A/N: Writing again~~ I have nothing to do~~~

Disclaimer again?! o_o; well, I don't own GC, the characters, or anything else D=

Chapter 8: A Journey's Beginning

Arme stared lightly back at the large house as she took her final steps away from it with the rest of the group. The past three days had been uneventful, mainly Elena extending her classes to attempt to cram as much knowledge as she could into Arme's head. Things had been rushed when she got back to the house, people zipping around quickly in their attempts to make sure everything was prepared and ready to go. Arme herself had few posessions, her book, clothes, necklace and staff the only important objects she could think to bring. The lighter you can travel, the better, She had been told countless times. Keeping it in mind while entering her room, she had almost laughed. What was there really to bring? It didn't really matter now. She was going to start the journey, ready or not...

"Come on, Arme!" She looked back toward the group, Elesis looking back at her with a frown, "We have to get going!" The purple haired girl nodded, bounding the last few steps that seperated her from the group. It was a trip she very nearly hadn't gone on.

Arme woke up with a yawn, stretching as she pushed herself out of the bed. The house was oddly noisy for the morning, the sounds of voices coming from the main floor and reaching her even from her room on the second story. The volume raised as she opened her door, silencing as it swung closed behind her. The sudden volume change unnerved her, she paused a moment at the top of the stairs. Ever so caustiously, she placed her left foot down on the top step. When assured no bomb was about to suddenly go off and kill/ and or maim her, she hurriedly ran down the stairs, grabbing onto the ledge of the door leading into the kitchen so she gould swing her head in and see what was going on.

She wasn't expecting the empty room that appeared before her, causing her to blink in confusion. She walked further into the room, looking around suspiciously. There was nothing amiss, leading Arme to believe she had simply imagined the previous sounds.

"Wah!?" Suddenly, someone had leapt onto Arme's back, the combined weight causing her to fall onto the ground. The person hastily stood up.

"Oops! She fell!" The voice called; Amy. Arme rubbed her nose lightly and winced as she sat up, slowly getting to her feet. She was offered a hand and took it, looking up to see Elesis shrugging. Now most of the rest of the chase was in the room, looking at the scene with interest. Arme blushed embarrassedly.

"So..." She started uneasily, "What's every one doing up so early?" Everyone looked at one another, no one speaking as they all silently decided on who would explain. It was then that Arme realized who was missing; Lass and Ryan. The thought of them being absent, Lass in particular, made her even more nervous. It was finally Amy who threw her arm over Arme's shoulder.

"No one else planning on saying anything?" She questioned. When no one answered she took it upon herself to continue.

"I think this will explain better~" The pink haired girl murmured, placing a small envelope in Arme's hands. Peeling the seal cautiously, Arme took the letter out. Anxiousness built up in her as she unfolded it, taking in the contents of the letter.

Dear Arme of the Violet Mage Guild,

We would like to extend out congratulations to you in the event of your acceptance into the Grand Chase. Multiple dangers will face you, but we feel, with complete certainty, that you will be able to face the challenges with confidence and courage. In the light of this new and difficult challenge, we are putting faith in you to not only protect your fellow chasers, but the people of Bermesiah. There shall be a meeting to disclose your membership with the locals on the day of your departure. With greatest luck toward you and your noble goals,

-Masters of the Serdin Castle Guilds

Arme couldn't help the smile that lit up on her face as she finished, looking at the group of people around her. A sudden thought hit her, and her brows furrowed in confusion.

"But... I thought I had to have the approval of all the members?" She asked, thinking of the events of the day she had fainted. Though she could have been wrong, Ryan's reaction hadn't seemed to be a 'well sure, welcome to the group!' kind of thing.

"Ryan gave his approval after coming in from the training grounds the day you woke up." Jin supplied, shrugging. The others nodded in confirmation.

"So, welcome to the Grand Chase, as an official member!" Elesis said loudly, the cheers of the group adding to her blush, "We'll be counting on you, so do your best!" Arme gave a polite bow to them.

"T-thank you all so much! I'll do my best!" She exclaimed, her smile widening.

