Denham Village

As much as Dust may have joked around about Fidget getting silenced by the Florns in Ivydale Glen at first, he really regretted it when it came round to needing her projectiles in battle. Although he was gaining confidence in his fighting skills against larger packs of enemies, his favourite way of taking care of things, especially Florns and Slime Creatures, was combining Dust Storm with Fidget's projectiles.

"Fidget, if I make fun of you for being Silenced again, I want you to punch me in the face," he grumbled after the nimbat finally got her voice back and they were heading to the other side of Denham Village, heading past the base of Archer's Pass as they did so.

"What was that?" Fidget asked.

"I said I want you to punch me in the face if I make fun of you being Silenced again," Dust repeated. "Didn't you hear me the first time?"

"Oh, I always hear 'Punch me in the face' when you make fun of me," Fidget muttered. "But it's usually subtext." Dust responded to that by yanking her tail. "YEOWCH!"

"Are you two trying to draw attention to ourselves?" the Blade of Ahrah snapped. "Need I remind you that the Royal Army is out looking for Dust?"

Dust and Fidget mumbled a sheepish apology. Of course the talking sword would once again step in as the voice of reason — it had always been, and probably always will be the cautious overbearing parent type of the trio. Nothing had changed. Dust was about to make a comment under his breath about how Fidget was the one with the big mouth out of the two of them but the appearance of scaffolding and housing across an open field signified their arrival at Denham Village so he decided to save it.

As he neared the village, Dust was relieved to see Moonbloods still walking around town as if everything was perfectly normal. That meant that the army had yet to reach Denham — miraculously, despite taking the long way around, Dust, Fidget and Ahrah had made it there first.

"Okay, we made it to Denham…" Dust noted with uncertainty. "Now what do I do?"

"Say you're here with a warning?" Fidget suggested.

"Well, I would, it's just…" Dust grimaced. "I don't know any of these people. And they don't know me…it's just…a little awkward."

"You said Ginger's been here on medicine deliveries, right?" Fidget remembered. "Ask around about her — say you're her son. Someone's bound to know her…" she trailed off, causing Dust to frown. Something seemed to have caught her attention. "Wait a second…"

"What is it, Fidget?" Dust pressed before following his friend's gaze. It landed on a Moonblood wearing a helmet and light armour. "Do you know that guy?"

"Yeah, that's…" Fidget paused before cupping her paws around her mouth. "Hey! Sanjin!" she called. Dust flushed and tried to hush her but the Moonblood's attention was already caught. Making eye contact with Fidget, he smiled and walked over before Dust could feel too embarrassed about the situation.

"My — now there's a face I haven't seen in a while," he greeted. "I didn't see you there for a moment, Fidget."

"Well, being small tends to mean people don't notice you immediately," Fidget shrugged. "You're not looking too bad, Sanjin. What's it been? Ten years?" Dust stared almost blankly at the Moonblood, Sanjin, and as he did so a vague sense of déja-vu struck him. Was Sanjin someone else that he'd known before?

"It must be," Sanjin chuckled. "What brings you to Denham? Did you find what you were searching for?"

"Ooh, you betcha," Fidget grinned. "Though…not quite the way we were expecting."

"Well, sorry for living life," Dust protested without thinking. Sanjin's eyes fell on him.

"Well, if my eyes don't deceive me," he murmured. "Dust? Is that really you?" Dust pulled a face — he felt really bad for not completely remembering this man.

"Uh…yes?" he replied uncertainly. Luckily, Fidget stepped in to help explain the situation.

"Please excuse him, Sanjin," she grimaced. "He's still got a couple of memory blanks. Apparently being reborn does that to you." Sanjin's face lit up with realisation.

"Reborn, eh?" he noted. "So what Elder Grey-Eyes said was true…"

"Did we know each other before?" Dust asked, not clocking the mention of Elder Grey-Eyes right off the bat.

"Not well," Sanjin replied. "We met briefly when you…that is to say, Sen-Mithrarin…joined the Moonbloods in the final charge against General Gaius." Dust forced himself to think — he could see the fires of the Everdawn Volcanoes and a Moonblood that looked a lot like Sanjin. The memories were slowly coming back to him.

"I…think I remember," he said. "Weren't you the camp engineer?"

"Of sorts," Sanjin confirmed. "It is nice to see that you have some recollection of the events," he noted. "Although I can't say that I ever expected to see you again after what happened," he added with a frown. "Much less in the form of a child."

"Trust me," Fidget cut in. "I didn't either."

