Morning came, and Trace woke up finally feeling like things were going to go well. Glancing up at the tree, he looked for Barret, but saw no sign of him. Walking over to the fire, he sat down, and stared into the flames for a bit. Furrowing his eyebrows, he noticed the fire was still going. And there was a fresh log on the pile of ashes. Looking around, Trace saw no one else awake.

"There's a stream about 60 feet that way." Barret's voice quietly said as he walked back into the camp. "Not very fast, but good enough fishing, and you could wash up. Good clean water runoff from the mountains." In his hands were a few large cod that had already been killed and partially gutted. "If you're quick, you can get cleaned and be back in time for breakfast."

Trace smiled. "You stuck around. I'm glad."

"Well, it just seems like a good idea. I'm going the same place as you, and… I'd actually have friends to travel with for once…" Pulling a pan off of his bag, he set it on the fire, and quickly gutted and de-boned the fish.

"I'd be glad to be called your friend." Trace gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder, and wandered out of the camp to get washed. Keith was the next one awake, and Natani followed him out of their tent.

"Good morning. Breakfast is some fish that will be cooked shortly. Once we've eaten we should head out. It's still a five weeks journey to Lyn'Knoll."

"Glad to see you're still here. I heard you tell Trace there's a stream nearby?" Barret nodded as he ground up some basil and fennel. "I'm actually a bit surprised."

"It's going to be strange for me too, I've been on my own for so long."

"Oh, that's not what I was talking about. I'm surprised you're so comfortable around Trace."

"He seems decent enough."

"He used to not be." Natani said. "About a year ago, he was the worst person imaginable.

"Come on, he couldn't have been that bad." Barret chuckled, reaching for a drink.

Keith sighed. "He was the Grand Templar." Choking on the water, Barret coughed.

"What?! Him? You're joking! Him? THE Grand Templar? HIM?!"

"What's going on?" Zen groggily said as he stepped out of his tent. Flora also was awake, stretching her arms, wearing one of Trace's shirts.

"Trace was the Grand Templar?" Barret wasn't paying any attention to the food, in absolute shock.

"He was." Flora said. "He was in fact the Grand Templar. Seven months ago, I met Trace in the woods, and he had no memory of who he was. I don't know who he was then, but I know who he is now. I trust him with my life. He's not who he was back then. I've been by his side, and watched him struggle with his past, watched him try to rebuild his life, watched him make up for his past. He's given up a lot to be where he is now. If someone's past is what you judge them by, then how would you feel if we judged you by yours? No one is perfect, and even though he's messed up in the past, he's trying to make things better."

Barret was silent for a moment. Keith pulled the slightly burnt fish off the fire. "No. You're right. I'm sorry. I… I can't blame him. He was someone different. Everyone has something they'd like to forget, leave behind, pretend it never happened."

"And all those terrible things we've done are done. We live with the mistakes of our past every day, and instead of letting them define us, we can choose to let them guide us away from making those same mistakes again." Trace was drying himself off as he walked into the camp. "I can't make my past go away any more than you can. All I can do is make the best of my future."

"You're right. I'm sorry. I was too quick to judge."

"No offense taken. Now, why not tell us about you while we eat?"

"That seems only reasonable." The camp shifted to hear him better, and Barret got comfy. "As I've said, I've been on my own for a while, though a while is an understatement. I was separated from my parents well over a decade ago when Templar bounty hunters chased us down. My older brother and I fled. I can still hear them shouting 'Run!' in my dreams. Eris and I were alone, hunted in the wilderness. We learned to navigate, cook, hunt, take care of ourselves, we learned how to survive. Seven years we wandered. We traveled from one side of the continent to the other, learning all we could about the land.

"We kept our ears to the trails, keeping track of what was happening. We searched long and hard for our parents, but never found them. We shared the load together, we took turns hunting, we were brothers. I went out hunting in late spring six years ago, and came back to our camp, only to find it ransacked, burning, and destroyed. Eris was gone. Heavy boot prints and a fallen banner told me everything I needed to know. Templars had found him. I was lucky enough to be gone, but he… I've been trying to find all of them. Bounty boards in cities told me that eight months ago my parents were alive and free. Eris, I've never seen a poster for. I… I hate that… I have resigned that he's dead.

"I haven't had many, actually any friends. For years. I'm glad to talk with someone about this actually. It's nice to get things off my chest." Tears were welling in his eyes. "I'm proud to call you friends." Flora walked over and sat next to him, putting her arm up around his shoulder. Zen likewise walked over and sat next to him.

"You'll always be welcome with us." Trace said. "Everyone has demons. We can fight them together." For a while, they sat, and just were. No one talked, no one packed. The morning passed and Barret finally looked up.

"Thank you. We should get started on our way. We won't get any closer to Lyn'Knoll sitting here." A faint smile touched his lips, and as he picked up his belongings, he kept glancing back at everyone, knowing that he had finally found friends.

Afternoon came, and the camp was finally packed up. The fire was put out and ashes doused, and there was little trace anyone had been there. While Barret carried what was left of the deer and some of it's pelt, Zen carried his bag and Barret's. As they walked northeastward, the hills became rougher and steeper. Once smooth slopes covered in grass became jagged and rocky, and the group took the low paths, weaving between hills.

"So Zen used to be an assassin?"

"We both were." Everyone had stopped for a break. Flora, Trace and Zen were retying several backpacks together. "He joined the order before me, but we were unstoppable. He's clever, and usually took charge when we chased people down. We've almost always gotten our targets, one way or another. Sometimes it wasn't the way we intended, but it worked out."

"It took us a while to trust Natani." Keith said. "When we met, we were actually their target."

"The only one that got away, and I don't have any regrets." Natani chuckled. Barret hefted the deer back up, and trudged forward with the rest of the group.

"I've got a lot to learn about you people apparently. Ex-assassins, former Templars, does anyone here not have past demons?"

"Flora." Keith said with a smile. "I've never met someone with such a positive outlook on life. She used to be a servant, and was going to be part of an arranged marriage that fell through. She keeps us grounded, and I don't know where we would be without her. If she has demons in her past, they haven't shown up yet."

The evening came and went without much hitch. They ate more of the deer, and Barret took his place in a tree like the night before. As he settled in, he heard footsteps approach. Rolling over, he saw Trace below him. "Mind if I join you up there for a bit?"

"Not at all." Barret reached down and with a bit of struggle pulled Trace up into the tree.

"Thanks. Are you sure you don't want to join us on the ground?"

"I'm quite happy up here. As much as I like having solid ground under my feet, it's rather uncomfortable to sleep on with this tail. Besides, if I'm down there, I can't see the stars." Leaning back, Barret stared up at the skies. "I've learned to appreciate the stars. They rarely change. I can navigate the world with them, and even when they are clouded, I always know they will be there." Trace leaned back on a branch and looked up with him. For several long minutes, they laid in silence, staring up at the inky black sky, each star like a lantern far off in the distance, it's light faintly pulsing, cold, but comforting.

"You seem to be fitting in rather well, despite what you though."

"Everyone knows me. I feel like I don't have anything left to hide."

"I'm glad you feel that way. If you need someone to talk to, my tent is always available." Trace slid down the branch and walked over to Flora, who pulled him into their tent. Barret smiled, and turned his eyes back to the stars.