Hey! I apologize for the sporadic updates, I lack internet in my room so I have to "borrow" it from some friends! So far I have year 1 almost complete, it's just a matter of posting and editing  Enjoy chapter 5!

Caravan Tale

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One day later though, Lora stood in front of the crossing sign with a queasy look, "Do we really have to camp here Mog?"

Mog nodded his head, "You don't want to cross at night right, kupo?"

Lora turned around and looked back at the caravan, "I suppose not." She let out a heavy sigh, "Out of all the things, I have to be scared of a little miasma crossing, not monsters, not giant crabs…."Lora muttered as she and Mog headed back to sit by the fire where Tobias was preparing dinner.

"You're awfully quiet today." Tobias looked over at Lora who had barely touched her food, "Don't worry I didn't poison it. That's a cheap way to kill someone."

Lora looked up as if she had been in her own little world and tried to laugh at the bad joke as she took another bite of baked apple.

Tobias rested his head on his hand and watched as Lora ate her dinner, 'She's definitely not herself today.' Then he remembered the promise he had made to Mog. 'It has to be something about the miasma streams.' He thought to himself. Tobias stood up and walked over to Lora, "You don't have to finish it if you're not hungry. I'll clean up. Go get some rest."

Lora looked up at him as she handed him her plate. She saw concern in his eyes, but ignored it. She hopped into the wagon for the night and Mog followed. As he cuddled up against her, his warm fuzzy body became a comfort to Lora. She soon drifted off to sleep.

The sunlight of the new day crept into the wagon as Lora prepared for the crossing. When she got out Tobias was already waiting for her with Mog, "You ready?"

Lora held out the chalice, "As ready as I'm going to be."

They headed down the road to the crossing. With each step closer, Lora became more nervous. As she saw the stream a few feet away she stopped and took a deep breath. She suddenly almost jumped half a foot when she felt a weight on her shoulder. She turned to see that it was Tobias's hand, "You sure are edgy. Don't worry it won't take very long." Tobias tried to reassure her. He could see the fear in her eyes as bright as day. He had crossed these streams so many times he couldn't figure out why it upset her so much. Tobias took her hand, "You ready?" he asked her gently.

Lora nodded, she couldn't even answer him properly she was so scared. She tightened her grip on his hand as they walked forward. The force of the miasma was pushing against them but they continued to move forward as best they could. Lora felt as if every breath was being sucked out of her lungs until the crystal on the chalice became stronger and protected the caravan from the force of the miasma.

Tobias's hand felt numb Lora was holding it so tightly. He looked at her. She stared straight ahead; she was entirely focused on the crossing.

Once they finally crossed the stream, Lora felt a bit of relief to see the sun and grass but continued walking as fast as she could until her legs collapsed from under her and she fell to the ground, bringing Tobias to his knees as she still had a tight grip on his hand.

"Lora! It's ok; we're far away from the miasma stream."Tobias didn't know what to say to comfort her, but he was afraid he was going to lose his hand if she didn't let go. Lora sat there and finally let go of his hand, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…" She looked at the ground, she was so embarrassed, where was her brave face now? Tobias shook his hand a little and sat down in front of her, "Don't worry about it. How about we take the rest of the day off?"

Lora looked up at him, "But we need to get to Tida soon!"

"It's only one day Lora." Tobias stood up and stretched, "I don't know about you but I'm in the mood for lunch, how about you?" He held out his hand cautiously to Lora.

"Fine you win." Lora said as she took Tobias's hand and he helped her up.

As the two caravanners ate their meager lunch, Lora finally decided to let Tobias in realizing how much he had put up with her, "My home town was betrayed by the original Cedon caravan."

Tobias looked up surprised at Lora, but kept quiet to see what she would say.

"The leader sent a letter to our village saying to send out a new caravan. That they weren't returning."

Tobias was shocked at this news. He had seen a lot in his travels but all the caravans he had met would never dream of betraying their home like that. Lives depended on the caravans. "That's despicable! How dare they!"

Lora nodded, "That is basically how we all felt. We found out the leader had found a better way to profit elsewhere so he just left. There were only three months left to collect so my father and I were selected to go collect the myrrh. We barely made it in time. We were in such a rush to return once we had enough myrrh we weren't paying very close attention to anything. At our last miasma crossing, my father was too far away from the crystal and a miasma updraft pushed him out of the crystal's protection. I watched helplessly running towards him as he writhed in pain. He was lucky he only sustained one major injury. Because of his injury though, I have to travel alone and he must stay in Cedon and slowly heal."

Tobias nodded and was quiet for a while as Lora finished her meal.

"Is that why you are so afraid of crossing miasma?"Tobias finally asked.

Lora looked down and nodded, "I don't know if I could have crossed today without you." Then she looked at Tobias sincerely, "Thanks."

Tobias was shocked at what he just heard, but decided to keep it light, "Well it's about time you said that!"

Lora laughed with Tobias and her fear greatly subsided. She decided to trust him after all. That day Tobias became someone Lora could call a friend.

That night Tobias entertained Lora and Mog around the fire with tales of his adventures with other caravans. They were all laughing together for hours. Once exhaustion finally hit them, all three knew it was time for rest. Before Lora hopped into the wagon she looked back at Tobias, "Goodnight."

Tobias smiled at her, "Goodnight." He climbed nimbly to the top of the caravan. He sat up and looked at the waning moon. Lora had shared her story to him. He was happy to have a friend again. He just hoped it would last.

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Ooooh! So the Cedon caravan betrayed Cedon! What happened then??? Find out soon enough  Please R&R!