"Blood loss is so annoying," Loiya mumbled, turning to his side. He spent the entire day in the tent and only woke up because he was hungry. Nicholas, the third tent mate was the one to go get him some food. The bodyguard barely stayed up long enough to eat before getting comfortable in his bedroll again. "I feel bad for sleeping all day but I'm so tired."

"We're staying for a couple of days, so just sleep. We're not doing much anyway," Kaetar mumbled.

"Am I the reason why we're stalling?"

That question surprised Kaetar. Did Loiya start thinking of himself as a burden? Was it because he was too fatigued to do anything?

"No, we all need some rest," Nicholas muttered. Loiya seemed content with that answer and rolled to his side. He was asleep again almost instantly. The mage turned to Kaetar. "You can go outside and relax. I'll stay here with him."

Kaetar nodded and left the tent. Unlike Loiya, Arum was outside. He was talking quietly with Elli until Stefan stepped forward.

"Zeke told me of your accomplishments," he began. Arum glared at him.

"Accomplishments?"

Kaetar was confused too. Sure, Arum performed well and that one attack was performed with incredible speed but there wasn't anything that Arum did that no one else did. Or perhaps it was that attack. Stefan smirked.

"It's not easy to be as advanced with the sword as you are. I can tell by looking at you that you're not a plain myrmidon," he mumbled, extending a hand. "How about you show me what you know?"

Arum hesitated. He didn't seem to trust Stefan, though he rarely seemed to trust anyone anyway. He looked down at the hand.

"He's injured," Elli stated. "You won't go to hard on him, will you?"

"No. I promise I won't hit you back – my only intention is to improve on what you have learned anyway. If I need a volunteer, I'll just ask Kaetar."

Arum grabbed his hand. Stefan helped him up and presented him with a stick. The trueblade balanced it in his hand before clasping his other hand around it as well, using both of his hands like it was his own heavy blade. Stefan drew his own stick.

"Whenever you're ready."

The other man took a deep breath and rushed at Stefan. He blocked the initial hit, leaving Arum to follow through with another swing which was again blocked. Arum tried again but his stick only managed to hit Stefan's. Arum was definitely strong but Stefan was faster and had a good century of experience on him, so it didn't seem difficult for Stefan to read Arum's movements. Arum growled and stepped back.

"Self-taught," Stefan muttered.

"Something wrong with that?" Arum muttered coldly, rushing back towards Stefan, though he switched to using one hand. When the older man blocked him yet again, Arum spun around and lashed out again. Stefan jumped back.

"Nothing at all. I'm just surprised is all. You have a good foundation – usually an art like this is passed on between master and pupil, yet you wield your blade with confidence and brute strength," he rambled, his voice barely audible over the clunks of the colliding sticks. Elli and Kaetar watched in silence. Even Rylar and Duma came to watch. Though they knew Stefan longer than most of the camp, even they seemed to be a little surprised that Stefan could block and dodge so well. It was wonder that he didn't fight at all – he was really good and he didn't even have to attack.

"How long have they been at it?" Duma asked as Rylar settled his head on his father's arm.

"Not too long," Kaetar mumbled. "Arum looks tired though."

"It's that wound. Usually this wouldn't exhaust him at all but since he lost so much blood..." Elli started with a sigh, "a warmup like this takes a large toll on him."

"Damn it," Arum mumbled.

"Show me what you did yesterday."

Arum smirked slightly, then with renewed energy, bounced on Stefan with another burst of speed. Stefan blocked once but Arum was fast enough to hit his side and jumped up for another strike, his stick following him the entire time. He landed on the ground with a wobble and went down on his knees. He didn't seem to have any more energy left.

"You asked at the wrong time," Arum panted. Elli ran to his side with a canteen in her hands. She quickly offered it to Arum, who discarded his stick in favour of some water.

"My apologies – I didn't know when we would find some down time again," Stefan shrugged. "That move is incomplete – though all I think you need is another demonstration."

Arum wiped the water from his lips with the back of his hand. "I only saw it once from a Begnion trueblade and tried to copy it. No one taught me anything so I did what seemed right and what my instincts told me was right."

