It didn't take her long to realize that they were short one person, and her cry woke the others, Sierra seeming to be on her feet between one instant and the next, and Pesmerga vaulting up while grabbing the Star Dragon Sword.

"What?" Sierra asked.

"It's McDohl, he's gone!" Oulan replied, looking around wildly for enemies. "I don't know what happened: I can't believe anything was quiet enough to kidnap him without waking me, I'm a light sleeper! I-"

Sierra cut her off with a hand on her shoulder. "Oulan... look around. Do you see any signs of a struggle?"

"...Well, no, but..."

"Do you see any signs that he was frightened away?"

"...I... no..."

Sierra's face was pure contempt. "So he slinked away in the night. He abandoned us just as he abandoned all his friends and his people. I *was* right, after all. Good riddance to him, and may he never cross my path again."

Oulan's face was a study in confusion, then denial, and finally anger as she studied the signs - McDohl gone, his bedroll also absent, his travel pack taken with nothing left or scattered in haste. "You were right. Sierra, you were right all along, and I owe you an apology. I agree: may he never cross my path again, so I don't spank the coward's rear up under his chin." She turned to Pesmerga. "I apologize for those comments, but although you fought beside the boy, he didn't even take you with him. Us he has an excuse to distrust: his leaving *you* is all the proof I need of his cowardice."

She turned away, taking deep breaths to restore her calm. "Let's just get ready and get to these Sindar ruins," she said as she stooped to grab her backpack.

Pesmerga blinked and then set about gathering his few belongings. "I can only speculate that he was worried about travelling with a vampire," the eternal dark night mused. "He has not the experience of some of us," he commented sharply, cutting off the Star Dragon Sword's attempted speech.

The sword's sudden slience brought Pesmerga admiring looks from first Oulan, who muttered, "I wish I could get the old one to behave that easily," and then Sierra. Surprisingly, Pesmerga blushed just a little under that second regard, and then shook his head as if to clear it. "Never mind," he said, pointing southwest. "The ruins are that way."

As the trio walked through the forest, Oulan surprised the other two by snatching up a large branch of deadwood as they passed it. Pulling out her travel knife (Bowie knife to us Earth folks) she began pruning it and whittling it down. After a few hours' walk, she had a club some four feet long and five inches thick, with a handle carved out of it at one end. Apparently satisfied with her work, she altered her path to bring her close to Pesmerga. "May I ask you a favour?" she inquired as she came up beside him.

"You may *ask,*" the dark knight replied cautiously. "What did you want?"

"I need to use the Star Dragon Sword if we're going to fight Neclord. I used to be pretty good with one - but I'll bet fifty potch I'm barely adequate now, and that's not good enough against *him.* Could I practice with you - and spar with you, when we camp for the night?" she pleaded, holding up her improvised weapon. "This has about the same heft and mass, and I really need the practice."

"I'm not certain that's a good idea," Pesmerga temporized, not keen on the idea of fighting out of real combat. "For one thing, my Counter Rune might activate-"

Oulan cut him off. "It's not for me, Pesmerga-sama," she added, glancing ahead to where Sierra walked ahead of the pair. "It's for *her.*"

Pesmerga sighed. "Was it that obvious?"

"Maybe not to her, but I saw you when we caught up to her in that clearing. You had that 'stunned' look - the kind a lot of people give *me* in cities, the young ones who get infatuated easily," Oulan commented. "You knew about her from somewhere, didn't you? And cared about her, too?"

With a quick glance of his own at Sierra, who showed no signs of coming any closer to the pair than twenty yards, Pesmerga lowered his voice. "You are quite correct. I do care for her, as I have since passing through the Village of the Blue Moon some centuries ago. For her sake, I agree to your request," he replied. After a brief pause, he remembered a slightly odd part of Oulan's last statement. "Ahem... young 'people?' Don't you mean young *men?*" the black knight inquired.

