(I do not own Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, or any of the places I use in here. Nor any of the NPC's from the games. OC's are mine. But what they are based off of is not.)

WOO! Here's the next chapter. The caravanners have just gotten their first drop of myrrh. They travel to their second stop, but not before entering a miasma stream.

Enjoy yourselves…..

000

The caravanners were excitedly chit chatting about the previous day's events as they were packing up the caravan.

"And did you see how that chieftain was all like ARHH! And I was all like SWOOSH SWOOSH BAM! You're dead!" Kayle excitedly spoke as he mimed the fight. Ele and Giza were laughing as they watched their friend. The Trio was having a blast with this, and they couldn't wait for the next place.

"Oh c'mon guys, I know it's exciting, but this is serious business we're dealing with." Malik seriously said to his younger caravanners, as he passed a water barrel to Joitieu to put into the caravan.

"Awe Malik, won't you let us have a little fun?" Ele asked childishly.

"Yeah Malik, just loosen up the reins a little" Giza teasingly said. The older lilty rolled his eyes at the three, and went for more barrels. Cross walked past him with a barrel in each arm. His face seemed a little red from the weight.

"Oi! Cross! Need a little help there buddy? You look as red as a goblin dude!" Kayle shouted at the younger clavat.

"I got it…" Cross replied as he set both of the barrels down for Joitieu and Tanyia to get. He walked back towards the river.

"Oh what a big strong man that Cross is!" Giza cried.

"Yeah, I bet he gets all the ladies at the next town!" Kayle yelled as the Trio burst into laughter. The other caravanners returned from the river and sat down for a snack before setting off again.

"So I was thinking while we were working..." Naiya began. The other caravanners looked at her as they were eating. "We should nominate a leader. It'd make things a lot easier, with one person in charge."

The other caravanners looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

"How should we nominate them?" Ryden Koe asked.

"Well that I'm not too sure of…" Naiya stated.

"How about a simple nomination with the raising of hands? It would all be out in the open. I think it would better than submitting votes." Canestre put in. Everyone agreed to his idea.

"Well if we're nominating then I nominate Canestre." Viera stated as she looked at her friend. "His smart, nice, caring, and he'll lead us down the right path."

"Uhhh…thanks Viera…" Canestre said as he played in the dirt.

"I nominate Kayle!" Giza shouted.

"Seconded!" Ele agreed.

"Well I nominate Malik. Did you see the way he killed that crab? That deserves leadership." Tanyia bluntly stated.

"What about Cross?" Ryden asked. "I think he could be a good leader. He works really hard."

"But he's like twelve!" Kayle teased. "And he still wears footie pajamas!"

"Well at least I didn't scream at the sight of Goblins!" Cross defended.

"Oh really now, at least I don't smell like wheat all the time!" Kayle shouted as he stood up.

"Guys calm down." Joitieu motioned.

"At least I don't smell like cow shit all day!" Cross screamed as he too stood up.

"Guys, jeez that's enough, you're acting like children!" Malik warned.

"At least I don't sit and cry during the night!" Kayle screamed. Everyone was speechless. They all looked at Cross' shocked face.

"What did you say?" Cross angrily asked.

"I said, at least I don't cry like a damn baby at night!" Cross had enough. He took at his ax, and ran towards Kayle.

"Cross no!" Alie screamed as she ran in front of Kayle with her shield. Cross stopped running, and looked at his sister.

"I can't believe you're on his side Al…." Cross whispered.

"I'm on no side Cross! This is all so silly! We're just choosing a leader!" Alie said as tears fell down her face. "I hate seeing you angry…"

"Whatever" Cross mumbled as he went and sat in the caravan.

"Wow, Kupo." Mog said as he woke up from his nap. "I'm usually a pretty heavy sleeper, Kupo!"

"I'm checking on him" Alie said as she started to walk.

