Jane and the Dragon and all characters is © all sorts of people who aren't me. This fic is mine, though.

Jane watched as the Innkeeper and his wife argued with one another while Gunther loaded bread, cheese, some fresh garden vegetables, a small flagon of ale, and an small and ancient-looking pot onto a blanket. He'd folded the blanket into a neat bundle by the time they seemed to reach an agreement, and named their price. It was far too high, but Gunther simply nodded and pulled out his purse.

Jane frowned. Surely this is not the son of Magnus the Merchant! Gunther would certainly have known the value of every item in the blanket, and could probably have haggled until they were down to a fraction of their true cost. Perhaps he is just in a hurry to leave.

The coins clinked as Gunther placed them on the table, and the Innkeeper snatched them up eagerly.

"If you wait just a moment we can get what we owe you back," he said.

"Do not bother," Gunther replied shortly. "We appreciate your help."

What? Jane stifled her gasp. How much money does he have? She glanced into his purse, and frowned.

--

They set off by mid-morning, Gunther easily shouldering their small bundle of supplies. They were walking away from the woods now, into rolling fields tended by peasants with simple tools, but Jane hoped they would find some shade before midday.

Her side ached, dully and persistently, but nothing like as bad as it had last night, and she knew she could grit her teeth and take it. Gunther's long and easy strides threatened to out-pace hers, but Jane soon fell into a comfortable stride of her own, and before long the inn disappeared from view.

Jane had slept soundly through the night, but had woken early in the morning, hounded by a series of troubling thoughts. Gunther leaving without her, while unexpected, was not completely out of character, but without his horse? And why had he left her that arrow, how had he travelled so far, and how did he defeat those wolves? Alone, those questions may have been easy to explain, but combined they led Jane to a disquieting conclusion, one that she hoped was wrong.

Beside her, Gunther raised a hand to shield his eyes and scanned the landscape once again. Jane watched him from the corner of her eye, trying not to think about what it would mean if her theory was right. It was one of the few moments when she knew she would not want to carry out her duty as a knight.

--

"How are you holding up?" Gunther asked, suddenly, after several hours.

"Fine, although I would rather not be walking," returned Jane. "You should have brought your horse." She wondered if she wanted the answers to her questions badly enough to ask for them, or if it would be better to wrap herself in ignorance and hope for the best. But that had never been her way, and she found she couldn't play the coward now, so she fixed her eyes on Gunther and waited for his answer.

"She had not recovered from our last journey, and it would not do to inconvenience the King by taking another horse," he replied, apparently unaware of her scrutiny, but sounding slightly concerned for the beast in question. "Besides, I remembered what Sir Theodore said about staying close to the ground. You can not get much closer than this!"

"I noticed," muttered Jane, wiping away some of the road dust that clung to her sweating forehead. "This would all be so much easier if Dragon was with us."

Gunther glanced at her in surprise. "Are you questioning Sir Theodore's decision?"

"N-no!" Jane was quick to protest. "I was simply . . . ."

"Disagreeing with it," supplied Gunther, and grinned smugly when she coloured.

"While I confess I do not understand why Sir Theodore insisted Dragon stay behind, I respect his decisions." She added under her breath, "Unlike some people."

Gunther ignored this last jab. "Did you actually tell Dragon he was not allowed to come?"

"Of course. Dragon and I keep no secrets from one another."

Gunther, much to Jane's confusion, gave her a strange look. "And he let you come?"

"He was not happy, but, well, he is not my mother! One mother is bad enough; I do not need two fussing about me."

"But it must be nice," Gunther suggested. He sounded almost wistful, Jane thought.

"Knowing that they care, I mean. Not that I care about that sort of stuff." He added quickly.

Now it was Jane's turn to give Gunther an odd look. It had never occurred to her to wonder about Gunther's mother. She supposed he must have had one at some point, after all, who didn't? But dealing with his father from time to time was more than enough, and she had no desire to enquire about the rest of his family.

"It is not that I am ungrateful," she answered slowly, her thoughts returning to her own family. "But Mother needs to realise that I am going to be a knight one day. She cannot protect me forever."

Gunther did not reply, but stared thoughtfully ahead. He was walking in a rather relaxed manner, far too slowly to get him as far as he had yesterday.

"Gunther, how is it you reached the woods ahead of me?"

"Oh, I left at night, and rode as far as the Shale Village junction on the cart of one of my father's traders," he answered easily. "I am sorry that you got hurt following me, Jane. It was not fair of me to leave you behind."

"Why did you? And do not try to tell me it was for my own good! That has never stopped you from crossing swords with me in the past." She gave him a glare, but it was not a very serious one. His answers had all been logical so far, and Jane did not find them impossible to believe. The fact that she wanted to believe him didn't hurt, either.

"We may cross more than mere swords this time, Jane," he said softly, and then shook his head and shrugged. "This is all foolishness. I should not have left without you, and you should not have followed me into those woods at night. Both of us have done unwise things, and it will probably not be the last time."

"You were in those woods too--!" Protested Jane.

"I was resting on the other side when you screamed," he returned, smug once again.

"I did not scream!"

"Oh you did! Like a girl!"

Jane prepared to snap back a reply, when she paused and shook her head. "You may be growing up, Gunther, but some things about you will never change."

Gunther smiled in return, looking pleased by her statement.

