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Chapter V Fear and Faith

-SCARLET-

I crawled out of bed, taking great pains not to wake up August. I didn't know what I was going to say to him if I saw him today. I sat on the other bed in our room and watched him sleep for a moment. Which sounds creepy I know, but I really didn't mean it that way!

I remember when we were kids, he always looked so much happier when he was asleep. I dunno what kind of dreams he had but I guess they were really good? And he slept a lot, ten, sometimes twelve hours a day. It was like being awake was just a burden for him that he kept bearing because... I dunno why.

But that wasn't the August I saw last night. He wasn't 'happy' per se, but he was... stronger? More confident, I guess? He wasn't the scared little kid who ran away from home two years ago, that's for sure.

He asked me to come with him, to leave behind my life in Balmora. My job, my friends, my father...

My job wasn't a big deal. I could have sex anywhere, especially with a sweet body like mine. And if I went with August I wouldn't have to do it to keep a roof over my head.

My friends weren't that bad either. I really liked my co-workers and proprietress at the Horndog, but they would completely understand why I'd want to leave. And hey, maybe I could come back to the Horndog as a customer sometime, that would be fun.

My father... I could leave him. Couldn't I? Yeah... yeah, I don't even want to live with him! And how could he stop me from leaving? That old ragged sack of shit couldn't get his fat ass off the couch without me.

So why was I so afraid to leave?

I honestly couldn't wrap my mind around it, but hearing August's offer made me panic. I was so afraid of leaving behind the life I'd known for so many years, I didn't know what to do. When he said those words, "Come with me"... for the briefest second, I saw a flash of what it might be like. It was me and him, and Kavik was there, and I think like six other Fionbri. We were all eating dinner together around a table, laughing, having fun and just enjoying each other's company.

But that couldn't have been real. Right? It was just some weird mind trip or something. I was just making it up to comfort myself, to give myself a reason to leave with August.

Then why did it feel so real?

-KAVIK-

As I wandered out into the foyer of the inn, half dazed from just waking up and smiling like a dummy at the delightful smell of coffee filling the room, my morning cup of Johann in hand, I saw Noble sitting in a chair on the far left of the room and took a seat in the comfy, relaxing chair beside his.

"Good morning Kavik." He said cheerfully. I waved to him with a smile on my face as I took a sip from my cup.

"What's up, little dude?" I didn't really know Noble that well and I couldn't think of any reason why I wouldn't want to remedy that, so I figured I'd strike up a conversation. "Where's yer tiny suit?

"Tiny suits are not fit for adventuring, I'm afraid." Noble said, shaking his head sadly.

"That's too bad." I chuckled, taking another sip of my coffee cup. I dunno what they did to the coffee in this place but it was the smoothest, most delicious thing I'd ever put in my mouth. I could probably make a lame dirty joke out of that sentence, but I'll let it go. "Where're Sylvia and her boyfriend?"

"They went home." He sighed melodramatically. I looked around briefly to see if he was trying to get someone's attention or something.

"How come? I thought they were going with you guys?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, no. They aren't fit for this journey, for what it requires." He sounded disappointed, and I couldn't really blame him. The couple seemed pretty nice, and Sylvia was such a darling, who wouldn't want to have them on their crew?

"What's this journey yer talkin' about, anyway?" I realized that even though I'd been hanging out with August and his crew for the past like, twelve hours, I had no idea what they were actually doing. "Where're you guys headed?"

"To St. Augustine." Noble smiled, he sounded nostalgic for the place. "August is going to meet his destiny on the way there."

"What in the hell does that even mean?" I scoffed. I didn't believe in destiny, to me it was one of those bullshit concepts that people pulled out of their rear holes to feel better about themselves. Y'know, like 'god'.

"The events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future." Noble grinned slyly at me. I glared back at him with a frown on my face but I was honestly trying not to crack up at that. "Of course, that isn't technically accurate. The future is not set in stone, our own actions shape our paths. Destiny is just what's waiting at the end for us."

"The destination." I said flatly.

"Yes, exactly!" Noble beamed. "See, because they sound the same." He made an explanatory gesture with his paw, clearly aware that he was stating the obvious.

"Yeah, I get it." I chuckled, rolling my eyes. "So what is August's 'destiny' exactly?"

"That is for him to decide for himself." Noble said. "He is the only one who can really know his destiny, just as only I can know mine, and only you can know yours."

"Two questions." I gave a vexed sigh, trying to decide in my head what exactly I wanted to ask to get to the bottom of this, because from where I was standing, or sitting I guess, Noble wasn't making even a lick of sense. "One; if you don't 'know' his destiny, how can you know he'll find it on this journey?"

"Because it is my destiny to lead people to theirs." Noble smiled, like he thought that was the best job in the world. It sounded like kind of a crappy destiny to me, but whatever, to each their own I guess.

"Ok." I said dryly. I wasn't entirely convinced but hey, at least he gave me a straight answer. "Two; you put a lot of emphasis on the word 'know'. So what, you can guess his destiny?"

"Would you like to join us, Kavik?" Noble smiled. I nearly fell out of my chair. I mean, where the hell did that come from?!

"Hey, don't dodge the question!" I glowered at him, pounding my fist on the arm of the chair as I climbed back up into it.

"The answer to that question is obvious, Kavik." He lost his smile and his voice became a little bit deeper. "Of course I can 'guess' his destiny, anyone can guess." His voice took on a much harsher tone, he practically hissed those last words at me.

"You know that's not what I meant." I was beginning to feel slightly perturbed, I felt like this guy was treating me like a child.

"I answered your two questions Kavik." Noble shook his head. He took a deep breath and his smile returned. "Now please answer mine. Are you coming with us or not?"

I thought about just saying 'screw you, yer on yer own, douchebag!' But that would've been kind of a dick move. Annoying and confusing this purple dog may have been, but he hadn't been anything but nice to me. Besides, going to St. Augustine doesn't sound so bad.

"You gotta go through Verla, right?" I asked, grabbing my coffee cup and taking another swig from it. Noble nodded enthusiastically. "I'll go with ya 'till there."

Nah, fuck St. Augustine, I'll take Verla and its bloated, listless hedonism instead.

"It's good to have you on board, Kavik." Noble smiled brightly at me, kinda made me suspicious.

"Yeah, sure." I took another sip of my coffee and just let it go.

-AUGUST-

Kavik and Noble were getting a cart set up to head to Verla. Noble said we were going from there to a town called Dred, not an appealing name in the slightest for a town but fuck it I don't name this shit, where we'd meet a friend of his who would take us to St. Augustine. Apparently that was much more efficient than taking a cart to St. Augustine directly from Verla, which Noble said would take a few days instead of just one. Also cheaper, and Noble apparently is not made of money, or so he claims.

I elected to stay out of the cart stop, lighting a cigarette and just watching the city skyline for a few moments. I'd always heard great things about Balmora. It was said to be one of the greatest cities not only in the Lunar Kingdom, but the entire world. And it really was, it was a great place to be and I enjoyed my short stay, but I knew I had to leave.

"Hey we're back!" Kavik called out from behind me, I dodged his attempt to put his arm around me. "Did ya miss us?"

I just looked at him for a moment and sighed in response, the smoke pouring out of my mouth hitting him directly in the face. His frantic arm waving to disperse it was very amusing and made me smile for a second.

I didn't really feel like speaking at the moment, or ever really, but then even more so as I mourned my sister. I knew this wouldn't be the last I'd see of her, of course not, but I still felt a deep depression at not being able to convince her.

"You could stay, August." Noble said solemnly, standing beside me and looking up at me. "Stay here, with your sister."