"I don't think that's a good idea Alie," Ryden said as he grabbed her arm to stop her. "He just needs some alone time. "

"I agree, but how about we pack up? We can pick a leader another day." Canestre calmly said. Everyone agreed and speechlessly packed up and headed out. Kayle, Giza and Ele took their spots at the front. Malik took the reins this time, while Cross sat in the caravan alone. Ryden sat at the back as a sort of calming essence. Alie and Joitieu decided to walk on the left side of Palpei while the twins were on the other. Canestre and Viera took to the back.

"Alright everyone ready? Let's go!" Malik said as he tugged the reins of Palpei and they started off.

000

Two days had passed since the altercation. Everyone had been quiet since then. Cross didn't even come out to eat; he just ate the leftovers once everyone was done. The trio only talked in whispered voices, and didn't even laugh. Alie had stayed silent the entire time; even through the prodding's of Joit and the twins. No one heard Cross rustle or even move in the caravan. Malik and Ryden kept watch on him, but he didn't even budge. He would just lie on his back, looking at the top.

"Hey Kupos look! It's a miasma stream!" Everyone stopped and looked at where Mog's voice had pointed to. A dark cave was seen, with a blue aura coming out of it.

"Spooky…" Naiya said as she looked worriedly at her twin.

"Oh come on Naiya it can't be that bad." Tanyia reassuringly said, "…can it?"

"I dun know, Kupo! I'm usually asleep when I go through it!"

"Well how about let's just go in and find out." Giza said as they walked into the darkness.

000

The caravan walked into the stream. It was dark, and very chilly. Cold water droplets were falling all around them.

"So I'm just throwing it out there, but I'm guessing the element is water huh?" Ele sarcastically said.

"Well no duh!" Viera pompously said, obviously not getting the sarcasm. Ele scoffed her off, and the caravan started walking through the miasma. Palpei ignored the weird stream, and acted like nothing was weird. Mog however was very scared, and curled up to Tanyia for protection. The caravanners walked through it and saw a familiar face at the end. It was Stiltzkin, the old moogle they met before they went into The River Belle Path.

"Hello my friends. How was your first encounter with monsters? Good I presume, as I see you already have your first drop." The moogle said cheerfully.

"It went as well as it could have" Joitieu replied.

"So what brings you here Stiltzkin?" Ryden asked the moogle.

"I'm just researching the streams. It's weird how miasma doesn't affect moogles, isn't it? Just like how it doesn't affect monsters…so does that mean us moogles are monsters?" Stiltzkin asked rhetorically. The caravanners looked at the moogle as he was in deep thought. "Well, I should let you be on your way. I shall see you soon."

"Good Bye Stiltzkin!" The caravanners replied as they left the cold stream. Outside the stream, it was night time. The caravanners decided to sleep for the night, and head out tomorrow morning.

000

"So where exactly are we headed?" Alie asked. It had been another day since they had left the miasma stream. The caravanners were in better moods, but Cross still hadn't come out, only taking his meals from Ryden.

"To the Mushroom Forest. I believe that's where the next myrrh tree is located." Malik stated as he guided the caravan around a curve.

"How far away is it?" Viera complained. "My feet are killing me! I wish I could just lie down in the caravan."

"Here take it, but we're almost there anyways." Cross said as he jumped out of the caravan. "Though, I doubt it would be to your liking, it's not that comfortable." Ryden looked at Cross worriedly.

"Cross, are you ok?"

"Yeah Ryden, don't worry about me. I'm just ready to get the next drop of myrrh."

Viera gladly sat down in the caravan, while Canestre took Ryden's spot and Ryden joined Cross behind the caravan. All the others looked back at Cross but he seemed normal at least. About a half an hour later they reached the edge of the forest of mushrooms.

"Alright we're here. Tie Palpei up." Malik ordered. Kayle tied the papaomus up, and everyone got out their weapons, and practiced swinging and aiming. Alie looked over at her brother who was swinging his ax in circular motions.

"I wonder what's up with him Joit; he's never been one to be angered so quickly."

"Maybe it's just the stress, I'm sure he'll be fine by tonight." Joitieu reassured. The caravanners all gathered by the entrance looking into the dark, misty forest.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Ele screamed as they all ran in with confidence.

