Kaetar kept the pressure on Loiya's wound even when his fingers went cold, but he felt that he couldn't do anything else. Loiya depended on him to keep the bleeding under control. But against all odds, Loiya kept talking. It comforted the prince; as long as the bodyguard kept talking, it proved that he was going to be fine.

It didn't take long for help to arrive at all; Kaetar had figured that they would be there all day but Ema arrived in laguz form and surprised him. She wasn't panting at all, but she quickly reverted into her human form. "I thought I smelled blood," she muttered. "How is he?"

"Still alive," Loiya responded himself. "It hurts though..."

"It doesn't look that deep. He'll be fine when we can get a vulnerary on it," she explained, then looked into the trees. "I found them! Come here and pick up Loiya!"

Kaetar wondered who she was talking to until Darius landed on the ground. "Sorry for not being able to see through trees," he mumbled sarcastically. His noses scrunched up as he looked down at Loiya. "Dang, I hate the smell of blood."

How could Darius say that? Wasn't he in a war where lots of people died or got wounded?

"Well too bad, you need to get him out of here. You can carry an injured beorc better than I can! You don't need to transform to fly! I'll take the prince back; he makes a better rider," Ema mumbled, then transformed. Kaetar got the hint and climbed onto her back. He was short enough that he didn't have to pick up his feet to ride her comfortably and he could easily grab the fold of skin around her neck. It didn't seem to pain her at all and she took off running, leaving Darius alone with Loiya.

He was completely amazed by her speed – he never moved so fast before. No beorc would ever be able to run this fast, and for as long – she didn't even break a pant! Laguz were truly powerful.

As it turned out, Ema broke the tree line first, but Kaetar looked back and he could see that Darius was not far behind himself. He landed on the ground as Kaetar was getting off of Ema. It was the first time that Kaetar realized that his own hands were covered in Loiya's blood and that blood was now on the back of Ema's neck. Darius seemed to have recovered his jacket on his own – Loiya must have dropped it before running it off. Darius managed not to get a single drop of blood on it but his tunic underneath was a different matter completely. The bodyguard had his eyes closed, and Kaetar didn't want to think about what it meant.

"Do you have a vulnerary close by, Syrin?"

The leader reached into his robes and pulled out the vulnerary. It was something that he carried on his person and it was logical for him to do so. Darius gently placed Loiya on the ground and it was only then that Kaetar realized how pale he was. Syrin was quick expose Loiya's chest, using his bad arm to do just that, and examined the wound.

"Well?"

"It's not too deep, and the bleeding is slowing," Syrin mumbled as he applied the vulnerary. Kaetar watched as the wound closed in front of his eyes. Loiya was asleep – the prince thought that he was unconscious until he turned over and hugged Syrin's arm. The leader let out an annoyed growl as he struggled to remove his arm from Loiya's grip.

"He's fine," Kaetar mumbled with a laugh. Syrin managed to free his arm, and then proceeded to rub a small amount of the vulnerary on the prince's cheek. Kaetar forgot he had been injured, even if it was a small wound. He thanked Syrin, who seemed more concern with the amount of vulnerery he had left in comparison than Kaetar's current condition, but he nodded in acknowledge. He was alright, and he was alright before, so he didn't mind that Syrin didn't say anything in response – it wasn't a big deal, especially if it was concerning Syrin.

"What happened in the forest anyway? Why would you run into the forest without any weapons?" Ema questioned, putting her hands on her hips.

Kaetar went through the entire story, from the twig snapping to the warning from the knife man and included the fact that the stranger knew who the prince was. Syrin kept his face neutral, but Kaetar figured that he was probably concerned – there was someone watching them and who knew who they were reporting to?

The prince, on the other hand, felt bad for Nicholas. Even though he knew that Loiya was going to be fine, the thunder mage still looked sad. He obviously didn't like the idea of Loiya being injured, but nonetheless, he helped pack their tent up and the group was quickly able to move on to Toha.