"Impressive," Stefan mumbled. He turned to Kaetar with stick in hand. "Ready, Kaetar?" Without waiting for an answer, he sped towards the prince and hit him with the stick several times over. Kaetar didn't see what exactly was being done to him, only that it hurt a lot. He knew that Stefan was holding back but he was still hitting someone with a stick nonetheless. He couldn't make that painless.

"That hurt!" the prince shouted. He slowly sank to his knees and hugged his arms to his chest. That's where most of the pain came from, despite the fact that he was sore everywhere. That was no way to treat someone you were eventually expecting favours from! He would let Stefan know about that later.

"Did you see that or should I do it again?" Stefan smirked.

Arum chuckled. Maybe he thought that the prince's pain was a little funny like Stefan did. "I'm good. I'm going to go back to the tent," he answered, getting up slowly. Stefan turned to Kaetar.

"How badly does it hurt?"

"I'm starting to feel better... but what was that?"

"Over the years, people began calling it Astra," Stefan answered. It felt like like something Kaetar should have known. There had to be people in the Daein army who could do that! Then again, he didn't really watch anyone but Loiya train and even that didn't happen very often. Was it something he really needed to know?

"Is that something that only trueblades can learn?"

"Only someone with such experience and weapon can learn that sort of skill, yes. Every lass has their own special skill. It's a testament to Arum's abilities that he could do even part of it simply by watching someone else do it, then take that and adapt it to a two-handed style."

Kaetar didn't see the move thanks to the fact that the demonstration was done on him, but Stefan really did make it sound impressive. He had to ask Loiya to accompany him to the training grounds more often – to watch the best of his father's soldiers train and to train himself. He didn't plan on using the bow just for the duration of the rebellion. He didn't want to have to rely on Loiya for the rest his life.

"Just don't do it on me again. You're the one who wanted something from me, remember?" the prince muttered with a smirk.

"Kaetar! Look at what I found!" Rylar shouted, holding up what looked like a crossbow. It was late in the afternoon when the branded shouted at him. He was practicing with his bow, using discarded arrows from the fight.

"Where did you get that?"

"The Crimeans grabbed their dead but they were in a rush apparently and didn't really bother collecting the weapons they dropped. It's still covered in blood, see?" Rylar turned the crossbow on it's side, showing the dried brown dots that plastered the crossbow. Kaetar didn't really care to see it.

"Do you know how to use it?"

"'Course I do," Rylar muttered, sounded somewhat offended. He placed the front on the ground, leaned over and drew the string up until it seemed to lock into place. He loaded an arrow, squeezed the bottom and the arrow flew away. He heard a disgruntled shout. "Serves the raven right!"

"What did you do?"

"Just scaring him. It's a lot of fun," the feline branded chuckled.

Kaetar didn't find it so funny. To him, Darius was a good friend and if it wasn't for those black wings of his, the prince would have washed up on shore dead – assuming he washed up at all.

"Wait, so how is that any easier than firing a bow?" Kaetar asked suddenly, changing the subject. He practiced enough with the bow that it just seemed easier to use that instead of needed to deal with the crossbow. What was the value in it?

"It's not really!" Rylar laughed. "It's kind of stupid, actually. You could probably fire even faster with the bow if you're well trained with the it If you have to use a crossbow, it means you're not good enough to use a real bow. You don't really need any skill to use it. It's only good in a pinch and that's if someone is just about to take your head. Just didn't think you saw one before so I decided to elaborate." The other archer smirked as he practically tossed the bow to the ground.

"I haven't really seen one before... just the more traditional weapons."

"I think my dad could use it eventually. He just has that axe." Rylar flipped the crossbow with his foot. It was obvious that in the end, he really didn't care much for it. Though it didn't look nearly as useless as Rylar seemed to think it was, Kaetar went through enough effort to make himself somewhat efficient with the bow. He wasn't going to lose that. Rylar decided to pick the crossbow off of the ground and without another word, threw it over his shoulder and retreated to tent he shared with his father.