It was as if he was reading my thoughts, but I suppose I had laid them out plainly on my face. I thought about it for a moment. I could stay here with Scarlet, but it would mean staying with her father. The old man was never very active though, and the thought of straight-up murdering him briefly crossed my mind.

But no, I knew I couldn't stay here, and it had nothing to with Scarlet's father, staying here with her meant giving up my own progress. Neither of us would get any further in life here, we'd never break out of the cycles of medicating and self-sedation we'd spent years building up. I knew I could save Scarlet from her cycle, but only if I could break out of my own first, and for that, I knew I had to reach St. Augustine. And I was not going to stop until I got there.

"No." I said, a cold smile on my face. "Let's keep going."

"As you wish sir." Noble bowed and hopped in the cart, followed by Kavik.

I took one last look at the city as I dropped my cigarette on the ground to extinguish it. I thought about Scarlet, and I told myself I would return for her. With yet one more reason to continue my journey, I got into the cart headed for my destiny.

-SCARLET-

As I snuck out of our room and walked quietly down the stairs to the inn foyer I pushed all the thoughts of leaving and journeys and Auggy out of my head. There was no way that I could do what Auggy was doing. He may have been strong enough to leave, but I knew I wasn't. And I was okay with that, or at least I tried to tell myself I was okay.

I wanted to sneak out of the inn unnoticed, just go back to my home and act like none of this had happened. And I was very nearly successful, reaching the front door before that purple dog, Noble I think his name was, called out to me.

"Leaving already, Scarlet?" He said, catching me off guard and making me flinch.

"Yeah, well y'know how it is." I turned around and gave him a big, bright smile, trying not to look nervous and scratching the back of my head anxiously. "I have to work and all that, you know."

"I see." Noble hopped off his chair and walked over to me. I briefly entertained the idea of making a run for it, mostly just to see if the little guy would chase me, but I decided I didn't want to make it obvious that running away was my intent. "I wonder... did August invite you to join us?"

And how in the hell did he know that?! Was this guy like a mind reader or something?

"W-why do you ask?" Nothing sounds more genuine and convincing than a nervous stutter AM I RIGHT!?

"It just seems like something he would do." His voice was very nonchalant, like he had asked a rhetorical question. "And if he didn't, I would honestly be a little disappointed."

"Ah, I see." I nodded and opened the door to try and leave. "Well, goodbye then!"

"Ah, so he did indeed." Noble said under his breath.

Shit. I probably should've just bolted, but I stopped in my tracks and turned around. Bad call, staying and trying to convince him wasn't going to go well for me, and I knew that, but digging my own grave was a skill I had honed to perfection through several years of being stubborn as fuck.

"What makes you say that?" I closed the door and walked toward him, crouching down in front of him and glaring at him.

"Because you're trying to run." He said coldly, his usual smile gone from his face. It honestly gave me chills a little. "If August had not offered you the chance of joining, thus threatening your oh so safe and delicate bubble, you would still be up there with your brother."

"I wasn't running! I was walking at a calm, leisurely pace out the door!" I scoffed mockingly, trying to distract Noble from my edginess. "Honestly, don't you know what 'running' looks like?"

"Don't try to deny it, Scarlet." Noble sighed. "You're afraid."

I put my hand on the ground and started tapping at the carpeted floor with my finger, a dull and completely impotent growl starting to form under my breath. I was already tense and this dog giving me the third degree or whatever was not helping matters. I needed to center myself.

I stood up and clasped my hands together, pointing my thumbs, index and middle fingers upwards, closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, drawing nature's life energy into my body in order to calm my nerves.

When I opened my eyes I felt much more at peace, as I always did after channeling energy, and crouched down in front of Noble again, this time getting down on my knees and looking into his wise red eyes with my scared, trying too hard to be feisty orange ones.

"I don't think I can leave." I whimpered.

"Why is that?" Noble put his front paw on the ground in front of me. Without thinking, I instinctively put my hand in front of his and he covered my hand with his paw. "Because I know you can leave, if you want to."

"This is where my whole life is." My voice was reduced to little more than a rasping wheeze as fear tried to choke the words before they left my throat. "My dad, my friends, my job. Everything I know is here."

"You stand in fear of the things you cannot see." Noble said with his eyes closed. I could feel so much powerful energy radiating off of him, especially in my hand that was touching his paw. I'd barely even noticed his scent before but suddenly I was overcome with the smell of cherries and grape juice mixed with the smell of early morning grass.

I just sat there silently, not having the faintest clue what to say.

"The pain that is familiar is comfortable." Noble's eyes were still closed while he spoke. I stood completely in awe of _this_Noble. Nowhere to be seen was the happy-go-lucky dog that was at the dinner table yesterday, replaced instead with one of the wisest souls I'd ever encountered. "No matter how painful things become, humans' natural response is to stay with what they know. It is okay to feel this way, but you must know that you can break free of this dismal hell today if you choose to."

Is that all? Am I just scared to leave the city? What in the hell could possibly happen to me if I left that would be worse than the hell I've already lived?!

I don't know.

And that was why I was so scared.

-KAVIK-

It would be a few hours before we reached Verla. A few hours sitting in a cart with nothing to do but talk to two complete strangers, sounds like my kinda party! August was staring dreary-eyed out the window and it looked like Noble was taking a nap. I wasn't sure how I felt about August, he was kinda grumpy and a little mean, but I had a good feeling about him nonetheless.

The weirdest thing about him though, and it really threw me when I first met him, is that he has no scent. I mean, his clothes and even fur smell like smoke, and that's unpleasant, but all us Fionbri were supposed to have a distinct, unique scent and I should've been able to smell it past the smoke. I didn't know why August didn't have one, but his dull, washed out and gray colors probably had something to do with it.

"Hey, August." I scooched up next to him, putting my arms on the window sill and resting my head on them to mirror what he was doing. "What're you doin' on this whole 'journey' thing, anyway?"

"I need to find my destiny." He said flatly, sounding half asleep and staring out the window with his dull grey eyes.

"What exactly is your 'destiny'?" I smiled cheerfully and tried to spark up a conversation with the guy, which I figured would not be easy. "Any idea?"

He stayed silent for a second, seemingly deep in thought. At least I think he was deep in thought, his expression hardly changed at all.

"I don't know." He finally said. Kinda anticlimactic. "But I need to find out."

"Find out bad enough that you'd leave yer whole life behind?" I backed up a little and put my hands on my knees, having my arms pressed into the wooden cart by my head was not a pleasurable sensation.

"I didn't leave much." August sighed. He leaned back as well and took a cigarette out of his pocket, unhooking the bright yellow lighter chained to his belt and lighting up. "And what about you? Why are you here?" He put his head out the window again to breath out his smoke, thankfully not filling the cart with that nasty crap.

"I'm just headed to Verla." I shrugged. "It's a town of hedonism and debauchery, sounds like my kinda place." I gave a bright, charming grin.

"And why the hell would you settle for that when you could have so much more?" He finally looked over at me, with a glare that could freeze pools of lava, thin lines of smoke slowly pouring out of his mouth.

"What're you talkin' about, man?" I tilted my head and gave him a puzzled frown. I understood what he meant, kinda, but I wanted to see where he was going to go with it.

"All I know is that I am not meant for a life of mediocrity, that God or the universe or whatever the hell is out there has greater plans for my life than just wallowing in my own selfish desires and the filth and shamelessness that a place like Dalo or Verla thrives on." He started coughing, likely choking on smoke. After finishing his hacking fit he wiped his mouth and continued speaking, his voice raspier than it had been. "Maybe chalk it up to narcissism, but I can't understand why anyone would want to stay in places like those."

