The path was barely visable by moonlight. Jillia was forced to travel sowly to not stumble by her weiriness. She hadn't slept after arriving in Banner, and had been travelling before that as well. Pure stubbornness kept her from turning back.

She sorely hoped that she wouldn't run across any beasties or bandits along the way, because in her current state, her rune could kill her trying to protect her. She stiffled a yawn and trudged along. Jillia stopped to rest a moment under a tree and the next thing she knew, she didn't.

"Uh, so Alen, where do you think she is?" asked an impatiant Rowd. Alen didn't even respond, he just kind of held his head downwards and muttered.

"You know," Rowd continued, "we uh have to work together if we're gonna, you know, find her." Alen looked over at him, still not speaking. He thought to himself, Ugh, this ignorant man is right. Why did she have to run away? Why did Lepant send me here? Why am I stuck with this fool?

Rowd continued, having no clue what Alen was thinking at the time, "I say we go west. What do you think?"

Alen decided to speak to the dumb Captain, "No... I would have to say South. It's much more convenient for her."

Rowd scratched his head in puzzlement, "Um....okay. Let's flip a coin!" He reached into a pocket and pulled out a silver coin of sorts. He flipped it up in the air as he yelled, "Heads!". Surprisingly to Alen, it was heads. Something's not right, here, Alen thought to himself, Rowd is never right. This must be rigged! As he finished his thought, Alen reached over and violently grabbed the coin from Rowd's hand. He looked down and examined it. Both sides were heads, what a surprise.

"Ah-ha! I knew you couldn't be right!" Alen shouted as he raised the faux coin into the air.

"Ooooh maaaaan," Rowd whined, "Well, can I at least have it back? It's a family heirloom type of thing."

"Is it really?" Frank said as he appeared before Rowd and looked at the coin.

"Go away!" Rowd shouted at Frank. Alen looked at him and angirly said, "So, first you tell me that we need to work together, now yuo're telling me to go away! I hate hypocrites! Hate them!" As Alen finished his lengthy speech, he threw the coin as far as he could.

"Huh?" murmered Jillia as a something hit her on top of the head. She looked down with sleepy eyes to find a small silver coin on her lap.

She looked at it for about half a second before her brain shut down. Okay, time to sleep. Shiny can be for later.

"I...I can't beleive you just threw that! And north too! Figures, now we have to go your way! Aren't you gonna say something??" Rowd screamed as the two of them walked towards where Alen threw Rowd's precious coin. Alen was obviously ignoring the bumbling fool, Rowd.

"Look, I'm sorry for trying to trick you, okay? So...let's just concentrate on finding Lady Jillia." Rowd said. As he finished, Alen stopped dead in his tracks. Rowd began to say something, but Alen held his hand up, informing Rowd to shut-up. Alen looked a bit to the right, then a bit to the left, "Do you hear what I'm hearing?"

Rowd stopped and listened as hard as he could, almost straining himself, "Yeah it sounds almost like..." Alen cut him off and finished his sentence for him, "Snoring!"

The two of the began running towards the direction of the snoring and found Jillia passed out on a tree. "Let's let her sleep, okay?" Alen started, "For now we should make some food that the inn keeper gave us."

So, the two of them began setting up a cooking area, while Jillia lay fast asleep.

* * *

Jillia woke slowly, not quite ready to leave the peaceful realm of dreams. But her body demanded she take care of another matter, and she had no choice. She opened her eyes and saw the best and worst of sights. A cook fire was in the process of heating something that smelled lovely, but Rowd and Alen had caught up to her. Oh well. Travelling alone in hostile territory tended to be unpleasant for all but the masocistic anyway.

Alen was asleep, but Rowd wasn't. He poked the fire a little with a stick. Jillia moved slightly and he turned his head to glance at her. "You're awake?"

She made a noise to the affirmative. She got painfully to her feet, her body sore from her falling asleep on two large roots and no less than a dozen sizable rocks. "I have to go," she murmered, still partly asleep.

Rowd jumped to his feet. "Not alone, you aren't! Alen and I are supposed to protect you right now. We can't really do that when you're half way across the country!"

"I'm not leaving, moron," she practicly growled, "I said I have to go." She tramped off into the underbrush and out of sight. Alone!

Rowd got it now. "Ooooh......"

"I give you guard duty for just a couple hours, and you let her just walk away!" Alen was yelling at Rowd when Jillia was just within earshot. "What kind of incompetent are you!?"

"Hey, I told you she'll come back!" Rowd replied.

"Yeah, sure. you fool! We were lucky enough to hear her snoring the first time! Now she probably won't fall asleep for miles."

Jillia entered the small campsite. "I don't snore, Toranian," she growled. "And I don't lie either."

They both turned, surprised that she got there without either noticing. Alen, wisely, decided not to press the issue of Jillia's snoring. She had a mean glint in her eye when she said that.

Jillia sat down on one of the logs around the camp fire and said, in a very different tone of voice, "What's for breakfast?"

The three travelers continued north, bypassing Radat for obvious reasons, considering the percentage of people in the group who were from Jowston probably coincided with the percentage who would make it out of a Jowston town intact. The path had, surprisingly, no other travelers going either way. It struck Jillia as odd, but she decided she was just being paranoid.

Then the path split. One fork lead to the north west, the other east and curving to the north. "This is where we must part ways, I'm afraid," Alen said when they paused. "The eastern path should take you to the border, but I'm going west."

Jillia blinked, slightly surprised. It hadn't occured to her he'd be leaving so soon. "Then you're staying in Jowston?"

Alen nodded.

"Then when we meet again, it may be on opposite sides of a battlefield. I wish you well," she said. War could be a bitch sometimes.

Though Alen and he had not gotten along, Rowd nodded goodbye to him. "Maybe next time we meet, it'll be at swordslength, and I'll be fighting to protect Jillia against you trying to kill her."

They all laughed. And then at about the same time, they decided it really wasn't that funny. What a depressing concept. It put everyone off the mood to say anything else along the way of goodbyes.