"Who does that kid think he is anyhow?" Darius growled, making his way to Kaetar once the other boy disappeared.

"I dunno. I get the feeling that he doesn't really care about any of this," he sighed.

"Nah. He only came along because his father made him. I don't really know why Duma joined though. Are you doing anything?"

"Not really," the prince answered, questioning why Darius really wanted to know.

"Rykuu and Soren haven't left yet, so I think they might be sticking around. We haven't seen them for a while so I thought we should go visit!" the Darius muttered. "I would bring Nicholas too but I think that might be too much excitement for Soren."

"Right now, anyway. I think Nicholas might get him to talk, at least to tell him to shut up," Kaetar laughed. Darius led the prince to a tent that was different than the others – it seemed that the entire time, Rykuu and Soren seemed to have their own tent that they brought along with them. He first noticed the blond tiger opening the flap to let them in. He looked the same but that was hardly a surprise.

Soren turned his head to look at them, but he didn't say anything. His green eyes glared at them for a brief moment, then he looked away. He didn't seem upset in the very least.

"Darius, Kaetar, it is good to see you two again," Rykuu started.

"Same to you!" Darius responded cheerfully. "Though I didn't expect that we would meet like this."

"Neither did I. However, Soren wanted to avenge his parents and I felt that it was my duty to help him," the tiger explained. Soren shrugged. The boy was still as quiet as ever, even around Kaetar and Darius. "This rebellion – these are the friends that you spoke of, correct?"

"Yeah. We did find them again," Kaetar answered. "Have you talked to anyone yet, Rykuu?"

"Not much. I spoke with Ema but Soren is not interested in speaking with others. That is not unusual but I do wish he was would communicate a little more," Rykuu said with a sigher, glancing down at his younger friend.

Soren shot him a glare.

"You don't have to speak with them but you should do your little gesture things!" Darius grinned, raising his hands. "It's something right?"

The red-headed arch jerked his head to the side and folded his arms in front of his chest kind of like Nasir. He looked like he was pondering – perhaps he was considering?

"You're helping right?" Kaetar asked.

Soren nodded.

"Soren still wants revenge for what happened to his parents. I feel that if Ike is no longer a god here then he may speak again."

That made sense. If the rebellion could get down to it and find out why it all happened in the first place, then it would be safe for Soren to voice his opinion. Until that happened though, it seemed like only Kaetar and Darius would hear his voice.

"We're all here to make sure that Ike's dethroned or whatever that is for gods," Darius muttered. "There are a lot of people here and all of them have a different reason for being here but so long as they travel with us then we have the same purpose. Don't be afraid to speak to them. No one will hurt you for it."

"He just need time to get comfortable. That's what happened with us," Kaetar answered.

"I'm just making sure he knows that he can talk to the others. I don't think even Syrin could come up with a horribly mean response."

"I'll consider it," Soren mumbled quietly.

"That's all you need to do for now. In the very least, you can talk to me." Kaetar grinned, then took another breath. "I have to thank you too. The fact that you introduced me to the bow lets me do for the rebellion than I did before."

"Apparently falling out of a boat in the middle of a storm was a good thing," the raven laughed.

"Don't you have bad vision in the dark? What were you doing flying in a storm anyway?" Kaetar remembered Darius saying something about the fact that he was worried about them, but it seemed risky for him to be flying in the middle of a storm. Maybe he got caught up and couldn't get out, but Darius got him out of the water didn't he? He was certainly a strange raven.

"I'm not suddenly blind when the sun goes down!"

Rykuu chuckled. Soren looked slightly alarmed but then moved his head to the side slightly, like he was trying to get a better look at the tiger's face. Darius glared at him and the tiger didn't seemed fazed. "I feel sorry for you. I would not know what to do if the darkness limited my sight."

The raven folded his arms in front of his chest. "Yeah? Lucky you. You have good eyesight no matter what time of the day it is, huh?"

"At least you can fly. That's more than most of us can say," Kaetar chimed. He looked up at Darius until his face started to blur. Another vision. He leaned his head against Darius' shoulder, surprising the raven.