To his surprise, Oulan turned as red as her hair. "Not.. always," she sputtered back. "I'd rather not talk about it." {Especially not since Sier's stories in the Wind Cave let me know what some of those people *meant...*} the bodyguard finished mentally. {I just hope Sier doesn't sense how I'm feeling now!}

Despite the proceeding day's seemignly endless supply of aggravation, Sierra was rather liking this new adventure. Sure, it put off her confrontation with Neclord for a week or so, but after almost half a millenium it was obvious that impatience would be futile. It wasn't as if she didn't deserve to have a little fun anyway after yesterday's histronics.

Amusing Fact the First: Oulan was squirming. Not the physical motion produced by the attentions of a more sleazy bar patron or being made to remain motionless, of course. Mentally squirming. As in the fact that her little sister seemed like she was about to have an apoplexy. If Oulan could see the look that was bound to be on her face right about now....

Priceless. Completely priceless. It seemed to have something to do with a certain incident in the Wind Cave. Sierra would have told Oulan a bit more than that tame foolishness had she known that it would be this entertaining. Mortals were so funny about things like that.

Then, of course, there was Amusing Fact the Second. Specifically, that their newfound traveling companion Pesmerga's clothing had been ripped practically to shreds, and it was almost certain that Oulan was going to challenge him to some sort of sparring match. Well, that or the bodyguard had developed a sudden fondness for large blade-proportioned pieces of wood. In any case it was rather likely that a certain mysterious knight was going to be working up a bit of a sweat soon..

Hmph. It had been way too long since she'd had a day like this.

Two hours later, the clearing was not the oasis that it once had been. Specifically, there were about five less saplings present, several strange wood chips, and some severy trampled wildflowers. Not that it was a big deal. Flowers were like mortals; much too delicate for Sierra's tastes. Besides, there had been a much better view to enjoy than the one offered by a sunlit patch of plantlife.

The novelty of said persective was wearing thin, however. Two solid hours and they didn't seem to have made any huge amount of progress. Through the link Sierra knew that Oulan had actually made some drastically needed corrections to her technique but, well... it all looked the same. Thrust, parry, step bach, breathe. Thrust, parry, slash, step back, breathe. Thrust, parry, slash, step back, breathe.

It must be very exciting for them to have decent sparring partners. There were, however, only so many hours of in a day that was fading fast. Frankly, Sierra just wanted to get out of there before she fell asleep or the sun went down.

The vampire refused to let this day be boring.

"Oulan?"

There was no response. Any meaning that the bodyguard might have derived from her sitting friend's comment was drowned out by the clash of metal on wood and her own heartbeat. Obviously more drastic measures than calling to the pair had to be taken.

Balancing on her toes while pulling herself up into a crouched position, the vampire gave a rather mischevious little smile. This might be a little beneath a Lady... but then Oulan was her close friend, and handsome as that Pesmerga guy was it wasn't like she actually cared what he thought. Besides, she owed Oulan for the rather terrifying end to a certain nap not so long ago.

Noting the rather convenient stream placed right behind her, Sierra tensed overused tendons in preparation to make her move. At the least the annoyingly noisy thing would be of some use now. There were even rocks nearby...

It couldn't have been more perfect if she'd planned it herself.

And so, in one fuid motion the albino skillfully flipped herself over the watery obstacle and into the bushes on the other side. This would have been quite pointless, had it not been for the piercing shriek which emerged once she was secure in the leafy undergrowth.

"EEEEEEEEEK! HEEEEEEELP!"

Shattering the fighters' rhythmic breathing, her call was accompanied by the sight of one pale arm reaching desperately from the surrounding flora. Pesmerga and Oulan both immediately stopped in their practice - bodyguard and knight leaving behind angle calculation and surreptitious showing off respectively. They then broke for the edge of the clearing at a dead run...

.....and promptly fell into the running water, finding the forest pervaded no longer with screams but with peals of long unheard laughter.

Standing over her companions, the vampire managed to choke out her intentions while the pair dredged themselves out of the waterway.

"Mwa ha ha ha! You should have seen the looks on your faces!"

Noting that they were looking at her with less than amusement, Sierra continued on a decreasingly mirthful yet more smug note.

"Just thought you might want to ...cool off before we head out to the Sindar ruins."

