^^; I'M SORRY I TOOK FOREVER TO GET THIS UP! I blame school, and work, and track, and SCHOOL . . . Don't worry, I'm almost done, so I should be updating faster (I hope . . .) anyways, here's the next chapter for you! Enjoy!~~~~

Time moved on and on, ever slowly as could be in Araluen. Even so, there had been a bit of excitement when Rangers Halt and Gilan had appeared with half a cavalry on their tails some weeks ago. However, now the excitement of this had dulled down to nothing, and seeing the mounted men in their oddly designed uniforms was something regular to the people around Castle Araluen. The men were actually well liked by the inhabitants of Castle Araluen.

As one tavern owner put it:

" They are more well behaved then most of the travelers that come by Castle Araluen and certainly were a lot more friendly."

Most of the men stuck together in groups of two or three followed around by a few men at arms or knights from Araluen to keep them out of trouble. Not that they were looking for trouble at this point. There trip had been a long and traitorous one. They were not going to make enemies with the people that were helping them tend to their wounded or giving them food to eat and a place to rest. Urosia took the offer for help and rest eagerly after being trapped. His surrender had been inevitable at that point. It would've been foolish for him to keep pushing his men as he had been anyways.

All of them would be dead if not for this generous offer made to them.

Aaron and her Master were given great care as well. Aaron had passed out for a few days from her injuries and just general exhaustion. Some of the wounds would leave scars and others would certainly hurt a great deal, but none were life threatening.

Although, her right arm seemed to be a different story. The doctors said her arm would never fully heal. From what she did to her arm from her tree jumping adventures and then putting as much strain as she did on the arm when it wasn't fully healed damaged it beyond any body's ability to heal it. There was simply nothing they could do for the arm either. Still, even if stiffly, she could still use the arm.

As for her master, he was a case to worry about. His injuries were horrible. Wounds were infected from lack of treatment, and his body lacked the ability to heal him because it also lacked a great deal of nourishment. Which brings up the worse part of his condition. He was thin, very thin, well, way too thin, actually. His bones were easy to see through his skin, his rib cage very predominate when he stretched in any direction except downward. It was absolutely ghastly to see.

Perhaps it was a good thing that Aaron and her master were apart to recover until just today. They'd organized a little meeting for everyone. Everyone being Aaron, her Master, Halt, Will, Gilan, Crowley, and Urosia. Well, certainly Urosia deserved to know what this whole thing was about, considering now that Aaron's Master was there to tell the message to his two old friends. They would all meet in Crowley's quarters, since he was the only one who actually had a private place where they could talk in peace without being interrupted. Will, Gilan, and Aaron had met up earlier to hang out before going up to the meeting.

Aaron seemed in great health at this point, though she had a significant limp on her left foot and her arm was back up in a sling. Other then a few visible bruises on the clothes that a nice Araleun inhabitant had lent to her while she stayed around Castle Araleun. She was a lovely older woman who tried to get Aaron to dress like a girl. Her attempts were in vain, however, Aaron simply refused to do it. Sighing, the women had given her some of her late son's old clothes she had held onto for safe keeping.

" Really, Aaron," she said only a few hours before when Gilan and Will had come to meet up with her," you would absolutly beautiful if only you dressed like a girl." Aaron had let out a laugh in reply to the woman's suggestion, however.

" Yes, well, I know a few people who would have heart attacks if I ever dressed remotely like the girl I am." She continued to laugh as the woman scowled at her, frowning. " I appreciate what you're saying, Sarah, but I'm more then happy with the way I look now."
With another sigh at Aaron, Sarah gave a smile and shook her head. Conceding to Aaron for now, she waved farewell as Aaron walked off with Will and Gilan.

" Where are we supposed to meet those old bastards anyways?" Aaron asked now, glancing around a bit. It must have been getting close time to go meet with them, or that was what she was thinking at this point.

" Crowley's quarters." Gilan joked, only getting a mocking frown from Aaron.

" Load of crap that tells me." she said. Well, Gilan couldn't help but laugh, then began to lead them to their destination. Will laughed too, following after the two of them. After meeting with Aaron under such strained circumstances, it was good to have time just to mess around like friends with her.

" How's your arm doing?" Gilan was asking her. Aaron only gave a grunt and a vague shrug at him.

" Not good, not bad. Only really hurts when I try to move it too much." she was answering, easily, as if this was very old news to them both. Gilan nodded to her.