Kaetar didn't know when he had fallen asleep, but when he woke up, Darius was holding a hand over his mouth. In his half-asleep state, he thought that Darius was trying to kill him and it took him a moment to realize that the raven didn't covered his nose. He was still able to breathe but it was obvious that he wasn't permitted to speak.

He could hear the one crate being moved. "Just take one from the top, I don't want anything to be damaged. It's already purchased," Kaetar heard the carriage driver mumble.

"You sold blankets?"

"Yes... I'm taking them to inn at Toha. They have problems with blankets disappearing and they need them replaced."

"Are they all blankets?"

"No, someone of them are pillows, cooking devices...the inn needed a lot."

"That sounds acceptable. You may pass."

The carriage began moving again a couple of minutes later but no one breathed a sigh of relief. Darius brought a finger up to his mouth, motioning for silence, then he removed his hand and let Kaetar take a deep breath in.

Everyone was awake except for Loiya, who was using Nicholas' lap as a pillow. Kaetar couldn't tell if that was intentional on Nicholas' part, or if Loiya was sleeping too deeply to notice that he was sleeping on Nicholas; either way, he was happy to see that Loiya was still sleeping.

"That was close," Nicholas mumbled quietly, moving Loiya's hair out of his face.

"What was that?" Kaetar asked, just as quietly.

"A check point. I realized that we would be pulled aside at some point but I didn't think they had set up checkpoints where everyone would be checked this quickly," Syrin muttered. Kaetar was worried; it would seem that it would be difficult to find anyone that would actually be brave enough to fight against the Crimean soldiers. Their best choice would be an army from a different country, but everyone was to frightened about breaking the peace to participate.

Maybe that was why Syrin was complementing going to that new country. Perhaps he knew someone there that would help, but they were going to need more than one person to make a dent in the rebellion. Right now, they were simply outnumbered – skill could only take you so far when you have four people capable of battle. If someone fell, it would severely devastate the rebellion.

But the Greil Mercenaries did it. They were small, but they successfully managed to do a lot with the numbers they had and together with the Crimean army. Though they had numbers from Gallia and Begnion, the Greil Mercenaries and Crimean soldiers led the liberation. The biggest difference was that those mercenaries knew their business; they had been disposing of bandits and laughed in the face of danger their entire careers. The six person rebellion team where people who wanted to help but only one person in their group had any experience with war, and that was Darius. Sure, Syrin knew everything, but Kaetar doubted he was ever there.

"Are we going to get support from Toha?"

"Most likely, we'll get a boat since I plan to go to Grann, but we may have to fight our way to it," Syrin muttered. Kaetar could tell that this new arrangement changed his plans completely; he must have thought they had more time before security was tightened.

"Somehow, I had a feeling there would be another battle in Toha. They would go from caring nothing about their fellow comrades to caring too much. And Grann? We're going to Grann? Isn't that the country of Parentless? And a desert no less!" Ema asked, raising her voice. Darius smacked the back of her head.

"We're supposed to be nice to them."

"Either way, I plan on going alone. They rest of you can stay in Begnion for all I care," Syrin growled. "We don't need a racist sub-human to destroy any chance of getting more numbers for our cause."

Ema's ears flew back,and she got up to do something about Syrin, but Darius stood up, grabbed her ponytail, and forced her back down. 'Sub-human' was a term that Kaetar saw in old books, before beorc and laguz pushed the effort to get along but he didn't know that beorc still used it – in a time where laguz and beorc could coexist in peace, there was simply no need for it. If either race was racist, he clearly had no idea that it was going on.

"You do realize that the only reason why he used that word is because you used the other word. Skrimir told you to be nice and not cause any problems," Darius whispered furiously.

"Who do you think you are? You're just a raven!"

"Just a raven? Once we get out of the carriage, I will show you which one of us is the superior fighter! In our weaker forms, because you'll complain about me flying!"

"Both of you stop it. You can solve your differences outside later, or I'll do it for you. I can still cast magic, and I know fire and wind magic rather well. Don't test me," Syrin growled.

