Hey, look! I'm actually updating on time for once! Hehe...

Well, and my laptop's going to die in about half an hour, too. (It'd probably be later if I weren't listening to my iTunes, but oh well.)

So, this chapter... Part of it doesn't really make sense without reading the CR chapters I haven't posted yet. Suffice to say, Kairi's told Luke enough that he's seriously questioning Van. That's about all you really need to know. His defection back to the main group here isn't completely random.

Um... Nope, nothing else to say right now.

"And unless you're planning on roasting Luke on a spit, you came back empty-handed." –Reighn

Chapter 6.5 – Conflicts and Sidequests
Part 58

It was quiet. Too quiet. Sure, there was the sound of chirping birds and all the bug noises and rustling leaves and everything else you'd expect in a forest. But, aside from soft footsteps... There were no human sounds.

Natalia hadn't spoken a word since Dark had told her of Mohs' accusations. Well, to be honest, Mohs did have a point. You shouldn't get blonde hair out of bloodlines with predominantly red or black hair. Of course, this had thrown Natalia into a depression, and all of us were desperate to see her out of it.

We'd only been traveling for a few hours before it started to get dark, and I sighed.

"We should stop and set up camp."

Dark and Seth, who had been leading the group, paused and turned to look at me. Then they nodded, starting to look around. I frowned. "There was a clearing about a hundred yards back, off to the right."

Twilight bounded off to check it out, returning a few moments later with a growl that Dark nodded in response to. "Alright. Natalia, Kairi, Ion, why don't you three start getting tents set up? Seth, Reighn? Can you two get firewood? I'm going to see if I can't find an animal in this gloom."

"Let me go," I said, already pulling my bow out. "I'm actually better hunting at dusk, or even the dead of night. I can actually see my prey, even if it's dark."

Dark blinked a few times before nodding. "Alright. I'll help pitch the tents then."

We split up without another word, Twilight padding along quietly some distance behind me so as not to disturb the local wildlife. My eyes danced around, even though it wasn't really necessary. Twilight would give me a warning growl if any monsters came near, and I'd feel any animals before I saw them.

A mass of Energies on the edge of my awareness caught my attention, and I honed in on it, just in time for Twilight to give a soft warning growl. I blinked.

It wasn't an animal.

It was a cheagle. A familiar cheagle.

Another, larger, true Energy Core stepped into my awareness, along with the color red. I frowned, ready to fire the nocked arrow at Luke should he prove to be an enemy.

"Don't shoot, please?" he called, having spotted me a good minute and a half after I'd seen him. I didn't relax my half-drawn bow, but I tilted my head, a silent indication that he could speak. "You were right. Traveling with Zion and Master Van was cool, but it didn't feel right. But... I don't know what to do now."

I relaxed and stood out of my crouch. "What do you want to do?"

Luke was quiet for a while. "I want to stop this war."

I nodded. Good. Already on the right track. "Asch has gone to Baticul."

"Then I'll go to Grand Chokmah," Luke decided. "I... think I should find some way to apologize to the emperor, anyway." I raised an eyebrow, and he sighed. "I... I never said anything before, because I knew what Van would say. I know my memory of the event is fuzzy, but... I'm almost certain now. It wasn't Asch who destroyed the passage ring. It was me. I'm the one responsible for the destruction of Akzeriuth. So I should do what I can to make up for it."

I smiled. It was a sad smile, but it was a smile nonetheless.

"Why don't you come with us then? I've got the connections you'll need to get an audience with Emperor Peony... And I'm sure Ion will appreciate having his friend back."

Luke stared at me, incredulous, but my smile didn't budge.

"Mieuuuu... Kairi's right, Master! Ion was really sad after you left."

I couldn't help but giggle a bit at the shock that flashed across Luke's face when the little cheagle spoke. Still, having Mieu around was nice. He did a very good job of helping me point Luke in the right direction.

To be honest, I don't think I would have pulled it off without the little bunny monster.

I turned to Twilight, who had come up behind me at some point, and scratched his head. "Then why don't you two stick with Twilight. I'm looking for dinner."

Luke scratched his head. "Uh... You wanna just have more of that ep—epu... uh... whatever the hell it was you killed the night before we got to the hideout?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "How much is left?"

Luke scratched the back of his head. "We only ate about half of the meat. And of that, Kallig ate a little more than half." I thought about it and nodded.