It was cold. Kaetar didn't really recognize the mountains but the snow on the ground and on the mountains felt like Daein. He didn't know the place but he felt it and he knew it was Daein. Soren didn't really seem to care for it. Instead, he was busy with a raven. He flung a red tome open and cast the spell and hit the raven. For a moment, it was engulfed in flames before those flames died down and vanished. Had it been a natural fire, it probably wouldn't have disappeared as it did. The raven shrieked and fell, transforming before hitting the snow. It took a moment for the raven to stand up, the right wing twitching. It was male but that's not what surprised Kaetar.

He looked different – his trademark jacket was replaced with a short-sleeved purple tunic, his hair was only shoulder length, and his face rounder – but Soren was staring into Darius' face.

Darius! He was younger, certainly younger and he seemed conflicted – both angry and desperate. He was in a battlefield and injured and probably not able to transform. If that was the case, then he was doomed. That was it.

"Listen to me, darkwings! We of Kilvas are leaving. Turn at once and head for home," a voice shouted. Darius lifted his head but cringed when he tried to flap his wings. Soren hit him good.

"Soren," Ike mumbled.

"What is it?" Soren asked sincerely, looking in his commander's direction as he approached him.

"Why don't you heal him? You said you didn't know how to use the heal staff very well, right?"

"I'm not being healed by a human," Darius gasped.

"Look around. Do you see your fellow laguz looking for you? If you're not healed now, you're going to die here. We went through the entire battle without any of you guys dying and I'm not going to let you be the first!" Ike shouted, his voice surprising stern.

Soren bent down and picked up a heal staff. He must have dropped it when he decided to attack Darius – or perhaps Darius attacked first. Without the raven's permission, he chanted again and waved the staff. Darius stared down at himself and flapped his wings once, flicking the snow off.

"Why?"

"Because I need the practice. Nothing more."

"Wake up," Soren muttered, shaking Kaetar's shoulder.

"Don't shake him! He'll come around on his own," Darius said.

Kaetar opened his eyes. His head was resting on Darius' leg and the raven's wing seemed to be wrapped around him. Soren moved back when their eyes met and he immediately fell silent again.

"Does that happen often?" Rykuu asked, his face full of concern.

"Somewhat," Kaetar answered when he sat himself up. "They come and go but you shouldn't worry about it. Anyway, I'm going to find something to eat."

The prince got up and left. While he actually was hungry, it was difficult to find food outside of the time that everyone else ate. The constant travelling made it difficult to store food. Syrin was always setting food aside and no one argued because they knew he was drying it up to use it for later. At least Ema actually seemed to enjoy hunting. She didn't go because she was forced but rather, she volunteered every time. She always found some sort of animal and some fruit that she knew was safe to eat. She really knew how to live outside and Kaetar was thankful because he really didn't know how to live outdoors.

Kaetar supposed it had to be the fact that she just grew up with it, though the laguz always did seem close to nature. Darius seemed to be the exception – though he loved his wings, he did seem to act more like a beorc. Kaetar always knew that at some point, ravens were hired to fight with Daein until they simply left during one battle. Kaetar saw it and Darius was one of those ravens. He just had to ask him about it.

And it seemed like he got his chance. Darius followed him out and accompanied him to find food. The two of them found nothing of interest but they didn't mind.

"So what did you see anyway? You seem kind of... off," the raven mumbled. They were alone, hungry, but alone.

"I saw you."

"Huh?"

"You met Soren – the tactician one – at some point. What I saw was a lot of snow," Kaetar began, watching for the reactions in the raven's face. His eyebrows were scrunched together in thought. "I think you were part of the Kilvas army. Soren hit you with some sort of spell, maybe Elfire, and it knocked you of the air and out of your laguz form."

"My memories are kind of fuzzy – I was young and rather stupid," Darius mumbled, scratching his chin.

"You have to remember something! You can't forget about fighting with the Daeins or against Ike and his mercenaries! Ike even spared you! That's just too great of a thing to miss!"