The laguz instantly stopped. They didn't look at each other,but at least they stopped talking to each other. Loiya must have been very tired because he was somehow still asleep and Nicholas did a good job of pretending that he didn't hear any of it. He was combing his fingers through Loiya's hair, like he was his mother of all people, and he seemed pretty content in filling that role for him – even if he didn't know he was doing just that.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, and next they knew, they were being unloaded yet again, just outside of Toha. As it turned out, there really was an inn that need the stuff in the crates, but Toha couldn't see six people jumping out of the carriage – that was way too suspicious. They would have to enter separately.

Kaetar couldn't help but to feel rather anxious. He would be going in alone, and since he had the gold, he would most likely be the one trying to buy their way into Begnion. Hopefully, there were pirates that would accept any job so long as the gold was right.

Syrin pulled him to the side. "You're probably the one that soldiers will not recognize immediately, so you need to enter first and get us a boat to Begnion. We'll be watching, so give us a gesture when it's safe," the leader mumbled.

Kaetar's vision flashed, making him moan. It wasn't the best time for a vision.

Kaetar began walking anyway – he had a place to go to, and a job to do. He managed to get into the village entrance, surprised that he wasn't stopped by soldiers or by the oncoming vision – but his luck quickly changed. He stumbled over his own feet, and fell to the ground, too dizzy to get up himself. He could hear voices, but Kaetar lost touch with reality before he could decipher them.

He was surprised to see that the location didn't chance very much, much to his surprise. It looked like Toha, but it was missing some buildings – or actually, a lot of buildings. Soren was standing in the centre square beside a bag that Kaetar assumed carried some of his personal belongs. He seemed to be waiting, and for what, Kaetar didn't know.

"Ranulf! Over here!" Ike shouted, waving in the air. Kaetar recognized that name, but the cloak made it hard to confirm if it was the same Ranulf. But then again, how many Ranulfs could there be?

A cloaked figure ran up to Ike. Soren turned his head to face them, but he had distanced himself from Ike and Ranulf. He was listening and watching, but that was all he seemed interested in doing at the moment. "Hoo! Things sure are heating up, aren't they?" he asked in a pant.

"How are things on your end?" Ike asked.

"Everything's set," Ranulf mumbled in response, keeping his hood where it was suppose it be. "All you need to do is sneak down to the harbor. You'll be met there by a man with a dusky pallor. His name is Nasir. Nasir is a man you can trust. I've explained your situation to him, and he's willing to help. If you can reach his ship safely, he'll take care of everything and deliver you to Begnion."

Ah, there it was, Kaetar thought. That's were the connection from history to his current situation came from. It was the struggle for a boat. But if this was the situation that Ema had described, then he knew this was going to end badly. Soren bit his lips and cursed under his breath while he looked from their current position to the harbour. There were Daein troops patrolling there.

Of course Daein was there.

The conversation faded. Soren kept his eyes on the troops, as if he was already calculating how to get around there. Kaetar was interested in their conversation, but Soren obviously didn't care as much, and must have chosen to filter it out for matters more important. Suddenly, his attention snapped back to Ranulf. He was on the ground, his hood falling off to reveal his aqua blue hair and ears, and another girl was on the ground nearby. She apologized, then let out a scream.

Soren bit his lips again and took a step back. Their situation was already difficult; they had to reach the harbour without the Daeins knowing, but the Daeins were going to know now that the citizens were freaking out about the 'sub-human'.

"Are you alright?"

The vision melted suddenly – not that Kaetar expected any different, but he was always disappointed that they were cutoff before he knew how it ended. He was being shaken by calloused hands.

"He's coming to!" someone else shouted. The shaking ceased, and Kaetar finally had a chance to dissect his situation. His vision caused a scene. There was a small crowd gathered, and someone was holding him up from behind in a sitting up position, but they let him go, and he was allowed to sit up by himself. "Are you alright?" someone asked again. "You fainted suddenly."