"And~" Everyone turned to look at Amy, who was reaching over to take something off the counter. Arme looked at it; A cake met her gaze.

"I wasn't sure what kind you'd like, so I just made a vanilla one. It's a bit plain though~" She chirped, holding it out. Arme took the baked good gratefully, walking over to the table to set it down.

"But, so I know for later! What is your favourite type of cake?" The pink haired girl spoke again, joining in the group that were now swarming Arme and the cake. The mage considered the question for a moment.

"Well, I like short cakes alot, and strawberries!" She answered, a sudden shine in the window catching her eye.

"One second..." Arme murmured, ignoring the questioning looks as she exited out the back door. When she stepped out into the training field it was empty, but...

"Hey! I could swear I just saw sunlight glinting off your sword, Lass!" She called into the empty space. Silence greeted her, and the purple haired girl felt foolish as she walked back to the door.

"...Up here." She looked up in shock, and looking down from the roof's ledge at her was the silver haired assassin.

"Lass, you jerk! Why didn't you answer when I called you?!" She yelled, teleporting up to stand next to him. When Arme was up on the roof Lass gave no further explanation, turning back around to watch over the ever-busy city. The people were hustling and bustling along streets and sidewalks hurriedly, not at all aware of the people silently watching them. She took a seat next to Lass, not bothering to re-state her baquestion.

"Congratulations." Arme looked over at Lass, his face giving no indication that he had spoke.

"Yeah."

She sighed as she followed the other Grand Chase members; they'd be going to the town center to make an announcement before leaving. At the thought of standing in front of a large crowd Arme's stomache churned uncomfortably, slowing her steps lightly in a vain attempt to prolong the time that it took to get to the town center. The rest of the group stayed on pace, forcing Arme to jog a few steps when she noticed no one was slowing down. The sick feeling in her stomache doubled when she began hearing the noises, and seeing the people lining either side of the street. There was a large group near the stage that was up, the sheer immensity of it startling her. There was obviously some ruckus over the Grand Chase setting out again, and she had to have been rather suspicious. The town had gotten used to seeing her with the chase, but surely they were eager for an explanation...

Elesis took Arme by the wrist and dragged her forward, the purple haired girl just then noticing she had stopped moving. The other members were a few steps ahead, most regarding her with sympathetic expressions. Her legs felt like jelly below her as she tried to follow them, barely managing to keep up. The hollers of the crowd grew louder as she walked past them, their hands reaching out over the barricades that had been set up for convenience and almost touching her. Jin took the mercy of keeping the swarming crowd away, Ronan joining him after a moment's hesitation. They walked between the crowd and Arme as they approached, an unfortunate target to the several screaming girls with their hands outstreched over the barricade. They held up until the Magician was on the stage, quickly darting up to join them when there was no immediate danger of Arme being mauled.

The announcer from Amy and Jin's preformance was there again, yelling something to the crowd about the Grand Chase that the crowd was enthusiastically agreeing about, cheers exploding all over the area as Arme tried to grasp what was going on. It was the red-headed knight who took the remote from the announcer. Lass soon followed, dragging Arme to stand next to him as they looked out over the stage. Feeling self concious, the purple haired girl hid behind the assasssin as much as she could from where she was, his grip firmly on her wrist to make sure she didn't run off or get any sudden urges to jump into the crowd. They waited silently as Elesis started out.

"Good morning, everyone! We're glad you could make it!" Ronan came up to stand next to her; from the bright blush on the red head's face it was obvious she was unused to presentations. He took the mic from her swiftly, taking a step forward. The crowd gave a shrill yell at the sight of the blue haired spell knight, taking him a couple seconds to quiet them down before continuing on.

"Now, Now! We're sure you've seen this girl around the town often lately, spotted with several different members of the Grand Chase. While your curiosity was piqued, we appreciate your consideration in keeping all inquiries to yourself up to this point." This wasn't exactly true. Arme and Lass had been tried for questioning several different times over the course of the month, though they were normally people the silver haired by dealed with with a graceful ease. Ronan turned to look at Arme, motioning her forward along with Lass. When they were standing next to him, Ronan said a last few words before handing the Microphone over to Arme.