" Any new movement?" he inquired of her, while Will just watched from the background it seemed. Aaron gave a smile and held up her arm.

" Actually the other day, just after you left, I started testing it out again-" she began to say.

" Not again!" Gilan interjected into it, groaning with frustration.

" - and I was able to hold onto some stuff I couldn't before. I think the doctors over exaggerated my injury. Bet I'll have full use of my arm in a week's time."

" Aaron-"

" Seriously-!" the two of them kept starting sentences and interrupting each other so much that neither was getting a full sentence out of their mouths for half the conversation.

Will was more then a little confused, but seeing them as they were, he decided this was one of those times that he'd rather not know what was going on. Although he wasn't totally sure, but he got the idea that this was one those things it was better off not intruding in on what was going on between the two of them.

After some time was wandering about, they finally found the meeting place. Knocking once, then pausing, then finishing by knocking two times, the three of them waited outside until they heard someone beyond the door.

" Door's open!" was the reply. Giving a shrug, Gilan opened up the door.

In they walking, into a small, confortably furnished room. There were many chairs and places to sit set up for the special occasion. In the center was a low table to set drinks and such on.

The older three men had taken the liberty to break out the wine to sip on even though it was only mid-day. Halt, Crowley, and Aaron's Master were already well settled in, and well is exactly the word to use for it. Aaron's Master was sprawled out across an arm chair, leg dangling off the side of one arm while one arm hung over the back of the chair. Crowley and Halt were sitting comfortably, but not nearly as comfortably as Aaron's Master had made himself.

" Take a seat." Crowley offered them, leisurely. Aaron needed no second invitation.

At a run, she leaped into a chair. That also happened to be the chair her Master was sprawled out on. Yes, she jumped right on top of her Master. Before the man could even react, he had Aaron's weight crushing his chest, forcing the air right out of him. Curling over his gut, he pushed her off of him and sat up in the chair.

" Oi! What the hell's your problem, Dove?" he snapped at her then. Placing her hand on her hip, she scowled the worst Gilan had ever seen her scowl at anybody ever before.

" You're my problem, you stupid bastard!" she snarled right back to him, stepping closer to him. " Do you have any idea the shit you put me through to get here? And now you don't even bother to come visit me! GOD!" She throws her arms around his shoulders in a huge hug. " Almost got myself killed for this stupid message of yours, you know? Then you can't even come visit!" she pulled away, frowning still at him. " You got some nerve, you jackass!"

Aaron's Master froze a moment, then, sighing and smiling, he conceded to her.

" Now, now, don't be like that. This wasn't easy for me either." was his answer to her. He made a wide gesture to indicate his unnatural skinniness. " As you might well have guessed at our first sight here in Araleun. You can imagine that the medical staff is practically forcing food down my throat every hour." Aaron contain a snicker to an evil little grin.

" Sounds to me like your back to normal. It was about time you got rid of that beer belly anyways." she said, thoughtfully, getting a hard glare from her Master now.

" What was that?" he spoke with a bit of warning, and she only laughed a bit, falling back into the arm chair beside the one her Master had occupied to this point. After glaring at her another moment, her Master leaned back against the arm of his chair.

Gilan and Will had taken seats while Aaron and her Master had been talking to one another, watching curiously and glancing at each other and shrugging about things that the two did that they found strange.

Once master and student had leaned back in a similar fashion in the chairs across from each other, Aaron glanced back up at Gilan who had taken up a chair on her other side. He turned his head, a questioning look that Aaron knew at this point. In reply all she did was grin at him.

The past weeks had been very interesting for them. All the time that Gilan had spent with Aaron,the past few weeks since they had found her master all over again had been the weeks she had been the most light hearted he had ever seen from her. For all the time that Gilan had traveled with Aaron there seemed to have been a weight on her shoulders that now, after so long, had finally left her. Since she and appeared much less worried and reminiscent then she had been on the trip. It was a welcome change, though Gilan found he was envious of what how close the two were.

" Now all we're waiting on is that oaf, Urosia." Aaron said, lazily stretching out over the side of her chair before resting again. Despite that they were no longer in pursuit of her, Aaron still had some bad blood with the cavalry leader. She was the brooding sort, and didn't see fit to forgive the man for the time being. Well, he'd also yet to offer an apology to her either, making her more then willing to insult him as she saw fit.