I stared at him for a second feeling a mixed emotions. Irritation, confusion and, oddly, respect all duked it out inside my mind to decide how I felt about this guy. Eventually respect won out, I couldn't help but like a guy who was willing to go the extra mile for what he believed in, even if what he believed was completely nonsensical.

August went back to smoking out the window and I couldn't help but chuckle a bit. He was an interesting guy, almost too bad that I wouldn't see him again after we reached Verla.

Although I supposed I could've changed my mind about staying with his group at any time, I was done trying to reach some sort of higher place in life that didn't really exist. All that happens when you try to get higher is you get smacked down farther, like the blade of grass that grows too tall, or the legend of Icarus, flying too close to the sun and falling to the ground.

I'd had enough of that, thanks. I just wanted to be normal.

-SCARLET-

"Hey hey, I'm back!"

As soon as I got back to the Horndog, I headed straight for the proprietress' room to tell her I'd returned. I found the black haired fox lying on her bed in the center of the room wearing nothing but a loose fitting shirt and reading what I think was a magazine full of pictures of naked women posing with weapons.

"I can see that." She said drolly, looking up at me from her magazine. She was a snarky bitch, but she had a way with the guys. Also the ladies. "Glad to see you, Scarlet."

She came over and kissed me on the cheek, putting her hand on my hip. She was very touchy-feely with all the girls who worked there.

"Hey boss lady?" I asked innocently as she sat back down on the edge of the bed.

"Yes dear?" She replied, looking up at me lustfully. I didn't think she was really listening to me, but I was mostly just thinking out loud anyway.

"Have you ever wanted to leave this place?" I wasn't sure she could really give me great advice, but I didn't really have any one else to turn to.

"Why would I want to leave?" She chuckled, her laugh sounding kinda like a witch's cackle. "I can fuck all the brainless men I want and get paid for it too? Yes please."

"I guess..." I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to relieve some tension in it. "I just-"

"I know what you need." She got up from the bed and pushed me into the door, the knob jutting into my lower back right above my tail but actually feeling kinda good, and kissed me right on the lips. With tongue! "Feel better yet?" She said, stroking my face.

"Um, a little?" Like I said, she was very touchy-feely, but she always managed to catch me off guard. Not that I didn't enjoy it of course.

"Well then I guess I'll just have to try harder." She grinned wickedly and took me by the wrists, throwing me on to the bed and pouncing on top of me.

"I'm not really sure if-"

She cut me off with another kiss, this one even more intense than the first as she put her hands on my stomach before moving them up my shirt and onto my breasts.

"Trust me." She licked her lips and started clawing at one of my nipples, making me wince as I shifted anxiously underneath her. "I'll make you feel all better."

"Okay." I said weakly. There was no use saying no to her at that point, but I didn't care. I was going to enjoy the hell out of the next few hours.

-KAVIK-

"Verla!" I enthusiastically hopped out of the cart and greeted the sunset lit city with open arms. "There're more bars, clubs, brothels and restaurants here than you can shake a stick at! But I intend to shake my stick at as many as possible!"

I looked back to August and Noble and grinned slyly, though the two seemed less than amused by my antics. Well actually, Noble looked pretty amused. August not so much.

August just kinda stared at me, his expression looking more like one of those creepy statues whose eyes follow you across the room than an actual living person.

"Come on man, you can't tell me you aren't interested in at least a little of this stuff." I gave him a friendly grin and walked over to pat him on the shoulder, trying to get him to lighten up a bit, but he backed away from me and responded with his trademark obnoxious frown.

"I'm not." His stone faced expression didn't change one bit as he lit up yet another cigarette.

"Come on, man! Booze! Sex! Other stuff, I imagine!" I just couldn't believe that none of this was getting through to him.

"Oh, now you've convinced me." August rolled his eyes, his voice totally deadpan. "How could I possibly resist the siren song of 'come on'?" He put the cigarette in his mouth and breathed in what I'm sure was a completely healthy amount of smoke before sighing and releasing a smoky fog in front of him.

"So yer jest gonna leave?" I sighed, quite disappointed.

"Yes." He spat in the direction of the city before walking back to the cart and standing behind it. "You coming, Noble?"

"You can still join us if you'd like, Kavik." Noble smiled up at me, his red eyes filled with optimism.

"No thanks man." I shrugged. "Like I said, this is the place fer me. Booze, food, and loose men and women, I'm good."

"That's too bad." Noble sighed, giving me a sad smile. "Then perhaps we will meet again, my friend." Noble turned back around and hopped up into the cart to join August who had already gotten inside.

"See ya around, guys." I gave a salute goodbye as the cart started to move, watching as the two disappeared into the distance.

Verla was an important place in the Lunar Kingdom. The ongoing Demon War had sapped pretty much everybody's spirit, and Verla had spirits aplenty. I liked this kinda place. Simple. Easy. I didn't have to think about everything.

Yeah, this was definitely the place for me. Verla. Not St. Augustine, not Balmora... and not fucking Caldera.

I thought about my family back in Caldera for a moment. I wondered if they missed me, or if they even noticed I was gone. Probably, but I pushed those thoughts out of my mind. My family didn't exist as far as I was concerned, and I needed to move on.

To Verla! A huge step up from Caldera! I thought as I looked back at the city with my arms crossed, gleaming with enthusiasm.

Yeah... I don't miss them at all...

My smiled faded and I let my arms fall limply to my sides.

Not August, not Noble and not my family.

My ears drooped backwards and I started staring at the ground as I began to space out.

Don't miss 'em. Not even a little.

I growled angrily, kicking a crumpled up tin can I saw littered on the ground.

Goddamn it.

-AUGUST-

I was staring out the window at the passing scenery, something I was getting very used to doing by this point. The stretch of land between Verla and Dred was dismal to say the least.

Not much of the land in the Lunar Kingdom was all that appealing to look at, the Kingdom itself being mostly a collection of small towns rescued from the Ravaged Lands by the Lunar Emperor, so most of the terrain resembled the Ravaged Lands only without the flesh eating monsters or the pervading fog and you could actually see the sky.

"I am a little disappointed." Noble said sadly, breaking my train of thought.

"Why?" I asked drearily. I didn't switch gears all that well but Noble was clearly fishing for a conversation and I had no reason not to acquiesce.

"I am disappointed that Kavik did not come with us." Noble sighed in a melodramatic fashion.

"Really?" I said flatly, reaching for another cigarette and feeling slightly on edge when I realized I only had a few left.

"Well, not just Kavik." He said. "Also... um, you know." Noble pawed idly at the ground, obviously uncomfortable, most likely worrying that I would snap at him.

"It's fine, Noble." I said as sweet, soothing smoke filled my lungs and was dispersed back into the air. It was a fine cloud of smoke this time too and it made me smile ever so slightly. "I'm disappointed about what happened with Scarlet too."

I thought about it for a moment. I wasn't just disappointed, I was actually furious. Not just at her but at me. Shocking that I'd be hard on myself like that, I know. Trying to get Scarlet to join me might have been the first time I'd ever put so much energy into something. I really wanted her to come with me, but I couldn't convince her. I just felt like such a failure, such an idiot.

"I'm starting to wonder why I'm even here." I said aloud, although I didn't mean to.

"What do you mean, August?" Noble came up to me and jumped on a small ledge underneath the window, able to meet me at eye level this way.