"We'll let her introduce herself now." Arme blinked, completely still for a moment as she tried to decide on what to say.

"H-hello!" She called out into the crowd, everyone staring at her intently.

"I'm Arme, a new magician in the Violet Mage Guild." She summarized hastily, her hand tightening around the mic as she looked at the people. Her blush was getting increasingly darker, and when everyone noticed she wasn't going to say anything else Lass took the mic from her. Voices raised in the crowd again, silencing after a moment as everyone waited to hear what the assassin had to say.

"I'm sure most of you are still confused, and waiting to see the reason we're here today." He announced, the majority of the crowd nodding enthusiastically.

"Well, we won't delay any longer. The Grand Chase is here to announce the addition of our newest member, Arme!" The crowd fell into a stunned silence as immediately as the words were out, all eyes on the purple haired girl. She bowed lightly, uncertain of what to do. Then, slowly, a roaring applause filled the area, people cheering openly. Arme couldn't help the smile that came to her face from their approval. It was then that Lass continued on.

"Before we leave, Arme will give a demonstration of the skills she's obtained over the month." He called, the crowd cheering louder as he turned to give her a slightly evil grin. Seeing it, Arme hastily grabbed the microphone back.

"And since Lass was the one to so kindly give the idea, he'll be my partner in the demonstration!" She continued on, noting the shocked look on his face and that of the crowd. Most were cheering, though she could see some here and there shaking their heads disbelievingly. She smiled again, walking over to the left side of the stage as all the other chasers except Lass exited the stage. He walked over to the other side, eying her warily as the crowd watched intensely. She kept her eyes locked on him as she began summoning fireballs, sending them quickly over to the other side where the silver haired boy was standing. Too slow. She watched as he jumped out of the circle of flames surrounding him and began running over to her. As he approached she teleported, reappearing behind him less than a second later in a repeat of the battle with the knight master. Lass twisted around without missing a beat and Arme cursed. He was there when I was fighting the knight master! She teleported away last second, the simitar swinging through the spot where her body had previously been. As a precautionary measure she swung her wand around her and created a Saver, the green shield that had been enhanced since her last battle. When talking to Elena about it, Arme had learned several things to keep the shield stronger.

She had no time to think, coming to the realization that Lass was several times faster than both her or the Knight Master. Teleporting wasn't getting her far, Lass was easily able to cross the stage in less than a second. As she stood still she was surprised to see Lass jumping up, but saw her chance. Just as he was about to drop a kunai down on her Arme lifted her arms up, the motion sending a rather startled Lass to the ceiling. Willing the spell to hold him there for a moment, Arme hastily took a few steps back before allowing the spell to drop him. Before he could make it entirely to the ground Arme caught him in a lightning bolt, zapping him as he still somehow managed to land on his feet and dash forward. Not having expected it, Arme was unable to get away before a heavy chain was sent toward her, colliding with the green shield and causing a large crack.

Arme took the opprotunity to teleport further away from Lass, his feet carrying him to her spot soon enough. She gave a frustrated growl as he grabbed her wrist; If she teleported while he was holding her, the assassin would simply be teleported along with her. She released a few fire balls, though they did nothing in making him release her. His blade was only a few inches away from her when Arme saw her chance. Lass was hesitating; he obviously remembered the end result of her battle with the knight. Siezing the opprotunity before he followed through on the swing, Arme twisted so that she could aim her free hand (fortunately the one with the wand) toward him.

"Stone curse!" The yells of the audience grew louder as they saw the stone begin creeping up Lass body, and Arme used his momentary confusion as a chance to yank her wrist from his grip. She held her staff out infront of her; the curse would only last a few seconds. With this in mind her staff shot up into the air, her voice ringing loudly in the air.

