Serenity woke up groggy with a headache still lingering. She turned and saw a man over her with what seemed a large pen in his hand. She jumped up and grabbed the blankets, dragging them with her as she tried to hide in a corner. The man came closer to her, holding his hands out.

"It's okay. You're safe here. I found you at the river bank a few days ago. Do you remember what happened?" the man questioned softly. His voice was comforting, Serenity realized. She shook her head and tried to explain her situation. Then she realized she couldn't speak.

Darien was trying very hard to calm his own heart down. She had first scared him by waking up, then by jumping away. He tried to calm her and himself down. After he asked her questions, he waited for her to try to answer. As he stared into her face, he saw a look of panic as she grabbed her throat.

Serenity tried to scream. But nothing came out of her throat. She looked at the man with wide eyes and began to tear up. She was so scared. She couldn't remember anything but a name. The name of Serenity. And now she could not talk. She collapsed on the floor, holding herself tightly and curling into a ball, the sheets going around her.

Darien realized she couldn't talk. "Most likely from the head injury," he thought. He did not know what to do. He had never been in this situation before. The woman had begun to cry and he had never been able to cope well with the emotional distress of others. He crouched down to look at her. She had hidden herself under the blankets and was softly crying within the sheets.

After a few moments, her head came out from under the sheets. Her eyes were bleary and red as they looked into his. He held out his hand slowly, half expecting her to cringe away again. Instead, she took his hand, her own hand shaking. He pulled her up and carried her back to the bed. He placed her on the edge so she could sit and he kneeled in front of her. She looked at him puzzled. Placing his hands on her knees, over the blanket, he looked up at her.

"Do you know why you were at the river?" he asked quietly. She scrunched up her face in concentration and after a few seconds shook her head. "Do you know who you are?" he asked. Again she shook his head. She took his palm and slowly wrote out the letters to her name with her finger.

"Serenity?" he asked. He had never heard of such a name before. She nodded. "Is that all you know?" he wondered aloud. She nodded and began to tear up again, realizing that not only could she not speak, but she had no memories either. Panicked, Darien quickly tried to comfort her saying, "It is okay. You will be take care of here. I have been looking after you. You were hurt when I found you at the river." He explained how he found her and what he had been doing for the past few days. "I am sorry that I had to undress you a few times, but I promise I did not do anything except clean your wounds," Darien apologized. Serenity looked at him and put her hands over her mouth, as if she was trying to giggle. Her shoulders moved up and down and her eyes glowed as she laughed without making a sound.

"How endearing," Darien thought. He felt the edge of his mouth twitch. Realizing this, he quickly stemmed the feeling of frivolity and put his hands on her shoulders. "Serenity, I don't know who you are, but since I have been taking care of you the past few days, I feel it is my duty to continue doing so until you are completely healed, memories and all. You don't know me either, but would you be willing to stay with me until you are fine?"

Serenity looked down at him, his eyes serious and dark. She wondered why he looked so lonely in his eyes. She looked down at her hands, then back at the man. She slowly nodded her head.

"Thank you," Darien whispered. He took her hands into his softly. "Oh yes, before I forget. My name is Darien. And this is my home."

"Mother, I am home!" A voice echoed throughout the small home. Raye dropped her pack, bow, and arrows near the foot of the door, expecting her parents to greet her. But no one came. Raye grew suspicious, and grabbed her dagger. Closing the door quietly behind her, she assumed a guarded stance as she walked around the house trying to find her family. But there was no one home. Raye was curious, there was always someone home. As she was about to go out to look for her family, her parents came in. Their faces were gaunt and worn-out. Her mother had obviously been crying and her father was comforting her, holding her up by the shoulders. They looked up and saw Raye.

"Mother, what happ-?" Raye started to ask before her mother threw herself onto her daughter. Luna's sobs grew louder, and Raye held her mother calmly. "Father, what has happened?" her voice quiet. Her mind was quickly working through the different possibilities that would cause her parents to break down.

"Serenity…She…She has gone missing," whispered Artemis. As Raye heard those words, she felt as if a bucket of cold water had washed over her.

"What do you mean she is missing?" Raye growled. The tips of her hair seemed to be moving on their own, as if an invisible wind was blowing around her.

"Raye, calm down. Your mother and I have been looking for days. Sit and help your mother before she collapses again," Artemis ordered quietly. Raye dragged her mother to a nearby chair, wanting to hear what had happened from her father. Once they were all seated, Artemis started to tell Raye what had happened in the last day. "Your mother went to wake up your sister a few days ago, but found her missing. We thought she had snuck out early to help out at the village, so we did not think much of it. But when she still did not come home for lunch, we realized something had to be wrong. I found some of her tracks leading to the forest and followed it. I found signs of a struggle and some horse tracks near a waterfall. But Serenity's footprints went to the other direction, away from the horse. She had run away, so she might have been attacked. I could tell that much from her pace length. But…her trail ended. It…" Artemis struggled to finish his sentence.

"What happened!" Raye was shaking. She knew the waterfall that her father was talking about. She knew that there was cliff nearby, but hoped that Serenity had merely gone deeper into the forest.

"Serenity's footprints ended at a cliff. I think she might have fallen off, or been pushed. There were signs of a male's tracks following her to the cliff but they turned back to the horse prints. I went down to where she might have fallen, but there was a river below. I think she might have been taken down the river. I want to follow the river trail, but I need to recruit some men from the village, make sure your mother is taken care of, and pack some of my own supplies. I was bringing your mother home after a village meeting. I leave in two hours. I can only hope we find Serenity's body before other animals get to it." Luna began to sob louder at her husband's words, and Raye rubbed her hand on her mother's back in a circle. Raye knew her mother needed her and she had been gone from the land for a while, but she was still an excellent tracker. Raye looked at her father.

"Father, let me help. Let me go and try it on my own." Her eyes were steeled. "You said there was another track of prints. I will follow those while you follow the river."

Artemis looked pained, knowing that if they waited too long, the prints could disappear by natural causes. He looked at Luna, and kneeled down to hold her hands.

"My love, what would you like Raye to do?" he asked.

Luna looked up, her lips quivering and her eyes red. "Let Raye help. I don't want to know what will happen to Serenity if there is not enough people to help." She tried to keep her voice from shaking, but she knew she was not fooling her husband or daughter. Raye looked at her mother, grateful for the chance to look for her sister.

"Thank you mother. I will be back with news as fast as I can." Raye stood up to leave. She grabbed her pack, and with her bow swung around her back, she quickly left the house to seek other volunteers.