It's hard to write during the summer! Not because of work, or inconvenience, but something else! When I need to write for my readers, it's like there's this force holding me down! Gravity? No. Laziness.

Anyway, I'm trying to update all stories every two weeks, because I have some foolish notion that writing four stories at one time is a good idea. That being said, I don't know why I force myself to write four stories at once… I just can't help myself when I think of a new idea. I just barely kept myself from beginning work on a Street Fighter fic, because I had a great idea for Juri.

But anyway, I've whittled down everything I have down to the important stories, so I at least have priorities. I had plenty of time to make this a longer chapter, so go ahead and enjoy it for what it is.

"This cannot possibly be the best you can do."

Cyril wanted to tell Amy that this grassy knoll was in fact the best he could do in terms of finding a place to rest. It was away from the road, it wasn't covered in beetles or anything; and although it was exposed to the sky, the weather was very fair and temperate.

"This is probably the best place anywhere nearby. Besides, the grass is actually quite soft."

"The problem with this situation is that you expect me to sleep on grass. The quality of that grass is irrelevant."

Cyril rolled his eyes as he found the spot he would spend most of his sleepless night. "Listen Amy; you came after me remember? I didn't promise any high levels of comfort in this journey."

"Regardless, I'm still not sleeping here."

Cyril couldn't help but wonder if all women were this difficult. Talim had been the only girl he had met so far that wasn't a pain in one way or another.

"Well then feel free to stand for the whole night. It won't cause me any harm. Why didn't you bring a bedroll or something?"

"…I forgot. It slipped my mind during my preparations."

"…"

"…"

"Good luck with that, then. On the bright side, at least it shouldn't rain."

"Princess Hilde, I know that you are vehemently opposed to the idea, but perhaps we should return to Wolfkrone…"

It was hard for Hilde to think of a counter to that suggestion over the cacophonous beating of the rain on the tent canvas that covered herself and her lieutenants.

She was well aware that their rations were already half depleted. She was well aware that the morale of her troops was dangerously low. And she was well aware that this accursed storm was not going to end any time soon. But returning to the castle without accomplishing a single thing was a major blow to her pride.

The Wolfkrone column had made no progress whatsoever towards Ostreihnsburg since the field of swampland had stopped them cold. Needless to say, several days stuck in this miserable weather was driving the troops crazy.

"Hmph… Luana is never going to let me live this down… I understand that our situation is less than ideal, Gerhilde. I just hate the idea of being defeated by the weather."

"Princess, nature is one of the most powerful forces on earth. Second only to the Spirit Swords, I would imagine. There is no shame in retreating from the elements."

It was hard to argue with nature's fury, but despite that undeniable truth, it could definitely be said that this downpour should've ended many days ago. Not only had it come out of nowhere, but it had an unusually long span.

Regardless of the storm's origin, it was beating Hilde's troops. She had no choice but to retreat for now, and hope that the storm was affecting Nightmare's fortress as well.

"Ughhh! I hate rain! It's like a way uncool version of snow!"

Caw!

"I'm glad you understand, Archy! Tights doesn't listen to what I say. He should be more like Ciri..."

"…forget I said that."

Caw!

Tira dangled her legs over the edge of the chandelier she rested on, several feet above the floor of Ostreihnsburg's unused dining room. She tended to climb things when she was bored.

She had ditched Pyrrha with some random malfested guard she didn't even know the name of, because she couldn't stand kids. Whenever she got the chance to kill them, they never reacted in an interesting way. It was like they never understood that Tira held their frail little lives in the palm of her hand.

But unfortunately, she couldn't wring Pyrrha's little neck; she was needed alive in order to bring Sophitia here and keep her under control. A dead child would only serve to anger the woman.

"MOMMY!"

"Oh, what the hell?"

Tira used her perch to look down on the empty room below, and watch her unwillingly adopted child rush into the room in panic. "Mommy! Mommy! Where are you?"