"Meteor!" The air heated up quickly, Lass uttering something she couldn't hear as the stone was encasing his arms. It didn't matter as the stone was about to shatter, the meteors, coming down quickly. Lass winced as one grazed his arm, the magician giving a hasty bow to the awestruck crowd as she ran to his side. He sighed as the stone cracked, his hand instinctually flying to his side. The rest of the chase came back onto the stage as Arme began healing, whispering a hasty 'sorry' to the silver haired boy. She had asked to learn both forms of healing; increased regeneration and a plain cure. Normal cures wouldn't work on larger injuries and they took longer, but were decidedly better for getting rid of a painful wound. He sighed.

"You knew I wouldn't fight you without holding back, right?" He murmured. Arme let a knowing smile on her face.

"And now you know how much I hate being on stage, so we're even!" The roar of the crowd now was overbearing, cheers surrounding them as Ronan picked up the mic.

"Thank you all for your support!" He called, though the crowd refused to be silenced. Their cheers held steady as the chase began exiting the stage, a steady chant of 'Arme! Arme!' rising out. The assassin and mage were the last off, their chants raising in volume when they followed the other chasers.

"Yay~!" Amy cheered when the two came to meet up with them.

"Nice job. Fighting Lass was a good idea to show them you had bravery, but I don't think anyone was expecting you to beat him." Jin added thoughtfully. The rest of the chase nodded.

"Come on, guys! Let's get moving, before they decide to group together and try to kidnap Arme for something or another!" Elesis called, eying Amy suspiciously. The pink haired girl shrugged.

"That wasn't my fault!" In a less than organized manner the group made it out of the small room, hastily making for the direction of the town exit. Arme blushed as the crowd began to get louder again as she came into view, hiding from them behind Lass. The silver haired boy gave her an amused look, but didn't move out of the way. There wasn't much talk between the group until they got to the gate, where Lass kneeled down so Arme wouldn't have to run. Neither noticed the questioning looks from the rest of the chasers until Arme was safely on Lass' back.

"She doesn't run fast, and it wastes energy needed for spells." He explained, walking as they began to pick up pace.

"Hey, it might stop you from running ahead all the time so it's fine with me!" Elesis called in response, Ronan running next to her. Arme heard an odd noise, and turned to notice an oddly coloured wolf running along with them. Noting her confusion, Amy explained.

"That's Ryan. He accidentally drank water mixed with Kaze' Aze's blood a few years back, and somehow it gave him the ability to transform into a wolf!" Arme's eyes widened. Well, that was unexpected. They continued on for a while, Arme suddenly thinking to ask a question.

"Lass?" The assassin turned his head slightly, looking at her out of the corner of his eye to let her know he was listening.

"Where are we going?"

"We're searching for Kaze' Aze. There have also been some problems in Elia lately, so we'll probably head down there after we stop in a couple places. First, though, we're going to visit the wall of Serdin." She nodded and looked up, the horizon giving no indication of anything even slightly resemblant of a wall.

"And how far away is that?" She questioned quietly.

"We'll make it there tomorrow, tonight we'll be camping out." He explained. Arme sighed.

"Hm?"

"Well, the 'great outdoors' has never been my kinda thing..." She said, causing a chuckle from Lass.

"You're going to have to get used to it. We sleep outside alot." The magician groaned, shifting slightly to reach into her bag and pull out the book.

"Lass? Do you mind if I read?" A shake of Lass' silver hair could be seen.

"It's fine with me as long as you don't fall." Flipping through, she opened the large book to the first chapter. It was time to learn the basics all over again.

"There's a swarm of stone and hammer orcs!" Elesis yelled back to the rest of the rest of the group a few hours later. They had been running for the most part, stopping every once and a while to have a drink or just walk for a few paces. Arme had been reading through the first chapter, every once and a while stopping to read something out loud, or ask Lass the meaning of a Bermesian word. He now placed her on the ground swiftly, raising his scimitar as he stepped forward to join the others in the front line. The horde of orcs that were approaching swiftly were huge, a large difference from the orcs she and Lass had faced on their way to the castle. She quickly summoned fireballs, sending them out and over the chase, providing minor injuries but holding them back a bit longer. Holding out from the fighting to charge her mana would be faster; it would also make her more dependent on others to protect her. Frowning at the thought, she settled for just attacking with fire balls, the flames raising her mana as they came in contact with the orcs. A large battle burst out between the two parties, Arme feeling shocked as she watched the group battle.

