Darius had endurance. Somehow, Darius managed to stay in laguz form for a long time and he could fly for most the day, pausing for short lunch breaks. All in all, the raven made great time and Kaetar was positive that the boat wasn't far away. It was simply a question of how the raven managed it. He could remember Ema mentioning how exhausting it was for a laguz to stay in the laguz form; so how did the raven make it look so easy? He was doing something different from Ema.

As impressive as Darius was however, he couldn't keep going at his pace much longer and Kaetar was surprised that they haven't ran into any problems. He had yet have a vision in the air, which he was thankful for, nor was there any weather that slowed them down. The air was also devoid of any traffic. It was a smooth ride.

When Darius landed for one of his breaks, Kaetar decided to integrate him.

"Darius, much do you know about Syrin?"

Darius merely looked at him, then proceeded to take his heavy coat off and sit down under a shaded tree. He was clearly beginning to tire and all Kaetar could do was pass him some fruit from a tree. He knew it wasn't poisonous only because he saw the fruit before in Daein and if it killed the population then it wouldn't be sold. It was good fruit but they didn't seem quite ripe yet.

"About Syrin... well... what do you know of him already?"

"That he's a Branded."

Darius coughed, then hit his chest to alleviate it. "Uh! It went down the wrong way! Sorry, that surprised me."

"That I knew?"

"Yes, Ema and I can smell it on him but unless beorc see the mark... then they just don't know. Even if they see the mark, then Syrin could just be mistaken for a Spirit Charmer, especially since he can or at least could cast. How did you figure it out?"

"He wanted to go to Grann alone, so I figured that only a Branded would talk to other Brandeds to recruit them. Only a Branded would understand a Branded, I suppose, so if he goes alone, he could convince some of them to join laguz and beorc," Kaetar explained. He left out the part about eavesdropping – he figured it out before that incident. All the eavesdropping did was confirm one thing and raise many new questions that he was sure that not even Darius knew the answers to. The only people who would know would be Syrin himself and the laguz kings in question.

"Figured it out on logic alone, eh? I'm impressed, actually. Ever since you took up the bow, you've done nothing but surprise me. I didn't think I could be surprised after the war," the raven mumbled with a smile.

"Can you tell me about the war?"

"Not going to say much... it's kind of sensitive, especially if you were a raven. The other bird laguz didn't really trust us coming out of the Mad King's War. We helped a little in the battle against Ashnard and this was to hold as many Daeins off as possible while a select few went to deal with Ashnard. That's not much to win back trust and when the Laguz Alliance needed us the most..."

Kaetar could have guessed what happened. They either betrayed the other bird tribes, or they didn't show at all. They obviously did something very bad if Darius wasn't willing to finish it his story.

"It's alright, I can guess what happened. It wasn't something good," the prince mumbled. "You regret though, right?"

"We do. We just didn't have any choice in the matter. We're all unified though, so obvious we worked it out with the other bird tribes but that doesn't change that it ever happened in the first place. Anything in the past can be hard on laguz because we live for so long," Darius answered. The smile from before had yet to return to his face. It was definitely the serious Darius speaking now.

"And what made you decide to pursue this kind of life?"

"Fighting and following orders is the only thing that I know how to do that could actually earn me a living. I have the intentions of settling down but I don't feel like I have enough gold to retire and live comfortably outside of home. I want to live among beorc because they're so... interesting but that lifestyle needs gold. I hope this is the last mission and then I can feel what it is to actually live a peaceful life," Darius answered with a shrug. "Now, if you're done integrating me, I'd like to ask a couple of questions."

Kaetar swallowed hard. He had no problems asking questions but he didn't like answering them.

"What made you leave Daein? You are the only heir, correct? If you die, the throne would go to someone outside your immediate family if I understand beorc succession correctly."

"I... oh, where do I start?" Kaetar mumbled to himself. Instead, he decided to pull his necklace out – it was the first time he really showed anyone. Loiya didn't count because he saw it on his own; the prince had no intention of showing it to him at the time.

"I got this necklace when I was six but before I came here, it started giving me visions. No, vision is the wrong word for it. Somehow, someone's memories were transferred into this necklace and every so often I'd see one of those memories. It's just habit for me to call them visions. It makes it look like I fainted when I see one but that's not actually the case, you know? They belong to someone named Soren and when the memories started showing me imagines of Ike, Loiya suggested that I'd be better off researching in Crimea than in Daein.

