Sorry this one took me longer to get out then the other ones have. I have had a lot on my table lately but have no fear, I'm not going to stop writing this story. I am having too much fun writing it. But the waiting time is going to be longer. I will be posting a chapter every Sunday if not every other Sunday, this is because I have some ambitious art projects I need to work on and I need to make time for them. I am sorry about this but it has to happen so from now on expect a new chapter by the end of every week.

A man? How could the fallen star, the reason why the undead were brought back to life and almost destroyed Tristram, be a mere man? None of it made any since to Leah, She asked Li-Ming what she knew about it but she chose to remain silent which was strange because she was usually straight forward. She guessed Li-Ming was probably as lost as she was and didn't want anyone to know; given her pride. She just leaned back against the wall with her arms crossed, saying nothing, with a tired look on her face while Brother Malachi looked the mysterious man over for any injuries. Leah didn't know if it was a good thing or bad thing that Li-Ming hadn't gone back to the inn to get some sleep, like her friend, Kormac did as soon as they brought the stranger back to her uncle Deckard's place earlier that morning.

A stir had risen when word of the stranger's arrival in Tristram reached everyone's ear. People were crowded outside of the house and Rumford had assigned two of his men to guard the entrance to keep people out, mostly for their own safety. Rumford had wanted to keep the stranger locked up in the jail until they knew for sure that he wasn't a danger but both Li-Ming and Deckard Cain insisted otherwise. The stranger himself was still unconscious and had made no obvious signs of waking up soon. For now, all they could do was wait and however long was still unknown.

Brother Malachi sighed and stood up. He looked everyone who was allowed entrance to the house over, which for now was Leah, Li-Ming, Deckard Cain and Rumford and said, "I honestly do not know what to say. Li-Ming you said that this man was lying in the crater where the fallen star fell, but I see no signs as to how that is possible. He has no broken bones, no cuts or bruises and his breathing pattern is normal. If he was what fell from the sky as you claim he is, I do not see how he could have survived."

"I wish I could explain it too, but this enigma eludes my understanding. However, awake or not, I intend to figure this out." The conversation that Leah shared with Li-Ming back at the inn yesterday came to mind. She recalled Li-Ming's rant about seeking knowledge to gain an understanding and wondered if Li-Ming was even considering taking a break before she set out to get back to work again.

Rumford stepped up and said, "Malachi, is there anything you can do to?"

"Sorry but he appears to be in some sort of coma. I don't know any recipes to make something that can wake him, so all we can do now is wait."

"Well I guess we'll just have to do as he says." Rumford said. "I hope you guys are making the right decision, my guards will be outside should anything happen and you should be getting some rest." He said to Li-Ming who only stared at him with a defiant look in response. "I'll be around town if anyone needs me." And with that, Rumford left.

"I should be going too. I need to look into this matter and see if I can find a way to bring him around." Malachi said, getting his equipment together. "I'll be back to check on his status later but for now may the gods watch over you."

"And to you as well Malachi and thank you." Leah replied politely. Malachi smiled and nodded then left to do his research.

Sighing in frustration, Li-Ming sat down on a chair and rubbed her eyes, she scratched her head, trying to get her thoughts together and looked at the stranger who was sleeping on Deckard's bed.

"I see much is troubling you." Cain pointed out.

"I went through all of this trouble, and for what? A lone man who should by all means be dead but right now is as useless as a closed book." Li-Ming replied.

"Patience is a virtue young lady. All good things come to those who wait." What Cain said made since but waiting didn't get things done. How long were they going to have to wait? A day, a week? No one could tell right now and Li-Ming wanted answers now. But what else could they do? They were so unprepared for this outcome that waiting was the only option available to them, no matter how much Li-Ming didn't want to admit it.

"I suppose you're right. Apologies, I'm just…I'm very tired."

"Why not do what Rumford said and get some rest?" Leah suggested.

"I suppose I will. Seeing as how nothing else can be done right now." Li-Ming said getting up.

"Okay well, I hope you sleep well."

"Your politeness is appreciated Leah. Thank you." She said with a smile.

"Anytime."

Kormac was already awake by the time Li-Ming walked into the room. He had some blankets thrown down on the floor for him to sleep on since none of them had the money to rent out another room, so he and Li-Ming had to share Leah's room and the guards were nice enough to find him some clothes to wear so he was able to get rid of the tattered rags he was wearing when they got back to Tristram. He must have started a fire in the fire place a little bit before she arrived, the logs inside were still catching fire and he now sat at Leah's desk with a few lit candles, reading the book he retrieved from Jondar last night.

He turned his head away from his book to look at Li-Ming. It was plainly obvious she hadn't been to sleep yet, she looked like she might fall over at any moment now, if that was even possible for her.