Only now could Arme truly realize just how much power Elesis and the others had been holding back during their spars, the sheer furiosity of their attacks shocking her. Elesis easily twisted to slice the heads off two seperate orcs, a grin on her face as the spear twirled easily in her hands.

"Is that all you got?!" She called out, a full out grin appearing on her face as several more hammers threatened to smash down on her. She was so absorbed in fighting the surrounding group that she hardly realized when a stone hammer was flinged toward her back, just barely being stopped as Ronan stepped infront of her and parried the blow with his shield.

"You really need to be more careful, Elesis." He said quickly, standing with his back to her. The two were able to easily clear out the circle around her, working fluently together. For a moment Arme simply wondered just how they could fight with that much unison, seeming to almost know what the other was going to do before they did it. She remembered slightly Elesis' explanation of the order that the members had joined in. Ronan had been the third, and Lire had left... That meant that they had been fighting with each other for a long time.

There was a large crash in another direction, bringing Arme's attention over to Amy's fight. The sound waves coming off her were able to throw the orcs several feet with simplicity, Jin often standing near so he could reach them in mid-air. Attacks seemed to do more damage before they landed, and Arme quickly caught on. When enemies got close enough to actually hit her she made sure to lift it up with the air attack she'd learned before leaving. Before they could land she cast a group of fireballs below them, easily suspending the monsters mid-air. She could feel her mana filled to the brink; at this she hastily raised her arm up.

"Meteor!" Everyone twisted to look at her, the meteors falling after a moment's delay. She smiled in victory as the enemies before her were wiped out, pondering the rest of the group's odd expression as they stared at her. A second later a kunai whizzed through the air beside her ear, making Arme's heart momentarily stop as she heard the sound of a thunk behind her. She turned around slowly and saw what the rest of the group had been looking at; a hammer orc lying on the ground with the small blade protruding out of its forehead.

"Missed one." Lass was next to her when she turned back to the group, sighing.

"You really should stick near me in battle, or at the very least from a long distance position. Remember what I said about your survival instinct?" He reminded her. Arme blushed heavily, turning to the rest of the group. Elesis was looking with a frown up at the sky, Ronan next to her. When she looked over at everyone, her eyes lingered on the hardly visible pink haired girl. Jin was sitting next to her, obscuring Amy from view.

"Guys, we'll camp out here tonight. We left late, It's already getting dark." She made the decision. When Arme watched everyone's reaction she remembered that Elesis was the leader, even through her hot-headedness. The others seemed to trust her judgement aswell, easily sitting down and resting at the statement. She noticed Ryan transform back from a wolf from the corner of her eye, mentioning something to Ronan before walking off. She wasn't allowed to ponder the action; Jin appeared next to her.

"Arme? Amy's hurt." The purple haired girl looked over in shock to where the pink haired girl was, Amy giving her a smile and wave as she held her lower leg with one hand. Arme grabbed the bag she had just dropped on the ground and ran over, the fighter keeming up with her and the assassin following at a liesurely pace.

"Amy, does it hurt?" She asked quietly.

"N-Not much! I just don't know if I can run on it." She explained. A limp was obvious in her step as she stood to show Arme the damage. Wincing, Arme reached down to the injury. They would be staying in one place; a regeneration spell would be more appropriate. She set the spell in place, pulling the gauze out and wrapping the wounded leg clumsily.

"It should be gone by the time we leave tomorrow!" Arme said, forcing a smile on her face as she made her way hastily back to the spot where she previously. As she sat down she noticed Lass staring at her, not looking away even as he realized she had noticed.

"... What?" She questioned, confusion on her face.

"A healing magician who dislikes the sight of blood?" He questioned, sitting down next to her. Her eyes opened wide as she looked over at Lass, though he wasn't looking back. She would have continued questioning him on it, but at that moment she got a tap on the shoulder. A quick look in that direction alerted her to the fact that Ryan was back, a stack of wood in his hands.

