She stopped as she realized what she was saying and shook her head. "Not that I think that! I'm just saying what I think he's thinking!"

"Of course. And you know him better than anyone. You know how his mind works and where his fixations tend to fall. If anyone could figure out what he's thinking, it's you."

Anna frowned. She drew her knees up as close to her chest as she could comfortably pull them and rested her arms on top. "But just because I have some idea what he's thinking doesn't mean I know how to help him. Just being by his side seems like all I can do at this point…"

Bryan offered her a smile. "Maybe that's what he needs."

"You think? I don't know-"

Anna's statement was interrupted by the sound of a howl in the distance. She and Bryan both looked up, recognizing the noise immediately. It was Noishe's designated sound to warn of an intruder.

Anna stood up and helped Bryan to his feet before pausing to fix her uniform. Bryan was already running toward Noishe's position, and she scrambled to catch up. From a short distance, she saw what the cause of Noishe's distress was and allowed herself to relax a little. He was standing by the edge of the grass, using his nose to poke at the unmoving body of a medium-sized animal that was slumped over, half-inside the non-vegetated zone as though it had entered and dropped dead before the rest of it could catch up. When she made it to where Bryan was, he had leaned over to examine the creature.

"It's a Gaoracchian sand fox- a common species in this area. Adult female, from the looks of it. It must've dug under the fence trying to get at some sort of prey and ended up here-"

"We're not supposed to get within one meter of the boundary," Anna warned, motioning for Bryan to step back. "The expansions are getting more frequent, so there's no telling when another one might occur. Noishe, sweetie, can you bring that fox over here for us to look at?"

Noishe bent down and gingerly grabbed the fox by the scruff of the neck, carrying it away from the boundary a safe distance and placing it back on the ground. He whined, nudging it with his nose a few times until it turned over. When it remained unmoving, his ears drooped back against his head and he let out a high pitched, drawn-out whine.

"I'm sorry, buddy," Bryan murmured, patting Noishe on the head. "There's nothing you can do."

"Bryan, look. This fox… she…" Anna had knelt down next to the fox to get a better look, but when she spoke up again, Bryan heard her voice crack as though she were about to cry.

"What is it?"

"...she's lactating. She must have young pups. This must've just been a trip away from her den to hunt… but now she… she…"

"Anna-"

"...she's never going to go back for them… and without their mother to nurse them or hunt for them… they're going to starve… all alone…"

She was sobbing openly by this point, hunched over with her hands over her face. Noishe leaned down beside her and nuzzled his face against hers with a whine. She didn't react, so he kept at it, circling around her and nudging her other cheek with his nose.

"W-we have to go find the den… we have to save those pups… we have to… have to…"

"Anna, we can't. I know how you must feel about this, but it's just a fox. These things happen. We need to write this up and do an inspection on the fence to see how it got in."

Bryan was trying to keep a level head against an intensity of emotion that he'd never seen from Anna. She had grabbed onto Noishe, wrapping her arms around his neck and sobbing into his fur. Noishe turned his head around, nudging her with his nose and giving her a few reassuring licks on the cheek. The gesture, along with Bryan's words, seemed to calm her down. With Noishe's help, Anna pulled herself back to her feet and wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry. You're right. We should… we should go ahead and report this. Let's do an inspection of the nearby fence to determine a place of entry." Once Anna had said this, she turned back to look at Noishe. When he was sure she was steady on her feet, he'd gone back to sniffing at the fox. But when Anna turned around to beckon him, he was gone. "N-Noishe?"

Her exclamation grabbed Bryan's attention, and he turned around to look. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

"I don't know. He was here just a second ago. I mean, he's always had a tendency to run off on his own when he feels like it, but lately he's been sticking close to me…"

"I hope everything's okay," Bryan murmured, glancing uneasily up at the Tree. Anna nodded in agreement.

"I hope so too."

The simple elegance of the gneiss headstone was meant to justly serve the memory of the deceased without overshadowing the epitaph with elaborate carvings or designs. It was decorated with the precision of a master craftsman, the hard stone showing little sign of the two decades of wear it had weathered. But the message on the metal plaque- "Anna Irving, devoted mother"- was not the current focus. Instead, a wooden box had been placed at the foot of the stone, its top cleaned and polished to emphasize the names carved into the wood. "Yuan Adora Martel," it read, and the names were linked together by a carving of a vine that snaked around the edges of the lid. Against the side of the box sat a bouquet of flowers, a small plush rabbit, a censer whose contents were no more than warm ashes at this point, and a cold bowl of barley rice.