"Well, things are coming back in bits and pieces," Dust explained. "Ever since the Blade of Ahrah returned to me, I've been remembering more of who I was…am…before," he said. "The more people I see, the more I remember how I knew them before. It's…" He paused and a grimace crossed his face. "I'm not gonna lie. It's kinda weird, really.'"

"I don't doubt it," Sanjin said. "I won't force you to remember anything else, Dust, if that will help."

"I appreciate that," Dust nodded with a small smile. "Thanks." Sanjin went back to his original question, saying that the party had never said what had brought them to Denham Village. Dust's smile instantly vanished.

"The King's Royal Guard attacked Aurora Village this afternoon," he explained quickly. The sun was rapidly setting over the horizon — Dust and Fidget had spent a long time travelling that day. "They're…Sanjin, they're after Moonbloods."

"What?!" Sanjin spluttered. "But the war ended fifteen years ago! We've known nothing but peace with your Warmblooded kin ever since."

"That's what Mom said…" Dust began but Sanjin cut across him by asking who his mother was.

"You remember Ginger, right?" Fidget asked. Sanjin nodded — every Moonblood knew of the only survivor of Zeplich Village.

"So, she took you in as her son?" he deduced. Dust nodded in confirmation. "I knew that Ginger was now a qualified physician, but she never mentioned you when she was delivering medicine here," he added. Dust remembered his mother having he private conversation with Elder Grey-Eyes just after he'd left for combat training with Corbin that morning. What they'd spoken about, he did not know, but he now had a hunch.

"She must have been trying to protect you." Fidget voiced his very thoughts.

"It looks that way," Dust agreed. "Sanjin…at first the Army were just after the Moonbloods in Aurora. But…it turns out that they were also looking for a white fox."

"You," Sanjin realised. Dust nodded.

"They…they took Mom," he choked out. "They took her because she protected me."

"WHAT?!" Sanjin practically bellowed. His shout caught the attention of passersby so he quickly waved them away. "The Royal Army has Ginger?!"

"Can you quit re-establishing the topic of conversation already and help us out?!" Fidget snapped Dust jolted in surprise — he'd…not been expecting that to come up.

"Wha…? Fidget!" he squeaked in protest, his voice cracking from the surprise. "I never said…!" The nimbat shot an insistent glare at her friend.

"Look, I'm sure you can handle yourself once you get used to your old skills and everything," she sighed. "But until that happens, Dust, we're gonna need all the help we can get with this one."

"But…!" Dust began until the Blade of Ahrah cut him off.

"Fidget is right, Dust," the sword stated. "Charging head first towards the Royal Army all by yourself would be highly unwise, not to mention reckless. Although you undoubtedly have the power to take on an army, you are young and the Royal Guard is far superior to Gaius' forces. You will need help." Dust would have wanted to protest further but he knew when to swallow his own pride. The Blade of Ahrah had a point — he may be Sen-Mithrarin but he was also thirteen. A teenager, despite whatever power he may control, stood little chance alone against a trained army,

"Alright," he relented. "I just don't want to drag too many people into this mess," he added with a grumble.

"Ginger is a friend of mine, Dust, and has been for a long time," Sanjin reassured. "I will do what I can to help."

Dust was about to suggest that they warn the rest of Denham about the Royal Guard posted nearby so that the rest of the Moonbloods could evacuate before they set off to continue the search for Ginger when a shout sounded through the houses.

"Papa!"

"Ah!" Dust yelped, shocked by the sudden shout. His shock made his hair stand on end, making his tail fluff up considerably. Fidget took notice.

"Jeez, when did you get so jumpy?" she smirked. Dust calmed himself down but was unable to prevent a pink haze showing up through his blue-white fur.

"Sorry…" he mumbled meekly in embarrassment. Sanjin, in the meantime, seemed unfazed.

"Yes, Ashelin!" he called back. "I'm over here."

A young Moonblood, not much older than Dust if Fidget had to take a guess, broke through the light crowd and began running over to the group. It was a female Moonblood with grey-green scales and jet black hair that was tied into a plait that fell over her shoulder. Her clothes were simple — a khaki smock and short brown cape — but her eyes were luminous yellow, so bright that Dust would have sworn that they would glow in the dark. She bore a striking resemblance to Sanjin, from the colour of her eyes to the shape of her nose.

"Huff…huff…I'm…not interrupting anything…am I?" she panted. Dust made an awkward side glance to Sanjin.

"Uh…no?" he said. Sanjin smiled warmly.

