Qasim led her through the gathered group of men and a few women to where her horse was. SandStorm was already waiting for her. He came over to them with a pony's lead rope was tied to his saddle. The pony in question was stocky, but well built. She was mostly black with white socks and a white tail and mail. A simple saddle had already been outfitted to her, along with a basic pack for the pony's care.

(*You don't need this nag.*) Her friend told her indignantly.

Qasim saw the other horse and smiled, "Good, I'm glad someone found you another horse. We always have two. That way our horses can rest." Qasim went to work strapping all her things to the little horse. She stood there very patiently as the different items were secured to her saddle. The little pony lipped Qasim's arm as he worked. An obvious request for head scratches, which Qasim was only too happy to indulge the quiet pony.

"What's her name?"

"She doesn't have one yet. We usually let the riders name em."

Arie looked the pony over. Her coloring reminded her so much of a starry night sky. "How about NightSky?"

Qasim looked to the pony who tossed her head and gave a little whiny. "I think she likes it." he looked around probably for his own horse then asked, "Will you be alright on your own?"

"I'm not alone, I have SandStorm and NightSky."

The man looked the two animals and grinned. "You're really going like Lady Kel," with that he disappeared into the crowd, leaving Arie to listen to the whispers of the men and women around her.

"What are we doin?"

"Don't know, some village was attacked."

"No, I heard, a village was poisoned. They was bringing a specialist with."

"The one with the odd hair?"

"I heard she's a witch, cursed."

"Very strange hair."

"Alright, inspection!" Another man growled over the noise. There was a chorus of groans. "Not a single saddle strap better be lose or you'll be walking."

"But sir! That's a long walk."

The first man chuckled darkly. "Then you'll go first Lerant. Then you can rest before the long walk."

Arie saw the young man. He had brunette hair that flopped in his face and a snub nose. The man who had been speaking to him was now going over all of his animal's straps and the gear packed to it. His green eyes looked her way and she ducked her head throwing her hood over her head. She couldn't help but notice, Lerant had been one of the few near her that wasn't actively talking about her as if she herself was poisonous.

A hand fell gently on her shoulder almost startling her. Arie turned to find Raoul beaming down at her. Twitchy was at his side. Arie felt a sudden rush of sympathy for her teacher. The man looked incredibly uncomfortable in the crowd. That sympathy lasted only as long as it took her to notice the third person. On the other side of Raoul was a stocky man with fair skin. His hair was a reddish-brown color and was curled tightly against his head. Brown eyes looked her over with precision of a man who made quick judgments and who was good at them.

"You should ride up near me." Raoul gestured to the stocky man beside him. "This is Captain Flyndan Whiteford."

The man inclined his head respectfully, but by the look in his eyes he found her lacking in some way. Arie followed; StandStrom and NightSky trailing behind her, the men to the headed to the front of the small train. She pulled herself into SandStorm's saddle once they mounted their horses. Twitchy fell back to ride beside her. He had another horse as well. This one was solid gray with dark brown eyes.

"You trust em?" he asked nodding towards Raoul. Arie watched the big man's back as he chatted with Flyn. She thought about how he reacted to her Gift reaching out to him. He had been afraid, but something had held him firm. This was a man who took his job of protected people seriously and didn't shy away from things because they made him uncomfortable.

"Yes."

Twitchy pulled up on the reins and stared at her. Finally, he shrugged and they were on the move. They rode together in silence for a long time before Arie worked up the courage to ask the question that was on her mind.

"How is everyone?"

For the first time since arriving in Corus Twitchy smiled. "No worries, your chicks are fine."

Arie blushed and sputtered, "They aren't-."

The man laughed and slapped her on the back. "Kid all those people, even adults trust ya. Ya put most of em back together and folks don't forget that."

Arie ducked her head in order to hide her thoughts that she knew were written over her face. Arie saved others before, but that didn't stop people from turning on her when they thought she was a monster.

"When we make camp I wanna make sure yer not losen yer edge."

Now Arie laughed, "Bring it on, old man."

Twitchy's blue gray eyes were lit with amusement as he swatted her. "Disrespectful little thing." He cast a covert look around at the men and women riding behind them. Anyone who didn't know him would think he was just looking at the surrounding forest, but Arie knew better. When he turned back, he said, "There's a big man givin you a death glare."

Arie gave him Sir Jorrey's description and her teacher nodded.

"Aye, that's em."

"He's seems to think I want the Crown's favor."

Twitchy snorted. "Blue blood bas-" he paused glancing at Arie and decided not to finish his sentence. "Yer mom was always gettin after me about swearin."

Arie laughed, but now there were tears in her eyes. "She always was one for proper manners."

Twitchy reached over and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry kid."