"I mean..." I tried to collect my thoughts, still looking out the window and not at Noble so as not to breathe smoke at him. I could have, and indeed probably should have, just said 'nevermind, it was nothing', but oh well. "What if this doesn't pan out? What if at the end of this journey I'm still in the same shitty place I was in when I left Dalo? How can I be sure I'm not just wasting my time?"

"I wish I could give you some answers August." Noble laid down on the shelf, resting his head on his paws. "I wish there was some set of magic words I could say that could convince you, or anyone for that matter, that everything will be alright in the end. But there are no guarantees."

"Fucking great." I let out a harsh sigh before going into another coughing fit. "So if you don't even know where this path leads, why did you drag me down it?!" I barked angrily, although I was mostly mad at the smoke and my weary old lungs than at Noble.

"I did not drag you, August." Noble stood upright and glared back at me, catching me off guard. "You came of your own free will."

"I know." I sighed, crushing my cigarette with my hand and immediately regretting having done so. I was starting to get legitimately angry, but I had no right to release that on Noble. "I just... I don't know what to do if this doesn't work." I threw the now worthless remains of the cigarette out the window in frustration.

"Have faith August." Noble smiled, although his words just felt hollow to me. "Everything will be alright."

"You just said there aren't any guarantees." I growled, giving a bemused scowl.

"Maybe." Noble shook his head. "But faith isn't about 'guarantees'. It's about hope. And believing that your best days are not behind you, that they are in front of you instead. It's about a feeling deep inside that knows everything will turn out okay in the end."

"So what, the people who died in the war, even the believers, just didn't have enough faith?" I said mockingly before I started coughing again.

Noble stayed silent for a moment, seemingly at a loss for words for once.

"I don't know what to say to that." He lowered his head solemnly. "I can't speak for everyone, only for myself. And I know that my faith has brought me to places that I never could have reached on my own. So I encourage all others to have faith as well. All I want to do is help and that is one way I believe I can."

I took a deep breath with my eyes closed.

"I see." I said coldly.

I didn't know how to take that. I remember my mom and dad used to tell me that everything would be alright and to have faith. They even raised me to believe in God. I didn't know if I believed in God or not, but I did know that apparently 'having faith' just led my mother to her death and my father to run out on me and her.

And yet, for some stupid reason I couldn't explain, Noble's words struck me as true. I didn't know why, I just felt something, something small and quiet on the inside, telling me to listen to what he had to say.

And maybe he was right, maybe having faith would lead me to a better place. I mean, nineteen years without it haven't gotten me anywhere. Although breaking a habit I'd been building my whole life wasn't going to be easy.

I took another deep breath and resumed staring out the window, Noble hopping off the shelf and going back to his hay pile to sleep. I didn't know whether he was right or wrong on the whole 'faith' thing, but I did know that I at least wanted to try. I can't just turn my back on something if there's even the slightest possibility it could work.

I sighed and said under my breath "Everything is going to be alright."

-SCARLET-

"That was fun, don't you think?" The proprietress said, still laying on top of me and kissing me on the neck.

I nodded, moaning just a little.

We had been at it almost all day, it was early afternoon when I came into her room and I could see darkness out the window.

"Wow, it got late in a hurry." I said drearily, moving to get out from under the sheets.

"That's okay, we have time." She grabbed my wrist and gently nibbled at my ear, which made me moan quietly as I weakly struggled to get out from under her.

"I, I really have to get home." I said, blushing and forcing myself to pull away and get up off the bed.

"Stay with me tonight." She stood up and kissed me tenderly, making her offer very tempting.

Being with her made me wonder why I ever wanted to leave in the first place. I loved August, but this was... this was easy. It was fun too and it gave me comfort.

"I can't." I pushed her away lightly and started looking around for my clothes.

"You can't, or you shouldn't?" She stood behind me and put her arms around me, stroking my breast gently with one finger and kissing me on the back of the neck.

"Um, wow..." I stammered, feeling myself falling back into her arms unconsciously. "You're really not making this easy for me." I shook my head and yanked myself away from her.

I needed to get back to my house, I knew my father would be pissed if I came home late, and he was gonna be pissed already that I spent just one night away from home, let alone two.

"Then stay." She turned me around and pulled my body close to hers, kissing me passionately.

"I, uh..." I was starting to feel really hot. Like sexy hot not temperature hot! Wait, I mean the other way around! Well actually both.

She grabbed my ass and started stroking my tail, making me gasp embarrassingly. _Damn that girl, she knows I have a weakness for my tail!_She kissed me again and threw me back down on the bed, practically shoving her tongue down my throat. Not that I was complaining at this point, mind you. I was just falling into it, letting her pleasure me and forgetting all about Auggy or my stupid father or anything else.

Then she put her hand back in 'that' area. I uh, should probably cut my narration off here, but needless to say it felt so good.

I started to writhe and moan, louder and louder as she continued, putting her delicate but rough, steady fingers in places I didn't even know were erogenous zones!

This is so much better than leaving would have been.

Right?

After all, I don't even know if going with August was going to get me anywhere. Right?

...

I guess it doesn't matter now.

-AUGUST-

"Noble, there's no one here."

I was pointing out the blindingly obvious, Dred was a ghost town. The cart didn't even drop us off inside the town limits, but a few minutes away instead. Noble and I were walking through empty streets to find the established meeting area, although I couldn't imagine that wherever that was had much more to look at than anywhere else.

"I am aware of that." Noble chuckled. "But this is where my contact said she would meet us."

"And who is this 'contact'?" I groaned and reached for another cigarette but decided against it when I felt that I only had two left. "And why did she agree to meet us in this shit hole?"

The entire town was empty. Buildings still stood where they always had, there was no damage or ruin, no immediate sign at all why the town was so vacant. And it was fucking creepy being there in the dark.

"She's a good woman, don't worry." Noble smiled up at me, his tone completely light and care-free. "Although to be honest, I really don't have any idea why she agreed to meet us here." He chuckled again, although I could tell that being in this creepy place was starting to make him a little anxious.

We walked in silence for a few moments, passing absolutely nothing of any interest, visual or otherwise. It's like the town was dead and I think that may be what was putting Noble and I on edge about it.

"Why do you think Scarlet didn't want to come with us?" I promised myself that I would let the issue drop, but I just couldn't get her out of my mind and I needed to say something to break up the tedious and uncomfortable silence.

"She wasn't ready." Noble sighed. "She was too afraid of what she didn't know, and clung too hard to what was comfortable."

"I guess." I growled. That answer was unsatisfactory to me, but I had a feeling that it was completely on the nose.

"It's the same with Kavik." He said casually. "You have to admit, leaving behind your whole life is not an easy decision to make. It was just something Kavik and Scarlet were unwilling to do."

I was angry with both of them. I felt like if I was willing to leave my home and my whole life behind, why couldn't they? Then I realized that train of thought was fucking stupid.

Back when Noble offered his invitation to the journey in Dalo, I tried to cling to my old life as well, it was a natural response. But the things I wanted to cling to were all completely fucking worthless, no they were less than worthless in that they were actively destroying what was left of my life, of my soul.

But as I started thinking about that I got even angrier. I didn't know anything about Kavik's life so I couldn't make any conclusions, but I did know Scarlet's and her life was miserable.

Scarlet had a terrible job, she lived with her miserable piece of shit father and she had practically no freedom. When she wasn't at work fucking strangers, or her coworkers, she had to be at home with her father and I couldn't even imagine how pissed off he was going to be about her not coming home the night I was in town, even more so if she told him it was because of me. Granted, not that he could do much about it, concerning the fact that he could barely move due his being grotesquely out of shape.