"I didn't say I forgot. Like I said, I was young and stupid so I prefer not to remember the two wars... I do remember Daein being a stupidly cold place in the winter."

"I haven't noticed it being 'stupidly' cold."

"You live there! You don't know how mild the other countries can have it! But just gimme me a moment," Darius sighed, then gasped. "Did he heal me after he attacked me?"

Kaetar grinned. "He did! You remember now? Doesn't Syrin look familiar?"

"I always figured Syrin was someone more important than he makes himself out to be. He acts like he knows more than everyone else. It makes sense," the raven muttered. "Wait, you saw my short hair!"

"It didn't look bad," Kaetar mumbled with a shrugged.

"It did. I hated my hair short, especially since it was still kind of wavy and it just looked bad," Darius answered, shaking his head. It really didn't look that bad but it seemed like Darius was more critical of his own appearance. He looked a lot different – it was a miracle that the prince recognized him in the vision at all. The jacket was practically his own skin and Darius' hair was probably five times longer if not more. Maybe changing his appearance was a way for him to move on from his life in the wars. He made himself a new image for a new life. It wasn't a bad idea.

"So it was hard to be in two wars," Kaetar mumbled. "Then why join this?"

"Because I'm still dreaming – nice home, little hatchlings... all in a beorc country. It's not free. But it's so close I can taste it. I just need a place to call home."

Wasn't a home only one of his goals? What happened to wanting children? Perhaps he already had a girl waiting for him. That girl, whoever she was must really love him if she went so long without contact. It wasn't like she was obligated to wait for him.

"You're already thinking," Darius laughed. "I do have a girlfriend. Another raven in Crimea. I took some time to go see her and try to talk to her about going to Daein instead but she said there was danger to matter where she went. I don't think she left. She can be so stubborn."

"I had no idea you had a girlfriend until today. I knew you wanted to settle but I didn't know you already had a special girl," Kaetar mumbled, thinking back to Darius' conversation with Ema on the ship. He said all that knowing he had a special girl waiting for him. Maybe he spoke to her when he suddenly disappeared after arriving at Duke Tyre's mansion. That would give him enough time.

"I haven't really told anyone – I don't think even Chifee knows and that kid is kind of like my own son. I don't even know why I'm telling you."

"Because we both have a special lady? The situations are different since Arianna and I are part of an arranged marriage but isn't still similar?"

"What is it between you and Arianna anyway? Do you love her?"

It was a hard question. He didn't really know. What did love feel like? How does someone know that they're in love?

"I want to love her but I've only really known her for a week. I've only heard of her and her father before actually going to the mansion. I don't know how I feel about her yet," Kaetar answered sadly.

"It's forced loved that you're hoping to turn into true love. It's not even close to impossible. You don't think your father would set you with someone who wasn't very compatible with you, do you?"

"But I was like ten when he set that up. He didn't really how I would grow up to be," Kaetar sighed.

"He knows you better than you know," Nicholas said suddenly as he made his way over to them. "Arianna is a sweet girl and actually knows a lot of Crimean history. It's not like you two have nothing in common."

"It's rude to cut into conversation, Nicholas," Darius mumbled with a smirk. Kaetar didn't mind and Darius didn't seem to care all that much either.

"But it's been so long since I had a deep conversation with you guys! Loiya's no fun when he's recovering."

"He needs his rest," Darius muttered.

"Not just because he lost a lot of blood though. I think he's catching up on months of sleep that he missed. You don't see Arum in bed all day," the mage sighed. "But Kaetar, just give it time. You don't need to produce an heir as soon you two get married. Love can take time and you'll have time."

"Thanks," Kaetar said. He was in a good group. There was a variety of people from a variety of backgrounds and experiences and he was learning from them all.

Kaetar woke up late. It was around noon and Ema, Darius and Chifee were gone. They usually left for lunchtime hunting, especially since the birds were more useful in the light. He found Duma and Rylar first. The archer was leaning back against a tree with his legs crossed with an arrow in his hands.

"I still can't believe you're a prince," Rylar said when Kaetar sat down beside him.