"I caught up with Syrin because of you two... but I had no intention of setting out just to help out in the rebellion. I planned on travelling around Tellius until I was satisfied with the answers I got but as soon as I saw Syrin, I knew I couldn't leave him because he's the one who gave it to me in the first place. Now he's holding me hostage for the answers," Kaetar sighed. It felt good to explain it all. Aside from Loiya, he felt the closet to Darius.

"So that's why... I just thought you had a fainting problem. I never questioned it, I thought it was a sensitive topic," the raven muttered. "Can I see it?"

Kaetar leaned forward until Darius could cup the silver pendant in his hands. He seemed puzzled by it. "It looks expensive... the red gems look like they could be ruby but they aren't just on the silver, they're part of it. Someone worked hard to make his necklace and Soren worked harder to put memories inside of it. I wonder why that name sounds familiar..."

"Soren? He was Ike's tactician."

"It rings a bell," Darius mumbled. "My memories of the last war is a bit fuzzy... I don't even know how it ended. When I came to it was over! Everything I knew about the resolution came from Tibarn and Naesala."

"Did you pass out or something?"

"There was a bright light. I remember feeling very stiff and not knowing what happened when I was conscious again."

That was a strange story. What could possibly cause a gap in his memory when he seemed to be able to remember everything else without any problems? Perhaps Soren knew what happened but he just couldn't choose which vision he saw and he couldn't hear what Soren thought, just what came out his mouth. Everything that ran through that man's mind was lost on him.

Just like Syrin. If there was anything that he was hiding – and Kaetar was sure that there was plenty of that to go around – then he wasn't saying anything. And just how did the necklace get from Soren to Syrin? It sounded like Soren just gave it to him but Kaetar knew that the necklace was simply too precious to just give it away. If Soren was worried about history, then Soren should have given it out, not Syrin. Anyone who was interested in Ike in the slightest would want the necklace. It could go for a lot, assuming that the necklace would show the memories inside no matter who has it.

"Well, we should get going again," Darius mumbled, transforming instantly. He had to squat down in order for Kaetar to scramble on top and Kaetar had to wrap his arms around his neck during takeoff in order to stay on. He eased himself as Darius began soaring through the air.

A couple of hours later, the boat was in sight and Kaetar's stomach was in a knot. It was dark and it occurred to him that it would seem as though they would appear to be enemies out in the dark. If Loiya had the wrong idea, because his vision wasn't on the same level as Ema's, then it could be very bad very fast. Kaetar didn't even know if Darius could really even see the boat. When Kaetar pointed it out, Darius struggled to slow down to realign himself. He could have flown right over it!

There were two people on the deck. The prince couldn't really see their faces. Darius got closer to the boat and one of the two people stood up, something silver in their hand flashing in the dark. If Darius couldn't see who they were, he could guess very well. The silver was probably a lance and that narrowed it down to Misha or Loiya. However, Misha was bigger than Loiya was – she was taller and a little wider. That meant that Loiya was taking a stand against Darius.

He still didn't know who the other person was but they didn't react. Darius was just above the boat, so Kaetar decided to take action. Loiya could very easily throw the lance if it meant protecting the boat and there was a chance that the other person was Nicholas who could use magic. That was even easier than using the lance.

"Transform!" Kaetar muttered to the raven, then jumped off of his back before Darius could look back. He wasn't very high luckily and his luck didn't run out. Someone caught him. They stumbled around but they managed to keep their balance.

"Kaetar?" asked a familiar voice. Kaetar looked up and saw green eyes looking back at him in concern. It was Nicholas.

"Nicholas?"

Loiya joined them and so did Darius. There was an awkward silence between the four of them; no one knew where to begin. Kaetar figured that the others declared him dead, simply because no one could have anticipated that Darius would follow them instead of flying to Begnion like he said he would.

"Let's go inside and warm up, shall we?" Darius began, heading towards the closet source of light. Loiya pulled him away and directed him towards the sleeping quarters. It occurred to Kaetar that Darius had never been on the boat before and it was only natural for him to get lost. Nicholas carried him down.