"Are ye alrecht? Th' kids inside are startin' tae wonder whit ye're up to."

The sound of Dirk's voice caused Kratos to jump, and he turned around with a sigh. "I'm fine," he answered, trying to play it off as though he hadn't just been startled. "I was just trying to figure out how long it's been since Song was here. The incense is almost burnt out, but the rice is still untouched by the local wildlife. I'd say he was here… mid-morning or early afternoon?"

It was phrased as a question, so Dirk nodded in affirmation. "Aye, somethin' like 'at. I dinna see him. I've tauld him 'at he's welcome tae pop in fer some tea an' a chat when he comes by, but he ne'er does. He doesnae say hello or anythin'. Most times I dorn't e'en ken he's been haur until I smell th' incense."

"And he does this every week?"

"Twice a week, lately. He must hae a place tae bide here in Sylvarant. Has he closed up shopin Meltokio?"

Kratos frowned. "I… I knew that he hadn't opened the pottery shop again since the incident, but I thought he was working for the hospital. Traveling back and forth twice a week would take all his time, though- he must be here in Sylvarant somewhere."

Dirk closed his eyes, heaving a sigh as he thought it over. "I dorn't blam him fer needin' tae gie out ay th' place. After a loss like 'at, it's hard tae stay in th' home whaur ye made sae many memories."

"The fact that he hasn't maintained contact with anyone is worrisome, though," Kratos replied.

"Oh? You're worried abit him after aw?"

The way Kratos flinched at the assumption, it looked as though he'd been accused of a crime. "Not personally! I'm worried because Song is the one to whom Yuan entrusted his Cruxis Crystal. I don't want it being misused or endangered because of-"

"Aye, say whit ye will. 'at expression on yer face dorn't come withit some sort ay personal worry, ye know."

"Hey, now-!" Kratos began to protest against Dirk's laughter, but the Dwarf stopped suddenly and turned to him with such a serious expression that he couldn't help but listen.

"...and fit are ye farin' through all ay this? He was yer oldest friend, wasn't he?"

The question gave Kratos pause. He turned back to look at the box in front of the gravestone, his expression pensive. "Friend is… a strong word."

"Aye, 'at's why I used it."

"I wouldn't have used it, but-" Kratos stopped and shook his head. "I suppose it all comes of being functionally immortal for so long. You lose your sense of time, your sense of grief becomes skewed because you're forced to watch all the people around you die and be reborn thousands of times over. There are few you can keep close, and Yuan and Mithos were not the best companions- er, well, it's not like I was any better. Still, even with Martel's loss, I never truly considered the mortality of the other two. I never, even after 4000 years, thought that…" His voice quieted, its hushed tone betraying only the slightest hint of the emotion underneath. "...that I'd be the last one left."

There was a silence between the two men as Kratos' words sunk in. For once, in all his paternal wisdom, Dirk was lost for words. He let out a sigh and nodded his head.

"Thanks fer tellin' me."

"Heh, if Yuan knew I was getting sappy over his grave after all the times I tried to kill him with my own hands, he'd never let me live it down."

"Dwarven Vow 20; th' value ay th' well is nae known until it goes dry."

Kratos groaned. "How'd I know you were going to pull that one?"

Dirk chuckled and gave Kratos a pat on the back. "Lloyd has taught ye well."

"-what have I taught him?"

At the sound of Lloyd's voice from the front of the house, the two men turned to look. Lloyd appeared around the corner, followed closely by Colette and her dog. Upon seeing them, Lloyd smiled and broke into a run.

"There you are! We've been waiting for you!" He tackled Kratos in a hug so forceful that it almost knocked him off-balance. Dirk cleared his throat loudly, and Lloyd released his hold on Kratos' shoulders, taking a step back and pouting. "I'm fine, Dad, really. The doctor said so this morning! Just let me hug my other dad in peace, will ya?"

The statement made Colette giggle, though her amused expression fell when she opened her eyes again and looked past Kratos and Lloyd. Her eyes settled on the box by the gravestone and her whole body seemed to draw back. "I-I'm sorry, I hope we weren't interrupting you. Lloyd was just getting worried, is all…"

"Don't worry, Colette. You didn't interrupt. Dirk and I should have taken our conversation inside."