"I'm fine... just need some... air," he mumbled. It was the truth – the people gathered around him made him feel like he was suffocating. Everyone backed away, and many left to go back to their daily lives. "Thank you," the prince mumbled as he stood up. Why was the recovery so inconsistent? The last time he had a vision that wasn't in a dream, he was up quickly! It was taking time to recovery from his most recent vision. They just couldn't be consistent – that was too convenient. Maybe it depended on how he was feeling before the vision occurred.

He looked behind to see who had caught him, and found himself face to face with a Crimean soldier. He could feel the colour drain from his face. "Are you sure you're alright?" they asked, jerking their head to the left. All Kaetar could see was some red hair that was in a ponytail, blue eyes, and a lance at their side.

"Fine."

"Where are you headed?"

"To Begnion. I was just passing through for sight-seeing," Kaetar mumbled.

"All by yourself? Aren't you worried about getting mugged or something?"

That thought never occurred to him, but he wasn't cared. So long as everyone could board the ship then that was all that mattered to him. It was Loiya's job to make sure that nothing happened. Kaetar simply shook his head. "I should travel with you then!"

"Don't you have to stay here?" Kaetar asked, his mouth going dry.

"Why? 'Cause of the rebellion? Let me tell you something – not all soldiers are out to get the rebels. In fact, some of them agree with those rebels," the soldier mumbled, removing their helmet. The soldier was, in fact, a woman. Kaetar couldn't tell from the armour, but he could hear it in her voice – as soon as he figured it out, at any rate.

Her hair was cut rather short in the front and on the sides – only going slightly past her jaw line – but the jagged edges told Kaetar that her hair wasn't always that short, and it was probably cut that way so she could fit it all into her helmet. The second option was that she tried to cut her hair on her own, and it ended badly. The rest of her hair was pulled into a thin ponytail. He couldn't see what her figure was at all under the white armour, but he could see that she had curves – the completely opposite from Ema. She was also tall for a woman – she was comparable to Nicholas and Darius.

"I take it you're one of them," Kaetar mumbled quietly.

"And I take it that you're already part of them by the way you're asking questions!" she laughed as she replaced her helmet. "Now do you feel better about taking me along?"

Kaetar merely nodded.

"Now, you said you needed to get to Begnion, right?"

"Yes. I have the money for a boat. It's finding someone to take wanted people out of Toha is the problem," Kaetar whispered. He could imagine Syrin lecturing him about keeping information like that to himself, but he had a feeling that he could trust this girl, whoever she was. In fact, they wouldn't have any problems at all, so long as they had a knight's permission to leave – or perhaps he was still thinking of the vision. Were they trapped to begin with?

"So you're not travelling alone?" she asked.

"No. We have to go in separately to avoid being caught. We…need a lot of help though. There are six of us, but only four know anything of combat. Or capable of it, that's another issue."

"Like I said, I don't agree with our orders, but I'll save that for later," she mumbled with a smile. "Oh! If we're going to be travelling together, then we should introduce ourselves. My name is Misha."

"My name is –" Kaetar was suddenly cut off by a hand covering his mouth. He was pulled toward its owner, and he could feel a blade being held at his throat. His back was pressed against armour, so he could only guess that he was captured by another soldier. Kaetar screamed out, but he was muffed by the gloved hand. He couldn't bite through it – it was too thick – and he couldn't struggle either, or he would kill himself by hitting the knife at his neck.

"Don't move rebel, or I'll bring you back dead," he warned.

"They're to be brought back alive," Misha growled. "You can't expect the dead to respond if you ask them a question!"

'This is bad,' Kaetar thought to himself. So long as he was cooped up in this situation, then they would never get to Begnion. He had the gold necessary to get there with him. But most important, if he was recognized from behind, then not even he was safe. He didn't do any wrong, but by associating with the rebels, he would be labelled as an accomplice, and he would get in trouble for conspiring to do whatever the group did.

Kaetar could see another crowd gathering just out his peripheral vision. Two soldiers arguing, and a child held hostage – it had to be quite a scene. How did he always end up in the middle of a crowd? He could hear the crowd whispering, making his captor growl. "Look at that, Cameron," Misha taunted. "You're making the citizens doubt the motives of the Crimean military."