All of the candles were lit. Though it was dark, the crew, Ema, and Misha were still up entertaining themselves with chatter. He had never figured that Ema was a social one but she seemed off balance and her words were slurred. Was she feeling well? Either way, neither of the girls seemed to have noticed that they were there. They managed to pass into the sleep quarters without anyone noticing, except for the one person in the sleep quarters. Syrin was sitting on his bed on the top bunk and didn't do anything but simply glare down at first. The prince could remember how Syrin insisted on getting a higher bed; he didn't want to risk being crushed by someone who was a lot heavier than he was. He didn't trust the beds.

Once in the light, however, Kaetar could see Loiya's face. Though he wasn't sobbing, his eyes were still red and there were tears running down his face. It was strange. Loiya never shed a tear from what Kaetar knew, even when he was exhausted from his duels with the Four Riders, even when he was beaten silly to make sure that he could take a hit, and even in the first couple of nights away from home. He bottled all of his emotions up and Kaetar could only worry about where it could lead. It would be another outburst? Even there in the light, he seemed to be fighting to keep back his sobs.

Nicholas let the prince down. He immediately ran for Loiya and embraced him, patting his bodyguard's back. "Loiya, it's fine. I'm alright," Kaetar muttered.

"I-I know… now, but I thought…. I thought that you were…"

"I'm not dead. I fell off, but do you remember when you saw that big bird? Darius was following us the entire time and he saw me when I fell. Somehow," Kaetar answered. The prince let go, and Loiya wiped the tears out of his eyes.

"You have to be careful next time, Kaetar. There's a lot riding on your safety," Loiya muttered.

"He's just really glad you're back," Nicholas mumbled with a smile.

"It took a lot of effort to ensure that he didn't jump after you," Syrin muttered, making Loiya hiss. He wasn't even looking at them anymore; there was something on his bed that he found more interesting instead.

"It was a moment of weakness, alright? I'm over it now!"

"That's all it takes… the smallest lapse invites death," Syrin answered, looking up from his bed for a moment. Kaetar stared at him. Syrin knew it off by heart. The question was; where did it come from? Who taught it to him? Why did Syrin have to be so secretive about everything? At least with Darius, you could squeeze it out of him.

Speaking of the raven, he was strangely quiet. The raven was laying down one of the beds, which Kaetar recognized to be Loiya's bed and actually fell asleep. He didn't even take his ribbon out his hair – it was still pulled up into a ponytail. He was truly tired but he did spend most of his time flying. Even when they did sleep, it was never for long and both of them were usually up to cover time after a couple of hours. Kaetar could sleep on top of Darius – that was luxury of being the rider – but the raven couldn't stop for a moment without making sure that his feet were on the ground. It was probably the first time he had real rest since they left Rykuu's home.

"Kaetar, what did happen after Darius saved you? That's not your shirt," Loiya mumbled, pointing at the prince's chest.

The prince sat down on what used to be his bed – perhaps it still was – and started his story. He made sure to go through everything, especially about Darius' broken wing and his arrow training. He even took the bow out, which he slung around his back and under his shirt the entire time. He wondered if Nicholas and Loiya had felt it but he quickly decided that there was no way that they didn't. It wasn't that he was trying to keep it a secret – they just didn't ask.

"Wait, you can actually use a bow?" Loiya asked, his face contorted in confusion.

"Kind of… I can make the arrow fly but my aim is a little off," Kaetar admitted. "I'm going to practice as soon as we get to Begnion, though! By the time Syrin comes back from Grann, I will be actually be useful! You are still going to Grann, right?"

"Yes," Syrin answered, keeping his eyes on his bed.

"How long should we wait?" Kaetar asked.

"I should be able to get there and back within two months, depending on how deep into Begnion we go. If I'm not back in Begnion in that time frame, then feel free to move on without me. Assume the worst if that occurs," Syrin muttered.

Two months? Could he really walk alone to Grann in two months? It was a desert country – it would take anyone a while to get through the sand. Why would Syrin be so confident? He was there at someone point in his life, but unless the sand stayed still, not even experience would help.

"Do you want me to come? I won't hinder your progress at all," Nicholas mumbled.