But then again, Scarlet seemed to enjoy her job and she didn't seem to have the same animosity toward her parents that I did. So really, I didn't know what the fuck was going on in her head and trying to figure it out was just tearing my mind apart so I really needed to drop it.

I tried to think of something else to talk about to bide the time as we walked, but I was never very good at conversation. Luckily for me, we came to the meeting place fairly quickly.

It was a four way cross in the road, the side we were staying on had several buildings. I surmised that they were shops perhaps before Dred was evacuated. A brick pathway lay in front of the buildings, and in front of that pathway was concrete pavement.

The only problem was nobody was there.

"Where's your friend?" I said drolly.

"She'll be here, don't worry." Noble sounded confident, but I had a bad feeling about this.

Noble and I sat on the brick path, which was elevated so my feet sat on the pavement a few inches below. There was a large light pole illuminating the area but it barely worked, casting a flickering illumination that didn't do much for my poor vision and just made the area more unnerving. I looked around and saw more empty buildings, emptiness and desolation as far as the eye could see. It was starting to really get to me and I started feeling genuine fear begin to creep in so I figured this would be a good time for one of my last two cigarettes.

"I really don't like this place." I was beginning to shiver despite it being quite warm out. I pulled out my cigarette and my lighter, staring at the lighter for a moment with a bemused expression. I was trying to get Scarlet out of my mind and here I had to depend on an object that would always remind me of her.

"We won't be here long, I promise." Noble's enthusiasm was failing to rub off on me or make me feel better as I lit my cigarette and put it in my mouth. That made me feel slightly better.

"Why is there no one here? In Dred I mean." I sighed peacefully, breathing smoke into the air above me. Ever since we left Balmora I started smoking more frequently to cope with my stress, but it had been a few hours since I'd had one by this point so after finally smoking I felt relieved, like I was falling into bed at the end of a long work night.

"Dred was a business town." Noble laid down next to me, his paws hanging off the brick pathway. "The people here took care of matters such as accounting and managing the Empire's resources. Many tax collectors used to live here."

"So what, the unhappy masses revolted against the hated tax collectors?" I chuckled, lightly coughing.

"No, but that's funny." Noble chuckled and his comment made me smile. "The people began to realize that if they didn't work, the Emperor and his inner circle would handle their jobs personally. It began slowly, but gradually more and more people decided to just stop what they were doing and started heading to Verla instead of working at all. Why work for a living when you could gamble, drink and have sex instead?"

"Why didn't the Emperor just make them do their jobs?" I growled. Lazy people who didn't do their goddamn jobs fucking pissed me off. Bit of a pet peeve.

"The Emperor is a kind man." Noble sighed, laughing sardonically. "Perhaps too kind. He decided he could shoulder the burden of his people himself, that they deserved lives of freedom and peace. He wanted to shield them all from the horrors of the war as much as he could."

"That is just fucking stupid." I shook my head, rubbing my temples with my fingers.

"To you perhaps. But it was the only logical path the Emperor saw." Noble said.

"That doesn't even make sense." I paused to cough for a second. "If he could just shoulder the burdens of the people like that, why these people? Why the people who didn't need his help and not say, the people of Dalo? Or there's gotta be some other people in other cities who could use help, what did these worthless people do to deserve their newfound lives of leisure and debauchery?!"

I stood up during my rant and went into a hacking fit as it ended, clutching my chest as I felt like I was going to cough up my lungs.

"Are you alright?" Noble asked with a concerned expression on his face.

"Yeah. Sorry about that." I sat back down and gave a raspy sigh, still aching slightly from my fit.

"Think nothing of it." Noble smiled and I chuckled in return. "I don't pretend to know why the Emperor makes the decisions he does, all I know is that he always has the best intentions for his citizens at heart."

"Yeah, I guess." I spit on the ground. It didn't make much sense to me but I figured I'd just let it go.

We waited in silence for a few more minutes. I began to pace back and forth on the brick pathway while I smoked, easing my nerves. Occasionally I looked down the road at all the forgotten buildings that seemed to stretch on for miles. The farther I looked, the darker it got. Looking into this hollow abyss sent a shiver down my spine.

After a while, about an hour but it felt like four times as long, I walked over to stand above Noble on the brick path.

"Hey, Noble." I said, my cigarette, taxed beyond its limit, falling out of my mouth and being extinguished as it hit the ground, much to my depression.

"Yes, August?" He laid on the floor, his head down and his paws wearily hanging off the path.

"Your friend hasn't shown, and we've been here for over an hour."

"I know." Noble sighed. "She'll come."

-KAVIK-

As I stumbled out of the bar, not really drunk but just sorta buzzed, I realized I didn't have anywhere to sleep for the night. I knew I could make money somewhere in this town, but I was too drunk and, more importantly, too tired to think about doing that so I just crashed in an alley with some garbage behind the bar.

"Oh yeah, I can really see why this is the life you wanted." I heard a scratchy, maybe a bit nasally too, voice coming from deeper in the alley. I couldn't tell if it was an ugly man or an ugly woman, and when I turned to see the source of the voice it didn't help.

It was another blasted feral Fionbri. This one was mostly a sickly sea green, its undercoat was dark midnight green and its markings and such were red. It had a wicked, sinister grin on its face, made all the more creepy by its bright blood red eyes, not helped by the fact that its scleras were a dark wine red.

It looked like a hybrid of some sort, like Noble was part husky, but I couldn't tell immediately what kind. It had the fur and canine paws like most Fionbri, but as it smiled at me I could tell it had very pronounced fangs. Its ears were oddly shaped as well, almost like fins and it had some weird notches in its neck. I suddenly realized that it was a frickin' shark. Even if I wasn't pleased to see another one of these guys, I had to admit that was fucking cool.

"Can I help you?" My speech was kinda slurred, maybe I was a little more drunk than I thought.

"What are you doing here, Kavik?" The thing sighed, shaking its head dismissively. "This is really what you've decided to do with your life? Sleep in some strangers' garbage?"

"Hey, I didn't 'choose' this." I argued, batting my hand at it flippantly.

"Explain to me exactly how you didn't choose this." It said, looking at me with dull, unenthused eyes.

"I just don't have money for an inn is all." I chuckled nervously.

"Because you chose to spend your money on alcohol. Money that you chose to steal from your family, after you _chose_to run away from Caldera." The thing started cackling, its laugh piercing right through my head and echoing through the empty alleyway.

My anxious smile was wiped off my face by this stranger's dead on summary of my situation and a lot of bad thoughts and regrets started pouring into my mind.

Dammit, you should've spent your money better. You shouldn't have run. You should've stayed with August. You should've-

Shut up! SHUT UP!

"How the hell do you know all that?!" I tried to get up, but I embarrassingly slipped and fell back into the garbage.

"Sad." It shook its head at me.

How dare that bastard look down on us. I glowered at the creature, suddenly finding the strength to stand and rising from my heap on the ground.

"Stop looking at me like that." The beast glared back at me, staring right into my eyes with its piercing stare, its expression completely cold. I couldn't help but back down, falling back down onto my back into the trash and whimpering slightly under my breath.

"So..." I said quietly and kind of ashamedly. "What is it that you want from me?"

"I was sent to recruit you." The beast scowled, although it looked more annoyed than angry now.

"Why me?" I asked in bewilderment. "What makes me special?"

"What makes you special indeed." The shark-dog sighed and looked away. "Kavik, I'm gonna be honest with you, I don't have the faintest clue what he sees in you, but that's not my call to make. I was told to get you off your sorry butt and back into August's company and I will do just that because I'm a faithful follower." It said flatly, my patience with the creature falling with every word, although to be fair I think all the alcohol in my system was making me far more irritable than normal.