"Are you just now turning in?"

"I wanted to see if the man we found could tell us anything but he is still unconscious." She replied taking her robes and boots off. Kormac looked back at his book for a moment to think about this and asked, "So what do we do now?"

"For now, we're going to have to wait until either Brother Malachi can find a way to wake him up or for him to wake up on his own." She laid down on the bed and faced the wall, she closed her eyes and waited for her to fall asleep.

"Are you sure there isn't another way?"

"Believe me, if I knew a way, I would have done it already." She said without opening her eyes.

"I suppose you're right." He said turning in his seat to face the desk so he can continue reading his orders tomes.

It was quiet for few a minutes until Li-Ming said, "Hey Kormac may I ask you something?"

"Sure." He replied without facing her.

"How is it that you became a Templar? Were you born into the order?"

"Why do you ask? Do you wish to become a Templar?" He didn't know how he was going to be able to tell her that, if she wanted to become a Templar, she wouldn't be aloud, simply because she was a woman. Traditionally, women weren't able to become Templars and Kormac never understood why. He thought it would benefit the order even more if they aloud everybody, no matter their sex, to become one of them and after seeing Li-Ming in battle only further confirm his position.

"No, I'm simply curious."

"Ahh…well in that case, ummm…no. I wasn't born into it. Our scripture says "As a farmer reaps his wheat, so must the order harvest and purify the weeds."

"That seems a little unfair. You are not a weed." Li-Ming said through a yawn and Kormac smiled and chuckled at her reply. It didn't strike him as odd that she didn't understand the ways of the Templar order. She followed her own rules and did whatever she had to in order to succeed, the order however operated on a strict code of conduct and moral guidelines.

"You speak out of kindness, but you do not understand. When they took me, they saved my life and my immortal soul." He waited for a reply but did not receive one. He turned to look at her and saw that she had finally fallen asleep. He couldn't see her face because she was facing the wall, but the deep, slow pacing of her breathing was the only indication he needed to notice it. He wondered if she had even heard any of what he said or if she was just making small talk to get her to sleep faster.

Studying the tomes of his order became a bit of a task because he was also thinking about Li-Ming. Her questioning him about how he became a Templar now made him wonder how she had gotten into the Yshari Sanctum. He didn't know much about the place; all he knew was it was reserved only for those who knew magic. Li-Ming was powerful, anyone could see that, but how powerful does one need to be in order to get into the sanctum? Did those in the sanctum need to be unique in regards to their power or was anyone who knew even the most basic spells allowed to enter?

He decided he had thought about it long enough and got up to go outside to get some air. It was a nice day and a nice walk around the town didn't seem like too bad of an option. He headed towards the merchant stalls, greeting folks as they walked by, he didn't have any money on him, but it never hurt to look. He came to a stall owned by a short bald man who had all of his best items on display, ready for purchase.

"See anything you like?" The bald man asked.

"Oh, no I'm just looking. I have no money right now, unfortunately."

"Hey, are you the guy the people are talking about? The one that came into town last night with that wizard?"

"Yes." He answered simply.

"I don't mean to sound nosy. That young lady has been on everyone's minds since her arrival here. But who can really blame them. She saved the town and that old man, and now she brings back two strangers. I'd say it's only a matter of time before she finds some really big treasure."

"I hardly think treasure is on her mind." A voice said from behind them. Kormac turned around and saw Leah walking up to them. "She cares more about knowledge and solving problems more than anything else."

"And just how would you know?" The merchant asked.

"Because I understand her better than anyone else here." Leah said crossing her arms.

"If you say so." The merchant said before turning his attention away from them to look over his inventory.

"So Kormac is it?" Introductions were made earlier that day when Li-Ming returned to town that morning. She had woken her and her uncle up at an ungodly hour to inform them of what she had found at the base of the crater made by the fallen star, but Leah was too tired to really pay attention and was only thinking of when she could go back to sleep.

"Yes is it. Nice to make your acquaintance more properly, Leah." Kormac said taking a bow, making Leah giggle. He got back up and said, "Sorry about the intrusion this morning, I know it must have been very rude."

"It's not your fault. Li-Ming can be complicated at times, but I have come to suspect that's just how she is. So what are you out doing? Shopping?"

"Hardly." Kormac chuckled. "I do not have any money to spend, plus I do not think I would buy something from these merchants anyway. Something tells me they acquired these items through less than honorable means." He was referring to the muddy shovel that sat next to the merchant stall and the merchant himself just waved his hand in his direction showing he didn't care what he thought.

"Yeah, unfortunately grave robbing is common around here but that doesn't stop people from buying what they bring around."

"That is a shame."