" What oaf are we referring to I wonder?" Aaron froze at the new voice entered into the conversation from behind herself. She kicked herself for not being more attentive to what was going on around herself. Smiling, she looked over her shoulder at Urosia, who looked the best she'd ever seen him since the journey began all those millions of miles ago. His brown curled hair was left with no restraint today, gracing his head gently, clean and well kept. His eyes were a dark and narrow as he glared at Aaron for her comment.

" Well, look who's here?" she greeted him, nervously. It was rather embarrassing being caught talking about him like that once they'd finally stopped fighting each other, even if only for a short time. Now that his face was unmarked by the tirelessness of his journey,
Urosia was actually in his mid-thirties, young for a leader to a cavalry actually.

" Yeah," his voice was thick with sarcasm, " look who's here."

" Good," Crowley broke up the would be fight before it got too far, " now that we're all here, we can get started on what this old stag wants from us." Attention fell on Aaron's Master then, and he sighed, sitting up properly for the explanation.

" Hold on," Aaron began before her master even started to say a word, " I was supposed to find three people. Gray Fox, Black Crow, and Sly Ferret." She looked at her Master. He shrugged at her.

" Yeah, and?" he inquired, not seeing what the problem was.

" If Halt is Gray Fox and Crowley is Black Crow, then who's Sly Ferret?" she asked, clearly not getting why this didn't bother her master that one of the people he'd requested wasn't present. Aaron's master glanced over at Crowley and Halt who both shrugged, wanting to know the answer as much as Aaron did.

" Do you two seriously not remember?" he asked, them, looking more specifically at Halt then at Crowley.

" When the hell did you ever come up with the name Sly Ferret, you Old Stag?" Halt replied to him, bluntly. Crowley only shrugged his shoulders again, opting to keep out of the conversation for the time being. He'd, after all, only become involved at the end of all of this and it was always best to start at the beginning.

Aaron's master pointed . . . right at Gilan!

Gilan about fell over in his chair, it surprised him so much!

" Me?" he exclaimed. He didn't even remember meeting this man before! Well, he'd met Aaron's Master once, but it was one time. How could be possibly remember something from that long ago? Aaron's master broke a grin at Gilan at this time.

" Of coarse." he answered, devilishly, and Aaron gave her master a confused stare, looking him over a minute.

When she looked back at her master, he turned his head, gazing at Gilan. Aaron looked again and then an expression of realization came across her face. Crowley, Halt, and Urosia took to looking too, wondering what it was the master and student were gazing at.

" What?" Gilan asked.

" Nothing," Aaron's master spoke up now, grinning still, " I actually just wanted to see if Crowley, Halt, and Urosia would turn their heads like owls." Both Halt and Crowley turned and slapped him upside the head. However, Aaron and her master began to roar with laughter. They doubled over in their chairs, laughing and flailing all over the place.

" It was the first and only time I met you was when you were still very new. Already, you'd gotten good at moving silently, " Aaron's master explained with a grin at Gilan, " and while I was there you and Aaron went off to play without Halt or I noticing. Worried me sick too, Dove. Ferret was just something I came up with on the spot." he chuckled at the memory too, cheek leaned against the back of his hand as he glanced at Halt then.

" You remember that at all, Fox?" Halt took a moment to think it over until a vague nod finally came from the thoughtful look.

" I do recall something like that happening." it still left him somewhat baffled, but Halt could recall White Stag getting all upset over something during his brief talk that day all those years ago. Aaron's master grinned and waved the matter away.

" If I recall correctly, you seemed fairly distracted by something that day. It doesn't surprise me that you don't remember it very well. " he added a moment later, thoughtfully. " Although, it really gave me quite a scare because you disappeared, Dove. You were still so little, I felt like a horrible parent when you were gone and I didn't even notice. Lucky that you didn't go far or I might have started searching the whole fief to find you."

" Trust me," Halt added," back then he really would've turned the fief inside out to find you." Aaron gave a smile, shaking her head and sighing. Her master was so easily read by these people, and that sounded like him.

" It occurs to me that you nearly did that several times in my earlier memories. Always the worry wort when I went off to go play or something like that." she replied and her master grinned at this.~~~

Well, that's the chapter. Ironically, the chapter is called explanations and I don't really explain anything at all about the story in this chapter. ^^ Awe well! That's life kids! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm glad to see all of these new people checking out this story. THANK YOU ALL READERS! Now please, review! I LOVE 3 LUV REVIEWS! Send me a message! Tell me you like the story or just say hi!