A/N So... after what happened in the finale I decided to step in and keep writing this fic. Beforehand though, there is some aspects of it that I would like to share with all of you who might be willing to read this craziness ^^

I'm going to follow what happened at the end of episode tenth so yes; that means that Amberle will still be the Ellcrys for quite some more time but I promise to get to it when the story arrives at that point. This also means that the storyline about Eretria and pretty much everyone will be based on what I think could be an idea for them to follow so some OC might appear as the story unfolds. For the people that know about the books in which the series is based off I will however not rely heavily on them (since ffnet doesn't allow such things with that particular author) but some characters and places will probably be recognizable for you all. I will also try to stick to series-canon as much as possible but feel free to question or argue with me if you have any doubts!

PS: As stated before I don't plan to follow the book canon and since this is a princess rover story I will of course just broke a few rules about them so all be warned about it.

My Tumblr is shadowdianne in case someone wants to follow me though I must warn you all that I post a lot of SQ fics and drabbles there Xd

And there, sorry for this long-ass explanation, I hope to keep my future notes shorter than this one!

On with the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own the story or the characters here portrayed.

One

The horse stomped the ground as it neighed, the forest surrounding both the beast and the boy giving back the sound as a gloomy echo that made the half-elf's ears to prickle.

"Easy, boy" Wil whispered as he palmed the horse strong neck, his right hand still holding tightly the reins while looking suspiciously at the darkest shadows of the forest around him. He had already been surprised by trolls and he didn't exactly want to be in front of one once again.

Gulping down the uneasy feeling of being exposed in such terrains he pulled the reins slightly at his right, making the horse move slowly to the main path he had been following ever since he left Arborlon's lands. He hadn't had any problems at first and so he had grown confident on how to reach Safehold's quickly once again. However, last time he had done that path it had been Amberle the one who had guide both of their horses back to the Elven city and after hours of trying to find the quickest path using the river that run between the thick tall trees that signaled Elven territory Wil had found himself lost in the arboreal maze.

Sighing and touching briefly the pouch he now had permanently hanging from his neck he found solace feeling the weight and shape of the three stones, the scars that they had left on the palm of his hand still slowly healing under the leather gloves he wore. It had just been a few hours since Amber… since the Ellcrys had been restored but the bloody wound was already itching, which was something that an older wound just would do. It seemed that not only strength could be snatched from the stones and that alone made him nibble his lower lip, the horse keeping moving forward as he did so, its ears trembling from time to time, almost as if it was able to sense something that Wil couldn't.

Letting the pouch fall again against the necklace he always wore the half elf let himself stretch as much as possible on the saddle, feeling the phantom pain on the lower part of his back, muscles and bones protesting for the many hours he had already passed mounting the horse, nightfall already beginning to become apparent on the way the shadows seemed to grow around them, darkness starting to become a nuisance both for him and the horse.

He, however, didn't want to stop so near of what he had learnt in the hard way that was troll territory and thus he kept moving forward, thoughts becoming blurry as tiredness started to take over.

The horse kept moving, the sound of the near river lulling the blond until his grip on the saddle started to falter, his eyes snapping open when he realized how close to fall asleep he actually was.

Looking at the mass of trees he licked his lips and sighed, knowing that sooner or later he would need to stop. Taking into the still agitated state of the horse he focused on its crest. "Just a few more minutes" He promised himself and the beast, seeing that a little bit forward the trees opened up, the troll infested grounds seeming to end at the other side of what appeared to be an old gate barely standing anymore and with a sign at one side he couldn't distinguish but due to the dimming light. It wasn't the easiest place to defend himself in but it would make easier to see them coming.

Touching the pouch at his neck he thought again on how powerless he had been against the trolls at Utopia's border. Gulping down another wave of worry he choose to focus on Eretria, the girl's face haunting him every time he closed his eyes. Amberle's features also came to his mind though, the last time he had seen the girl forever embedded on himself.

Gripping the reigns he felt the anger he had felt towards Allanon come back in full force; the man had lied to them since the beginning, no matter how good his intentions had been and as bile reached from the depths of his, otherwise, empty stomach he felt the sorrow of having failed Amberle as well as Eretria even though he had promised to help them both.