000

The mushroom forest was exactly what its name said it was; a large forest of giant toadstools. It made the caravanners seem small in comparison. Minus the lilties since they were already small.

"It smells awful in here," Viera complained. "Let's do this as quickly as possible."

"Well we are surrounded by giant fungi, but I agree I'd rather not be here for too long" Canestre stated. The caravanners turned a corner and spotted a small green thing on the ground.

"What is that?" Giza asked. "It looks like a giant mound of fish droppings."

"I'm not sure" Kayle replied as he and the others made a semicircle around it. All of a sudden the mound jumped up and sprayed the caravanners with a green spray.

"Ugh that's so gross!" Naiya screamed. The mound rolled up and backed away from the caravanners. It then unrolled and revealed itself as a small worm. Before it could attack again, Tanyia ran up and smashed it with both of her hammers.

"What is this stuff?" Ryden Koe asked as he wiped some of the slimy green substance from his long blond hair.

"I'm not sure, but it doesn't feel harmful. It was probably just to startle us." Canestre said as he wiped some of it off his dark wings.

"Well if we're all ready, let's get moving." Kayle ordered. They walked past the dissolving body of the worm, and found another monster. It was an ugly, purple and brown plant monster.

"That's a hell plant," Canestre stated "Be careful. They're good a long distances."

"Oh really?" Giza asked slyly as he took an arrow and shot it into the mouth of the hell plant. It choked on it and died. They walked into an opening and found another worm, hell plant, and a small gremlin.

"Let's get this!" Malik screamed while he swung his mace and threw it on the worm and cut it in half. Joitieu used a fire blast on the hell plant, burning it into the miasma. Kayle took on the gremlin, first chopping of its tassel, then stabbing it through its chest, killing it.

They walked down another path until they reached a large opening.

"Wait, haven't we been here before?" Viera asked

"Yeah, this is where we were sprayed by that worm," Alie answered.

"Well, then where do we go next?" Kayle asked in frustration.

"I saw another path we could try," Cross answered. "It was back here." He said as everyone followed him.

000

They found Cross' path, which led into another batch of monsters. There were two gremlins, and a large yellow flying creature, an Ahriman. The gremlins hissed once they spotted the caravanners, and the Ahriman gave a battle screech. Canestre used a gravity spell on the flying monster, bringing it crashing down to the ground. Tanyia and Naiya ran to it, stabbing and hitting it till it died. Cross took on both gremlins; he spun in a circle with his ax, beheading both creatures.

"That was great Cross!" Alie praised. He merely looked at her, and walked down the next path with everyone else. They came into the same opening they came through in the beginning.

"Wait guys, are we going in circles?" Naiya asked.

"I think so, but how is that possible." Canestre stated.

"How about we just retrace our steps to try and find a path we missed?" Ryden offered.

"Did Mr. Cross by any chance find a useless path again?" Kayle asked.

"Kayle, that's enough, we can't be petty. We could be seriously lost." Ele said as she dragged Kayle with everyone else to retrace their steps.

000

It had been two hours since they started retracing their steps, and they couldn't find another path. The caravanners took a stop to rest.

"So now what?" Tanyia asked. "It seems we'll never get out of this damn opening." They had found themselves at the beginning again, or so they thought.

"Are you sure this is the beginning?" Joitieu asked.

"I really don't know..." Canestre solemnly answered.

"Are you saying we're lost in this monster infested forest?" Ele angrily asked.

"It seems that way." Cross answered as all the caravanners looked around worriedly.

000

DUN DUN DUNNNNNN!

Ha-ha, well end of that chapter, so the caravanners have successfully gotten themselves lost in the Mushroom Forest.

So do you think they'll be smart enough to get out? Do you think Cross will ever forgive Alie? Or how do you think their new found scenario will affect the previous conflicts?

Tell me in a Review :D.

Next Chapter: Will the caravanners ever find their way to the myrrh tree, and back to their caravan?