"So did Li-Ming get some rest like she said she was going too?"

"Yes? Why do you ask if she said that's what she was doing?"

"Good to know. Sorry, like I said, she can be complicated and the last time I suggested something to her, I had to argue with her and I wasn't sure if she was really going to do it or not, so I just wanted to make sure."

"She just sounds like she doesn't like being told what to do. But if you don't mind asking though, why do you care what she chooses to do?"

"Let's go find somewhere where we can talk a little bit more privately. I'll answer your question then."

They sat on an empty bench a little ways from the inn and they both made themselves comfortable. Kormac sat with his arms on his knees and asked, "Alright so why do you care so much?"

"Well…since Li-Ming has been in town she has gone out of her way several times to help us all out. She saved the town in just a few hours when she first got here and saved my uncle the next day, even when everyone else had lost hope. But despite all of that she has asked for nothing in return, our blacksmith even made a sword for her as a gift and she tried to give it back to him."

"Is that so wrong?" Kormac asked.

"What?"

"As a Templar, it is my duty to help others. Most of the time, simply the act of doing so is its own reward. So maybe Li-Ming feels the same way."

"I suppose you have a point, but there is more to it than that. It isn't really my place to tell you her life but in a talk she and I had yesterday I learned that she doesn't have anyone in her life to care for her. No friends, no family, not a single person. So I feel like…"

"Like she needs a friend." Kormac finished for her.

"Exactly! Can you imagine living a life where there was no one who would care whether you lived or died every time you set out on another adventure?"

Kormac looked down at his feet in contemplation and said, "I guess not. I have always had my brothers in the order to watch over me."

"And I have always had my uncle. I bet she must get lonely at times."

"I have known people like her before. They find ways to live without others in their life and if they were ever lonely, it never showed."

"I don't know how anyone can live like that." Leah tried to think about what her life would be like if she didn't have anyone in it and she found it tough to picture it. If she were alone she would instantly try and make friends so she would have people to talk to, but she had to come to terms with that it was easy for her to think that way since her and Li-Ming were drastically different in certain aspects.

She had known loneliness before when she was a kid growing up in Caldeum. None of the other kids wanted to be around her and always called her "Sewer rat" because of how much time she spent exploring the tunnels. She was eight years old when her Uncle Deckard took her in and her life started changing for the better. When she needed support Deckard Cain was there for her just as a father would be.

It was here she thought what Li-Ming had told her about her own parents. She elected to not go into detail, but there was a lot of bitterness in what she did say, "The slums of Xiansai." There were so many conclusions Leah could have drawn from that statement. Did Li-Ming grow up poor, was she homeless when she was a kid? Why the bitterness towards her parents? What did they do that set that emotion off after so many years away? Did they know about her magic and decided to get rid of her or was it something that Li-Ming did that caused it all?

So many questions about the wizard that Leah had come to like with no guaranteed answers to any of them. Leah wasn't going to hold her breath; Li-Ming was always on the move and now that she had found the fallen star it may be a matter of time before she left New Tristram to continue her journey in some far off land, never to be seen in Tristram again. Before that time though Leah was going to keep doing what she has been doing for the past few days and that's being Li-Ming's friend.

"So Leah what is there to do around here?" Kormac asked breaking the ever growing silence.

"Not a whole lot I'm afraid. I never had to worry about it, Uncle and I are normally out of town."

"Doing what?"

"He does research and I accompany him. He's very old and I don't like leaving him by himself. If you want something to do I guess we could go on a walk and try to figure out what we can do."

Kormac laughed at the suggestion of having to do something to find out what they wanted to do to pass the time. "Why not. I've been sitting for too long today anyway. A walk sounds perfect." They both got up and Kormac held his arm out, Leah smiled at the knight and humored him, wrapping her own arm around his. "Why think you sir Kormac. You are quite the gentleman."

"Anytime my lady." Kormac replied. They walked with no real destination in mind and took in each other's company. It was a nice change to be able do something fun with a friend instead of always going out into danger with them or doing research. It wasn't very often Leah got to do this and she hoped she would be able to do it more often when all of the fallen star nonsense finally ceased and that appeared to be soon. But what if Li-Ming did leave right after that? The thought wouldn't leave her head. Despite Li-Ming's ego and obsessive work ethic, she had really grown to like her and hoped she would stick around for a while once she found what she was here to find.

I hope you all liked this chapter. It was tricky for me to write for some reason so I will not be surprised if it doesn't flow well. So sorry for nothing to exciting happening in this chapter, I thought it was kind of necessary however.

But I do hope you all liked this one and I will be back with another chapter by next Sunday. Peace out. :)

Update: I rewrote the last paragraph because I thought the original was sloppy.