"You can light a fire, right?" Arme nodded, following him as he set up the logs in the middle of the site. She set fire to them and soon everyone had surrounded the warmth, most nearly drifting off.

"So, what are we eating tonight?" Amy asked warily. Almost everyone followed Elesis' eyes to the orc, a shiver going down Arme's spine.

"No way... Are those even edible?" Ronan gave a shrug.

"We've eaten them before, but they're not really the tastiest sort of food. There should be a stream not too far from here, I'll go see if I have any luck catching anything." Arme sighed gratefully as the blue knight stood up, Jin following along. They left the site, everyone watching as they walked off.

"So..." Amy began, no one bothering to continue with the sentence. Arme had nearly fallen asleep to the warmth of the fire when she heard a sound beside her and realized Lass had stood up. Arme watched interestedly as he began to walk away without a word, heading to the forest that could be seen nearby.

"Gonna go find some tree to sleep in?" Elesis called jokingly after him. Lass didn't bother to respond, and he disappeared among the trees and bushes a moment later. The red head gave an annoyed sigh, leaning back on her palms.

"Where's he going...?" Arme asked after a few seconds. She recieved a shrug in response.

"No one's really sure... Lass never sleeps with the rest of us." Curiosity piqued, Arme stood up.

"Don't bother going after him, you won't find him. You'll pobably just get lost. The food's gonna be here in a while any way." The druid called, half asleep from his spot on the grass. "And I'm hungry, damn it. They'd better get back soon." Arme laughed lightly, looking over at Amy. The pink haired girl was rooting through her bag, pulling out random blankets and other supplies. When she had finally unearthed a cooking pot half of her bag's contents were on the floor. The pot placed next to the fire, Amy took to distributing the blankets.

"No one else bothers to come prepared~" Amy sighed as she handed Arme her blanket, "If I didn't bring anything we'd all freeze."

"Not true!" Elesis called stubbornly, accepting the warm blanket anyway. Arme noticed quickly that all the blankets were colour coded, Elesis' being red, Ronan's being blue... She looked down at the blanket in her hands and blushed at the light blue colour.

"Amy! You gave me Lass' blanket!" She called, Amy nodding.

"Yeah! Lass never takes his blanket anyway, and I didn't have time to find a purple blanket before we set out~" She explained, going to sit next to the purple haired girl as she sorted out her bag and pulled out a hair brush.

"Okay, I'm changing into my pajamas! Ryan, don't look!" She scolded, Ryan not bothering to respond.

"Me too. Arme, you might as well before the guys get back." Elesis said, reaching into her bag to pull out red pajamas. Arme nodded as she grabbed her own from her light bag, Changing quickly. By the time she was done the other two were both in their pajamas as well, Ryan completely asleep. They were about to start a conversation when footsteps were heard, and they turned around to see Ronan and Jin returning. Both were dragging some kind of large red monster; Arme flinched back.

"They're armoured crabs. Annoying to get the shell off, but crab meat's good." Ronan exclaimed. By that time Amy had gotten up to jump at Jin, her arms swinging around his neck.

"Yay! We don't have to starve!" She exclaimed, taking the crab from the dumbstruck fighter. Ronan sighed as he dragged the second crab over, Elesis moving near Arme.

"In case you didn't notice, Jin has a really big crush on Amy. Unfortunately for him, she's a bit dense when it comes to noticing that sort of thing." Within the second Amy had darted over.

"Whatttt stufff?" She asked, both girls refusing to answer. Arme stood up.

"Well, Amy! As an assistant chef, you're gonna help me with de-shelling the stupid things." She said, walking over to look at the giant things with distaste. Crab meat did taste good though... Amy let out a groan as she rolled over to where Arme was. The two began cracking the shells open with difficulty, a sudden realization coming over Arme.

"Wait... Aren't crabs poison unless they're cooked alive?" She asked, looking down miserably at the half-opened shells.