"Alright. Twilight and Sorylle will have to hunt for themselves, but that'll feed the rest of us just fine."

Twilight growled something, before pausing and nudging me in the back. I chuckled and opened a connection. *We'll be fine. These lands are plentiful, it's the only reason it can support so many ligers. You should head back to camp if he has the meat,* he said. I nodded.

"We will. Why don't you go tell Sorylle?"

He nodded and took off running, and I stuck the arrows back into my quiver before my bow was slipped around my torso. "Let's go. Twilight's going on ahead."

Luke nodded, following me without a word, while I wondered exactly what I was going to tell the others. Well, if all else fails, tell the truth.

I stepped into camp and was greeted by a rather amusing sight. Ion stood near Reighn, who was attempting to get the fire started. Key word there being 'attempting.'

"I'm sure you'll get it soon," Ion was saying. Reighn scowled.

"I've been trying for five minutes, I'm about to tell Dark to do himself."

I sighed, stepping over and summoning up the Energies for the fire-starting trick. "You're hopeless," I announced. Reighn and Ion looked up at me, Reighn raising an eyebrow.

"And unless you're planning on roasting Luke on a spit, you came back empty-handed."

Mieu squeaked at the implied cannibalism (well, it was probably more a matter of he was worried Luke might be eaten, period) and grabbed onto Luke's pantleg. The redhead chuckled, a dry sound that had just a hint of humor underneath. I smiled. That was good. He was recovering from the emotional dead-zone he'd been when Zion and Van had captured me.

"Relax, Mieu. Kairi's a lot of things, but I really don't think she's a cannibal," Luke told the cheagle. I giggled a bit before turning to Reighn.

"Luke got stuck carrying most of the foodstuffs in his wing pack. Van let me hunt a few days ago, so there's some fresh meat in there left over from that. It should be more than enough for all of us," I said. Then I unleashed the Energies on the innocent pile of wood, a warm, crackling fire starting up in just a few seconds. Reighn jumped, before staring at it like the fire was some horrid ghoul. I smirked. "And there is our fire."

Ion sighed. "Natalia and Dark left to get water, and Seth is setting up a perimeter."

"Was setting up a perimeter. I'm a little concerned about the fact that Kairi waltzed into camp with a guy who's been traveling with our enemy for the past couple months," Seth said.

He stopped a few feet away from the rest of us, arms crossed inside his sleeves and looking every bit the Jedi he was dressed up as. I rolled my eyes, but Luke was the one who spoke.

"Ma... Van lied to me about Akzeriuth. My memory isn't perfect. I remember heading down into Tunnel Fourteen to find him like he'd told me to, and then everything gets fuzzy. Kairi said Zion was there even then, but I don't remember that at all. I remember seeing Asch and Van fighting... That's about it, until I woke up outside Shurrey Hill," Luke explained. "And... I'm not going to ask you to trust me."

No one spoke for a time, but, unsurprisingly, Ion was the one to break the silence.

"I trust you, Luke."

Luke looked at him, blinked a few times, then realized that no, the green-haired teen wasn't Sync. A small, sad smile graced his lips. "Thanks... Ion."

I smiled and looked around, noting a certain lack of a princess and her bodyguard. I sighed. "Luke, Reighn, why don't you two get started on dinner. I'm going to find Dark and Natalia. The ligers have gone out to hunt their own dinners, and..." I trailed off, glancing at Seth and Ion.

"I'll stay here with Luke and Reighn. I should probably learn a little about cooking, anyways," Ion said. Seth sighed.

"I'm gonna go back to setting up the perimeter. Call for me when dinner's ready." The brunette turned and headed back out of the clearing.

I wandered off, watching the flow of Energies on the second plane. Or more correctly, the water Energies. I followed the heaviest flow. Reighn had said they were looking for water, right? That meant finding a stream or something of the like. Water Energies (like the other four basic Energies) liked to gather around their physical manifestation. So, follow the Energies.

"Dark... I'm sorry."

I stopped, ducking behind a tree and glancing toward the edge of a lake. A lake with a familiar pattern of colors on the other side... Mushroom Road?

"For what?" Dark sounded happy, but confused. I couldn't blame him. It was nice to hear Natalia talking again.

"You're out of a job now because of me."

I sighed silently. Oh Natalia, you poor, naïve little thing.