"It's been a long time since I've seen members of the Branded. I'm not sure what their feelings of beorc or laguz are right now but I'm not willing to take the chance right now. We live for a long time and most of us were not treated kindly. There is a reason why Brandeds have flocked together in a harsh environment and that is to get away from everyone else," Syrin muttered. Kaetar could understand how Syrin felt about going alone. He wouldn't want to walk to a desert and find that the journey was a wasted effort.

"You don't mind admitting that you're a Branded?" Loiya asked. He only knew because Kaetar discussed it with him!

"I knew how it could be interpreted when I said that I was going alone," Syrin fired back.

Kaetar couldn't help but to think back to the conversation that he overheard before he fell off the boat. Syrin was older than Ema but Kaetar didn't know how old she was in comparison to Darius. Who was older? It was also why Darius answered Kaetar's question about the Branded when they were in the carriage instead of Syrin, even though the leader was awake. He did admit that he was Branded but that didn't mean he was exactly comfortable with it. If anything, the confession was out of necessity; Syrin made it clear that he had to go to Grann alone and for the purpose of recruiting Brandeds.

"What do you know about Grann?" Kaetar asked, deciding to change the conversation.

"The Grann Desert was once apart of Begnion, which contains the ruins of an ancient race that predates beorc and laguz but after the second war, the desert gained independence from Begnion and called themselves Grann instead. It's a small country and its environment is harsh," Syrin muttered.

"And who do you plan on asking for help?"

"You will see if they come back with me," Syrin muttered.

It didn't take long for everyone to notice that Darius was uncomfortable on the boat. When the crew celebrated Kaetar's return – it was just another excuse for Ema, Misha, and the crew to drink again – Darius stayed on top of the sails, where no one would dare reach him when they have more than their fill on rum. Whenever given the chance, the raven always opted to stay alone and Kaetar couldn't figure it out.

The crew didn't seem to mind him. It was easy for Darius to go up and adjust the sails as needed and the crew didn't mind that they didn't have to climb up the masts anymore. They could instead concentrate on the maintenance of the other parts of the ship. Darius didn't really talk to the crew, however, despite his usual chatty character. The silence was simply strange for him. Nicholas filled in the silence and became chattier than normal and certainly made up for Darius' silence, but that didn't explain why the raven wouldn't speak.

"Darius!" Kaetar called one day, when he was on the deck and Darius was on his perch on the mast. Either he didn't hear, or he chose to ignore him. "DARIUS!" Kaetar called again, shouting louder the second time.

Darius came down the second time. "What's up?"

"Are you sure you should be asking me? What the heck is up with you? I've never seen you so quiet before, expect for when you were chasing the boat!" Kaetar muttered. He didn't usually see himself to be so demanding but when something was bothering him, something was bothering him, and he wouldn't let it go until he got to the bottom of it.

Darius bit his lips.

"Darius," Kaetar mumbled. "Talk to me. We share something special, don't we? At least, you special to me. Something is bothering you and if you don't talk then-" he cut himself off. He heard another voice and it wasn't his voice, or Darius' voice.

"Look at you! You're a mess! Come on. Talk to me."

He wasn't on the boat anymore. Instead, he was with Ike, in a secluded portion of what seemed to be the outskirts of a campsite.

"Ike... I... I..." Soren began, but he couldn't seem to bring himself to finish. Kaetar never heard such fear in his voice and he never heard Soren hesitate to speak. He was a tactician for goodness sake! A tactician couldn't afford to be hesitant about decisions!

"Soren, it's me! Trust me!"

The vision faded, and Kaetar was back on deck with Darius. He was surprised to find that he was still standing but he calmed himself when he realized that it was only because Darius was holding up. If he had been alone, he would have been on the floor. It didn't matter how long the vision was, the affect was all the same; on the ground, or if he was inside, he was on the floor,

and not feeling his best.

"Was that a -"

"A vision. Don't worry, it happens like that all the time. I'm fine! But what about you?" Kaetar asked, pulling Darius' hands off him.

"I'm just not comfortable on a boat," Darius answered.

"Yes, I see that. I think we've all seen that."

"Yeah... do you know what the bird tribes were known as?"

"No?"

"Boatless pirates. Ravens stole from everyone and the hawks only stole from Begnion. I just feel obligated to take something and it bothers me greatly," the raven answered. "I don't want to be just another pirate. I haven't taken anything but I stay on the masts so that I can't. Why do you think I wanted to fly to Begnion?"