After a brief interlude involving a newly soaking-wet vampire ("One, two, three, HEAVE!" -Splash-,) and a restful night encamped in the clearing, the trio had walked another several miles, passing from forest into mountain trails, and currently stood before a pair of gates in a mountainside embossed with Sindar glyphs.

"I'm just guessing, but I'd say we're here," Oulan commented facetiously. Both Pesmerga and Sierra gave her long-suffering looks, but the trio then turned their attention to the gates.

"I hate to admit this, but I never bothered to learn that much about Sindar workings," Sierra noted. "So how do we get in?"

Oulan shrugged. "Search me, Sier," she commented. "I've seen maybe one Sindar ruin in my life, if you count the one in back of the White Deer Inn."

It was Pesmerga who broke the following silence. "I can read some of it," he announced. "There was some writing like this at home, when I was a child."

"Your father was a researcher of the Sindar?" Oulan asked as Pesmerga pushed on one particular glyph.

As the doors grated open with a 'whoosh' of long pent-up air, Pesmerga replied. "I think either he or Mother *was* a Sindar.." the dark knight commented, nearly putting Oulan's jaw on the ground.

"You *think?*" Sierra commented as they waited for the air to calm itself, thereby signalling that the air inside the ruin was no longer stale.

"He appeared to me in a vision, not long before I met you two," Pesmerga explained. "He mentioned, among other things, that I am half-Sindar and that there was something I needed within these ruins."

"If it weren't for the ruins being here, I'd be skeptical of that," Oulan commented, then cut herself off as Sierra made a sharp comment down the bond.

{{You accept time travel and Rune magic, but doubt spirits and visions?}} Sierra exclaimed. {{How inconsistent!}}

{{I-}} Oulan began to reply, but cut off as a voice, sounding as if it were coming from the back of her head, made a pronouncement of its own.

~You have good reason to deny it~

{Huh?} Oulan thought, now to herself. {It can't be the Star Dragon Sword this time - Pesmerga's carrying it for now! I need to get to the bottom of this-}

"Miss Oulan? We're ready," Pesmerga commented, and the three began moving as Oulan finished her thought.

{-just not now. Still, after the whole Neclord thing's over with...}

It was several hours of exploring, several gates, keys and puzzles, and fifteen fights with Salamanders, the pitcher-plantlike Creepers and the odd, spindly MegaWatts before the trio came up next to another large gateway like the one at the entrance. Pesmerga moved up next to this door and began reading through the glyphs again as the two women pulled back a bit to rest.

"Whew! I'm glad we're here, finally," Oulan puffed. "I haven't seen this many monsters in one place for at least a year!"

"Quite," Sierra agreed, pulling up a corner of her robe to inspect a green stain left by a Creeper's tendril. "Still, there *were* several treasure chests."

"Yeah," Oulan agreed, pulling off her backpack to quickly inspect the goods. "Several Medicines, old coins worth about 2000 potch if I'm estimating right, a Cape of Darkness - that one's for you, Sier - an armoured Circuret, a set of Silverlets that I'm betting Pesmerga would like and-"

She was cut off as a grinding noise announced Pesmerga's success in opening the gateway. There was no rush of air this time, and Pesmerga peered through the widening gap to try and discern what was on the other side.

"I can't see very much, but-UGH!"

The Dark Knight's statement was cut off as a bolt of lightning slammed through the widening gap, hurling him across the room and into the wall, where he fell unconscious. The gates finished opening to reveal a huge leathery form, similar to the MegaWatts but nearly twelve feet tall, lumbering forwards towards the spirit-sisters.

"Oops, I forgot all those stories of the Sindar leaving final guardians!" Oulan exclaimed as the two bolted to their feet.

"A fine thing to forget!" Sierra remonstrated, to which Oulan replied, "Get ready, Sier! Here it comes!"

As the monster charged, Sierra and Oulan dodged to either side, Oulan snatching up the backpack (and the Medicine within) and going for Pesmerga while Sierra went left and pointed her hand at the thing, intending to finish it at once with a Deadly Fingertips spell.

The monster didn't give her the chance, wheeling to face her and kicking out with a clawed foot, catching her a glancing blow and spinning her to the ground. Oulan looked up from where the Medicine was just starting to have and affect on the fallen dark knight, and saw red as the thing attempted to press Sierra into red goo with one foot.