The tiredness of the quick succession of trips he had been forced to do took hold on his mind once again though, making his anger slowly blurry itself, the concern from Eretria's well-being growing on the back of his head, the promise he had made to the girl swirling inside of it.

Just as the horse left behind the last line of trees and started to move towards the other side of the clearing, grey-light the only source he could use to see the path in front of him, he heard the flopping sound of two big wings he had known to recognize not so long before. The horse jumped forward as he squinted his eyes, lips parting as he felt the humid air hitting his face. However, as the silhouette of a roc started to become more obvious just a few meters in front of him the nervousness of the animal grew stronger and even though the half-elf tried to keep the horse as calm as possible, still unsure if the roc truly was Genewen, he soon found that almost impossible.

Suddenly a loud piercing sound could be heard and the horses' ears moved in that direction, the jerky movements it had been doing subsiding almost completely while the roc finally landed in front of Wil, the growing darkness making it impossible at first for the boy to recognize if the animal was being mounted. However, as soon as the dust settled the tall figure of a smiling Perk was evident for the tired eyes of the blond boy.

"Wil?" The elf exclaimed as he took off the glasses he used to shield them to the cold temperatures and winds he was subjected to while flying with Genewen.

"Perk" The blond replied with a smile as the elf boy dismounted the roc, the animal itself doing a sound between a groan and a squeak who made the horse's neck snap at its side, still unnaturally calm though.

"Sorry" The lanky elf said while showing to a frowning Wil what seemed to be a small whistle. The object disappeared quickly in one of the many pockets the boy seemed to have on his clothes. "One of my instructors showed me this trick once, when I saw what seemed to be you I didn't think that my roc could be a problem until Genewen started to scare the horse"

"Don't worry" Wil replied, his fears momentarily forgotten as he came down from the saddle, his legs stretching painfully as he did so. "What are you doing here? I thought you were going back to Olden Moor"

The elf nodded as he touched slowly the horse's skin, the animal's big eye looking briefly at his silhouette as if it didn't know what to expect from him. Smiling and shrugging the wing raider retreated his hand and showed Wil what seemed to be a piece of parchment tightly folded at least half a dozen times.

"We received the news about the battle in Arborlon this same morning" He informed "And I was sent to show our respects to the new king, I was about to rest for the night so I was looking for a spot to land when I saw your horse, my spectacles did the rest"

Wil looked briefly at the glasses Perk had hanging from his neck, the remaining light focusing on them as it died down.

"The ceremony was a quick one" He finally amended, not knowing exactly what to say. He knew that Wing Riders had a problematic relationship with the elven king. That much he could remember from his father's rumbling and for what he had learned in Shady Vale from the occasional travelers that had come to the place.

Perk, however, didn't seem to care about the political situation and nodded once, turning back to look at Genewen who had been until now grooming her feathers with her long beak.

"I'm sure" He replied "And what about you? Did you manage to find your other friend back? Last time I saw you you weren't as near as Arborlon as you are now"

The question made Wil's worry to come back, Amberle's last words coming to him in the form of echoing words that seemed to resound on his brain as they repeated themselves.

"Yes…" He started slowly "We managed to get what we needed on time" At Perk's questioning gaze he sighed and shrugged, the chilly wind that seemed to be growing stronger as time passed making him shudder. "I'm actually trying to find her back though, the human girl"

The idea of calling Eretria "human girl" made him almost wince; the plain description not enough for what Eretria was. Perk seemed about to ask more about it when the roar of some creature rose from the trees that were behind the blonde's a few birds cawing as they fled away, they black silhouettes framing against the much darker than before sky above the two boys.

"How about we find someplace safer to make a camp and you tell me about this?" Perk offered "Perhaps I can help you"

Wil bit his lower lip weighing his options. He really didn't have that many and after a battle with himself he finally realized that it would be better for him to actually eat something and have some rest.