"Then leave if you're uncomfortable. Sure, it helps the crew that you're here but there is only so many things that the crew can do around the boat before they get bored anyway. They've been climbing up to adjust their sails for years – they can do it again," Kaetar answered with a shrug. If Darius didn't want to be on the boat, then why should he stay? There was no reason for anyone to stay in a position that they were uncomfortable with.

Darius smirked. "You're sounding like a prince, you know. You tell the people what they want to hear."

"I mean it, though! I'd rather not see you again until Begnion than see you moping around like this. Same thing with Ema – not that she's depressed but it's really weird when she's drunk," Kaetar mumbled with a shrug. He would never figure that the cat would drink, but ever since he came back to the boat, she drank nearly every night with the crew. Perhaps she was just drinking her worries away and was too hungover to ever talk to the prince. He never approached her because he was too frightened to go near the girls' sleeping quarters and that's where she spent most of her days.

Just to think that he promised Arianna to marry her early! Was he really still scared of girls? Maybe it was just Ema; he did kiss Arianna back at her mansion.

"That's true. I thought she was too proud of a laguz to drink beorc drinks," Darius muttered. If nothing else, light conversation did seem to distract him from his worries. "I'm not that proud of a laguz, though. I bet I could out drink her!"

"No! Don't do that! One drunk laguz is good enough!"

"I was joking! Besides, I drink wine, not rum. It's more... sophisticated," Darius smirked. Kaetar grimaced. He had wine before but he only ever drank a little bit in accordance to what his father said. It was supposed to help his image but he could never drink more than a cup full.

"That's what my dad serves when he invites Daein nobles to the castle for a party. I think it tastes awful," Kaetar muttered. Darius raised an eyebrow.

"You've-" Darius was suddenly interrupted by Loiya.

"Kaetar!"

"Well, I'll see you later. I'll let you know if I decided to fly ahead," Darius muttered, flying back up to his perch. Loiya watched him for a couple of minutes.

"Hey, did you actually talk to him?"

Kaetar nodded. "What did you need to talk to me about?"

"It's the girls. I think they're finally willing to get out of bed and talk for once" Loiya muttered. He sounded like he was uncomfortable with that idea and he was more alert than normal. The girls were probably not on their best behaviour if he had to feel defensive near them.

Loiya was similar to him; between both of them, there was barely any experience with women, aside from the castle maids but they didn't speak to the castle residents very often. Kaetar was never very interested because he was already taken but if Loiya ever felt anything, he never showed it. The prince couldn't imagine his bodyguard settling down with Misha or Ema. For one, Misha was older and in many ways, a lot larger, but Loiya outclassed her and that had to be awkward. Then there was Ema. The two of them got along but Kaetar couldn't see their relationship going past being friends. Both of them were serious when it came to their jobs and Ema still seemed cautious about beorc.

Suddenly, Kaetar didn't have much hope for Loiya and love.

"I've been here like about a week, haven't I?"

"What did you expect out of drunks? They might be girls but alcohol doesn't care about that. It does the same thing for whoever is stupid enough to drink it," Loiya growled.

"Let's go," Kaetar muttered as he went below deck to find the girls. They were in the male sleeping quarters, sitting on the extra beds. Neither of the them looked too good – they were pale, had dark circles under their eyes and they just miserable. Ema had her hair down, something that Kaetar had never seen before, and Misha also had her hair down but she warped herself in a blanket.

Kaetar repeated his story about Darius, Rykuu, and the redhead named Soren. For girls with a hangover, they listened quite well and they at least looked interested. When he was done, he decided to call it a day and went for a nap, leaving the girls to their thoughts. Before he went to bed, Ema leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "I'm glad you're back" before trotting off.

The prince was surprised. He didn't really expect her to say something like. He didn't dwell on for long, and before he knew it, he was asleep.

I've been really unhappy with the chapters that I've been trying to write. I ended up deleting about three or so chapters because I was unhappy and I only have one more chapter in advance. Even though it's someone, I'm kind of stuck in a writing rut.

As always, review if you read. Even I don't respond, I do always read and try to make changes that you suggest, even something as small as typos.