"Are you. Fucking. Kidding me?!" I barked, finding enough strength to at least sit up and get up off my back. "That's what this is about!? Look, I already told you freaks I don't want anything to do with this 'journey' crap!"

"I knew you were gonna fuckin' love that." The creature cackled, its laugh going right through my head again. "So who was it with August anyway?" The thing smiled ear to ear. "Was it Noble? Vatra? Those clowns Crance and Dacre, perhaps?" It chuckled. At least one of us was enjoying themselves at least. "Whatever, that doesn't matter. I'm not like them. I know that you're ready for this and I'm not leaving you alone until you accept my 'offer'. And I only say 'offer' because I was told not to 'demand' your obedience."

I stood silent, staring at the beast and my irritation steadily building, stemming partly from just being utterly confused.

"Oh, and I don't know what that thing is that's attached to you..." I looked around myself to see what it was talking about. "But I also don't fucking care, it can piss off."

The creature shot an intense glare above my head, causing me to look up to see what it was staring at but I didn't see anything. I felt something though. I felt... lighter, somehow.

"So what do you want, anyway?" I was feeling a lot less pissed off, although this person wasn't exactly in my good graces, so now I wanted to hear this thing out. "Why is it so important that I join August or whatever?"

"I'll cut straight to my point, Kavik." The thing said straightforwardly. "It's time for you to stop being a coward."

"What the hell did you call me?!" I angrily stood to my feet and glowered at the creature, although it seemed less than impressed.

"I called you a coward, Kavik." The thing said flatly, looking at me with a bemused expression. "You're constantly running away from your problems instead of facing them, and that makes you a coward. And I think it's about damn time someone called you out on your bullshit."

"I am NOT a coward!" I threw a broken bottle at it that I found in the trash, but I missed.

"Then prove it." The animal looked slightly above my head. "And you. I'm trying to have a conversation here and I just told you to bugger off, you piece of shit."

The beast's eyes glowed bright red and there was a flash of red light. The force of it brought me back to the ground and I felt like it knocked me unconscious for a moment as I lost all feeling in my body for half a second. When I came to, I felt much calmer and more relaxed.

The Fionbri stared at me for a moment. I suddenly realized that it was right. About me being a coward.

"Damn it." I said under my breath, chuckling facetiously. I wanted to be angry at the shark-dog, but I couldn't be, I could only be pissed off at myself but even that was a waste of energy.

"So." The beast smiled at me. "What're you going to do, Kavik? Are you coming with me, or are you gonna keep running?"

I thought about it for a minute. I started thinking about the past, about the other times I'd ran. Was this person really right about me? I thought about when I left Caldera, there was no way I could return to my family after what happened, no way I could even tell anyone and if I were a praying man I would've been praying every day after I left that no one else found out.

Was I just refusing to join Noble and August's little quest because I was afraid? How did that make sense, I wasn't scared of anything!

But no... after the incident in Caldera all I wanted to do was hide. To just hide away and forget that it had happened, forget I had any life before I ran away. I pushed aside all the things in me that might get in the way of that, and Noble and August inadvertently called out to something I had pushed away.

But damn it, I wasn't going to run away anymore. I was better than that. My parents raised me better than that. My brother taught me to be better than that. My little brother and my sister needed a better me than what I was trying to become.

"So..." I finally said with a chuckle. "Where to?" I smiled weakly at the creature.

My smile was met in kind by the Fionbri. It was the most sincere smile I'd seen on the beast since we'd met.

"I'll take you to Dred, from there you'll need to find August and his pal on your own."

"Why?" I tilted my head.

"One, I'm really lazy." The beast grinned. I was not amused. "Two, think of it as a final test." It smiled widely, showing its mouthful of razor sharp teeth.

I sighed and reluctantly accepted its stupid conditions, nodding my agreement. After all, I wasn't going to agree do this and then just turn tail immediately afterward.

"My name is Garu, by the way." It said, extending its paw toward me.

"Great, I'll tell Noble that you need your pay docked." I stuck my tongue out at it, accepting its offer to shake hands.

"Sorry, I'm working directly under someone who outranks him." It met my remark with a smug grin. "Anyway, you ready to get the hell out of here?"

"Just one more thing." I still had one very important question to ask.

"What is it?" It said, smiling.

"Are you a boy or a girl?" That was really bugging me.

"WHAT!?" It started jumping up and down, clearly furious for some reason. "How the hell can you not tell I'm a girl!? Aside from my beautiful, feminine and ladylike features, what about my smooth, sensuous and alluring voice!?"

I stared widely at the fuming creature, er... woman, deciding I probably just shouldn't answer those questions, but damn it was hard to bite my tongue.

"ANYWAY." SHE growled looking at me with extreme annoyance. "Is there anything else?"

I smiled brightly and shook my head. I thought it would be best if I didn't get on HER bad side again but seeing her get all indignant with me was funny as hell.

"Right then." The LADY grinned her evil looking shark grin and a bright sea green circle of light appeared underneath us, inside was a symbol that looked like a pair of jaws. In a flash of green light, we were gone.

-AUGUST-

It was still dark out when I woke up from my sleep, much to my dismay. I assumed I hadn't been asleep for long, it's difficult to sleep on brick especially when your only pillow is a fancy stolen hat.

"How long was I out?" I said groggily, tapping Noble who was still lying in the same place he had been when I went to sleep in the first place.

"An hour." He said. All the spirit and joy that was normally in his voice was gone.

"Noble, it's been four hours now." I sat beside him and stroked his fur. "She's not coming."

"I know." Noble just kept staring off into space.

"Come on, Noble, let's move." I groaned as I stood to my feet. I knew we weren't going to get anywhere moping around, and I figured wandering around would at least be an improvement over moping.

"Where to, sir?" Noble stood up immediately, shaking himself awake.

"So wait, I'm in charge now?" I asked nervously. I didn't consider myself very good in leadership roles.

"Well it was your idea to move." Noble chuckled wearily.

"Right, right." I nodded, trying to come up with a plan.

I tried to think of somewhere we could go that might help, or something we could do. I didn't know anything about this accursed ghost town though, and just looking around it gave me chills. I could feel some kind of eerie presence lurking around, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was.

"You can use magic, can't you?" I said to Noble, suddenly having an idea.

"A little, why?" Noble responded.

"Maybe you can use divination to find your friend. Or maybe you can just teleport us out of here or something." I explained.

"If I could teleport, don't you think I would've done so already?" He sullenly pointed out. "Divination happens to be my specialty, but something is blocking me from locating my contact, and I'm unsure if it's something blocking me or blocking her. Either way, I can't communicate with her without locating her first."

"What can we do to help you find her?" I asked, refusing to believe that we were just completely screwed.

"We can find a library." Noble said, sounding like an idea had just dawned on him. "Libraries are my comfort place, they help me concentrate and focus my magic. I will have a much easier time of locating our friend from one."

"Fair enough." I said, smiling. It felt good to have a plan. "There's got to be a library around here somewhere, shouldn't be too hard to find one."

"Sounds good, sir." Noble nodded his approval. "So where do we start?"

"Let's just wander around until we find something." I shrugged, chuckling mockingly at myself.

Noble agreed and we were off, wandering around the old, dreary roads of Dred trying to find a library. I didn't know how likely we were to find anything usable, but I wasn't one to just give up without trying.

The further we walked around Dred, the more uneasy I got. Noble could tell I was on edge as well, asking me if I was okay several times. I knew that I was safe with Noble, at least I knew on some level, but I couldn't help but feel... 'small', I guess. It was a natural reaction, feeling uneasy when one was alone in a strange town at night, so I tried not to pay it much mind.