Dirk nodded and pointed back toward the front of the house. "Shall we?"

"Actually-" Lloyd raised his hand. "-I also came out to ask if Colette and I could go for a walk before it gets dark. She has something she wanted to show me, and the sun is setting, so there's not much time-"

"Lloyd, your faither is haur tae see ye. It'd be rude tae run aff th' moment he comes in."

"It's not my fault he was taking such a long time out here-"

"He needed tae pay his respects tae a dear friend. Shaw a wee bit ay compassion would ye-?"

Kratos held out a hand to quiet him. "It's alright, Dirk. I'm not in a hurry. I know Lloyd hasn't been able to get out much these past few months, so he deserves the chance to explore a little while there's still daylight. Lloyd and I can catch up afterwards."

Dirk sighed. "If ye say sae. Bit remember, Lloyd, jist because th' doctor gae ye a clean bill ay health doesnae mean ye can immediately return tae yer normal reckless behavior. Ye may be healthy enaw tae gang off on yer ain now, bit dorn't overdo it."

"Of course, Dad. I'll be fine. I've got Colette to protect me, after all."

There was a moment of silence as Dirk thought it over, and finally he let out a sigh. "Dorn't be tay lang. Genis and Zelos said they'd be haur around sunset, min'? They'll expect ye tae be home an' in ain piece."

"I'll take good care of Lloyd, I promise. You can count on me!" Colette said, giving a reassuring pat to the eager dog at her side. "Pete's a good guard dog, so he'll let us know if there's any danger, and I'll make sure Lloyd gets home safe and sound."

Dirk suppressed a fond laugh. "Aye, I ken ye will. Ye always hae."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean? Dad- hey, don't ignore me! Dad!"

Colette led the way through the Iselia forest, and Lloyd followed after her closer even than the dog did. The two were arguing, if you could call it that, teasing one another amidst friendly laughter.

"-look, I'm just glad to be out here," Lloyd defended. "If I had to stay cooped up around the house any longer, I might've gone crazy!"

Colette just giggled, deciding she'd let Lloyd have this one. "So now what are you going to do? Now that Doctor Jacobs has given you the okay, are you going back to Luin?"

"Of course! We plan to head out tomorrow. Dad and I have been working nonstop on course material for the school, and he's excited to go examine the basement so he can lay out building plans- even if he won't admit it."

"Do you… think he's going to move to Luin with you? I mean, if he's going to be teaching at the school, then…"

There was a pause. Colette's question has been asked with some trepidation, as though she were afraid of the answer. It confused Lloyd, but he answered truthfully, hoping that her response would give him some sort of clue as to what was on her mind.

"We haven't thought that far ahead yet. He built this house himself, so I think he'd be reluctant to leave it, but at the same time, Luin's history as a Dwarven trading post means there's probably still some Dwarven architecture beneath the city that would make a better place for Dad to live. His health is starting to suffer from living on the surface so long, I'd feel better if he could find a nice cave…" Lloyd caught himself rambling and shook his head. "Long story short, the answer is I don't know."

"Okay."

It was a simple answer, not giving Lloyd even a clue what she might be thinking. He moved closer, nudging her shoulder. "Something wrong?"

"Wha-? No! I'm… no!" Her answer was stammered and broken, and it took her a moment to regroup. "Hey, we're almost there! Just a little further down the mountain."

Lloyd wasn't pleased with the half-answer, but he followed after her silently. Maybe he could delve further once Zelos and Genis arrived- Genis always seemed to know what Colette was thinking, and Zelos was the person she confided in the most.

Colette stopped partway down a particularly steep portion of the trail, first calling out ahead of her to make sure Pete didn't wander off too far, and then looking back to make sure Lloyd was following. Satisfied, she hopped down the last few feet of the trail and stopped at the base of the cliff, motioning to the nearby field. "Here! Take a look!"

Lloyd reached the bottom of the cliff and glanced around, trying to take in as much of the scene as he could in the waning twilight. It was empty, just a large expanse of flat land hugging the mountainside. Where there might have been grass at one point, there was nothing but vaguely churned-up earth, and Lloyd couldn't find anything in the area that seemed worth showing someone.

"Colette, there's… there's nothing here."

"Exactly!"

Her bright smile could've lit the mountainside all by itself, though paired with the situation, Lloyd had to fight the fleeting thought that she was messing with him. But the thought was just that- fleeting- as it suddenly dawned on him where they were standing.

