Will trudged along through the cold mist and fog, holding his hawk. They were still deep in the forest. The girl, Georgiana, led Goliath a distance behind him.

The girl was wrapped in two blankets, and Will could still hear Georgiana's teeth chattering. It was an odd coincidence she had the same name as his sister. Sometimes he thought she might be. But how was he to ask? He wished he could speak with Elizabeth.

When he came back to himself he saw that Elizabeth had scratched in the stables dirt floor the words "why girl?" As well as "wolf killed man" and "I love you." He was grateful he hadn't walked around before finding her messages. Hopefully Elizabeth could see his scratched out reply tonight. He missed parchment and cursed the storm that ruined what little they had.

Will now felt a bone deep exhaustion, like when he had fallen from Goliath. He hoped that walking would keep him awake, and give his poor horse a break. The phantom Elizabeth hung in the corners of his eye, whispering to him. He ignored her.

Will remembered vague impressions from last night, like a nightmare that faded too quickly. He had killed the peasant man. The peasant man was sneaking around the shack with an ax, as if to kill his mate. The wolf ran to protect his mate.

God, he was exhausted.

"Come with me," the phantom whispered, calling to him. He tightened his grip on his hawk. He was cold and nearly dead on his feet. Georgiana was not much better.

"Stop now," Will told her, "it's not a great day for traveling." Will stumbled to a tree and gingerly sat down. Aches and stiffness from the cold made even sitting a struggle. He heard Georgiana muttering to Goliath, calling him a girl again, before correcting herself.

Will's eyes were already closed and he was just on the edge of sleep. But, Georgiana kept muttering to Goliath.

"The wolf would've killed me! It was horrible," she explained quietly to the horse. Will felt a little guilty about scaring the girl, but was too tired to think much on it. His eyes felt glued shut. "But there was more," Georgiana continued. Will was close to begging her for silence so he could sleep, but the girl's next words stilled his mind.

"There was a woman. She was beautiful, with bright eyes, almost like a birds."

Will's heart constricted painfully to hear this. He could see her in his mind's eye. Cinnamon curls, olive skin and eyes aglow was a tease or a laugh. This was the clearest he'd envisioned her for months. If only he could drift off to dream of her now. But Georgiana wasn't finished.

"And her voice! She sounded like she was on the verge of laughing," the girl said.

Will eyes ripped themselves open. Could she have left him a message? He hadn't heard her voice in two years.

The girl sat next to Goliath, perhaps to stay close to his warmth.

"She spoke?" Will nearly whispered, "what did she say?" He felt a little desperate to hear her words, if not her voice. The girl jolted as if he'd scared her. He had fallen far away from hope if a teenage girl speaking of Elizabeth made him feel better.

"I asked her if I was dreaming," Georgiana said, "and she said that I was!" Will looked down, mostly disappointed, but mildly amused. Elizabeth would say something like that, but he wished she had said more.

"You must believe me!" the icy blue eyed girl said defensively.

"No, I believe you," Will said quickly, trying to pacify her and speak more about Elizabeth. "I believe in dreams," he said with a small smile. He sometimes felt as though his time with Elizabeth was a dream, and he was just awake and insane now. But he still clung to the dream that he and Elizabeth could be together again.

"I see," Georgiana said, unconvinced and perturbed. Will smiled at the girl before speaking.

"This lady, did she perhaps have a name?" he asked

"Not that she said," Georgiana said, rubbing Goliath's leg, "why?"

"Well, she might wander into my dreams, and wouldn't it be nice," he said as he smiled lovingly down at Elizabeth, "if I could call her by name and pretend we've met before?"

The hawk chirped a bit, and Will liked to imagine she was agreeing, or even laughing at him. He laughed quietly at the thought of her wandering into his dreams. She would make an unforeseen move like that if she could figure it out.