We ended up wandering all over town, circling back to the crossroad where we began at least twice, over two hours. We wound up in another part of the town, one with several more abandoned shops lined up in a row. Inside one of the buildings, the walls were painted bright pink, making me wonder for a moment if they used to sell sex toys in there. There was a length of planted grass covering a small hill in front of all the shops where Noble and I sat down to catch our breath.

"I refuse to believe that this damn town doesn't have a single library." I growled, clenching my fists in frustration. As much as I dreaded this moment, it was time for me to light up my last cigarette. Taking it out of the box made me extremely uneasy but I was going to enjoy it for all it was worth.

"We'll find something, August. Don't worry." Noble's confidence seemed to have taken a shot when his friend didn't arrive, but he still sounded completely calm.

"Yeah, I guess." I sighed, breathing a soothing cloud of smoke. I was worn out from walking and tired from being awake all day but the cigarette definitely made me feel better. "I just want to sleep in a nice warm bed and call it a night."

"You and me both, my friend." Noble chuckled drearily. "And snuzzle up with someone you really care about."

That comment made me pause. I didn't have anyone I cared about in that way and I wondered for a moment if Noble did. But it made me think about someone.

Her. Clementine.

I still had her locket, I hadn't really paid it any mind after Noble gave it to me, but it had still been attached to my belt this whole time and I decided to unhook it so I could take a look at it.

Suddenly I saw a flashing image race through my mind. There was a little girl, in a shelter. It was a shelter that housed women who were abandoned, run away, or abused. I didn't know why this girl was there, but I could tell she was sad, not just sad, she was almost broken. She drew little cartoon animals on pen and paper she had with her. This girl would go on to own the locket, I just knew it. Despite her pain, I could feel a tremendous amount of strength coming from her.

Damn it, if she can be so fucking strong, so can I.

"Alright Noble, let's keep going." I stood up with a confident smile on my face.

"Already, sir?" Noble looked up at me, clearly still tired.

"Yeah, we can't waste time." I reattached the locket to my belt, breathing in a comforting cloud of smoke.

I turned around to walk away and felt a shower of fear wash over me. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, I could barely breath. I stared into the distance and saw a monster, just barely, but I knew it was there. It was dark red, shrouded in cloaks and wearing a hideous mask, at least I hoped it was a mask.

"Sir? What's wrong?" Noble nudged me to snap me out of it, but I just stood there.

The monster disappeared from sight, but I knew it was still around. My eyes darted from building to building trying to find it, its absence from my vision making me panic even more. I started to hear the sounds of flies buzzing around my ears and nervously swatted at the air where they should've been.

Suddenly I smelled the stench of rotting meat and could feel the coppery taste of blood in my mouth. I opened my mouth and put my hand on my tongue but couldn't feel the blood that I knew had to be there.

I could feel it coming closer, and I started having trouble breathing. I could feel needles poking at my skin and maggots crawling underneath my fur. I desperately wanted to run but I just couldn't get my legs to move. Whatever this thing was it was coming closer and closer, I knew Noble was speaking but I couldn't hear his voice, all I could hear were the flies.

The monster appeared again, right behind me. I couldn't turn around, or scream or run, or do anything. All I could do was wait for this monster to end my life, its cold, burning hands grasping my heart and squeezing tightly, choking my soul.

I felt its cold, dead hand around my throat, seizing the life out of me. My fear was reaching a boiling point, if I could breath, I would've been screaming, desperately calling for help that I knew wouldn't come.

My vision began to blur and I started to feel faint. The voice in the back of my head that was screaming fell silent, along with the sound of flies and the smell of meat. All that remained was the taste of blood, and darkness...

And then a flash of light.

A bright, shining surge of light appeared around me, stabbing the creature like a spear. I gasped for breath as my senses returned to normal and I could see Noble at the top of the hill beckoning me. I didn't waste any time running to him. I looked back only briefly, the monster was engaged in battle with a figure I couldn't quite make out. The figure was shooting more light into the monster and I could hear its pained shrieks in my head.

I followed Noble as he ran across the street, past several buildings into an abandoned warehouse. My legs were barely keeping me upright and were wracked with pain but I had to ignore it and keep moving.

We ducked inside the warehouse which was relatively small, the inside having been stripped of any furniture or equipment. I was really hoping that was the result of the Empire, or the building's owner, and not looters or some such. I couldn't handle any more bullshit today.

"What the hell... what the fuck was that?" I collapsed on the floor, gasping for breath as Noble closed the door behind me, thanking a God I wasn't even sure I believed in that by some miracle I still had my lit cigarette. And my hat.

"That was one of the Voices." Noble said coldly. He stood next to me and it felt like warmth was radiating from his body. "Its name is Fear."

"What the hell?" I was about to remark that it had a fitting name but I couldn't finish my sentence, I was out of breath, frantically breathing in my cigarette like it was a goddamn inhaler.

"The Voices are the 'fathers', if you will, of the Nichts. They are stronger and more sinister than any normal Nichts."

I crawled closer to the other side of the warehouse, leaning up against the wall and trying to calm my nerves with smoke. I didn't want to be near the door in case that monster came in.

I started to panic as I felt a presence approaching the warehouse. I could feel that it was different and not that monster again but I couldn't calm myself down.

"Don't worry sir, we're safe in here." Noble's reassurance did little for my frayed nerves.

I watched the door in fear, hoping that nothing would come through. Then the door swung open and I nearly had a panic attack before realizing it was Kavik of all people who opened the door.

-KAVIK-

I was running around this godforsaken ghost town looking for August and Noble cursing, mostly sarcastically, that bastard Garu that she just abandoned me as soon as we arrived. The place gave me the creeps, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. I just hoped she didn't drop me off in some other, completely unrelated ghost town. I mean, they would all kinda look alike, wouldn't they?

During my search I found a small warehouse, it looked like a nice place to crash for a while and I figured I could continue my search in the morning. When I swung open the doors though, imagine my delight when I found August and Noble. Although August looked like he wanted to throttle me for some reason.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" He barked, jumping to his feet and glaring at me with murderous rage.

"Geez, nice to see you to." I chuckled flippantly. I was kind of annoyed, what with being in a strange, creepy ghost town and it being way past when I wanted to sleep tonight, but I figured August wasn't exactly having a stellar time in this place either.

"We are both glad to see you, Kavik." Noble bowed his little head. "You just frightened us a bit, is all."

"Did I?" I stroked my chin, feeling quite proud of myself.

"So what now, Noble?" August said wearily, sounding like he'd just gotten the shit kicked out of him.

"I don't know, sir." Noble sounded pretty tired himself. "Kavik, I don't suppose you may have seen a library or something of that nature did you?"

I took a thinking pose and tried to collect my thoughts.

"Yeah, actually." I said cheerfully, trying to inject some kind of joy into this sad group. "I passed by a library a little ways from here."

"Excellent." Noble sounded cautiously excited and August had a look on his face like he'd just heard he'd been cured of a terminal disease or something.

"Wait," that look quickly faded however "what are we going to do about the monster?"

"Bah, we'll be fine." I shrugged, grinning assertively. "I don't know what you're talking about, but whatever it is it's nothing we can't handle."

"You didn't see... you didn't feel that thing." August shivered, looking down at the ground with a thousand yard stare.

"So what?" I laughed, pounding my fists together. "Not a damn monster in the whole world that can stand up to the three of us, right?"

"That is a great attitude to have, Kavik." Noble smiled happily at me, although August still didn't look convinced. Whatever. I guess I'll just have to show him how right I am! "Please lead the way, Kavik." Noble opened the door and I headed out, August and Noble following right behind.