Arie swiped the tears from her eyes and sniffed. "It's not your fault. It's not like you made her sick. I just didn't know enough to save her."

"Not yer fault neither."

"No, it's not." Arie's stomach rolled, grief and anger mixed together in her gut making her sick. She clamped down on the memories not wanting to remember how uncaring people could be. The things people did in order to make sure their reputation remained untarnished. She swallowed the dark memories and forced herself to keep her gaze constantly moving. Keeping a watch for eneimes meant there was no time to dwell on the past.

It was night by the time group had stopped. They had made good progress, by tomorrow night they would reach her little group. Arie prayed to the Goddess and Mithros that her people would be okay and that they would make it there in that time. The young man from earlier: Lerant, came up to her as she was finishing setting up her tent.

"Lord Raoul wants to speak with you."

Arie turned to look at him and was forced to step back because he was a lot closer than she expected. His green eyes roamed across her face and he grinned at her. She wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not.

"I'm supposed to escort you."

Arie eyed him suspiciously. "Let me finish getting my stuff unpacked."

"I can give you a hand, if you like."

Arie turned to him. Was he serious, she wondered. Then she thought mischievously, there's one way to find out. "Sure, but be careful my horse bites sometimes."

He grunted. "You never met Peachblossom." Lerant went over to SandStorm and Arie watched as the boy reached to grab a bag that hung from the stallion's saddle. The telltale signs were there. The horse's ears laid back; he eyed the young man. Then when Lerant's hand touched the bag, faster than he could blink the horse had man's hand in his teeth. Lerant jumped back and swore clutching at his hand. But he wasn't bleeding so it had just been a warning, a scary warning.

"You don't normally take things off a person's back without asking them do you?" Arie asked with a touch of smugness to her tone.

"You're serious?"

Arie rolled out her bedroll in the small tent and looked back out at him. "Why would I joke about that?"

Lerant sighed then walked around to SandStorm's head. He stuck his hand under the horse's nose and cringed away expecting to be bitten again. Arie saw SandStorm roll his eyes.

(*I didn't bite that hard.*)

(*I know.*) She told her friend.

"May I help remove the bags?"

The horse snorted blowing air in the boy's face before turning to look at Arie. (*However I like him, he is trained very easily.*) SandStorm nuzzled the young man and sniffed his pocket.

"Sand-" Arie was about to reprimand her friend for being rude when Lerant pulled a shiny red apple from his pocket.

"It's alright, I've learned sometimes it's best to carry bribes." Then he looked to SandStorm and said, "I'll give it to you if you don't bite me again."

(*He even brought my favorite kind of apple, I really like him.*)

Before Arie could warn Lerant her horse leapt forward and snatched the apple from him. It was gone before Lerant could even yelp in surprise. SandStorm turned his side to the young man and let him finish unsaddling him. Once everything was stored in her tent, she checked Twitchy's tent, but he was already gone.

"He's already over with Lord Raoul. The very jittery man who couldn't sit still."

Arie sighed in defeat and followed Lerant to where Raoul, Twitchy, Flyn, a young nobleman she didn't recognize, and a few Corporals sat around a fire.

"Ah good your here. I need you to explain what exactly we will be facing."

She got the hidden meaning in his words; don't tell everything. Arie sat down beside Twitchy before she began.

"The people we will be facing aren't doing things they normally would. Their minds have been changed by a poison. You must avoid contact with their blood and anything they ate or drank. If they have magic do not let them use it on your body if you yourself are Gifted. If someone is acting very out of character it could be a sign they have been infected. I can remove it, but it takes time and is very tiring the farther along it is. I will do regular checks of everyone with the assistance of Sir Nealan."

The nobleman chimed in, "Neal, I'm just Neal." Soon the conversation broke down and Arie answered all sorts of questions, mostly from Neal, who was quite the scholar. Finally, Raoul grunted and said, "Any more questions can wait until tomorrow."

Arie gratefully slipped away as everyone was distracted. She made her way back to her tent and stopped when she saw something scratched in the dirt outside her tent. She stared in horror at the mark of evil that had been crudely etched into the dirt. She gritted her teeth.

"Hey!" Lerant came up beside her. "Your friend said-," he stopped and noticed something was wrong. "What-" then he saw the symbol etched in the dirt. He made an angry noise before he bent down and wiped it away. "I'm sorry about that."

Arie turned her back to him. In the gloom he probably wouldn't see her cry.

"It's not your fault, besides you get used to it."

"No, you don't."

Surprised, Arie turned to face him. She could see pain in his eyes. Briefly she wondered why people would hurt him as they had her.

"Anyway, your friend was looking for ya. Something about practice." He had his eyebrows raised in a question. But Arie didn't bother to explain, he would be able to see for himself when they got to where Twitchy had decided to practice.