"Nope. Not armoured crabs, at least... I think you're thinking of lobsters, Arme." Elesis said, lying on her back as she watched the sky darken. Arme sighed in relief as they placed the de-shelled meat in the pot.

"I'll go get the water!" Amy offered once the pot was filled, the left over crab lying next to the fire. The magician nodded, looking around the camp site. Ronan was lying on his back a little ways away from Elesis, looking up at the sky as well. Ryan was now solidly asleep, light snores filling the area. Jin was sitting and looking at the fire, the expression on his face not giving anything away. Just how many nights have they spent together like this? Wondering if they'll ever be able to acomplish their goal... Our goal. She corrected herself internally. This was as much her mission as theirs now. She felt slightly more resolved as Amy returned, setting the pot on the warm embers. Arme had put out the actual fire in order to make for more convenient cooking; she would light it back up when they finished. She gave a glance to the sleeping Ryan and back to Amy.

"Do we wake him up when the food's ready?" She questioned. Amy laughed.

"Yes, unless you feel like facing imminent slaughter. A hungry Ryan isn't a happy Ryan" She chimed, watching the water boil. Arme thought of telling her a that watched pot never boiled, but didn't bother. After all, in all reality a watched pot boils just as quickly as an unwatched pot, She thought with a laugh, smiling at Amy's determined face.

"It should be just about done now." She commented after a few minutes. Amy nodded, looking over at Ryan and poking him.

"Food's almost ready!" The orange haired boy shot up at the mention of food, turning to look eagerly at the pot. When the food was finished it was distributed quickly, a near violent fight over who got more or less. The purple haired girl looked at her plate; she had gotten too much. She almost offered it up, but her mind quickly fell on the silver haired boy. The pot was entirely empty, not a drop left. She ate her portion of the food, restarted the fire, and silently slipped off into the darkness in the direction of the woods.

"Lass! Where are you?!" She yelled, the dark woods around providing no answer. She had entered the woods a few minutes ago, determined the assassin would be a simple target to find. She was now realizing, with nothing but darkness and foliage around her, that this was untrue. It wasn't the only problem she had; she was also now completely and utterly lost. She let out a sigh, continuing to walk forward. At this point she would either find him or die alone and completely lost, and staying in one place would more likely result in the latter. She gave a frustrated sigh, no sight of blue or silver anywhere.

"Lass! Get down here!" She yelled again, to more silence. The unending trees and seemingly morphing paths were confusing and frustrating her more and more as she kept walking.

"Lass, I swear if you don't get down here right now you and your stupid grey hair aren't getting any dinner!" She called frustratedly. The darkness only seemed to deepen as she looked around the rustling of the leaves getting louder.

"Gah!" She fell backwards as someone landed in front of her, looking at her critically as they grabbed the plate before it could fall to its demise.

"Really? I prefer to think of it as silver." Lass said, looking down at her with an amused expression. She looked up at him incredulously for a second, until she realized he was referring to his hair.

"That wasn't funny, Lass!" She repremanded him miserably, brushing herself off as she stood up to look at him. He handed an empty plate back to her and for a moment Arme just stared, amazed at how quickly he'd cleaned the plate.

"Did no one tell you you'd get lost in here?" He questioned. Arme blushed and didn't respond, her eyes downcast as she remembered Ryan's warning.

"I'll take that as a yes." He grabbed her wrist, leading her carefully through the trees and around bushes, maneuvering away from the dark and sinister area and closer into the lighted area. They were quickly at the entrance of the forest, the glow of the fire visible further off.

"Head back to the camp now." He told her, releasing her wrist as he turned back to the forest.

"Lass! Why are you sleeping in the forest?" She questioned. Lass shrugged.

"I don't enjoy other people near me when I sleep." He jumped into one of the trees, disappearing before she could question anything else.

A/N: Zomg they're actually moving! Dx this chapter involved a discussion on how to cook lobsters and crabs~ how fun~! Nothing other to say than please review! and lol, Lass in a tree =D

As usual, any questions, comments, concerns, and flames should be sent via review =3

-Utsuro