I lead our party past a few more old discarded buildings, August explaining the whole 'monster' thing to me on the way. It sounded pretty grim but honestly I was disappointed that I missed it. I would've loved to fight a monster like that.

We reached the library, a two story building with a stone floor and two concrete benches in front of its entrance, in no time at all and Noble and August couldn't have been happier to see it.

"Fucking fantastic." August smiled bigger than I'd ever seen from him before. He actually had a pretty sexy smile.

"I think we should wait here for the night." Noble walked up to the large glass doors, looking inside.

"What, why?" August barked. "What about that monster?"

"I don't think we'll have a problem with that." Noble looked behind him and smiled.

He kept looking behind until me and August turned as well. There was a small feral Fionbri sitting on the ground near where I was standing. It was hard to make out his colors in the dark, but he looked to have a midnight blue top coat and a sky blue bottom coat, a beautiful combination. He had what appeared to be a lion's tail and his face was curiously covered by a steel helmet with a red tassel on the top.

"My friends, meet Sir Luthian." Noble sounded really happy to see this guy, speaking very reverently of him.

"He's the one who drove off that monster." August seemed just as happy, looking at Luthian like he would a friend he hadn't seen in ages.

"That is correct." Noble nodded.

"Nice t'meet ya, Luthian." I extended my hand out to shake. Luthian just looked up at me and a sword of bright light appeared between us, a shape appearing out of it that appeared to be a hand. I was a bit put-off but I shook the light-hand anyway and Luthian nodded casually.

"Luthian will protect us while we rest." Noble yawned.

"And why can't we just go into the library now?" August grumbled.

"Because I can't cast a decent spell when I'm this tired." Noble explained. "And no, I know what you're thinking, we can't ask Luthian to cast it for us."

"Screw that, man!" I flailed my arms about dismissively and crazily. "I'm not tired at all!"

"You're eyes are completely bloodshot." August's cold voice and deadpan delivery would make him a fine straight man.

"So are yours though, man." I chuckled, grinning at him.

"Right. I know." August yawned and walked over to one of the benches, lying down on it while Noble went to lay under it.

I looked back at Luthian for a moment who nodded at me. I shrugged and took to my own bench.

"Look on the bright side, August." Noble yawned. "You said sleeping on concrete would be better than Dalo, so you got what you asked for."

August just looked up at the sky for a minute before bursting out laughing. I didn't quite know what was going on, but I couldn't help but laugh alongside him.

-AUGUST-

I had never been happier to see the sun. My bones were sore from sleeping on that damn bench, but I didn't care. Very soon, this journey was finally going to be over. Or at least this leg of the journey at any rate. I didn't have even the faintest clue what came next but that didn't matter.

Noble was already awake, talking with Luthian. Kavik still slept soundly on the other bench, snoring rather impressively.

"Tell me there's good news." I rubbed the sand from my eyes as I approached Noble and Luthian.

"Yes actually." Noble smiled. I was actually a little relieved to see his smile return after seeing him so dour last night. "Luthian found what was blocking my magic and I was able to contact my friend last night, she will be here momentarily."

"What happened?" I yawned, stretching my arms. "What was blocking you or whatever?"

"One of our other compatriots, a woman named Garu, has an ability that negates magic around her." Noble explained. "She must have been using it in Verla, which is where our contact was, and so it blocked out my divinations."

"I see." I wasn't really sure I understood, but whatever. I was just glad this was about to be over finally.

"And there is one more thing." Noble was positively beaming. "Luthian has gift for you."

I tilted my head and looked at the strange knight, cat, Fionbri person. He was odd certainly, but something about him and the way he carried himself demanded respect. And he fought off that monster too so I was all too happy to give it to him. I walked up to him and held out my hand.

Luthian summoned a pair of shining columns of light behind himself and a pillar of light appeared in front of me. The light soon took the shape of a sword, upside down. I looked at Luthian for guidance and he simply nodded. I took the 'handle' of the sword and turned it upright.

The light dissipated, giving way for a beautiful weapon. Its grip was covered in soft black bindings, the guard and pommel were silver, the pommel being small and round and the guard shaped like wings. The blade looked as if it were made from stained glass, containing what looked like every possible color within itself. I was awed by its beauty, holding it felt surreal for me, like an out of body experience.

And then I started laughing uncontrollably.

"Y'arright there, man?" Kavik walked up behind me, yawning. I assumed he had seen the whole thing.

"I'm fine." I continued to laugh, I just couldn't help it. I could feel what the sword's name was, and I really appreciated the irony of the situation. "It's the name."

"Of what, the sword?" Kavik asked in befuddlement. I nodded, grinning like an idiot. "It's just a sword, man. It doesn't have a name, much less a funny one."

"What is its name, August?" Noble politely interjected.

I calmed down before I answered, catching my breath.

"Its name is Faith." I smiled.

Luthian nodded, Noble smiled joyfully and Kavik rolled his eyes, smiling despite himself.

"Hey, I didn't name the thing." I said to Kavik, still smiling and trying not to laugh again. "Thank you Luthian." I bowed to him, Luthian returning the gesture.

"There you all are!"

A feminine voice called out to us, it was a pink and white Fionbri with blue eyes, wearing a red jacket. I suddenly wondered why Noble didn't get a cool accessory like these other two did. Maybe he should've kept his tiny suit after all.

"Where have you been, Vatra?" Noble sounded irritated, something I didn't hear from him often.

"Where have I been?" Vatra sounded just as mad. "You were supposed to be in Verla, you jackass!"

"No, you said we would meet you near Verla, in Dred." Noble stared Vatra in the eyes, the other Fionbri not giving an inch.

"Why in the holy hell would I ask you to meet me in this crap pile?!" Vatra exclaimed.

"Well it wouldn't be the first dumb decision you made!" Noble retorted.

I looked toward Kavik and Luthian. Kavik seemed quite entertained by the little animal fight that was brewing, laughing to himself under his breath, and I could tell by the way Luthian just stood by and watched that he had seen similar incidents several times before.

"Alright guys, that's enough." I pointed my sword between them to get them to back off each other. I'd been between enough fights by my stepparents to know how to mediate. "It doesn't matter who was supposed to be where, we're all here now so let's not waste any more time and just get the hell out of here."

I was being surprisingly calm about the misunderstanding. I felt like a younger and less mature August might have gotten mad that Noble hadn't been in the right place, or that Vatra had given her the wrong place, or whatever, but no. I really wasn't mad, I was just tired.

"Fine." The two fighting Fionbri said in unison. I could tell that they still blamed each other, but I really couldn't have cared less as long as they were cooperative.

"Is everyone ready to leave?" Vatra asked, smiling serenely. She looked up at Faith. "That's a very nice sword."

"Thank you." I bowed. I noticed that it's a good idea to show respect to the feral Fionbri.

"Take good care of it." She said peacefully.

"I will." I nodded. I felt an innate attachment to this sword, it was like a part of me all of a sudden and I definitely planned on taking pristine care of it.

"Alright, let's go already!" Kavik walked up beside me, throwing his arms up in the air excitedly.

"Is Luthian coming?" I looked toward Luthian who shook his head. I admit I was a little disappointed, but I knew that I'd see him again.

"Let us be off." Vatra said, Kavik adding a sarcastic "Finally" under his breath, mimicking my sentiment exactly.

A bright pink circle of light appeared on the ground underneath us, enveloping Noble, Vatra, Kavik and I. There was a flash of light and then we were off.

And it was about damn time, too.