I would like to give a special thank you to the people who have so far reviewed and favorite this story. Zeshaika, Villain84 Beta 01 and Somewhatdecentpenname. I have procrastinated since school started out(That and the premiere of the fantastic To Boldly Flee!) but I'm here and ready for a special chapter for ya!

For those that are confused. Pondawen is just a land, Enternam is the entire country our characters live in. It's like pondawen is a state to Enternam being America if it makes it any clearer. Oh also, I know it's a bit lazy but Spoony not having a horse would bring in a couple of characters in easier. And in tribute to Spoony's old D&D character, Tandem, one of my lands is named after him ;)

Enjoy!

XXX

It was morning. Spoony observed the lovely sunrise begrudgingly, mostly because he had many things on his mind. For one, the hunter, Nostalgia Critic, to him he felt he was of no use. Why come to this journey if you had little skill to prepare yourself for dangerous animals? On top of that, Linkara could've tried to find spoony himself, and allow the both of them to work alongside each other. Just like old times. Spoony sighed then, realizing that those old times were supposedly abandoned, due to his own problems. Spoony left his life behind for the two years for a good reason. If he did it for nothing at all, that basically betrayed everything the assassin stood for. Spoony had his own inner demon and the reuniting he had last night with Linkara, although good, did not settle the conflicts.

"I see you are alone. Again" Linkara's voice rang, with just a hint of sarcasm and bitterness

Spoony turned and chuckled "Says the man who spent his training years to go to a whole different country to study even more than he needed to"

"Unlike you I intend to use my skills wisely" Linkara snapped, clearly not in a gaming mood

Spoony frowned, knowing exactly why Linkara was acting this way. He was upset. Linkara was very happy to see him but on the other hand, Linkara wanted things to get off his chest, the poor wizard couldn't do it in front of Critic, for it would be inappropriate. Now that Critic went off to hunt for breakfast, they were alone, and although spoony did not want to talk about it, he would have to, in order to settle his past conflicts with his oldest friend.

"Why did you leave?" Linkara replied after the silence finally settled in. He asked the question only to get the conversation flowing

"You know exactly why" Spoony mumbled, turning to not face Linkara, for he felt uncomfortable doing so.

"Yes, I know. I know the reasons of your departure. I only want to know why you did it without keeping contact with me. I could of stayed in contact with you-" Linkara was interrupted by Spoony punching the ground. Spoony got up and stare annoyed at Linkara, but Linkara did not care, he would settle this problem.

He only said the previous things to get spoony's attention and now that he did, he would get to the main focus of why he was talking "Spoony. Listen to me. You did what you did to end his suffering"

Spoony jabbed his finger at Linkara's chest "What I did I never should of done. I was not paid nor did I have any desire to do what I did. I could of retrieved medical attention for him"

"He would of died anyway spoony, he does not hate you, in fact he himself wanted you to do it" Linkara replied

"He was coughing up blood! You do not know a damn thing!" Spoony snapped, eyes blazing

Spoony then fell silent and sat back down by the tree, leaning his back against it, not even showing his face to Linkara, who's own face was filled with hurt. Spoony replied, keeping some guilt in "I killed him Linkara. He was the one who taught me the ways of what I am now, and I killed him in cold-blood"

"No you didn't. He did. The one we are looking for is the one we must battle again" Linkara replied, trying to assure spoony. He even walked over to the man, sat down beside him and held his shoulder

Spoony did not flinch nor push it away, Spoony just stared at the horizon. He breathed a bit before replying "Linkara. Were you certain there was no way I could of saved him or your magic restoring him?"

"No. My magic would of made it worse, due to… His influence already in his body" Linkara spat out, angry about the conversation direction, while taking his hand off of spoony' s shoulder.

Spoony turned and replied sadly, almost like a child "I… I cannot fix my mistakes. I cannot forgive myself even if you have. I only left because I did not want to have the chance of one day having to do the same to you. I did not want to put myself in the position of ending your life in a battle"

"You will never have that chance. I am powerful enough to withstand malachite which is why I fight him. I cannot do it alone but I can do my part within this fight. I am not asking for you to forget, I am asking you to not leave me once this is finished" Linkara replied. Linkara was calmer now and even though their argument was fresh, Linkara still wanted Spoony to be alongside him as his friend.

Spoony turned and rubbed his face, revealing that he had some stress on his shoulders that he was slowly starting to release. Spoony replied "I will think about it"

Linkara nodded, not wanting to press further but then the two men turned to see a loud neighing sound. They saw Nostalgia Critic with Casper and a dead animal for their breakfast.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting" Critic replied calmly

"Well hunter. You showed up in good time. I was questioning your abilities" Spoony smirked, amused again, mostly because the critic had a particular thing about him that caused him to feel amused

"Question no more Spoony. I brought you something" Critic replied, smirking back, aware of the metaphorical game Spoony was playing. Critic got out the dead deer and showed it to Spoony before remaking the fire.

Linkara made a very slight face of uncertainty, the wizard shook his head "No thank you. I am not hungry"

"Why? You feel it hurts the feelings of the deer?" Spoony joked to Linkara

Linkara made a unamused look to Spoony "You act as if you do not know me at all. I simply do not eat meat sometimes. I respect the nature around us"

Critic chuckled, as he commenced cooking the deer some more "More for The Bard and I"

Linkara rolled his eyes and went to check on his horse. Critic then realized something "Spoony? Do you have a horse?"

"I do not" Spoony replied, taking a bite out of his food after stating that fact. He turned to the forest replying "My last one got attacked by a wild beast not too long ago so I require a new one"

"Perfect" Critic replied sarcastically "We shall have to find the nearest town and get you a horse"

"I shall pay for myself a horse, I may have stayed into hiding, but I saved my earnings" Spoony retorted back

Critic looked shocked then saw spoony grab out a pouch and dangle it in front of Critic's face, as if teasing him some more. Critic huffed a bit, mostly because of Spoony yet again showing him off in some way. Linkara watched, admittedly amused with the small conversation. Linkara then got on his horse and replied "I hate to interrupt but we need to hurry"

"You are forgiven" Critic retorted, finishing his food, then quickly going onto Casper. Spoony chuckled and went onto Linkara's horse, going behind Linkara. Linkara then clicked his horse to go with Critic following

XXXXXXX

The nearest village was quite small. Almost abandoned. There were not very much people there at all. There were people there to still consider this a village, and there were a few buildings to prove that so Linkara and Spoony despite the population kept their hoods on to avoid suspicion. Critic had no hood and never found hoods useful anyway. He just kept Casper on track and Linkara kept his horse walking until they would go to the nearest place they could rest.

This town although small, had a farm where horses could be paid for. Many villages relied on horseback to travel hence farms were popular for horse-breeding. Linkara and Critic eventually found the farm and tied their horses up just to chat with the owner to buy a horse for spoony.

"Greetings strangers. What can I do you for?" The owner was seemingly nice but his crooked smile gave a sense of greed and manipulation. Linkara sensed this and kept his voice low "We are traveling to Tandem. My friend's horse gotten attacked and can ride no more"

"Ah obviously you need one of mine! Come this way!" The owner responded going further into the barn.

Linkara followed as did Spoony but Critic stayed behind to keep an eye on the horses they already had. Critic felt the need to keep an eye on his things, he did not trust anyone here as small as it was.