Kaetar could still feel the knife at his throat, and was suddenly struck with an idea. He could play the crowd up, so long as he could make himself cry. The prince just had to think of something sad enough that would actually made him sad, but when he got down to think about it, he realized it was going to be harder than he thought.

"He's a rebel! He was with the ones who killed those soldiers! I know! I was there when we searched the village! I was the only survivor! An eye for an eye… a life for a life," Cameron shouted, lowering the knife from the prince's throat to his belly. "Starting with this one… he might be a kid, but justice doesn't discriminate."

"Give him another chance!" someone shouted.

"Yeah! He's just a kid! Young people don't know what they're doing!" another shouted.

"C'mon! The rebels didn't actually hurt any of us common folk!"

Kaetar smiled. The crowd didn't need to be played up – they already hated the situation! In fact, it sounded like they were in support of the rebellion. If a soldier – someone who risked their lives to protect the citizens – was willing to hold a child hostage with a knife, then something was wrong, and the citizens knew that.

The begging from the crowd didn't seem to change Cameron's mind, however. The knife still hovered around his stomach, and he could feel it pressing against his skin. "May Ike have mercy on you," the soldier muttered into the prince's ear as he drove the knife into his belly. Kaetar only gasped as he pushed to the ground with the knife still in his belly. He managed to stumble a couple of steps forward, then fell to the ground with his hand to on the handle of the knife.

Kaetar was surprised that he wasn't in more pain. It was like he was in so much pain that he stopped processing it all, and it was starting to become numb. He was dizzy and nauseated. Everything was blurry, and it was difficult for him to focus on anything in the confusion.

He wasn't going to die, but Kaetar was sure that he would faint before he was aware of anyone that was trying to help him.

He was suddenly turned over, and the knife was torn from his belly. He was sure he screamed. He felt a new, fresh wave of pain, and he suddenly a lot warmer. Without the knife to keep the wound mostly closed, the bleeding was really starting to becoming heavier. It was a theory that he had read in one of his books about first aid during the wars, mostly how to keep the bleeding to a minimum to buy time for a healer to get to you. By keeping the knife in, it actually blocked most of the bleeding. Kaetar wouldn't have thought of it if he was actually trying to help himself instead of daydreaming, and while he couldn't see what was going on, he could certainly feel it.

The prince then felt the discomfort of the wound beginning to sew itself together. It was a strange feeling – there was the discomfort of it all, but the rest of his body felt warm, and he was relaxed enough to actually fall sleep. When the discomfort was gone, he could see Syrin handing a staff back into the crowd. The leader was gritting his teeth, but Kaetar couldn't tell if he was upset with the attention, in pain, or if it was some odd combination of the two.

"Are you alright?" Misha asked, moving the hair out of his eyes. He batted her hand away and sat up.

"If you're fine, you still have a job to complete," Syrin muttered as he massaged his left arm. Kaetar bit his lips. It was going to be a long day.

"You got stabbed? We leave you alone for a short while, and you not only recruited someone, but you also got stabbed? What the heck?!" Loiya asked as soon as they regrouped in the boat. Everyone aside from Darius was there, as he opted to fly to Begnion instead of getting sea sick.

Kaetar was lucky. There was a captain in the crowd that not only enjoyed a challenge but he also took pity on the prince, especially after being stabbed and they didn't have to fight their way into the boat. Instead, Kaetar felt that he had the support of Toha – he didn't know if Syrin ever found his representative, but he felt that Toha would abandon Ike as their God after they witnessed how the soldier named Cameron, stabbed a child in his name.

He no longer felt any pain from the incident earlier – and Loiya didn't seem to believe him – but he felt something that he believed to be called 'sea sickness'. He was lying down on the deck, lacking the knowledge and the strength to do anything else. Loiya was sitting beside him, this time taking on the lecturing role.

