On the Bounty's deck:

"Okay Raven, lesson one in Sound. It is an extension of waves and vibrations that can be felt and mostly sensed by the ears. Sound can either be pleasant or painful or somewhere in between. There is a very wide range of various sounds that exist, and you can detect the highest frequency to the lowest, from the loudest to the lowest, and from the roughest to the softest, and etc. Sound can be altered in various ways to create new sounds, which could help you in a lot of ways if you put your mind to it. Also, with sound flexibility, comes sound possibility. As sound waves can travel anywhere, through almost anything, and for miles, so can your power over it... and even you," Christa said, as Raven sat on the floor in front of her, listening intently.

"How can I do that?" Raven asked, with her hand up.

"Well, let me tell you," Christa said and continued, "When you start to master using Sound, you'll be able to do awesome things like being able to send a message to other people by creating a sound wave that carries your message to someone, or by being able to travel through certain walls, like so..."

Christa took a moment to concentrate, as her physical body became translucent and pulsing, and then she faded through the floor. Raven looked on in surprise, and then Christa came up from the ground and returned back to normal.

"That's pretty advanced, but I'm sure you'll be able to get it eventually," Christa said with a smile.

"What if you get stuck halfway?" Raven asked.

"Well, the wall will explode from the sound since it will violently disperse from you if you happen to lose control of it. So you don't have to worry about being trapped in a wall, but the wall will have to be worried about you," Christa replied.

"So, if I happen to lose control at any moment of regular training, will the sound disperse violently?" Raven asked.

"Yup. But I'm sure you'll get it. After all, you've trained with Auria and Flare in how to control Wind and Shadow, so you should be fine with Sound," Christa said with a smile, and Raven nodded.

"Sound sounds interesting," Lucy said with her eyes closed, as she stood on one side of the deck, training by controlling the water that was in a few large brown vases around her.

"Mmhm." -Christa

"Hehe. Yeah, it is." -Raven

"Okay, let's get started," Christa said, as she clapped her hands together, and Raven stood up.

Raven learned how to use sound waves to attack in short bursts from her hands, and longer bursts that reach further. She also learned how to use a sound shield and keep it steady so that she could use it longer or make it stronger.

During Raven's training, Lloyd stood near the bow of the ship on the tip of it, overlooking the trail they were taking through the desert, and occasionally watching over the girls on deck as they trained. He was calm and compose, as he stood in place, and let the wind carry his worries away, like how Auria instructed him to do when she was training Raven in using Wind.

Then Lloyd heard a voice: a sweet and silvery voice that filled the air around him, as he turned towards the source. He saw that Raven stood with her hands together, as she sang in random harmony while sound waves circled around her in various colors that changed along with her pitch and volume. Lloyd was almost mesmerized by Raven's singing, as he started walking slowly towards her.

Christa was watching Raven, as she sang and was controlling the sound waves with her voice. She noticed that Lloyd was slowly approaching Raven, and she smiled.

As Raven finished singing, she looked towards Christa, and she nodded towards her. Then Raven felt someone was close to her, as she turned to see Lloyd standing two feet away from her with a smile on his face. Raven blushed, as she looked away from him with a little smile on her face. Lloyd walked closer to Raven, and said,

"That was really nice Raven. Your voice is beautiful."

Raven turned towards Lloyd, still blushing, and said,

"T-Thank you Lloyd. I almost forgot that you were close by."

Lloyd placed his hand gently on Raven's cheek and said,

"I'll always be close to you."

Raven smiled and held Lloyd's hand that stood on her cheek, and he smiled back.

Then Raven felt a presence on the Bounty's deck as she turned her head away really quick.

"What is it?" Lloyd asked, concerned.

Raven looked towards an empty side of the deck, as she shot a water pistol from her hand towards that direction.

"AHH HA HA!" A voice yelped, when the water hit an invisible target.

"What the?" Lucy said, startled as she opened her eyes after she heard the yelp.

"Reveal yourself," Christa ordered, as she held one of her platinum gauntlets in her hand.

"Please cease your hostility. I mean no harm," the invisible serpent said, revealing himself to be Pythor.

"What are you doing here Mr. Chumsworth?" Christa asked.

"Please, just call me Pythor, and I was only taking an early break from walking," Pythor replied, as he tried to shake the water off of himself like a dog.

Lloyd started walking towards Pythor with a stoic expression that slowly became annoyed, as Pythor took notice of him.

"Oh, hello dear boy. Don't mind me. As I said, I was taking an early break," Pythor said with a sly smile, and Lloyd stopped walking towards him and said,

"I'll let you go for now, but you'd better stay visible, for your own sake."

Pythor nodded and said, "Sure, sure thing my boy. I wouldn't want to trouble you any further."

As Pythor turned to go, he made a quick glance towards Raven, who looked towards him, suspiciously. Then Pythor chuckled, as he jumped off the Bounty, since it was flying close to the ground, and he landed in the sand pretty well, as he continued along with the others in walking.