"Your timing is actually impeccable as always, Ashelin," he said kindly. The Moonblood girl, Ashelin, made eye contact with Dust.

"Who's this, Papa?" she asked. "Friend of yours?"

"Well, I…uh…I'm…" Dust stammered, suddenly unable to find his tongue. Fidget giggled.

"Shy as well?" she snickered. "Dust, you are so sweet as a teenager!" Dust shot a flustered but deadly glare towards the nimbat.

"Fidget!" he hissed. Ashelin paused and blinked in surprise.

"Wait…your name is Dust?" she asked. "Really?"

"Umm…yes?" Dust nodded. "Why?" Ashelin looked back up at her father.

"Papa, is he…?" She trailed off her question for a moment, looking back and forth between Dust and Sanjin. "Could he be…?" Sanjin seemed to remember that he had not yet properly introduced the two teens to each other.

"Oh, where are my manners?" he chuckled. "Dust, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Ashelin," he said, placing a proud hand on Ashelin's shoulder. "Ashelin, this boy is Dust — Sen-Mithrarin reborn."

Dust could have sworn that Ashelin's eyes literally lit up at that remark.

"Sen-Mith…! Oh, my goodness!" she exclaimed, grabbing Dust's hand and shaking it wildly, also bobbing a curtsey while she was at it. "It is such an honour to meet you!"

"Uh… There's…no need for that," Dust insisted, shaking Ashelin's hand back and turning a light shade of pink under his fur. "Really." Ashelin quit the handshaking and curtseying, but was still visibly excited.

"Sorry," she grinned. "It's just…I've heard so much about you!" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down on her toes gleefully. "Papa's told me everything about what you did for the Moonbloods! I think it's amazing!"

Dust was fairly sure that he was going bright pink by now.

"Uh…umm…" he stammered. All it served was to give Fidget more fodder to embarrass him with.

"D'aww!" she sniggered. "Look at Mister Humble over here." Dust's glare deepened but it wasn't exactly having the effect he wanted.

"Fidget, I swear by Elysium…!" he hissed. His temper just served to make the nimbat laugh even harder. Ashelin tried to calm things down.

"I never dreamed I'd ever meet you," she smiled. "This is… Wow," she breathed. "I'm sorry, but it really is an honour." Dust took a deep breath and forced his flush to recede.

"Uh…Ahem!" he coughed. "Pleasure's all mine, Ashelin," he smiled back. The young Moonblood shrugged warm-heartedly.

"Please, 'Ash' is fine," she reassured. "So, what brings you to Denham?" Dust's face fell once more.

"It…it's my mom," he said. "She got captured by the Royal Army for protecting me." Ash's eyes went wide and she clasped her hands over her mouth in horror.

"Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "That's awful!" Sanjin took his opportunity to step back into the conversation.

"Dust and I were just discussing the situation," he said. "I plan to help him, Ashelin, so I may be gone for some time," he explained. "I trust that I can…"

"Ah!" Ash cut across, a nervous grimace crossing her face. "Uh…about that… Papa, they're asking for you at the Watchtowers," she explained. Sanjin looked exasperated.

"What is it now?" he asked.

"The other Watchmen say that they saw a legion of Royal Soldiers camping out in Abadis Forest," Ash replied. "And a carrier pigeon from Aurora just came in. Aurora was attacked…none of the Moonblood Guards survived." Her previous excitement upon meeting Dust gone, Ash looked terrified and distraught.

"That legion must have been the camp we avoided on the way here," Dust deduced. Sanjin nodded.

"I was wondering why you came from the direction of Ivydale Glen," he noted.

"We're trying to stay low-key here," Fidget shrugged.

"You're the best engineer in town," Ash continued, "They said they're going to need you here in case things get ugly."

"Sanjin, I don't want to pull you away from Denham," Dust sighed. "If they need you here, you should stay. And evacuate the Moonbloods here as well."

"I see," Sanjin said. Ash looked confused.

"Why's that?" she asked. "What exactly happened in Aurora?"

"The Royal Guard were after the Moonbloods there," Dust explained. "The message that came with that carrier pigeon? It's telling the truth — none of the Moonblood Guards were spared," he winced regretfully. "The villagers managed to hide. As far as I know, they're all fine but they're planning to evacuate to the Cirromon Caverns," he continued. "I'd get out of town as soon as you can, Ash."

"I would say the same, my dear," Sanjin agreed. Ash looked forlorn and desperate for some other course of action.

"But, Papa…" she began when her father cut her off. His words, however, were not what anyone present were expecting.

"Ashelin, I want you to join Dust on his travels."