"I didn't see him and he recognized me! Not from any posters or anything, I don't think, but he was at the one village," Kaetar mumbled, covering his face with his arm.

"The one that we had to flee because we had soldiers chasing us?" Loiya asked, clearly not amused.

"Yeah… there was a survivor, and he recognized me and decided… a life for a life," the prince answered.

"And… he just fled?"

"I suppose. I don't know what happened."

"Was the wound fatal?"

"Why do you think I know that? I knew I wasn't going to die because the town was busy, but I don't know what would have happened if I was away from everyone else. All I know is that it hurt a lot," Kaetar mumbled, his stomach twisting. He probably would have lost his breakfast if he ate anything.

"How is he doing?" Misha's voice asked. Kaetar didn't know when she got there, but she didn't mind at all. In fact, she would distract Loiya from his rambling.

"He's alright. He just needs to get used to being on a boat," Loiya answered.

"So... your name is?"

"I'm Loiya, and that's Kaetar. He's a Daein noble, and I'm his bodyguard." Kaetar decided to sit up so he could at least pay better attention to the conversation. Misha surprised him; she had taken off her armour, and just wore her black jumpsuit, which cut off just past her shoulders and above her knees, but she wore gloves and stocking to make up for the difference. She also had knee length leather boots. Her hair was pulled into a higher ponytail, and as rude as it was, Kaetar couldn't get over how well-developed her body was. Everything about her was big, including her height. She wasn't fat, just big. She weighed more, but she was also taller than Loiya.

"So that means you can use a weapon, right?"

"A lance," he answered simply.

"Can we spar, then? With broomsticks or something, of course. I just want to see where your skill level is," the female soldier dared with a grin. Loiya returned the grin. Kaetar could only recall the beating he received from a broomstick when he asked Loiya to train him to use a sword. The prince had to admit, he was definitely interested to see how a girl Misha's size could fight anyway. She had to be binding her chest to make sure that she could fit in the uniform.

Yes, it had to be interesting. Both of them disappeared below decks, and reappeared moments later with long sticks. Loiya was testing the weight in his hands, turning the stick in his hand and throwing it up in the air a couple of times. Kaetar couldn't tell if he was satisfied with the stick he got – he was used to heavier. Lances were heavy, at least by the prince's standard, and while Loiya could use a steel lance, like the one he brought on board and stashed somewhere, he had a favourite lance at home – a custom silver lance that was lighter than usual but still heavier than the average iron lance that Kaetar tried using.

Why didn't he bring it?

Kaetar brought his attention back to the duel. Misha's and Loiya's stances were similar, standing up straight with their knees slightly bent. Misha attacked first, bringing her stick up for a forceful jab at Loiya, but the bodyguard jumped back, evading the attack. She tried again, pivoting her body around for a second stab, but Loiya brought his own stick up to block it. "Damn, you're fast," she muttered.

He had to be fast. It was part of the job requirements; Loiya had to prove his skills by sparring with the Four Riders before he was hired. He didn't have to win, necessarily, but he definitely had to put up a good battle. If he was defeated quickly, then he wasn't worthy.

Misha circled him, and tried jabbing him once again, but Loiya deflected the blow with his stick, and managed to graze her side with his own. She growled and brought her stick up, but Loiya beat her; by the time her stick was in the air, he managed to leap up and knock her down with a forceful jab. The battle was over almost as quickly as it started.

"That would be fatal," he mumbled, poking her again.

"Fair enough. You win," she laughed. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"My father taught me a lot of things, but I also train with the Daein military when I'm not busy with him," Loiya explained, jabbing a thumb back at Kaetar. Kaetar smirked.

"How old are you? And what's your class? You're definitely better than a typical soldier!" Misha mumbled, clearly astonished. It was Loiya's baby face that surprised her, Kaetar suspected. Loiya was growing, but his bodyguard – and the prince himself for that matter – didn't have the sharp jawline of a man. He still had the round face of a child, and that's what shocked most people. He looked too young to be fighting. He actually was too young by most standards, so his father did very well to train him and probably began training his son from an early age.