Lloyd turned back towards Raven after Pythor left, and Raven looked towards him. He smiled at her, and she smiled back at him.

"Okay, let's take a break. We'll continue training later," Christa said with a bright smile, and Raven nodded towards her.

Then Christa turned towards Lucy and asked, "Are you taking a break?"

"In a few minutes," Lucy replied, as she closed her eyes and continued training.

"Lloyd, we need you downstairs," Misako called, as she stepped outside on the Bounty's deck.

"Coming mom," Lloyd said, as he started walking towards his mother, but he looked towards Raven with a loving smile, as she looked towards him with the same smile.

Christa went ahead into the Bounty, and Lucy noticed the exchange between Lloyd and Raven, and she smiled at the cuteness. After Lloyd entered the Bounty with Misako, Lucy looked towards Raven and said,

"Awww, your both so cute and in love."

Raven blushed and smiled, as she said, "Oh um, yes, w-we are. Thank you."

Lucy smiled, and then she twisted the water around her faster, as she sent the water back into one of the vases.

"So, wanna sit and talk?" Lucy asked, and Raven nodded.

Both girls stood sitting on the railing of the upper deck, as they talked about whatever they felt like, and then Lucy mentioned Lloyd.

"So Raven, you really love Lloyd?" Lucy asked.

"Yes. Very much," Raven replied with a nod.

"That's so nice..." Lucy said, and then she became silent as she thought of something.

"What's the matter Lucy?" Raven asked.

"It's just... you and Lloyd admitted your love for each other, and I still haven't for..." Lucy trailed off.

"For who?" Raven asked.

"Well, for Ryan," Lucy replied.

Raven gasped, as she put her hand to her mouth. The last time Raven saw Ryan was in Fountain Falls when he tried to kidnap her, and before that Ryan told Raven that he was fond of her. Raven couldn't speak since she was shocked, and then Lucy said,

"I remember when I first met Ryan when he was younger. He was quiet, nice, but usually isolated, although he didn't mind my company when we would hang out. After awhile, he became more open and he wouldn't mind talking to me or to other people too, although he still preferred to take some time to be alone. Then when I went back to traveling with Marcell and the other vampires, we would write letters to each other to keep in touch. After a few years, I went to visit him and Silva, and he was older of course... that's when something in my chest just flipped and... I fell in love with him. But I kept my composure though, I didn't want to make things weird between us since we've been best friends for so long... then Darkness came in the picture."

Raven put her hand down, as she looked towards Lucy questionably.

"What happened with Darkness?" Raven asked.

Then Lucy replied, "Well, Silva and Ryan went to work with Darkness, and then Marcell was hired by Silva, and then I was tricked to stay at the tower as a prisoner. Ryan would visit me pretty often when he could, and then one day he came in kind of annoyed. I asked him what was wrong, and he told me that Darkness gave him a mission that he wasn't happy about at all."

"What was the mission?" Raven asked, and Lucy replied,

"Ryan told me that Darkness wanted him to catch a girl for him, and that he wanted Ryan to pretend that he loved her so that he could lure her away from her guardians. Ryan didn't want to do the mission because he felt it to be very dishonest and deceiving. I told Ryan that he shouldn't do it, but then Ryan said that Darkness told him that if he didn't try, then Silva would have to fight the guardians, and that she might get hurt. So Ryan agreed to do it, although he didn't want to, especially since he didn't like the girl like that. I have to admit, I was just as upset about it as Ryan, especially since I loved him, but I told him that he should do what was best. After Ryan left, I only saw him one more time, and he seemed better because he told me that the girl loved someone else, and that made him feel better to know that she rejected him, otherwise he would have had to break her heart. Then Ryan left... and I haven't seen him since then."

Lucy looked away sadly, as Raven looked at her in pure shock.

"S-So Ryan isn't actually fond of me, he had to pretend... thank goodness," Raven said in relief.

Lucy looked towards Raven with wide eyes in surprise, as Raven's eyes widened to what she just said.

'I just said that out loud... Oh gosh,' Raven thought, as she stood looking at Lucy, nervously.

Lucy looked away, and then she looked back at Raven and said,

"So, it was you... Hahaha! Oh my gosh! DUH! Who else was Darkness looking for? Hahahahaha!"

As Lucy laughed, Raven arched an eyebrow, and then she started to laugh too.

Then they both calmed down, and Raven asked, "Are you mad Lucy?"

Lucy replied, "Mad? No, I'm not mad at you. Everything worked out pretty well... of course..."

Lucy looked at Raven with an arched eyebrow and asked, "You don't love Ryan right?"

Raven shook her head and said, "No no, I don't. I love my Lloyd."

Raven blushed a bright red when she heard herself say 'my Lloyd.' Lucy looked at her in surprise and then with a smile, as she laughed a little and said,

"Okay okay. Then we're cool."

Raven nodded, and then both girls looked out and saw that the sun was going to set soon.

I decided to post this chapter a little sooner. The next chapter might come sooner too, but I'm not sure yet, unless you guys want to read more, I got some freshly baked chapters here. :)