A/N: I got random and wrote this chapter. For some reason, whenever I get tired, I keep on writing weird chapters. This is one of those weird chapters, so excuse the weirdness in this one. Thank you to Every thorn has its Rose and stiffkittens101 for the reviews. I am very proud to get the right reactions from last chapter. Oh, I kind of made an oopsie (or maybe even more if I included grammar). Lina is supposed to be twenty-seven. I don't know where I got twenty-five from, but I will change her age in the last chapter. Actually Every thorn has its Rose, I am not too sure about the pairings (other than Shilo and Graverobber). Luigi and Lina have similar personalities while Pavi likes beautiful women, which Mia is. But then again, Luigi and Lina might kill each other while Pavi might steal Mia's face. Ugh, I'm at odds with the pairings. Thank you stiffkittens101 for answering my question, it really did help. I am actually bad at writing those sorts of scenes. Other than that, on with the story!

Chapter Seven

Shilo. Poor Shilo. She woke up, very groggy. Her body ached, and she had a headache. But for the sake of the children, she willed her body to move instead of staying in bed. Just as she got out the door, she was greeted by the energetic Graverobber.

"Hey, kid! Last night was great. Found plenty of zydrate and sold all of it," Graverobber told her.

Shilo gave a curt nod and dragged her feet downstairs to make breakfast. Graverobber was shocked that she just up and left him like that when he told her some good news. Well, for him, really. And of course, Graverobber followed her. Shilo didn't really noticed though because she only thought about breakfast and the aching pain she has. She really needed something for that headache of hers. It was really rare for Shilo to feel this bad, so she was never used to it when it comes.

She had enough energy to make a whole lot of food for everyone though her body told her she needed to rest. After she finished setting the plates for the children to get their food, she turned and tripped as she did so. She let out a gasp, horrified that she might hit the floor. By reflex, Graverobber caught her in his arms on time. Graverobber let out a relieved sigh, thankful that he followed her. He looked over at Shilo and noticed how sick she looked.

"You okay, Kid," Graverobber asked.

"Y-yeah. Thanks, Graverobber," she told him in a quiet, raspy voice. She was pretty surprised that her voice sounded like that.

"I think you're sick, Kid," Graverobber told her. He suddenly carried her bridal-style and set her on the nearest chair. He kneeled in front of her to her level.

"I-I guess I am," she said, not denying it at all before she started coughing. Graverobber saw a strand of hair in front of her face before he gently put it behind her ear. He used the back of his hand to feel her forehead. It felt hot, burning hot.

"You're burning, Kid. You need some medical help," Graverobber told her. Shilo nodded, but it only made the feeling in her head worse. There was a throbbing that wouldn't stop pounding inside her head.

"I still can't believe you thought that," Lina's voice said. She could be heard just outside the kitchen door.

The door opened to reveal Lina and Mia coming inside. They were able to smell the scent of food in the living room and thought to see if Shilo needed help. When Lina and Mia saw Shilo on a chair with Graverobber kneeling down in front of her, Lina and Mia thought they were having a moment. After Shilo coughed in a sickly way, the thought soon disappeared and Mia went into her doctor mode. Mia told Graverobber to move aside and ordered Lina to get her medical bag. The two did as she told, and Mia checked Shilo's head to see how warm it is. She was burning quite a bit. It seemed that Shilo's whole face was burning. Mia shook her head and sighed.

"Shilo, you might have a fever. Though to be sure, I wanted to check with my medical equipment. It's not good to have a fever on this island with this sort of tainted air, but it wouldn't affect as much on your sickness. It would just take a little longer to get better. You need to get to bed immediately and get some rest. I'll make some soup for you as well," Mia told her. Shilo felt bad for Mia to do all of that, but she wasn't able to utter a word because Mia wouldn't allow it.

"You, carry her to her bed. She needs to be well-rested," Mia ordered towards Graverobber.

And of course, he listened. He carried Shilo in a bridal-style once more and started out of the kitchen, up the stairs and into her bedroom. He set her lightly on the bed and sat on a comfy chair next to her bed. He was about to put a blanket over her, but she was sweating quite a bit and decided against it. She was breathing heavy as well. Graverobber just sat there and watched, not knowing what to do. It was then he had flashbacks of the time when he was sick or injured to an extent, but nobody was there to take care of him. Those times were the worst as plenty of thoughts of death entered his mind. Graverobber quickly waved off those thoughts and concentrated on the woman in front of him. He could see her shiver and put a blanket over her.