"I've waited a long time for such a lady," Will said, smiling at Georgiana who looked thoroughly confused. Now, though, it was time for dreaming. "Get some sleep," he told the girl, dragging his hood low over his face and sighing with renewed exhaustion. He hoped to sleep quickly. He was eager to see if Elizabeth would be in his dreams.

"The bird will alert us if anyone comes," Will told Georgiana, who was shifting nervously about.

"I must be out of my mind," she muttered. But Will had already drifted to a restless sleep, looking for Elizabeth even in his dreams.

Oxoxoxoxix

Will awoke with a start at the sound of wood being cut. How long had he been asleep? Where was he?

The clouds had passed and the shadows were long on the forest floor. It must have been several hours. He jerked up and looked for Elizabeth, who sat on a branch near his head. She chirped a little song and flapped her wings. He smiled and reached to stroke her side.

He heard the wood cut again, and someone whistled a happy tune. Odd. He stood up and followed the noise.

Just past a few boulders he saw a Georgiana. The girl was using his ancestor's sword as a simple ax! Banging and dulling it on the rocky forest floor!

He marched over, annoyed and reached out his gloved hand, grabbing the sword by the blade as Georgiana had it raised over her head to cut some more wood. The girl flipped around, confused, and mid note. She winced at Will's thunderous face, and he felt a little guilty about that.

"This sword has been in my family for five generations," Will tried to explain, "it has never known defeat, until now." By being used as a farm tool. His whole family must be horrified to witness this.

Georgiana looked curiously and disappointedly at the sword, as if seeing no greatness in it. Will felt the need to explain more, to almost prove it. He lifted the hilt to show the girl the collection of jewels.

"This jewel represents my family name, this one is our alliance with the holy church in rome. This one was my father's," Wills voice grew a little soft at the memory of his fathers body being brought home. He pushed aside those feelings, and flipped the sword over to show what was supposed to be his place. "And this–," Georgiana looked horrified by the empty place.

"Sir! You don't think that I took it?" she asked, defensively.

"No," Will said firmly, "this is mine to fill." He took the sword away from the girl and walked a few steps away. "Each generation is called upon to follow its own quest." Georgiana remained unconvinced.

"And what is your quest?" she asked, ducking her head as she smirked at the perceived ranting of a madman.

A hot streak of hatred for the Bishop ripped through Will. He turned away from the girl. He couldn't bear to look at anyone when he was feeling so enraged.

"I must kill a man," he responded, the need for vengeance rioting under his iron control. He walked over to sit on a boulder, turning to face her again.

"I see," Georgiana said, backing a few steps away and looking at Will. She didn't believe any of this. "Does this man have a name?"

Will looked at the girl carefully. He needed to convince or force Georgiana to help him.

"The Bishop of Aquila," Will said, practically feeling the sword hum in his hands for the Bishop's blood. Georgiana looked at him as though he were senile. She was as expressive as Elizabeth.

"The Bishop? I see, well," the girl said calmingly, taking a step back, "well, then you have much to do. I hope our paths cross again one day," she smiled and made to leave.

"I need you to guide me into the city," Will called over to her. This was his last chance. His heart wouldn't make it another year, let alone wait for another escapee! No one had ever escaped from Aquila!

"Not on the life of my brother," Georgiana declared firmly, turning back to him, "even if I knew where he was."

"You're the only one who had ever escaped from there," Will said, ignoring her odd oath.

"It was chance!" the girl plead, "pure chance! I fell down a hole and followed my nose." Will was not used to being argued with, only listened to. The only exception was Elizabeth, and she hadn't argued with him for two years. He could not let the girl go.

"I have waited," Will began softly, trying to reason with her, "almost two years for a sign from God. So, when I heard the warning bells of Aquila I knew it had come. You will be my guiding angel." That sounded reasonable, and what an exciting quest. He would have leaped to go when he was Georgiana's age. But she just stood there and scratched her head, disbelieving.

"Me?" she asked, pointing at himself. Will nodded, coming to terms that he would have to use force and corrosion to keep the girl. But the girl's next words mildly surprised him.