"W-wait a minute!" Lloyd held up his lantern as though it would give him a better view. "This is… this is where…" He swiveled around to face Colette again. "...the ranch! It's all gone!"

Colette admired his incredulous expression with a look of pride, though it was broken after a few moments as she watched the large dog shuffling around the edge of the cliff. "Pete, sweetie, come back here! That's dangerous!" She broke off into a run, and tossed a glance back at Lloyd. "Come on- you're welcome to explore!"

There wasn't much to "explore," but that was the point. Lloyd had to wonder how long it had taken, how many people it had taken, to completely remove all traces of the Desian infrastructure. The clearing was still mostly bare dirt, making it obvious that something had been there at one point, but if he hadn't grown up passing by it twice a day Lloyd wouldn't have the slightest idea what it might be.

"How… I mean, who…" Lloyd began to ask questions once Colette had managed to coax her dog back over. "When did this happen?"

"They started work on it last month. It took about six weeks altogether, since the ranch was already somewhat damaged."

"And who?"

Colette scratched the back of her head. "To tell the truth, I'm not really sure. Zelos was the one who hired the demolition group. I think they were from the Palmacosta area…"

"So Zelos arranged this?" Lloyd gasped. "He's been so busy with research in Sybak, I didn't think-"

"It's something we've been working on together," she interrupted. "Zelos has decided he wants to come live in Iselia. After all, Seles has made so many friends and felt so much better since she moved in with my family and me, and Hazel is seriously considering Doctor Jacobs' offer to replace him when he retires next year, and I like the school here so much more than that stuffy academy back in Meltokio…" Colette let her voice trail off, watching Lloyd as though she were gauging his reaction. He tried to stay positive, but he was still trying to wrap his head around the information.

"So, like, he wants to build a house where the ranch used to be?"

"What? No, no!" Colette stiffened and waved her hands. "We were clearing the area because we wanted to turn it into a memorial!"

"A… memorial?"

"Yeah, like a public park dedicated to the memory of all those who suffered and died because of the Desians." Colette found a spot by the foot of the cliff, leaning back against the rock. "We've been talking with people like Chocolat, who lost family to the Desians, and been through some of the records that Kratos recovered for us from the remnants of the computer systems. We know we'll never know the names of everyone who suffered in the ranches, but if we can get as many names as possible, then maybe we can record them on some kind of monument."

"Wow…"

Lloyd looked out on the empty terrain again, seeing it with new eyes. The idea that such an awful place could be remade into something that would give people hope- it was so like Colette.

"I love it." Lloyd spoke up again, turning his attention back to Colette. "I want to do everything I can to help you guys out… if that's okay with you-"

"Oh, Lloyd, we'd love to have your help!" Colette grabbed his hands, her eyes sparkling with delight. "You always have great ideas! What did you have in mind?"

"Well, I don't know if it's what you had in mind for the monument, but Luin has extensive records of the people injured and killed when the village was destroyed. I could request access to those for you."

As soon as he mentioned Luin, the sparkle in Colette's eyes disappeared. She hid the change in her demeanor so well, it would've been hard for someone unfamiliar with her mannerisms to notice. Lloyd, however, knew her too well to miss it.

"You're right, Lloyd, that would be fantastic!" Colette chimed, not missing a beat. "Thanks for the offer."

"Colette, are you…" Lloyd began, squeezing her hands. "...is there something-?"

He couldn't finish his question, as he was interrupted by a shrill series of barks from the other side of the field. Pete came running, his tail sticking up in alert and his ears shifting back and forth as they searched for the source of the sound that had frightened him. The thick fur on the back of his neck was raised, and he stared into the forest with a low growl. Colette gasped and ran to Pete's side, throwing her arms around his neck to keep him still.

"What is it, boy? What's the matter?"

Lloyd didn't have his swords with him, but he did have a lantern with a lit flame, and he knew that the forest monsters usually stayed away from fire. Something large was moving through the brush- and it was coming their way.

Colette pulled her dog back, recognizing only the sound of a large and potentially dangerous animal, but Lloyd instantly recognized the sound of the footfalls and the pattern of the breathing. "Noishe?" he gasped, noting the rapid breathing that suggested physical exertion. "Noishe, is everything alright?"

Noishe appeared in the lantern-light only momentarily as he passed by them, but it was enough for Lloyd and Colette to see the green of his fur… and the deep red color of blood.

"NOISHE!"