Tira would have enjoyed letting the little kid suffer her state of alarm, but the grating sound of her voice outweighed that pleasure. The ex-assassin hopped down from her rest to the stone floor below, and in an excellent show of her agility, landed in a way that didn't even jar her.

The surprise entrance startled Pyrrha though, and the young child fell back onto her rump.

"What do you want?! Why are you yelling so much?"

Pyrrha looked more afraid of her caretaker than usual. "H-h-have you seen my Mommy?"

"Yeah, I'm right here; now what do you want?"

"I want my Mommy!"

"I'm right here!"

"You're not my Mommy! No! You're not!"

Well that was the first time Pyrrha had said that. Tira immediately shifted gears to try and resolve this situation before Pyyrha grew anymore annoying.

"What do you mean? Of course I'm your mommy, Pyrrha! I love you, remember?"

The young Greek let out a little sniff. She was clearly confused. "B-but…Mommy's hair is yellow… and she's a lot bigger than you miss! Right here!"

Pyrrha patted her chest a few times, indicating just where Tira was smaller than Sophitia.

"W-w-what?! Listen you brat, that cow is only bigger than me because she's a whore! Of course a classy virgin like me isn't as large as that sex hog! All she does is sleep around with her husband every night, and I heard somewhere that that kind of thing makes them bigger!"

Tira's rant of A-cup angst was cut off by the familiar gravely tones of Spawn somewhere behind her.

"Real quality parenting there. Why don't you just teach the kid all the words you know? And where the hell did you hear that bullshit? You shouldn't make stuff up just to cover your small-"

"Shut up Tights! I'm the mom here, I can say whatever the fuck I want!"

Ignoring the newest arrival, Tira marched over to the little blonde bundle on the ground and roughly grasped her arm, eliciting a squeal from the child. Tira forced the girl to look into her eyes.

"Listen, you stupid brat! I am your mommy! Not that yellow-haired lady! Me! She doesn't love you! She doesn't want you! Get it?!"

It took a few moments for Pyrrha to respond, but when she did, she seemed sufficiently calmed. "OK! Mommy, I'm hungry! Can we eat something?"

Both Tira and Spawn were surprised that the little child had accepted those words so readily. "Uh… sure… SOLFY! I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE, BUT GET IN HERE AND GET THIS BRAT SOME FOOD!"

Poor Solnholfen, elsewhere in the castle, definitely heard Tira's summons, but he was reluctant to take on the role of babysitter again. Still, he'd come, lest Tira hunted him down later.

"How do you know he heard you?"

"Because if he didn't, I'll forcibly enlarge his ear canals so that he does next time. Now, go find Uncle Solfy, Pyrrha! He'll get you some food!"

Young little Pyrrha nodded enthusiastically, and started to skip off in search of 'Uncle Solfy'. Spawn and Tira watched her leave.

"How the hell did you do that to her? Cryin' one minute and skipping the next… doesn't seem like it'd be that easy to forget your own damn mother."

"Who the hell cares? She's out of my hair, and that's all that matters!"

"And now you don't have to think about how small-"

"Shut up."

What was this new force? Soul Edge had just detected a new presence that was different from the other four that had arrived a few weeks ago. However, it was very close to one of the four powerful signatures in the far west. In fact, the two powers were almost right on top of each other.

But this new arrival felt different to Nightmare. It was still powerful, but nowhere near the level of the other four. It also had a sort of… otherworldly feel to it. Either way, Nightmare was not pleased to have another potential adversary on his hands.

He was already sure that the creature Tira had encountered was one of these unknown entities. The idea of something as powerful as his servant had described being so near to Soul Edge was worrisome. However, according to Tira, there was no evidence of what the creature's goals were.

Currently, it was just an absurdly powerful figure roaming the world. Interestingly enough, the four signatures had grown slightly weaker a short time ago… for unclear reasons. And a massive storm with an unusual aura had spread over the castle yesterday. Most storms did not have signatures that could be detected by Soul Edge, but this one was clearly no normal bout of inclement weather.