Mia knocked lightly on Shilo's opened door. She came inside when she got Graverobber's attention with Lina behind her. Lina carried a medium-sized bowl of water with a rag on the side and set it next to Shilo's bed. After Mia examined her and found out her temperature, she nodded and packed her equipment up.

"She needs some rest. I'll have to get some pills to reduce the fever she has as well. Make sure she doesn't move from her bed," Mia said to the two people in the room, "She needs to have a change clothes. I'll be changing her, so you two get out."

Lina and Graverobber followed her orders before Mia closed the door behind her. Lina leaned on the wall and looked over at Graverobber in front of her. She noticed how deep in thought he looked.

"Are you worried about Shilo," Lina asked.

"Me? Worried about the Kid," Graverobber asked. Lina rolled her eyes and nodded. "Maybe, but I know the Kid is going to be fine."

Lina sighed and looked up at the ceiling before she looked over at Graverobber again.

"Do you want to know how Shilo and I met," Lina asked. Graverobber looked over at her curiously, contemplating whether he wanted to know or not. He was very curious about it, and he did like stories. Before he even answered, Lina spoke up.

"I met Shilo in the streets. I guess not that long after that famous Opera incident," Lina started.

Shilo was scared. She was like a frightened mouse in the streets. She ran away from her home the day of the Opera incident. After she packed a few things inside her house and cleaning off the blood on her, she left immediately, not looking back at the pained memories of that forsaken prison of hers. At first, it seemed okay for the first week on the streets, but things weren't as easy afterwards. There were lots of terrible people out there. She watched as people attacked each other for money. People even killed to get what they want. There were no morals on the streets. No, not at all. People killed other people, and those that passed by didn't stop to help. It was as if that was the norm of this world. She could hear more screams than the first week. It occurred too frequently that Shilo was afraid she'll be next. She walked the streets with her head low on the ground. She accidentally bumped into someone. She gave a quiet apology and made her way. It was then there were a few guys that noticed the fragile and imperfect girl and made their way towards her.

"Ooh, lookie we have here. Got a female," one of the guys said. Shilo looked behind her to see about four guys looking at her with such dangerous eyes. Shilo's eyes widened before she turned back and started moving faster in her movements.

"Don't run, little girl," another yelled before she could hear running footsteps towards her.

Shilo's heart began to race as she ran faster. She suddenly tripped and fall, face flat on the ground. She groaned at the pain and felt her ankle hurt.

"Ugh, bad time to have a twisted ankle," Shilo thought. She tried to stand, but the pain was too excruciating. She tried her best anyways and started limping while wincing every time she used her hurt foot.

But unluckily, they caught up to her and surrounded her in a circle. Shilo froze, knowing this may be the end of her.

"Oh! She's that Wallace girl," one of them spoke.

"Really? But I thought she had hair," Another said, laughing at Shilo's baldness.

Just before she left, Shilo placed the wig to its rightful place inside her mother's coffin. That was all she could do for her mother. Shilo admitted, she was quite reluctant to returning the wig if she walking out there on the streets. But in the end, she finalized that it was better not to keep it because it was never hers.

"Hey, maybe if we sell her, we might get some money," one of the guys suggested.

"Eh? But I want to have some fun with her though," the last said.

Those men's eyes turned to her with such vulture-like eyes. Shilo started cringing, holding her bag close to her body as if it would protect her in some way. They got closer and she felt her legs turn into jelly.

"One against four? Unfair, don't you think," a woman's voice asked.

All of them turned to look over to the sound. They stared at the woman before them. She was no older than her early twenties. She looked quite serious yet something about her seemed chivalrous. The guys laughed at her and thought she was crazy to stand up to them.

The woman just gave a small smirk before she punched one of the guys in the face. A loud crack could be heard, and nobody was sure if it was her fist or the guy's face. The other guys stopped laughing and froze to see what just happened. The guy's nose seemed a bit off, and there was so much blood falling from his nose. Several seconds later, the guys looked at her angrily. They started going towards her before she cracked her knuckles.

"C'mon! I've wanted to vent for some time now," the woman told them, knocking them down as if they were punching bags.

She was swift with her movements as well as being precise. It was as if she was trained specifically to fight. And in a way, Shilo thought she looked empty as she fought, almost animal-like. After she finished, she turned to look at Shilo. Shilo flinched and held her bag even tighter. Lina made her way towards Shilo which Shilo closed her eyes, waiting for something to happen to her. She felt a hand on top of her head and waited.