--

The rest of the day passed in silence, and Jane smiled gratefully when she saw some trees growing by a creek. The creek itself had been flowing a small way from the road for some distance now, but the land had been cleared, and offered no shelter.

It was only an hour or two before sunset, and Jane's legs, as well as her side, were beginning to protest. She walked towards the trees, almost not caring whether or not Gunther followed her, although she was relieved when he did. She flopped down at the base of one of the trees, and Gunther dropped the bundle beside her, before wandering off to collect dry twigs for a fire. Jane heaved a sigh before getting back to her feet and gathering some stones. She couldn't lie around while Gunther did all the work, but it was annoying that he didn't even seem to be tired.

Jane arranged the stones in a circle, and Gunther built a fire inside them. It was a task that seemed to require more time, effort, and muttering than when Sir Ivon or Sir Theodore performed it, although Jane thought better of pointing that out to Gunther, who beamed proudly when the flame finally took.

He made a tripod of green branches taken from the trees, and Jane hung the pot, partially filled with water, over the fire. Then they broke the rather wilted looking vegetables into small pieces and threw them in. Jane stirred the concoction with a stick, and then looked at Gunther, who shrugged. She supposed that the meal would at least be interesting, in a very bland sort of way.

Gunther tossed some more sticks onto the fire before wandering down to the creek. He pulled off his shirt and kneeled on the bank, dunking his head into the water.

Jane pursed her lips and turned back to the pot. She'd bathed at the inn, and obviously would have to wait for a more private location before doing so again. Maggots.

Gunther re-emerged with a splash, and Jane waited for him to return to the fire, smug and refreshed. Instead there was another splash, and she glanced over at the creek, only to see a pile of clothes on the bank and a few ripples on the water's surface.

Jane glowered at the flames, and she stirred the vegetables vigorously. Going swimming was really rubbing it in.

"I hope he drowns," she muttered darkly.

He was under for so long that she began to fear he had.

--

Gunther, surrounded by the cool water of the creek, and finally free of the dust and dreariness of the road, was dimly aware that what he was doing was stupid. He knew Jane would not be happy about being left with the cooking, but the enticing flash of colour he'd seen in the sun's dying rays had been too good to resist.

There you are . . . . He darted forwards, hands and feet pushing furiously against the water, and without even thinking about it, closed his mouth around his prey.

The water quickly turned pink.

--

When he finally returned, Jane was standing on the bank, trying not to look anxious. She shot him a glare and turned to go when something wiggling in his hand caught her attention.

"Fish?" She laughed out loud. She'd forgive him almost anything for some fish.

Jane waited by the fire while Gunther waded towards the bank and hit the heads of the fish on the ground, stunning them. He dressed, and then handed them over to Jane.

"Did you bring a knife?" She asked as he stood opposite her, the hot stones of the fire sizzling as his hair dripped on them.

Gunther rummaged around in his pack before drawing out a short dagger. He pushed his hair away from his face with his spare hand as he passed it to her.

Jane smiled as she accepted it, and then quickly decapitated and gutted the fish before dropping them straight onto the fire. Gunther stirred the vegetables as she turned the fish, and then lifted the pot from the fire and tipped out the water, leaving only the vegetables behind. Jane divided the fish between them, and they stuck into the meal without ceremony. The vegetables were soft and edible, but the fish were delicious, blackened on the outside but tender on the inside.

There was a loud crack from Gunther's side of the fire, and Jane glanced up in time to see the last piece of his fish vanish before he wiped his mouth on his sleeve and gave her a sheepish grin. Jane smiled back, glad to see he paid as much attention to her mother's lectures on not eating like a starved peasant as she did.

--

The fire crackled and smoke spiralled up into the dark sky as Gunther waited for Jane's breathing to even out. It had taken quite a while to convince her to let him take first watch while she used the blanket, but eventually she had conceded, after making him promise to wake her on time, or at the first sight of trouble.

Gunther stood and stretched, convinced that Jane was fast asleep. He considered simply taking off into the night and leaving her, sure that no predator would come near this clearing after he had spent so much time in it, and that Jane could defend herself against any other threat. She would be able to make it back to the inn by sundown the next day, and be home within three days. But . . . Jane would not go home. She was as stubborn as a stain, and, if he was honest, a better tracker than he. She would follow him long after she should have given up, and even into danger.

Gunther sighed and shook his head, placing his dagger next to Jane just in case, before looking back at the fire. She had come close to death last night because he had left without her, and he knew he would never be able to return to the castle without her, not least because Dragon would burn him to a crisp.

It was troublesome, but abandoning Jane was not an option. However, that didn't mean he couldn't make the most of the night.

After making certain once more that Jane was sleeping soundly, Gunther closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He focused, past the smoke from the fire and the lingering smell of fish, past the scent and sound of Jane, and the stirring of the slight breeze in the surrounding trees, past the trails of animals that been gone for days and humans that had been gone for weeks, past countless strange things that Gunther didn't know but suddenly did, he found the strong stench of decaying flesh, and opened his eyes.

Ah, yes . . . .

He wanted to seek out a wizard more than anything, but there was something else he had to do first.

--

A/N: Sorry sorry! (ducks for cover) It took forever, I know, and I really am sorry about that. Thank KrisEleven and OtakuChild, who encourage and beta read, and are generally just wonderful. If not for them, you would probably still be waiting.

This chapter is a bit lacking in action and probably not worth the wait, but something will happen eventually!