Wait for me

"Lead the way"

Catania closed her eyes as she sighed, the back of her head resting against the Ellcrys, one she refused to call as such as the name of her best friend kept falling from her lips every time she entered inside the place. Which after what had happened with Bandon had been quite a lot.

The light outside was dim and the lights from inside the room that held the magical tree glowed warm against the stony floor, the damages the place had suffered through the battle almost erased now by the ever efficient servants of the castle.

"You would have felt proud of Ander" She talked to the silent room, the bark of the tree at her back almost seeming to thrum at the mention of that name. Almost. "He did wonderfully on the ceremony"

Hugging her knees closer to her body she let the rest of her clothes fell limply at her sides, the loose tunic folding itself around her ankles where her digits crumpled it. "After that there was a banquet" She said, her mouth opening in which Amberle had called more times than she could count her "trademark smirk" "There were those little pastries you used to love so much until you sneaked in the kitchen and ate a bunch of them, remember? You were sick for two days after that…"

Her voice trailed off, eyes opening again, now glazed with tears. Freeing her ankles she sighed, her right hand starting immediately to play with the ring she had on his left one, the silver band moving incessantly as she tried to think on what else to say. Allanon had said that with time Amberle could talk to all of them again very much like the former Ellcrys had done. However Catania feared that she wouldn't be chosen in case that happened, remorse eating her up.

"You always said that I was strong" She finally muttered "And smart" Smiling a tearful smile she kept talking, voice shuddering as it passed through gritted teeth. "But I made a mistake, a mistake that maybe will make that all you have done won't mean anything"

She had thought a lot about what Allanon had said about Bandon back at the cell, what she had known about the boy's condition and there was the nagging feeling that the boy indeed could be a danger, a danger he maybe wasn't even aware of.

"Allanon said that talking to you could help us" She rephrased, changing her thoughts once away, refusing to go there for now. "To make amends of what you did, Ander said that he was going to be here tomorrow… I hope that turning into a king doesn't make him boring"

The joke was lost in the silence that seemed to be wrapped around the Ellcrys' bark, the rustling leaves of the tree the only answer Catania got.

"Wil has also been here before, I don't know if you have noticed" Turning her body the blonde elf eyed the tall tree, waiting perhaps for a reaction. "He has gone though, something about the rover girl… I hope she is okay. For what he told me… She wasn't what she looked like back the day she entered in the palace"

Silence, albeit the wind seemed to get stronger for a second, almost as if the tree higher branches had moved. It was impossible though, a figment of Catania's imagination and the blonde chastised herself for that.

"I really miss you" She murmured while standing, her right hand touching the tree's bark and caressing it. "Chosen will be elected again soon" She added in a whisper, the memory of Amberle begging her to help her to escape the castle haunting her words as she talked "At least is what the Elders are talking about, they always forgot to check those secret doors we found back when we were children"

A secretive smile parted her lips for a second before growing serious once again. "I guess that after what happened with the last ones they will need more time than what they would want though so I guess that until now…"

She turned, unable to finish the sentence. Bandon's face suddenly coming back to her, the boy's eyes pitch black as he told her about how he was losing his mind. Allanon had been cryptic about it but she feared that her best friend wasn't her anymore also.

Magic always came with a price after all.

The door opened under her hands and she casted one last look at the tree before she stepped outside, the two guards at both sides of the gates saluting her briefly with a nod.

No, she thought, she wouldn't think like that.

The fire licked the remaining of the embers that had once been one of the tallest fires Wil had ever done on his life, the blond's throat dry as much as those embers after his murmured explanation to Perk who was looking at him now with wide wide-looking eyes, Genewen at his back, supporting him while she slept soundly.

"Wow" He finally said.

"I know" Wil replied back, eyes never leaving the fire, his hands playing with the stones he had showed to the wing raider a few minutes before. The blue rocks seemed to glow as his thoughts drifted back to Eretria but when he eyed them intently the light seemed to shift, making him shook his head.

"So that… Safehold place" Perk started "Is where you were heading before?"

Wil nodded, looking at Perk enough to see the doubt filling the elf's eyes.