There were many things to worry about. Many hindrances to Soul Edge's wishes. But for now, it was difficult to focus on anything other than the two powers in the west, which were so interestingly close to one another.

Xandra's falcon form slowly approached the swirling pattern of shimmering clouds that she had noticed a few minutes earlier. From an aerial point of view, the strange cloud formation was even more intriguing. It almost looked like the same type of vortex that signaled the approach of a Sentinel.

However, Xandra, like all Sentinels, was able to detect the energy signatures of her fellow kind. Whatever this anomaly was, it had nothing to do with Valhalla or The Four. Which only served to make the event that much more interesting.

Xandra focused her sharp avian eyes on the ground below the vortex, expecting some alien visitor to fall from the clouds just like her kind did. But expectations hardly ever matched reality. Instead of a pillar of fire, lightning, air, or ice, there was a blinding flash of light that burned Xandra's beady black eyes.

It was only a brief flash, but the blindness lingered in Xandra's vision, and she tumbled out of the air as she inadvertently reverted back to her humanoid form. She was unable to recover before her metal covered frame smashed through the treetops and thick trunks of the forest below, and landed in the fertile dirt with a massive crash and upheaval of loamy soil.

Xandra rose to her feet and brushed the debris off of her forest green tinted Sentinel armor, only slightly irritated that she had suffered some minuscule physical damage. It was far more terrible that she had accidentally split the trunks of three majestic trees, and caused massive damage to the roots of many others with her impact. She would suffer any harm to herself in order to save nature from such pain.

Xandra quickly regained her bearings, and began to move towards the source of the light that had caused this horrendous tragedy. With the wind literally carrying the mistress that could manipulate it forward, Xandra crossed several yards with every bound she took. Only Chrysaor and other Lightning Sentinels could move faster than she; even the winds couldn't move as fast as the sky's bolts of fury.

Either way, Xandra came within view of her target in under a minute, and surprisingly, there was someone –or something- on the ground below where the mystic clouds had been, which had already dissipated. She silently hid herself behind a large trunk to observe the anomaly.

It was some sort of prone humanoid, wrapped in green clothing and a funny hat. Beside the unknown creature was an intricately designed shield as well as an expertly made blade. Xandra noted all of these details in a split-second, but just as she had decided that she had seen all she could, something strange she hadn't noticed rose out of the bundle of plain green clothing. Something small, blue, and…glowing?

An unusual orb of glowing blue light floated above the prone and most likely unconscious visitor. It darted to and fro over the other, as if worried or anxious. Xandra did not know of any kind of animal with these qualities, so she was not sure of what this creature was.

The unknown entity darted around erratically for a few more minutes, but when it was obvious that the alien on the ground was not stirring, the blue orb began to start making large circles around the area, as if it was trying to find out where it was.

As it came slightly closer, Xandra could see that the tiny being had wings. In fact, the Sentinel of Wind thought she could hear a tiny voice emanating from the thing, carried to her ears by the gentle zephyrs of the skies.

"…oh no, oh no… oh dear…"

Xandra decided that it would be best to investigate these strangers, and slowly stepped out from behind one of her beloved trees, ready to kill if need be.

The hovering blue light stopped its circuit as it noticed Xandra's presence. For a few moments, there was silence, broken only by the chirping of birds and other noises of the forest. Xandra stood completely still, waiting to see if the glowing blue creature would flee or come nearer.

Its interest apparently piqued, the tiny winged light did indeed come towards Xandra, but it kept enough distance between them to stay safe. At that point, more silence ensued.

"…"

"…"

Xandra almost considered speaking to the thing, but she was a patient woman who was willing to wait for something to happen.

"…Hey! Hey listen!"

Although that might not have been what she was expecting.

"And what makes you think I'm going to help you? You are my enemy, Schtauffen."

Siegfried rested in a very luxurious lounge chair in the Valentine mansion that resided in London's outskirts. Across from him was a voluptuous alchemist that was none too happy to see him. In fact, she even had her snake sword at the ready, in case Siegfried failed to convince her that they could work towards a common goal.

"I am no longer Nightmare. And I am not the reason your blood is tainted with Soul Edge. Regardless of our sins, we both now have the same objective; destroying the Cursed Sword. I do not see why we can't work towards this together."

"Hmph. You think that will atone for your actions as Nightmare? Only death would be a suitable punishment, and even that would be generous. Besides, why should you need my help? Is that sword proving to be too powerful for you?"

Siegfried would not be goaded into rash action by this woman. He wouldn't be caught off guard either. He was ready to use Soul Calibur if necessary.

"The sword has suffered some sort of debilitating effect recently. Its power is not enough to defeat Soul Edge until the problem can be remedied. I thought you, with your deep knowledge of the world, might be able to do so. I can see that I was mistaken."

Siegfried rose to his feet, pretending to have concluded his business. As he had anticipated, the ploy was successful.

"I did not say that I could not do it. I was just asking why I should. What's in it for me, if I help you now?"

"What more could I give than the destruction of the Cursed Sword?"

"True enough… but I am only doing this as a test of my abilities. We are not friends, or even allies. Now if you're ready to get started with this, lug that massive thing this way; I'm not carrying that thing to the laboratory."

"C'mon, you can't actually stand like that all night. You won't be able to walk tomorrow if you do."

Amy cast an irritable look towards the Sentinel that spoke to her. "I'm not sleeping in the dirt."

"This is hardly the time to worry about some petty self-image, Amy. You're really going to regret this in the morning."

"Dignity is beside the point! I refuse to sleep here for no other reason beyond cleanliness! Who knows what type of diabolical creatures live in that filth…"

Cyril wondered why he accepted companions at all. It was really nothing but a burden. However, he was more than willing to suffer a bit if it meant he could be with someone.

"Oh… Amy, you aren't scared of bugs, are you?"

The redhead crossed her arms. "Don't be ridiculous. I am not afraid of insects. I am merely displeased with their existence."

Cyril looked around him until he located a beetle crawling between the blades of grass he rested on. He cupped the tiny creature in his hand and prepared for lots of shrieking or a flurry of punches.

"Amy, think fast."

Cyril tossed the insect in a gentle arc towards his target, who had yet to acknowledge the threat to her person. But despite her lack of awareness, Amy definitely noticed the bug when it landed on the furry hem of her outfit.

"E-e-eh… EEEEEKKK!"

The young French girl swatted the hated animal off of her and closed the distance between herself and the offender with extreme speed.

"Aw, c'mon Amy, that kind of beetle doesn't bite-!"

Cyril's would-be apology was cut off by a boot to the face, which hurt a lot more than a young girl like Amy should have been able to cause.

"You bastard! You were fully aware of what I meant by that! I hate bugs! Why would you do that to me!?"

Cyril rubbed the side of his face as he shook the stars out of his eyes. "Ow… I was just trying to get you to loosen up. That's the most emotion you've shown yet. Although it was definitely negative for me…"

"Shut up and lay down! Since you thought it was necessary to do that, I'm sleeping on top of you! You can taste the dirt, since you like it so much!"

Cyril did as he was told and pressed his back against the ground. "All right, fine by me."

Amy scowled at the Sentinel. "Not like that, you pedophile. Roll over."

"Come now, I don't think you sleeping on my back is a good idea…"

"Hurry up! I'm tired and I want to sleep already!"

"Wouldn't it be better to sleep in my lap or something?"

"I refuse to do anything that may be remotely pleasing for you. So give me your back for a bed!"

Cyril decided that further argument would get him nowhere, and he mentally acknowledged how strange it was that Tira had been more open to his ideas than Amy was.

"Alright, alright, but I get the feeling that someone is going to be very mad about this…"

"Master Raphael? Are you getting those strange vibes again? You look very pale."

Raphael and his three servants had finally made their way into a village on their way towards Germany, but since no inn was good enough for the noble, he had bought the mayor's home as his residence until the next day.

It was still monumentally sub-par to his castle of course, but it was still better than any of the peasant's flea-ridden beds. But that was the least of his worries. His fatherly instincts were tingling, and he knew that Amy was in danger somehow. Maybe not physically… but he knew that some aspect of his daughter's character was being broken down. He could feel it!

"Maybe it's just something you ate, Master. It's probably just like phantom pains… but uh… mental."

Raphael swirled his cape dramatically to face Marienbard, the green haired scythe wielding maid.

"You dare suggest that my flawless intuition could possibly be mistaken!? Especially when it comes to my own daughter!?"

"N-n-no! Of course not, Master Raphael! Mistress Sorel must surely be in jeopardy, as you say! S-should we return to the castle?"

Raphael paced in the mayor's old room worriedly. "It would take weeks to return to my darling, unless… Auguste! You have a week to return to Wallachia and check up on Amy, then return here! It'll probably require you to sprint at top speed the entire way and back, with no breaks or possible stops!"

The wolf-headed man probably blanched, but nobody could see it. "M-master Raphael… that doesn't seem physically possible…"

"Defying me will result in your painful demise!"

Auguste dashed out the door without a second thought. He'd need all the time he could get in order to save himself from his Master's wrath.

"Hey! Listen! Listen to me!"

Xandra was a very patient woman, especially with animals, but this… thing… had the annoying human quality of speech. In fact, it seemed to speak more than most children did.

"Calm yourself, child of the Mother. I will listen, but you must answer my inquiries first."

The tiny blue thing said nothing, but vibrated intensely. Xandra took this as a go ahead.

"Firstly, what manner of animal are you? I have never seen the likes of your kind in my beloved world."

"I'm a fairy, obviously! Every Hylian gets one, how could you not know what I am?!"

The word fairy was nothing new to Demeter's Sentinel, but she had only ever related the creatures to mythology. Hylian was also a foreign word to her.

"What is this 'Hylian' that you speak of? You speak of it as though it was another species in my land, yet I have not heard of it."

"Oh my, oh my, you are very uneducated miss! Hylians are natives of Hyrule, of course! It's the most beautiful and amazing and gorgeous realm-!"

Xandra cut off the 'fairy' before it began ranting. "Silence, tiny one. I have not heard of this 'Hyrule'. What direction is it from here? Across the Eastern sea? Or south of this uncharted land?"

"Err… never you mind! But hey, listen! Link might be hurt! You should check on him! C'mon, help me!"

Xandra wondered if this tiny fairy ever stopped to think that strangers would have no idea what it was talking about. But she didn't have time to point that out as the little flier darted back towards the prone body it had arrived with. Although interfering in this situation would most likely be a waste of time, the Catalyst would most likely be related to unusual occurrences… such as green-clad men appearing in a flash of light.

The Sentinel guardian of nature followed the fairy towards its companion, more than ready to kill the unknown humanoid if she had to; or if she wanted to.

Not wanting to dirty herself with a human, Xandra used her metal-tipped boots to nudge the man below her into a position that exposed his features. A head-to-toe analysis of the figure served to show that there was nothing too terribly unique about him.

He had a strong build, slightly above average height, somewhat handsome features… the only thing that really pulled on Xandra's attention was the man's ears, which were elongated and pointed. However, while this was interesting, Xandra was not astonished or even slightly shocked. Unlike most of society in the world today, the existence of elves was no secret to the residents of Valhalla, who were far more aware of the earth's secrets.

"Where did you and your elven comrade come from, fairy? Do his kind reside somewhere within these forests?"

Xandra couldn't see the fairy's facial expression (she didn't even know if the creature possessed a face), but its tone of voice sounded confused.

"Elven? What is that? My comrade is Hylian, not whatever this elven thing is!"

"His ears are pointed. That is a characteristic that is only possessed by that species. I will assume that the species is the same, but since his kind is separated from most of the populated world, you have a different name for his species."

The glowing blue fairy's wings increased in its speed. "No, no, no! There are no 'elves' in Hyrule! That's where we are from, and there are only Hylians! Well, there are a bunch of other things, but no elves! Nope!"

Xandra wondered if she was just wasting her time with this situation. These two strangers had earned her irritation; because of them, some small amount of nature's beauty had been scarred. That was more than enough reason for her to rip them both to shreds with a twister. Or her clawed gauntlets, since a twister could cause harm to the Mother in this area.

However… locating the Catalyst in this massive expanse of woods would take forever, and Xandra was far more likely to find a clue to her goal by investigating this rare occurrence than by aimlessly wandering the wilderness.

""Your friend; whatever he may be, has severely depleted energy reserves. He will most likely be unconscious for several days, unless we find a place where I may assist in a rapid recovery. We will take this course of action so that I may question this man about his origins. Your opinion on this matter will not change the outcome. Now, fairy; do you have a name with which I may address you?"

"Somehow I knew this would be happening…"

Taki rested on the edge of an Oriental building as she looked down on the scene below. She knew Mitsurugi was the kind of man who was always picking fights, but could he at least refrain from dueling in the streets? And with Setsuka, no less…

At least the display of swordsmanship between the two made for an interesting match. Taki only needed Setsuka alive, so she would not mind if Mitsurugi was killed here… (in fact, she would definitely appreciate it). For now, the experienced kunocihi was content to watch the clash of blades below, and silently cheer on the western Geisha that she needed to speak to.

The battle was at a standstill for nearly an hour; it was flashy, skillful, and incredibly intense, but neither Mitsurugi or Setsuka even scratched each other; although Taki's expert eyes did catch a small patch of Setsuka's beloved kimono being removed from the rest of the outfit. No doubt she would be very angry about that, when she noticed it later. She always noticed damage to her beautiful kimono.

Regardless of damage to aesthetics, neither duelist made much headway. But Taki had plenty of experience fighting against Mitsurugi, and she knew that even Setsuka's hate for the man couldn't keep her going against the samurai's iron willpower. If it came down to a contest of stamina, there was no way Setsuka would win. Even Taki's intense training couldn't last against Mitsurugi's insane drive to defeat all foes.

The clash of blades continued for another half-hour, but with each passing minute, Mitsurugi's lethal edge came ever closer to Setsuka's flawless skin. If Setsuka was going to make it out of this alive, Taki would have to intervene soon…

The battle below finally took a quick and drastic turn for the worse. With one last swing of Shishi-Oh, Mitsurugi disarmed Setuska and knocked her back. She was completely at his mercy.

Taki reacted to the situation quickly. She positioned herself for a leap that would land her in-between the two opponents, and hopefully give her a chance to spirit Setsuka out of danger. But before the ninja could perform said maneuver, Mitsurugi withdrew his blade and sheathed it. What one could consider a blessing, but also an extreme insult…

"You aren't worth the effort. The blood of an opponent so weak would only stain my blade!"

Setsuka's face filled with anger as well as defeat. "Y-you… how dare you! Not only have you slain my master, but now you insult his very memory by refusing to finish me?!"

Mitsurugi began to turn away. "Hmph. If you feel so insulted, then challenge me again when you have become a worthy opponent! There's no need to worry; I won't kill you until you have become an opponent worth fighting."

The samurai then quickly left the area, Setsuka's baleful gaze followinghim until he was out of sight, but her fatigued body didn't have the strength to follow him. Once he disappeared, the blonde woman hung her head in shame.

"Master… how could I have failed you again?"

"You should consider yourself lucky; he doesn't spare too many opponents."

Setsuka turned her head to face the unexpected visitor in purple tights. "Ah… you are the one who has faced him in combat many times before, yes? Kunoichi… Tagi, is it?"

"Taki, Setsuka-San. I did not expect you to know of me."

"Who in Japan has not heard of the exploits of the famed Demon Slayer?"

Taki frowned. "I must be doing a poor job as a ninja if everyone knows about me…"

"No need to worry about that. You are more of a legend than a confirmed person. I know slightly more about you because I have studied that man in hopes of defeating him. I tried so hard, yet all I have done is fail."

"You should think of this as a blessing. If he had killed you, there would be no chance to redeem yourself from defeat. At least like this, you can mold yourself into a more powerful warrior, and return for a second chance."

Setsuka retrieved her blade from the ground and slowly rose to her feet. "That is very wise, Taki-sama. So… may I ask why you have sought me out?"

"I require the assistance of an experienced and determined warrior in a… 'situation' I have never encountered before. I imagine it will also give you chance to hone your skills to an even further extent."

"What will this partnership require?"

"There will likely be a good bit of traveling. To what distance, I myself do not know. There may also be danger to ourselves, but I do believe you can handle yourself; Setsuka-san?"

Setsuka mulled over the idea for a few minutes. There was no point in retreating to Jyukudai and training in solitude. That was what she had just tried, and Mitsurugi had defeated her. If she went with Taki, who no doubt had noble goals in mind, she would be able to experience new types of training. And perhaps the kunocihi with so much experience fighting Setsuka's nemesis would be able to give her some special pointers?

Having come to those two conclusions, Setsuka had a clear answer. "I would be honored to assist you in what is no doubt an important task, Taki-Sama."

"Excellent. You may also drop the titles. I was never much for societal convention. I also don't think I'm in a position to be called 'sama' anyway. Now come along, we'll need to begin as soon as possible."

Despite the lack of need for rest, Cyril was sure that he wouldn't have been able to if he did. He could just barely see the sun rising from the edge of his vision, because his face was mostly buried in the ground.

He was in an incredibly awkward position. He was on his stomach, trying to be flat as a board, and Amy was on his back, trying to keep every part of her person off of the ground. So there was a grown man and young teen girl on top of knoll, lying back-to-back on the ground. Lord knows what anyone who saw such a strange sight would have thought.

"…Amy?"

"…what?"

"…you didn't actually sleep any, did you?"

"…your back isn't very soft."

"…probably because it's mostly bone. Anyway, we need to get moving."

Amy's silence lasted slightly longer this time. "…can we just rest a little longer?"

"No, I really need to move ahead… listen, I'll carry you, so you can actually get a little sleep, alright?"

Amy rolled off of Cyril's back, which was cramped to kingdom come. Cyril did his best to stretch it out as he gathered up Amy's bag.

"You were really loose last night. I didn't know you had that kind of emotion in you."

"I was tired… and I really hate bugs."

Cyril placed the girl on his back the same way he had Tira a few weeks ago. "If you say so. Anyway, our… well, my goal… is a ways off… pretty far East of here. Feel free to sleep for as long as you want."

Amy's eyes were already closed, and she had already nestled into Cyril's neck; something she would never do if she weren't so sleepy. But she wasn't quite asleep yet.

"I do believe… you meant what you said the first time. 'Our' goal."

"Our?"

"I'm traveling with you, aren't I? My only wish right now is to experience the world… I'd might as well tag along with someone. That makes your goal my goal… for now…"

Amy loosed a yawn that was somehow really cute. Cyril didn't even know how a yawn could be cute, but whatever.

"Mmm…try not to jostle me around or anything…"

"Sure… sleep tight back there."

Theron, ice blue Sentinel of Artemis, trudged along the frozen tundra of the uninhabited frozen wasteland of the far south of the world. He had yet to see anything useful whatsoever. Just snow and ice everywhere.

However, he had found an unusual species of black and white bird things that were most fascinating. They made funny noises and did the exact opposite actions that most birds did. Something about these weird things was quite interesting.

Far more interesting than searching an empty tundra for some unknown object at any rate… he supposed boring places suited his personality though.

"Mommy! Can I have some milk?"

"Yeah, whatever sure- Whoa! Hey, stop that! No! Bad midget human thing! Bad! You don't like my breasts, remember?! Get off of me!"

I think this is the only chapter I've written besides the COD one that nears 6,000 words. I also feel like I trolled you guys by having Link unable to speak for this whole chapter.