"I'm seventeen right now, and I'm a halberdier, isn't that right, my prince?"

"Syrin would kill you if he heard that!" Kaetar shouted.

"I would like to see him try, with his arm and all," Loiya laughed. Kaetar couldn't help but to laugh with him; the image of Syrin trying to hurt Loiya was kind of funny. Their leader was thin under the bulk of his clothes, and most importantly, he couldn't have any strain on his arm. It was a hassle to try and kill someone with that arm.

"You're truly a prince?" Misha asked, her face flat. Perhaps that was too much information too soon. She didn't seem to be able to process all of the information in her mind. She not only got beat by someone who was younger – and who was at a higher class than she was – but now she was being told that the boy she helped in Toha was a prince of a foreign land. He trusted Misha, and they needed more hands in the the group for sure, but she seemed fine not knowing that he was royalty. She helped because he needed help – and that's why she was a knight.

And that's why she was rebelling. It wasn't what she signed up for anymore.

Kaetar could only nod. There was an awkward silence that filled the space. Loiya was sitting down again, the stick beside him. Misha simply seemed stunned.

"Have you met Ema yet?" Kaetar asked suddenly. He just thought about it; Ema might be happier with another girl around. She was the only the female for a long time; she had no one to turn to if she had any girl problems.

"Ema? Is she the cat laguz? I saw her, but I haven't said anything to her yet," Misha answered, sitting down.

"You should change that. She's kind of grumpy, but she's the only girl and I think she's lonely. You two need to stick together," Kaetar muttered. Loiya merely nodded; he agreed, but he didn't elaborate. "Oh! And you need to meet Nicholas, too. He's the blonde mage, maybe you won't see the tome, but he's the only blonde one on the ship who isn't muscular. That's the ship crew and they're not rebelling with us, but Nicholas will make you feel welcome!"

Misha still looked lost. "Anyone else I should meet?"

"Did you see Syrin?"

"Black long hair?"

"Yeah!"

"He talked to me. He didn't give me is name, but he told me that my assistance was appreciated," Misha mumbled, lounging on the deck floor. It was good to see that she could relax herself in the group now, at least in front of Loiya and Kaetar. "He's not a people person, is he?"

"No. He's... locked up, I guess. He rarely ever talks about himself – his mind his focused on making the rebellion work," Kaetar mumbled, thinking about what Darius had said earlier about him. What exactly did Syrin have to do in order to be the leader of the rebellion?

And now that Kaetar thought about it, why did Syrin want to go to Grann alone? What difference did it make that he went, rather than himself or Loiya? Even Nicholas with his optimistic personality could have done well there, but instead, he chose to go all by himself. It was also a desert country; if he collapsed in the desert, no one would know he was there. It was simply dangerous.

Misha suddenly stood up. "I'm going to try to find Ema. You are right, you know. If we're the only girls, then we do need to at least meet each other!" she shouted. "Loiya, it was a pleasure to battle with you!"

Loiya returned the sentiment as she left, leaving them alone once more. "You're thinking again," he mumbledas Kaetar curle dup on the deck.

"I was just wondering... why would Syrin go to Grann alone? Wouldn't it be dangerous to go there all by yourself?"

"Grann is the branded country, correct?" Loiya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, I believe so... that's what Ema said, anyway," Kaetar mumbled. "Maybe Syrin himself is a branded! Why else would anyone want to go there alone in order to recruit others? You can't send a laguz, because some of them are still stuck in old habits, and well, I guess beorc just don't understand."

"That makes a lot of sense, actually. If he is a branded, then it would make perfect sense for a branded to try and recruit other brandeds." Loiya clapped his hands together, then looked up into the sky. He squinted, as if he saw something abnormal, then shook his head.

"Did you see something?"

"I thought I saw a big bird, but I can't see it anymore. I wonder if I even saw it at all," Loiya answered. "A trick of the eye, perhaps?"

"How? You weren't staring at the sun or anything."

"I just don't see it anymore!" Loiya shouted.