"Sir, the truth is I talk to God all the time, and no offense, but He never mentioned you."

"No?" Will asked, feeling a little sad, but he had ignored God first. God had allowed the curse. So, Will had done a lot of cursing at God. It made sense God had abandoned him.

"There are strange forces at work in your life," Georgiana said, taking a few steps towards him. "Magical ones. I don't understand them, but they frighten me." Will was more surprised at the girl's discernment than that God had abandoned him. "You saved my life, and I can never repay you. I don't think you would kill me for it. But, better to die, than to return to Aquila," she finished, and turned to disappear into the forest.

Force and coercion is it, Will thought, throwing his sword like a spear into the tree next to Georgiana's head. The girl leapt out of her skin and turned to look at the shaking sword with wild, fearful eyes. She then looked back at Will with a calculating stare. Will just held her gaze, waiting for her to make a better decision. Georgiana's hand reached out and stopped the sway of the sword.

"I'll gather some wood for the fire," she said, turning back to camp. Will smirked. He liked the girl. Sure, she was shy and spoke more to his horse than to him, but she was smart, courageous and had a discernment few others held. And Will had traveled all over the land and sea for help.

It seemed to be a sign from God. This would all be over if he could just finish his quest and rid the world of the evil of the Bishop. He was sure he would not return from the citadel alive. The thought filled him with relief.

But Elizabeth. He could not condemn her to live like this alone. Nor could he ask her to end it herself.

Could he do it for her?

He looked at his hands, before an image of Elizabeth appeared with clarity in his mind. She was so bright and full of life. His heart swelled with love. Suddenly, he almost threw up at the thought of taking her life. His heart jerked violently and painfully. He gasped and pressed a hand to his chest.

How did it come to this? He breathed his way through the episode.

Then he stood up, yanked his sword from the tree and went to supervise Georgiana, who had wandered a little far too from camp.

"Why were you in prison?" He asked her. She jumped a little at his voice. She didn't answer, just watched him from the corner of her eye.

"Thievery?" He ventured to guess. She didn't seem insane, or murderous. She blushed in a confirmation.

"It was just food," she murmured.

"I heard you stole the clothes you're wearing," he said. She blushed again and turned her back on him.

"I knew Captain Wickham from back home," she said. "I thought I could stay with him after my mother died. He refused to see me and I had to take care of myself." Will felt his stomach roll. That yellow haired bastard.

"Did he know you were in prison?" Will asked.

"Yes, he saw me once and I asked him where the last Captain had gone. He never saw me after that," Georgiana said sadly. Will felt a jolt in his soul at hearing this.

"Why were you asking about the last Captain?" Will asked.

"Mother said he was my brother, William Darcy. She never spoke of him, but her lady's maid did," she said.

"And what did she say about him?" Will asked, remembering Wickhams mother. She was always nice, nicer than his own.

"He was the sweetest boy she'd ever known. Why do you have on armor? This is something a Captain would wear," Georgiana said, examining Will with more care now. Will couldn't look her in the eye.

His long lost baby sister had come back to him after all. When he was cursed beyond reason and longing for a quick death. Should he tell her the truth? Losing a family was worse than never having one.

He watched Georgiana until the sun shone orange and his change was near. Then, he forced the girl to sit down on a boulder. Behind her stood a tall tree growing right against the boulder. He tied her hands behind her around the tree. The girl couldn't reach either knot, and they were unforgiving knots. Georgiana tried to bargain when he stood back up.

"Please sir. What if the wolf comes back to eat me? Who would show you into Aquila?" she said.

"He won't eat you," Will said, looking at the sun. It was too late to make food for his wife. He had to leave now or else he really would eat one of them. And Georgiana was beginning to grow on him, regardless of their relation.

So, Will walked, out of sight of the girl and away from Elizabeth. He had gotten far enough away that he could no longer hear Georgiana shouting for him.

But still, he walked farther. The killing of the peasant man reaffirming that he had no control after his changes.