Dark actually laughed. "Don't apologize! Thanks to you, caravan masters won't automatically turn me away anymore. Hell, even if I couldn't get work as a mercenary protecting caravans, I can still fall back on assassinations. Besides... if anyone's put me out of a job, it's Mohs. And anyway, I'll still protect you even if you aren't the princess, because you're my best friend."

I knew that tone of voice. I knew it all too well.

I smiled and walked away, leaving the two be. Let them work things out between them. I shouldn't have been eavesdropping in the first place... although at least I know what's taking them so long now.

I stepped back into camp and looked around. Three tents had been erected in a semi-circle around the fire, which now had meat hanging over it. Very good-smelling meat, I might add. Very familiar-smelling meat...

"Were you really paying attention when I listed those herbs I used a few weeks ago, or did I have some of that rub left over?" I asked, kneeling next to Luke. The redhead gave me a wry smile.

"I wrote it down in my journal. It smelled really good, so I decided I'd start writing stuff down so I didn't forget," he admitted. Reighn glanced over.

"I've copied it into my recipe book. You don't mind, do you?" he asked. I shook my head, grinning the whole time.

"Nah. Spread the love, right?"

"That is such a corny line."

I turned and grinned at Dark and Natalia. The princess (I'm probably always gonna think of her as such) seemed to be in a much better mood now. Luke stood, headed off to the edge of the clearing, and called for Seth. The replica returned after just a bit, and Reighn started passing around food. Seasoned meat and rice. Simple, but certainly not bland.

"So, what next?" Ion asked, accepting his plate. Natalia sighed.

"I want to stop this war. I might not be the true princess, but I was raised as one. I won't just stand back and watch Kimlasca and Malkuth destroy each other," she said. I nodded

"Asch has gone to Baticul, and Luke wants to go to Grand Chokmah. I agreed to go with him to get him an audience with Emperor Peony."

Dark was quiet a moment before he spoke up. "We're just south of western clan territory."

Reighn sighed. "I hate to have to be the one to say this, but I'm not sure we have time for that," he said. I shrugged.

"Chances are, we're going to be stranded up here for a while. Sure, we have to go to Grand Chokmah, but I don't see any reason why not to... why am I getting the feeling I'm missing something?"

Dark chuckled lowly. "The southern clan has gone feral and is attacking the eastern clan. They're trapped against the eastern coast, while the western clan is gathering safely on the northern coast, waiting for the ice bridges from Keterburg to form. They refuse to have anything to do with the southern clan... which means no reprieve for the eastern."

I raised an eyebrow. "Talk about a clusterfuck of liger problems."

The others chuckled, or sighed in Natalia and Ion's cases.

"That about sums it up," Seth agreed.

I thought about it, then shrugged again. "Well, whatever. Let's help."

Reighn sighed. "Time?"

"Unless you'd rather be stuck in the Qliphoth, of course," I added. By this point, everyone was looking at me strangely, and I groaned. "The Zao Ruins valve has been closed. Engeve was supported by the Shurrey Hill sephiroth. If Asch is smart, he'll use the connections between the two to lower all of that land slowly, like an elevator. I don't want to be stuck in the Qliphoth when that happens."

Dark blinked a few times. "I hadn't even thought about that."

Reighn poked the fire a few times with a stick. "Who's to say this area, or the area north of here, won't fall?"

I started digging around in my bag, pulling out a map and spreading it out on the ground. "Look," I ordered, pointing to the Cheagle Woods. "The river between the Cheagle Woods and the Northern Forest is right on the plate boundary. We'd be wise to put at least some distance between us and that boundary, but otherwise, we shouldn't have a problem. The northern tip of Rugnica is supported by Mt. Roneal, and I've tightened the security there already. There's no way Van's going to figure out the password for that one."

"Oh?" Seth asked. I snorted.

"I'm not telling. There are already three people who know the answer other than myself, and if you ask me, that's two too many," I said. "And one of those three is sitting in this circle."

Dark gave me a suspicious look, but didn't comment. He knew I was talking about him.

Ion took a deep breath. "So, we're going to help the ligers then?"

The rest of us nodded. "Yeah," Reighn agreed reluctantly. He sighed, gathering up everyone's dishes. "I'll go clean up. Dark, you've got first watch. Seth, second, I'll take third."

We all nodded again and headed for the tents.

Fun Fact: Actually, the Cheagle Woods doesn't fall into the Qliphoth... but since there's a couple rivers running through there, I decided that I'd put the boundary on one of those instead. It works well enough...