"Rylar, you haven't met any princes," his father answered curtly.

"I know but he doesn't look like a prince I would imagine. You can't tell him apart from simple, hard-working people. I bet his hands are all calloused too from the bow," Rylar smirked. "Don't get all offended, dad. I'm just saying."

"It's rude to say things like that."

"I don't really mind. I don't want to look like a prince right now, it just makes me a bigger target," Kaetar answered, curiously looking at his hands. Rylar was right. His hands weren't smooth anymore like they were when he left Daein for the first time. It was particularly bad around his fingers and he was surprised that they weren't blistered at all from the bowstring.

"Using weapons can take a toll on your hands," Duma mumbled, inviting Kaetar to sit next to him. When Kaetar did, Duma showed him his own hands. The palm of his hands were bumpy as well where he grasped his axe. "Rough hands can be a sign of hard work. It's not a bad thing."

"My hands were smooth before this," Kaetar said, looking at his hands again.

"Of course they would be! If you're a prince, then you didn't have to do anything yourself, right? You had other people to do the work for you!" Rylar bit his lips. He seemed a little bitter and that was putting it rather nicely.

"They got paid a reasonable amount," Kaetar mumbled. It was true though. He didn't have to cook, clean, or do any sort of chores. He usually got his own things when he needed them but that was hardly anything compared to what the servants did. At least they did get payed for it and his father wasn't cheap about it. Many of the servants were the same position as Loiya where they acted as the sole income for their families.

Rylar was about to open his mouth but another voice beat hi to it. Chifee was in the air, his wings flapping urgently. "SYRIN!"

Syrin poked his head of his tent, then made his way out and met the hawk on the ground. "What is it?"

"Ema and Darius are coming back with a guy and a dragon! I was sent ahead to tell you!"

"A wyvern rider," he mumbled. Kaetar saw the wyvern first, being led by Ema by a rope around the poor thing's snout. It was a large wyvern and grey in colour. He seemed well-tempered though and simply let Ema guide him towards Syrin. Darius arrived with the rider.

"I'm not a threat, you know! I can be a pretty nice guy," he said with a shrug. He had dark green hair, his eyes a lighter shade of green and had clothes that saw better days. Kaetar could tell that he wasn't well-enough financially just by the clothes he wore and his beaten up armour... if you could call it such. He could definitely stand to have them replaced. Syrin bit his lips.

"We can't take any chances," Ema responded with a hiss.

Kaetar ran to the wyvern. It reminded him of Daein and he was happy for such a reminder. "But he seems nice!" the prince muttered as he ran his fingers over the wyvern's scales. The wyvern made no move to bit him or shrug him off.

"Kaetar, you shouldn't touch wyverns that you don't know," Syrin stated, his voice stern.

"He has to be trained, he's not wild. I can tell just by looking at him. He won't bite. Or maybe it's a girl wyvern? It's hard to tell just by looking from this angle." Kaetar eagerly patted his hand against the grey beast again, as if to show Syrin that he knew what he was talking about.

"That's Makken! Don't worry about him, he's practically a teddy bear," the rider answered with a grin. "Unless you happen to be a cow or something. He really likes cows. I wouldn't like to be a cow around him."

"Back off you two. Go back into the forest and hunt. I'll deal with the wyvern rider," Syrin muttered, glaring at the new arrival. He shrugged.

"I wasn't trying to hurt anyone. Makken and I needed some food and happened to run into your buddies there," he explained with a shrug. "I don't know what's going on."

"Have you heard about how Ike is to be worshipped as a god in Crimea?" Kaetar asked. The other male nodded. The prince was sure that anyone who just happened to move through Crimea would know.

"We're the force moving to abolish such a ridiculous claim and set history straight again. That's most likely why you were dragged here. Ema and Darius would be suspicious, but if they didn't harm you then it means they thought that you would useful," Syrin began, his eyes scanning the rider. "Well? Can you do anything or do we have to do something about you?"

"I'm pretty good with an axe and Makken and I make a good pair but we can't just drop everything for this. We don't really have a lot of gold and Makken... kind of eats a lot," the rider answered with a shrug.