"Calm down! Does it really matter rather you saw it or not? It's not like one bird will harm us."

"It might have friends!"

"We're nowhere near the bird territory!" Kaetar reasoned. He suddenly felt dizzy all over again from the rocking of the boat, and stomached twisted. Perhaps staying on the deck for small talk wasn't going to do him any good if he was still sensitive to the boat's rocking. He stood up, swaying on the spot, until Loiya firmly gripped his shoulders.

"Ready to go to bed?"

"Yeah. Maybe I'll feel it less below deck," Kaetar mumbled. Loiya didn't say anything, and instead guided the prince away from the deck.

Kaetar was woken by shouting. He opened his eyes and jumped out of the thin mattress that been his bed, and drew a thin blanket around his shoulders. It was a far cry from the lavish lifestyle he was used to in the past, but he becoming more and more accustomed to thin blankets and lumpy mattresses. Anything was better than sleeping on a rock, even if he had to sleep with a cat – a house cat, not a laguz – that had to fight back the mice infestation. The cat was adorable, he had to admit, and he even thought of getting one for himself to love and pamper.

The shouting came from above deck. Kaetar stayed on the stairs that led to the deck and flattened himself. He felt bad about eavesdropping, but how else would he learn? People weren't willing to tell him upfront and for no reason other than pride. That was how he saw it at least.

"I can't see why you can't put up with it like Darius can," Syrin's voice growled.

"Darius doesn't like your kind either!" Ema shouted.

"But he can grin and bare it! He's older and more tolerant, and that rarely happens. You're just whining for the sake of whining, and I'm sick of it," Syrin continued. "If you have any respect for yourself, then you'll stay quiet."

"You say that like you have the power to defeat me," Ema hissed. "Any laguz could beat a parentless!"

"You say that like strength is the only source of 'power'. I may not have much power anymore with the condition that my arm is in, but I have the next best thing; connections. King Skrimir would recognize me immediately, along with King Kurthnaga and King Tibarn. I even know Lethe and Ranulf, and judging by your tongue, I can only assume that Lethe was the one who trained you."

"...How?" Ema asked. She was no longer shouting. In fact, she almost sounded afraid. Eavesdropping only answered one question; Syrin was indeed, a branded, but the rest of their conversation raised more questions. How did Syrin come to know the royal laguz? They usually didn't have the time to speak with common folk; being on the throne usually did consume a lot of one's time. There was always something coming up, so how did Syrin manage to squeeze himself into their view? He didn't know who Lethe was, and Kaetar wasn't aware of what Ranulf's power exactly was, but he didn't dwell on it too much. He never heard very much about Ranulf, except that he was the laguz discovered in Toha and the fact that he was a cat laguz that everyone but Soren seemed to enjoy being around.

Kaetar just didn't get it, but he decided that he would go back to bed before he was discovered. Despite their shouting, they obviously hadn't meant for anyone else to listen. It was between Ema and Syrin, and that conversation was meant to diffuse any tension between them. Kaetar wasn't really aware that there was any tension – not until Syrin mentioned Grann, resulting in Ema's angry outburst.

The prince made himself comfortable in the bed, but he could not fall asleep. He could hear someone coming down the stairs, under the deck, but he closed his eyes, and pretended to be asleep. He could hear Syrin mumbling to himself under his breath. Ema came down not long after, and he could hear a door close silently and knew that Ema had left into a different part of the boat that she and Misha had decided was the women's room. No man, not even from the crew, dared to enter – mostly because no man wanted to get on a woman's bad side. Even Kaetar's father feared the wrath of his mother.

He kept silly thoughts like that in his head. There was no where else he could for now, not until he had enough light to write about it. He could use a candle, but that would risk waking the others up, and Syrin would definitely be suspicious – if he wasn't already.

I was slow to update because of school, and the fact that I prefer to write rather than to edit and upload. I'm considering the idea of a beta to take care of it for me because I'm quite tired of it.

And to think I still have to fix typos mentioned in the last review. I will get to it. *cough*