"I'm not going to hurt you," said the woman. Shilo opened one of her eyes to take a peek. She didn't seem at all harmful to Shilo. She then opened both of her eyes.

"Th- thank you," Shilo said to her. She just nodded before she took her hand off of Shilo's head.

"Can you move," Lina asked, noticing a bulge on Shilo's foot.

Shilo tried to stand up on that leg but couldn't. Shilo flinched from the pain before the woman let out a sigh. The woman suddenly started touching Shilo, which made Shilo's eyes widen.

"Don't even think about anything nasty. I'm just checking if you have weapons. Don't want to carry someone who will try to surprise attack me and slit my throat," Lina said. Shilo's face reddened in embarrassment, not knowing what to say.

"C-carry me," Shilo asked.

"You have a place to stay," she asked, ignoring Shilo's question. Shilo shook her head immediately. "Hm. I guess you can stay at my place for a bit unless you don't want to. I'm all for not caring."

"Can I? I'm not a bother," Shilo asked. She didn't have a place to stay, and she wasn't going back to her old house even if meant living in the streets. And of course, the woman in front of her had saved her, and she didn't seem that bad. And well, she didn't look like a person that sells another person.

"Do you know how to cook," she asked. Shilo shook her head, frowning a bit. "Well, there's always time to learn." Shilo looked at her strangely.

"She's very peculiar," Shilo thought.

The woman kneeled in front of her with her back towards Shilo and pointed at her back.

"Get on," she told Shilo. Shilo nervously got on her back, feeling rather awkward with this. "Man, you're light. Guess I'll buy food while I'm at it."

"Th- thanks," Shilo told her. The woman rolled her eyes.

"Save it for someone who sacrifices their life for you," Lina told her, "The name is Lina. Lina Masters."

"Sh-Shilo. Shilo Wa-Wallace," Shilo answered back.

One of Lina's brows was raised in question and said, "So your name is Sh-Shilo Wa-Wallace? Or are you the stuttering type?"

Shilo shook her head. Lina didn't seem surprised to hear her name like everyone else did. All the more, she didn't seem to know her at all. Everyone knew who Shilo was because of the Opera, though she tried to hide herself the best she could. And inside her, she was quite happy that she didn't judge her like everybody else did.

"I'm j-just nervous," she told her.

"Jeez, I picked up a stray. A nervous one to boot. I guess I've got to change that, shouldn't I," Lina said with a hearty laugh afterwards. Shilo started sweating and wondered if she made the wrong decision. She is quite peculiar indeed.

"What a story," Graverobber commented, giving a quiet clap towards her.

Lina then looked over at Graverobber for a moment.

"Since Shilo's sick and you don't do much in this house, you are going to nurse Shilo back to health. And of course, I don't take "no" for an answer," Lina told him. Graverobber had no choice but to do what she says. From seeing what she does to Luigi and Pavi, Graverobber didn't want to get on her bad side.

"I also agree," Mia suddenly said, making Lina and Graverobber flinch back at her sudden appearance.

"What the hell! Don't surprise me like that," Lina yelled as quietly as she could. Mia rolled her eyes.

"If you two weren't so engrossed by the story, you would notice me being right outside the door. I did not surprise you at all," Mia said in a matter-of-factly tone.

"Damn it. I guess I'm getting rusty," Lina said with a sigh.

"Yes, you are," Mia answered bluntly, though there was no need for an answer.

Mia then turned to Graverobber and said, "I'll be making soup. It will be ready in an hour. After that, I need to pick up some pills. So if anything happens, like her temperature is rising or she's in too much pain, tell Lina. She will call me immediately. Having a fever is dangerous in today's society. I've noticed a crack near her window's wall as well. It needs to be closed. And no matter what, do not open that window for air."

Like that, she left. Graverobber looked over at Lina as if wanting to ask her a question. Lina rolled her eyes.

"You want to know how she met Shilo, you ask her. It's her story not mine," Lina told him as if knowing what was in his mind. And lo and behold, Graverobber wondered how she knew but decided against thinking too hard. He was more action than thinking. Oh, how he hated thinking. It was then Lina pushed Graverobber inside Shilo's room.

"Take care of her," Lina told him, "A wise man once said, "If you can take advantage of something, do it." I kicked the guy's ass for it, and he was wise no more."

Lina snickered before she closed the door and left Graverobber to take care of Shilo. Graverobber was utterly confused, yet it sounded like she wanted him to make a move on Shilo. But then again, he might be wrong. He didn't want to get kicked on the bum like she did to the wise man. After all, Graverobber would like his butt to be pain-free, thank you very much.