"We don't have a lot of gold on hand either," Syrin replied, glancing at Kaetar. "However, most of our food comes from hunting and scavenging. I can simply instruct our hunters to bring back another deer for your wyvern."

"Hey, as long you have food for Makken and I then we're good. I'm used to sleeping outside with Makken so room won't be a problem.

"What if it rains?" Kaetar asked. Sure, the tents weren't completely waterproof, but sleeping outside in the rain could make someone ill.

"He has wings," he chuckled, patting his precious wyvern on the side. Makken turned his head towards him and his rider instead took to petting his head. Then he gasped, as he remembered something. "Oh! I guess I should introduce myself! I'm Mike and you've already met Makken here."

"I'm Syrin. This is Kaetar," he mumbled, gesturing towards Kaetar. Mike bit his lips.

"That name seems kind of familiar... are you from Daein?"

"Nevassa," Kaetar answered.

"Talrega, but I travel a lot."

That explained a lot. It also made Kaetar more confident in Mike's potential – it was like Talrega was intentionally breeding wyvern riders. Not only was there a great unit in the time of Ashnard and his father, but the unit under his father seemed to be mainly from Talrega. Kaetar only knew because he heard his father and one his riders talk about it.

"Talrega..." Syrin repeated quietly to himself.

"I still can't figure out where I heard your name from. It's on the tip of my tongue."

Syrin shook his head. "He's your prince."

Mike laughed. "Oh that's why! I was in Daein about two months ago and there were soldiers every where looking for you. So this is where you've been, huh?"

"Yeah," Kaetar muttered, patting the wyvern on the side yet agian. Being around Makken and even his father's wyvern, Revvi, made him want his own wyvern to ride around on – which wasn't impossible. He was a prince of a country that was proud of its wyverns and Kaetar didn't see his father say no to such a request. He was certainly old enough to care for one or had people to care for one.

"Is that a wyvern?"

Kaetar turned around and found Aletta. She seemed cautious, like Makken frightened her. She must have never seen one before, which could account for her reaction towards him. They are big and can be intimating, even if they weren't Goldoans. On the other hand, Kaetar saw wyverns all the time and that was probably why he was so quick to touch Makken without knowing him at all.

"Yup! That's Makken! Don't worry, he's a good fella," Mike muttered.

"If that's the case... then may I have a ride? I've always wanted to know what flying in the air is like."

Kaetar turned his attention towards the female branded. "Sure! Get on!"

Mike didn't seem to need much of a reason to fly. He helped Aletta onto the saddle and then jumped on himself. He had Makken's reigns in his hands and kept his arms wrapped around Aletta to keep her secured. Without warning, the wyvern was suddenly airborne and rushing towards the sky.

"They'll be fine, right?" Kaetar asked.

"If Mike went this long without being shot down, I don't think he'll be shot down any time soon. I have a feeling he'll be around whether we want him to or not," Syrin growled. "He's an expert with that wyvern though. Don't worry about him."

"When are we leaving?"

"Tomorrow. I'll personally drag Loiya around if I have to."

"He'll be better," Kaetar answered, laughing at the mental image of Syrin dragging Loiya by one foot and not getting anywhere. Considering the fact that he only had one useful arm and Loiya was heavier than he made himself out to be, it was a threat that couldn't be taken seriously at all. Syrin glared at him and Kaetar stopped.

About Soren and Syrin - yes, it is a little confusing and I'm sorry. If Soren is written in normal text, it's the redheaded archer. If Soren is written in italics like in the visions, it's Syrin. That's something I will be sticking to for the most part. One chapter so dar as an exception and I ill make sure it's clear which Soren it is when I get there.

At this rate, I only have a couple more characters to introduce into the rebellion, as my ideas my becoming pretty solidified. I know what I want to happen but it's more of getting there that I have a problem with it. But it will get there and I will finish it!

Also, at this point: Peter, Mike & Makken, Arkit, Arum, Elli, and Zeke are not mine. I think. I think I missed someone.