Xoxoxoxoxoxo

Elizabeth stared at the little fire, there was plenty of wood, but no food. Will must have been very busy. She pulled on trousers and a tunic, quickly, to ward off the chill.

She spied a little rabbit behind a tree and she took off after it. She ran, light footed through the forest. But it was much harder to catch a rabbit as a person. The forest floor was covered in dry, autumn leaves, making it slick. She yipped and slid across the leaves. A little yell escaped her as she nearly lost her footing. Eventually the rabbit ran into a little den.

"Got you," she smiled, reaching in the den. She was just grateful no one was around to see the clumsy display. She would have been mortified, but she laughed a little at the thought of Will having seen. He would have died of laughter. He was the only one she would let watch her sliding and yelping like that.

"Miss?" someone called her. She jolted in shock, whipping around and slipping again on the dry leaves. It wasn't the imagined voice of Will.

"Miss? My lady?" the strange voice came again. She cursed the night and the trees. Who was it and where were they?

"Up here!" the voice called. She turned her gaze up a tall tree growing tight around a boulder. The girl in boys clothes sat on the boulder tied against the tree.

Elizabeth spied the rabbit running out of the corner of her eye. Her dinner! "Damn!" she sighed as the girl asked if she remembered her. Elizabeth scoffed. As if she could forget the only human she'd seen for months.

"What are you doing up there?" Elizabeth asked.

"What am I doing?" the girl said, as if surprised at the question and hadn't thought of a response. "Yes, you might ask that," she said, stalling for a good idea. Elizabeth smiled at her. Whatever she came up with should be funny at least. The girl reminded her of Jane in some ways, endearing her to Elizabeth.

"The bishop's guards!" The girl exclaimed finally, "A dozen of them! We had a terrible fight!"

"Why didn't they kill you?" Elizabeth asked with a smile as she stood up.

"Why didn't they?" The girl asked herself more. Elizabeth was delighted with her antics. She was so terrible at lying. "It's a good question. I asked them that myself!"

"And?" Elizabeth asked.

"And?" she repeated, trying to look over her shoulder at Elizabeth.

"And what did they say?" Elizabeth asked, deciding to untie her and bring her by the fire. It would be nice to have some company for a change. And the girl was entertainingp.

"They said…," she began, "that they preferred to leave that honor to the bishop." Elizabeth nodded with mock seriousness, biting back a laugh. "They said they were coming back!" The girl said.

"They are, are they?" Elizabeth smiled. She wondered if truth was just as entertaining as lies. And the poor girl looked as hungry as she. She could convince her to stay with food and warmth.

"Please, miss?" the girl begged, "a giant owl examined me closely not one minute ago." Elizabeth laughed at that. Owls were awful, judgemental things. "Please?" She asked earnestly, and upon seeing Elizabeth's smile, laughed a little with her. "Please?"

Yes, Elizabeth liked the girl. She was ridiculous in an endearing manner. Elizabeth laughed a bit and walked over, reached up and cut her loose with her little knife.

"You're very kind," she started to say, but Elizabeth's attention was quickly drawn to Will howl. He was coming to find her. She hoped he would leave the strange girl around her fire alone. Elizabeth turned back to the girl to give her some rules with the wolf.

But the girl had vanished. She must have bounded silently across rocks and boulders.

"Thank you," the girl called back. Elizabeth gasped and quickly climbed up the tree and onto the boulder. She didn't see the girl, and she couldn't see tracks.

Elizabeth heaved a frustrated sign, bringing her hand to her head. Will was going to be so disappointed with her.

"He's going to kill me," she muttered, more disappointed in herself. Was the thought of another person so enticing she gave up reason? True, she felt dreadfully alone, and being a social creature herself, the isolation was maddening. But to release Wills prisoner?

"Damn," she said again, going back to the fire with no food, and no friend. The wolf trotted up to her then and she pet him on the head, his tongue lolling out in a type of contentment.

She let him have his contentment now, for he was sure to explode in anger and frustration at sunrise.