Ephraim dismounted and walked around the small area that hadn't been shrouded in fog. He told the rest of his company to examine the corpse; to be sure that Natasha hadn't been killed by a soldier that had pretended to be dead.

Joshua couldn't help but feel slightly at fault, yet he did his best to hide it. Whenever Gerik looked at him with concerned eyes, however, he felt the urge to break down. What was it about those mysterious eyes that made him want to tell Gerik everything he was feeling?

Forde was very upset. He couldn't find his brother anywhere. He began to call out to him:

"Franz! Where are you, Franz?" He searched around frantically.

"Be still, Forde. Joshua and I sent him back to camp a while ago. He should be fine." Gerik patted the concerned young mans shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. Joshua felt envious and wished that Gerik would attempt to comfort him. Little did Joshua know, Gerik was wishing the same thing.

As hard as Gerik had tried to approach Joshua, Joshua would wander off. It seemed that the thin, red-headed swords master was ignoring him. Gerik wondered if it was something he had done or said, or maybe it was something he wasn't doing it?

The fog was thickening and making the search harder. Colm approached Ephraim with either good news or bad, he wasn't too sure.

"She hasn't joined the dead, Ephraim. We need to hurry up and leave, though, if we are to have any hope of being able to make it back to the campsite."

"No. We can't and won't abandon here out here. Who knows what could happen?" Ephraim stated this firmly and without hesitation. Colm shrugged and walked away.

"Suit yourself." He muttered to himself.

L'Arachael galloped towards Ephraim, Innes hot on her trail. Ephraim sighed. He didn't particularly like talking to L'Arachael…

"Ephraim," It was Innes who spoke "We need to make a plan. I suggest that we either pack up and head for home or split up and search."

L'Arachael frowned. "No! Absolutely not! This will not do!" Ephraim and Innes dropped their heads, both knowing that this conversation would give them headaches. "I suggest that we send someone on horseback to go back to base and-"

"No…that'll take too long, L'Arachael…lets just stick with Innes' plan, ok? It's much simpler…"

"Yes…please spare us the headache…"

L'Arachael ignored Innes' last remark and spoke to Dozla who had just recently appeared. "Dozla, please would you round up all the troupes? We need to discuss the plan."

"Right away, your grace!" with that, Dozla marched off to round up the soldiers. When everyone was gathered round, Ephraim began:

"Listen up, everyone! Are we all here?" Ephraim looked over the sea of faces. "Wait a minute…where's Joshua? Gerik's gone too…"

"Dammit! How could I let myself get lost out here?! Cursed fog! Putrid bushes!" Joshua seemed to be caught in twenty bushes at once. He kicked and flailed but only got himself more tangled.

His hair was stuck in various plants' snares and twigs, one of his hands was stuck in a hole in the middle of a trunk of a tree, the other was snared in some sort of thorn bush. His feet were slowly being sucked into the mud, his leather boots seeming to be digested. In his mad fury, he had dropped his sword, Audhulma, in a patch of dried up mud several feet behind him. After many minutes of struggling, he sighed and gave up. He hung limply in the bushes, eyes closed.

"Looks to me, my friend, that you don't seem to have much luck today, do you?"

Joshua's head shot up as Gerik emerged from out of the thickening mist. He was smiling and looked mildly amused. He took his time, soaking up the scenery of seeing Jehannas next king stuck in brambles and bushes.

"What are you looking at?"

"You know, it's not every day you see royalty like this…" he smirked evilly and stifled a laugh.

"Shut up! I can get out of this!" Joshua began to flail about again. His feet were now ankle deep in the smelly muck. Gerik crouched down, amused by this sight. He soon grew bored though and attempted at sparking a conversation.

"So…what are you doing out here all alone?"

"I was-urg! Looking for-graah! Natasha-erg! You?"

"Hah ha hah! Forgive me, this is just too funny! Well, I was out here looking for you, I suppose. As Jehannas only heir, I don't think it would be very wise if you went out here and got yourself killed." He paused as Joshua hung there, exhausted and utterly defeated. "You sure you don't need just a wee bit of help?"

"Maybe…just a…wee bit…"

Gerik slowly rose to his feet and began to make his way to where Joshua hung limply. When he was less then a foot away from where Joshua now hung, he noticed the tiny little scratches that had taken up residence on Joshua's face. Gerik reached out with his hand, pausing just in front of Joshua's face.

"What? What's wrong?"

"Your face…it's so…" He wanted to say how beautiful it was, how it had stolen his heart, how it had captivated his thoughts…He wanted to tell Joshua how his mystic red eyes looked when he was worried…but instead he said:

"Nothing. You've just gotten scratched up a bit…"

Joshua's heart was beating fast, like a drum. Gerik was so close, his beaten up hand inches from his face…it was too much. He couldn't explain the feeling that was overtaking him.

'It's the eyes…those damned beautiful eyes…'

Gerik abruptly shook his head.

"Is it me, or are you shrinking my friend?"

Joshua looked down at his feet which were no longer visible. He was now knee deep in the filthy, smelly mud.

"Gerik…if you have any intention of saving me, you might want to think about doing it sometime soon."

The soldiers back at the battlefield wandered around aimlessly, calling out for Gerik, Natasha and Joshua. Ephraim sat on a rock, head in hands. He sighed miserably. Two of his best fighters and a stave had all gone missing within the hour! What more could possibly happen?

A pale hand gently touched his shoulder. Ephraim slowly looked up into Natasha's paler than usual face.

"Wha-?"

"Um… I believe I was called for?" she gently wiped her mouth with the hem of her slightly muddy robe.

"Wha-? W-where were you?"

"Um…well, I was throwing up…I can't stand the sight of death, you see." She avoided Ephraim's eyes, which were utterly baffled.

"Then…then why did you scream?"

She turned slightly red.

"Well…you see there was this huge, horrid bug that seemed to fly out of nowhere. It startled me, I suppose…"

Ephraim groaned and buried his head in his hands. He tried to contain the growing anger brewing deep inside him. What a headache today had been…

No matter where they went, or how hard Joshua tried, he always managed to get stuck in something. His hair kept sticking in thorn bushes and his feet kept sinking. His anger was overwhelming his better judgment of where to step. Even though it pained him to admit it, he was glad Gerik was with him.

"Putrid bushes! Putrid mud!" Joshua sighed. "Maybe I should just cut my hair…" He freed his hair from a bush for the billionth time.

"Naw, you don't want to be doing that…believe you me, you'd look awfully weird with short hair."

"Bah! Why don't you get stuck?!"

"Dunno…maybe it's because I choose my footing more carefully?"

"Humph. Whatever. It's kinda getting cold out here…you sure we're going the right way?" He paused and looked around. The fog was getting thicker by the minute and it was steadily getting darker, not to mention colder.

"Nope. I have no idea where we are. I was following you.'

"We're screwed then…we're gonna die out here…" he moaned "I don't have Lady Luck on my side today, mate…" he stared down at his feet, which were sinking, yet again.

Gerik placed one of his rough hands on the smaller mans shoulder.

"Don't worry, mate. I'll see to it we both make it out of here alive." Gerik smiled down at Joshua, who stared into Gerik's eyes. "I promise you. And, I'll get you some new boots!"

Joshua's heart began to flutter again.

'Damn eyes…why do they make me feel like this?! Damned beautiful, gorgeous eyes…'

GW: Do I have to add a disclaimer for every chapter? Oh well, just to be on the safe side...I don't own Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones