(A/N): So how many of you have read KotH: Eight Months of Boredom? There's a nice little twist in the story that's important to Hardships. So I meant to get this chapter out sooner but I got the idea for another fic. It's a Legend of Dragoon/Dissidia: Final Fantasy crossover titled Legend of Dragoon: The Moonless Child. It's set 3500 years after Legend of Dragoon and has only 7 OCs in it and many FF cameos are planned. There is one FF girl that's part of the main story. I had to end up writing that ship...

Also there's a poll on my profile I'd like you to take.

Chapter 4

Sol sat in the common room of a small town inn peering over his a map that he laid out on the table. Light flickered from the fireplace on the other end of the room, the only light so late at night. Luna and Aqua were upstairs in the room they were sharing as they didn't want to spend money on four separate rooms. Sadly for Sol that meant sharing a room with Terra, who'd gone to up to the room right after eating. It wasn't that he didn't mind sharing a room, it was just something about Terra rubbed Sol the wrong way. He was too confident in his abilities, just like a certain raven haired girl he knew. Both of them were a liability on this mission as far as Sol was concerned. Their recklessness would end up in someone getting hurt and most likely it wouldn't be either of them. He was getting sidetracked thinking about that, right now he needed to find the road that would lead them to the Boreas Mountains as soon as possible. If they wanted to take the safer path over the mountains then they would need as much time as possible before the snow blocked the path. If the weather held they could make it with no problems but Autumn was fast approaching and that meant snow in the higher passes.

There were only a few other people in the inn's common room, a straggler that had just checked in along with a waitress and the inn's owner standing at the desk ready to greet anyone that came in. Sol looked up from his map to find that the waitress was sitting in the chair across from him her chin rested in her hand. The look she was giving him, Sol felt like he was an animal in a cage and the waitress was deciding if she was going to buy him or not, it was an unnerving feeling. Trying to ignore the woman's stares Sol went back to studying the map tracing the road between the town he was in and the next one. If the map was accurate, and it damn well better have been since it cost two gold, than it should only take a day and half walking to get to the next town. From there they could follow the road to the next town but it ran around a valley. There a bridge displayed on the map bunch of Xs marking monster territory surrounded it. It'd save two days cutting through but it'd mean fighting an unknown amount of deadly creatures on the way. They could die or end up taking more time as they tried to hide rather than fight. It was going to have to be a last resort, they couldn't take the chance.

Rolling up the map that showed the southern side of the mountains Sol tried to concentrate on the one that displayed the lands past the mountains to try and find the village that was under attack. According to the reports it was supposed to only a day's travel from the mountains but Sol wasn't finding any town that close. Tired of looking at the maps for the hundredth time since leaving Sol debated just heading upstairs and going to sleep. On the other hand he was finally alone, alone in the sense that no one he knew or was traveling with was in the same room as him. Pulling his bag out from underneath his chair Sol took out the envelope that held his sister's letter. While he hadn't been able to rent his own room like he'd wanted, this was probably going to be the best time he had to read it. Passing his hand over the wax seal Sol magically heated it up enough that he was able to open the envelope without tearing the paper, why use a knife to open letters when you had magic? Taking the letter out Sol noticed that it wasn't folded like a normal letter, proof that it was Mika who had written it. Most people folded a letter in three whereas Mika folded it in half then in half again to get it to fit in the envelope. Before unfolding the letter Sol looked up at the second floor to make sure that none of the others had decided to come out for some reason. Satisfied that no one was coming out Sol unfolded the paper to finally see what his sister had written him.

Dear Brother,

By now you should have noticed that you're carrying around another book. If you haven't noticed then shame on you and check your bag for it. It's about that temple. I had found it on one of my journeys for the Knights and knew that it couldn't just fade away into nothing like so many others had. Thing was, I didn't have the guts to try and go after the treasure within myself. When I found it I was still sending you money to live on and I didn't want to risk you losing the income because I got greedy. Seeing as how you were reading other journals on the subject I figured you'd try to go after the treasure yourself. I'd say it's a foolish quest and that you'll just end up dead but you're done listening to the advice of your older sister I think so I wanted to do what I could to help give you the best possible chance of living. Brother, please reconsider going to the temple. Some of the greatest explorers tried and failed to get in. You're smart but brains isn't everything, you need guts and strength to overcome the challenges you'll face. Brother, I'm sorry for what I did to you and I don't expect you to forgive me but I just need to let you know that you are my younger brother, I love ya, and if you ever need help all you have to do is ask.

On a happier note. I think I'm going to be staying in a town called Vandalia, it's near Artamila, for some time. It's a pretty small town but there's a lot of traffic going through so if you decide you want to send your big sis a letter that'd be the place to send it. Of course you're more than welcome to come and visit. Hope to hear from you.

Your big sis,

Mika

Sol shook his head as he let a small smile show on his face. Even after all these years Mika still refused to call him by his name. She always called him Brother when she talked, or wrote, to him. It was heartwarming that she was worried enough about him to ask him not to go into the Ignis et Glacies temple even though she assumed that he'd be going anyway. Like Mika had said in the letter he was past taking her advice. There was an overwhelming desire to find out what exactly was held in the deepest parts of the chamber. Surely the legends of the weapon's power had been exaggerated over the years. How could one item be able to destroy a city with a single blow, if true then how was it created, could humans even use such a power without destroying themselves in the process? These questions could only be answered in the temple and Sol wasn't going to sit around plagued by these thoughts when he had the opportunity to find out.

Putting the letter back in the envelope, Sol packed up his maps and headed up the stairs. It was pretty late at night and he needed to get to sleep if he was going to be walking all day tomorrow. Sol found Terra fast sleep on one of the beds in the small room. There was just enough space between the two beds for Sol to squeeze in and plop down on the empty bed. There was nothing else in the room other than the two beds, it was the only room available in the town's only inn. Both girls had taken the larger room that had been opened leaving the guys with could only be called an oversized closet. Honestly the size of the room was laughable and it probably once had been a storage room of some sorts before the owner realized that he could slap two beds in and call it a room. If it had been a closet at least the owner had been kind enough to install a window to let the starlight into the room.

Sunlight streamed through the window waking Sol up. Terra was still in his bed sleeping like, well like a rock to put it bluntly. That fit Sol just fine as they didn't plan to leave until mid-morning. If Terra wanted to spend his time sleeping rather than getting ready than it was no skin off Sol's back. After making sure that everything was still in his bag Sol strapped on his sword and headed downstairs to the common room. It was filled with people compared to last night. Most of the tables were filled with guests leaving only the ones farthest away from the fireplace empty. For Sol that was no problem, he didn't want to be disturbed as he at his morning meal. After taking a seat at the table in the corner the inn's waitress came and took his order. Once she was gone Sol did a quick look at the people in the room. Most of the people sitting around were unarmed and appeared to be just normal travelers. Sol tensed when he saw one table one table filled with men in dark blue uniforms. On the shoulder of the uniforms was a white halberd, they were members of the Guardians another mercenary group that considered the Knights their rivals. The Guardians didn't get as much work as the Knights and didn't have the same reputation but they did have some powerful warriors in their ranks. What really set the two groups apart was how the Guardians went about their business. They didn't seem to care about who they hurt or what law they broke so long as they got the job done. Not only that they charged the contractor extra for any fines they got for lawbreaking. Only the desperate and vile members of society used the Guardians. Sadly there was more than enough people like that to keep the Guardians in business.

Taking a look at each of the members as an individual Sol tried to gauge their strength. One of the men was ripped, Strong Arm Alchemist ripped. A large hammer was propped up next to him; his skills had probably been passed down his family's line for generations. Sol moved on to the next guy. He was small and carried a rapier on his waist. A small blade like that was meant to be used by someone with speed, agility, and flexibility. A third member carried a bow and quiver he probably covered the others while they fought whatever creatures they had been assigned to kill. He also had a small dagger strapped to his leg. Looking the last member over Sol saw a large greatsword strapped to her back. It was smaller than Terra's blade but it was still a hefty sword that would take a great amount of strength to swing. The woman's arms were almost as large as the muscled guy's. All in all not a one of them was something to worry about. Each weapon had an easily exploitable weakness that Sol knew either he or Luna would be able to take advantage of. The problem was going to be if they spotted Sol and decided to fight together. Even at a glance he could see that they were used to fighting with one another, they gave off an aura that told Sol they had spent years fighting alongside one another. Even with Luna it would be hard to defeat the four Guardians.

"Yo Bookworm, what you looking at?" Luna asked taking a seat across the table from him. Sol looked over at Luna. He had been concentrating so hard on the Guardians that he hadn't noticed that Luna and Aqua had come down the stairs. Aqua looked like she had been awake for some time and had managed to take the time to brush her hair. Luna looked like she'd just rolled right out of bed and changed clothes. Sol pointed over to the Guardian's table. "Crap, what are they doing in a small town like this?"

"Don't know, just spotted them," Sol answered as quickly and quietly as possible. He didn't want to draw any attention to them. "We need to wake Terra and get out of here now. We can't have a skirmish in the town, we can't spare the time."

"What's wrong with those guys?" Aqua asked quietly, taking the hint that they didn't want to be spotted.

"Rival mercenary group. Did you live under a rock before coming here?" Luna asked. The Guardians and Knight's rivalry was well know.

"Something like that," Aqua answered trying to protect the world order. She couldn't very well come out and say that she wasn't from the world and had no clue of the politics.

"Come on Solaris, we could take them on. Two on four are pretty even odds," Luna smiled wildly like she was already getting ready to fight. Sol rolled his eyes at his partner.

"We don't need to waste our time. Unless you've forgotten there's a town being attacked by a demon and the longer we take the more lives will be lost," Sol tried to appeal to Luna's better nature. Normally once she sensed a fight she did everything in her power to see it through. Thankfully she there was a soft side to the warrior woman. When lives were in danger she would put aside her pride as a warrior and protect those people at all cost, an admirable trait.

"Yeah, you're right. Still wish we could do something to put those four in their place." Luna looked sad as if someone had just destroyed her favorite toy.

"Aqua, Terra's asleep in the room still. Can you go get him? Luna and I will try to sneak out of here without letting the Guardians see us. They'll start a fight with us no questions asked. We'll meet up at the north road." Sol never took his eyes off the four in blue as he spoke.

"Are you sure? If they spot you won't you my help?" Aqua didn't like the looks of the four people and wasn't sure that Sol and Luna would be able to handle them if they were drawn into a fight.

"We'll manage Aqua," Luna assured the bluenette, "Sol may look scrawny but he's got more than enough smarts to outclass those Guardian dimwits."

"Just get Terra," Sol requested ignoring Luna's backhanded compliment.

"I'll try to wake him up as quickly as possible." Aqua got up from the table and headed up to Terra and Sol's room.

Sol slung his bag over his shoulder and stood up. If he wasn't so damn tall he'd be able to use the people to hide him until he reached the door. As it was he'd have to crouch down in order to use the patrons as a shield. Their other option was to simply stride on out and hope they weren't spotted. there was no back door and going up the stairs to use a window wasn't an option, the stairs creaked with practically every step. Ducking down as low as he felt he could while still able to keep a brisk pace Sol started towards the door using the people sitting down as a barrier between him and the four in blue. Luna let out a groan but followed after Sol without any more complaint. If anyone thought it strange that two people were practically crawling out of the inn none of them said a word. All was going well until the waitress stepped on Sol's hand, he was thankful she wasn't in heels. It was just his luck that she didn't seem to notice and was bringing food to the table right next to them. Before Sol could let out a single curse Luna's hand shot over his mouth stopping most of the sound from coming out. It only lasted a few seconds as the waitress had many guests too tend to and time was money but for Sol it was an agonizingly long time.

Nothing else stopped the two mercenaries from getting to the door unspotted. At the last table the made a break for the door and ducked out. Luna's sword clanked against the wood but even if the Guardians had looked over they would have only see the door swinging shut. Now that they were outside and slightly safer Sol looked at his hand. A dark bruise was starting to form on the back. Gingerly rubbing his hand Sol checked to see if anything was broken, it was amazing that all his bones seemed to be intact. Even still he planned on taking a potion as soon as they got out of the city. Luckily enough it wasn't his sword hand so if needed he'd still be able to put up a fight. Glancing over at Luna to make sure that she was indeed behind him Sol motioned with his head towards the north part of town, they headed there to wait for Aqua and Terra.

You know, for Aqua's sake I hope Terra's decent. Sol thought as he walked through the town.

-o-O-o-

Rin sat on the floor in front of her closet with three stacks of books around her. They were each about six high and they were quite thin but Rin had barely made a dent in her collection. Each of the books had descriptions for different types of herbs and how to use them for medicinal purposes. A few of the books were written in her father's hand since he'd had to copy the contents of decaying books. If she was really going to be opening up an apothecary then she would need to reread all the books and make sure that she had all the information committed to memory as best she could. Her three piles sorted the information the information contained within the pages. On her right were books that contained the description and locations of various plant life; the stack to her left was how to use the plants to make various healing tonics. The stack behind her, which were books thrown haphazardly over her shoulder, contained information on the darker uses of herbs, poisons and such. Rin didn't want to make anything that people could use to kill each other only potions that could heal the sick and patch up wounds with miraculous results.

Having always kept a collection of the plants she knew had healing properties Rin only needed to triple her personal stores rather than collect a large amount of herbs. To make quick work of some she could go to town and buy a large quantity. Buying them though would put a hole in her savings that she might need for later. She was a starting a new apothecary and wouldn't have many customers until she got a reputation which meant living off her savings, possibly for a few months. Not only did she need to find a place to get her collection up, she needed to hire someone to build more storage space into her home so there was a place for all the jars. Which reminded her, she also needed to buy a hell of a lot of bottles to put everything in. It was going to be costly work and she might not have enough saved up for everything now that she started to mentally do the math. She had gotten so caught up in the idea that she hadn't fully thought it out. If her father could see her now he'd be so disappointed in his little girl. Rin had definitely learned better than to jump into a business venture so quickly. At this rate she was going to need a partner in order to afford all that she needed. Who could she call on to lend her some money though? If her mother was serious, and she probably was, then she would try to cut Rin out from all contacts so no one would sell her paintings or help her out.

"Hey Rin whatcha doing in here?" Mika just waltzed right into Rin's room without so much as knocking on the door. True the door was open but she still should have had the courtesy to knock. Mika had stayed the night as "payment" for tossing Rin's mother out yesterday, not that Rin had any problems with letting Mika stay in the guest room. It was just better for everyone if there was a reason that she offered her room to the blonde rather than just asking her to stay the night.

Rin looked over her shoulder with every intention of scolding Mika for not knocking on the door. All of her words and annoyance were lost when she got a glimpse of Mika. The mercenary had just gotten out of bed and had the cutest bed hair that Rin had ever seen. It was messed up so perfectly. Not only that but Mika was dressed in shorts and her shirt was completely unbuttoned. Rin turned away fast enough that whiplash may have occurred. She could feel her cheeks heat up as she picked up another book from the pile on floor of her closet. Try as she might Rin couldn't read the words on the page she was so flustered. She hadn't seen anything she shouldn't have but her imagination was running wild with the image of what she had seen. It was all part of being a healthy young woman.

"I'm looking through my old books. I have to relearn everything in them if I'm going to open an apothecary." Rin wasn't sure how she was able to pull it off but she had been able to keep her voice steady. "Mika, I know it's just the two of us in here, but there are windows."

"What? Oh." Mika looked at herself totally unaware that her shirt was open. She lazily took care of the problem. "Thought it was a bit chilly in here."

A bit chilly? That's all she has to say after giving me a heart attack? Rin glared at the pages she held in front of her face. Hmm heart attacks, what do I need to help a person prone to those again? Rin set back to work hoping that her mind would clear once got back to focusing on her sorting her books.

"Anyway that I can help with?" Mika asked scooting the stack of books about locations away as she sat cross legged next to Rin. Handing Mika a book from the closet Rin explained what the three stacks where and they set to work sorting Rin's collection.

"Gods I thought my brother had a lot of books," Mika commented when she reached in to grab another book and noticed the size of Rin's stack. It was a pile thirty high and twelve wide, not counting what Rin had already gone through.

"It only looks like a lot but it's not really. Each one only contains information on five or so plants. Herbalists are very stingy when it comes to parting with information on their potions and tonics. Father knew their importance and only sold them when the shop wasn't doing so great," Rin explained tossing a book behind her. It explained six different ways to use wyvern spit as a catalyst for poisons.

"How did you end up with'em then?" Mika asked staring at the book she had in her hands. It was written in a different language, one Mika knew but hadn't used recent enough to be able to skim the words.

"Father gave them to me for my birthdays over the years. He knew how much I enjoyed learning about all the different ways to bring out the healing properties of plants." Rin clutched the book in her hands tightly. It was one of the first ones she had received from her dad. Written on the first page in her dad's sloppy handwriting was Happy 9th birthday Rin. Now he was cutting her out of the family. Oh sure he may not be the one actively doing anything but he was letting his wife destroy the life his little girl had made for herself. It hurt that he was just sitting back letting this happen, she hadn't heard from him in years and now all the sudden it was "marry of stay out of our lives". Rin felt an arm wrap around her shoulders.

"Hey, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories." Mika smiled as she spoke trying to uplift Rin's spirits.

"You didn't," Rin lied.

"So what'd the book say then?" Mika pointed to the crumpled pages in Rin's hands. Panicked Rin loosened her grip on the pages and did a quick scan to see what the book was talking about. The contents were all plants that Rin had in her storage and knew where to get them already. "You can't pull the wool over my eyes Rin, I'm observant. Comes from dealing with a lot of people. Some of them are crooks and you quickly pick up on visual cues to tell what a person's thinking or feeling."

"I know what you're talking about. Father claimed he could tell how much gold a person was carrying on them just by how they walked." Rin tried to smooth the pages out so they weren't a crinkled mess around the edges but it wasn't working too well, she was still shaking with anger and sadness.

"Well come one, these things aren't going to sort themselves sadly enough." Mika went back to trying to decipher the book she had. Rin nodded in agreement and placed the wrinkled book next to her, she'd try to flatten out later. "Damnit," Mika groaned as she scratched her head, "what's this word mean again?"

"That's the name of the flower Mika," Rin giggled as she peered over Mika's shoulder. The blonde had put her finger under the word to focus her mind on it. Reading the surrounding text Rin was impressed that Mika was able to read it. Her first impression of the woman wasn't one that led her to believe Mika was the type of person to learn more than the commonly used languages. This one was a few centuries dead and people only used it to hide things they didn't want known. Where had Mika picked it up and why did she know it, more importantly how was she able to read it without a translation guide? Even Rin's family needed one to decipher the ancient text.

They spent the next two hours going through the books sorting them into the three piles. At one point Rin had to get up and pull a box out of the closet that held translation texts to decipher a book she'd come across. Mika never seemed to need any of the translators though, whenever she came across a language that Rin would have needed a book to help with she'd just take a bit longer than normal. It made Rin highly curious as to what Mika had been doing as a mercenary that she knew all the languages that she did. Was it something all mercs needed to learn or did Mika just enjoy learning dead languages? As Rin was translating one of the last books it hit her why Mika might know all that she did. She had said that she sent her little brother books at one point, maybe Mika had read them first before sending them home to make sure that she wasn't sending anything bad back to him. Would she really do that though? Mika may seem nice now but who knows what she had been like in her earlier years.

"There we are," Mika tossed the last book behind her. Unfolding her legs she stood up and stretched, her back popping as she did so. "That's the last one."

"Hey Mika, it's not that I don't appreciate the help but what made you sit here for two hours sorting books?" Rin asked as she placed her book in the location pile.

"Cause I was bored. That and I'm evil and going to see if I can guilt you into making me some breakfast now." Mika grinned devilishly as she looked down at Rin.

"I suppose I can do that," Rin sighed holding her hand out. Mika got the hint and helped Rin get onto her feet. Rin was wearing a full length skirt and that made getting up off the floor awkward after sitting down for hours as Rin was basically sitting on her legs. A few seconds of wobbling later Rin was able to walk with no problems and headed into the kitchen to figure out what she was going to make for the both of them. doing chores was always the best time to think too, it'd give Rin an opportunity to think up a person she could ask to go into business with.