"Wil…" The lanky boy started carefully "If she was in a troll's nest…"

"She is tough" Wil stated firmly "She took care of three trolls right in front of me Perk, I… need to go there, help her"

The wing raider sighed and averted his eyes. Wil gulped down at the sight of the slowly healing flesh around the place the elf's ear had once been. Now that it wasn't caked with mud or leaves he could see that the cut hadn't been as quick as he had originally thought and the pain the other man probably was constantly in made him wince.

Perk seemed to sense that and looked back at him, smiling weakly at him before rising a shoulder, letting it drop after a second of silence.

"It's not as bad as it seems" He provided which Wil didn't believe in the slightest but he let it go. Wounds weren't exactly easy to talk about, he knew as much. Silence stretched from that point though and as the half-elf started to think if it wasn't for the best to go to sleep the other boy talked again, his voice taking a deeper tone as he did.

"In case she is alive… what do you plan to do?"

Wil opened his mouth only to find that he didn't know. Everything had happened really fast; last time the three of them had been together Amberle had been… well, her. He didn't exactly had the correct explanation for Eretria if –when, he corrected himself- the girl asked him about where the elf girl was.

"I don't know" He finally admitted. He still wanted to become a healer thought after everything that had happened he really wasn't as sure as before that that would be his career anymore. Still, Storlock could be a place for him to start over, to maybe even try to find a solution for Amberle's condition. Perhaps he could talk with Eretria and…

And what?

It wasn't like the rover girl to settle in one place, the stubborn brunette would probably want to go back to Arborlon and nag everyone until they found a solution for Amberle. He had said that damned sentence back in the tunnels about the two girls being friends but what he had realized back in the Ellcrys room that morning was that the three of them had indeed become that, and he didn't know how to compute those thoughts. Let alone use them.

"I still need to find her first" He finalized with a nod, trying to look far more sure of himself than he really was. "Then I will think about what to do next"

Perk hummed at that and looked over his shoulder at the sleeping roc, his left hand caressing the big feathers briefly when the Genewen grumbled, looking very much like the dog Wil remembered his uncle having back when he had been younger. The old dog had moved on the exact same way whenever he was allowed to sleep inside the place. Which wasn't much precisely for that.

He also missed his uncle, he realized. Perhaps that was another stop he could need to do at some point, when everything settled down.

"I will help you find the path back to Safehold" Perk finally said, his voice raising over the dying fire and the suffocating silence that waited around them.

"And your letter?" Wil asked back, frowning.

The wing raider though shrugged "We are a few hours away from Arborlon at Genewen speed, I can always say that I encountered winds that made me rest for a few days or something, in Olden Moor they would probably don't expect me either, things are quite chaotic on most Elven settlements after all"

Wil found himself smiling at Perk's words; with the help of the wind raider perhaps he was able to find the place faster, after all everything he needed to do was to find the outskirts in where it stood the entrance to the tunnels.

"Thank you" He said and the elf boy nodded.

"Don't worry" He answered with a vigorous wink "We will find your friend"

Colors, smells, ghost-like memories that made her blink slowly in the vastness of her mind, the light changing so slowly that she wasn't able to even realize that it had.

It was calm, calm and silent and she smiled, happy to be in such a state. Happy to just be.

The feeling of warmth, of cold had also disappeared, the words barely holding any meaning for her anymore. As pain or thirst. Feelings were different now, words, letters, which drew themselves in the air of her conscience before floating away.

However, something, like the beak of an intruding nightingale, threatened to burst the quiet bubble, a name, feelings she had forgotten about, falling like drops, painting the vastness with the figure of someone she had once met, back in a time when she hadn't been her. Or when she hadn't even existed.

"….Something about the rover girl"

"Rover girl"

"Rover…"

She played with the words, trying to find once again the contempt that she had been immersed in before. It was useless though, the shape in front of her made her uncomfortable, achy, as if something was pulling her, poking her, a caress over lips, a taunting little smirk.

Silence, colors, the scream of a girl, a hand over a mouth, the quiet feeling of water, a proposition.

Eretria.

Amberle's eyes opened.