"ANGRY DRAGON!!"

The flurry of blows and the final uppercut actually lifted the creature off the ground, and it crashed back to the floor some distance away as Oulan held her hands and panted. "-hahh- What's that thing's hide -hahh- made of? I could feel those -hahh- impacts right through the Iron Fists!" the bodyguard complained, holding up the weapons in question - a set of fighting knuckles that slipped forward from bracelet positions to cover her fists completely.

"I have no idea, but-" -*CRR-ZAPPP!!*-
"EEAAHHH!"
"AGGHHH!!"

The monster had gotten to a sitting position, and from its large eye a cone made up of electric arcs had lashed out, leaving the two women in convulsions on the floor. Maintaining the lightning, the creature rose back to its feet and plodded forward, intent on finishing off the two intruders.

This time, the monster was dealt an interruption instead of dealing one itself, as Pesmerga rose up from the floor behind it and dealt it a massive rising slash from the Star Dragon Sword. Staggered, the creature lurched forward, the lightning cutting off, and turned to face the new threat - which turned out to be a poor tactic.

Acting in utter synchrony, Sierra and Oulan rose to their feet and showed the peculiar swirling aura that signalled a Unite Attack. They began to glow - at first each in their signature colours, Oulan red and Sierra blue. Then the auras flickered, strobing between the different colours, and the two charged.

As they moved, it was with Sierra's inhuman grace and speed: As they struck, it was with the Angry Dragon's strength and energy. Uncharacteristically, both had abandoned part of their normal fighting style: Oulan had one hand cocked into a Sierra-ish claw, while Sierra herself was using one closed fist. The two of them raced three full circuits around their victim, slashing with their clawed hands, then skidded to a halt, Oulan in front of the thing, Sierra behind it. The two then left the ground in a double Rising Dragon uppercut, sending the monster once more into the air and down to a crashing landing on the ground.

As they themselves touched down, Oulan and Sierra crouched, panting and nearly exhausted. Incredibly, the monster got back up and charged them: they looked up with expressions of panic on their faces, neither one having the energy even to dodge...

...But Pesmerga was ready. Charging in turn, he crossed beside the thing in a flat second: the Dark Knight slashed out with the Star Dragon Sword as he did, while the monster swung one fist in a backhanded punch.

Again, this was a tactical error: Pesmerga's first sword strike glanced off the tough hide, but as the creature's fist neared his skull, Pesmerga's Counter Rune activated. Ducking in a motion too fast to see, he slashed it across the waist in the counterblow. For a moment, all was still: then the top half of the monster fell off the bottom half, neatly slashed in two. Blood began spilling over the floor as the halves hit the stone.

Over where they knelt, Oulan looked up at Sierra. "Sier... did we just do what I think we did?"

"A Unite Attack? I think you're correct. Somehow, you drew upon my magic just as I did your Rune," Sierra explained.

"SUGOI! (AWESOME!)" Oulan cheered. "I've never done one of those before!" She smiled. "We'll have to call that one the 'Spirit Sister Attack,' I guess."

Yep, she really was appreciating this day. How long had it been since she was in a unite attack.... five hundred years? Most mortals couldn't even hope to be skilled enough to work with her in such synchronicity.

But now there was other work to do. Somewhere within this stereotypically dark and supposedly creepy ruin there just had to be some sort of weapon they could palm off on that Pesmerga guy. Sure, he was cute and all, but it was time to get the old man working and out of this monotony of battles also known as a Sindar Ruin.

Honestly. Foolish Sindar. All of their ruins were so moronically similar. They were almost like mortals in that respect, although admittedly much more powerful. If only they didn't tend to get so caught up in their own 'mysterious' public image...

"Well, I suppose that that's over with. On to the treasure, then."

Oulan shot her a disbelieving look. "Sier, we just kicked the ass of a centuries-old Sindar monster and that's all that you have to say?"

"What else is there to say?" Sierra shrugged, "Like you said, there's always some kind of Guardian Monster in these types of ruins. Although I don't see why, considering that all we've found have been some Silverlets and a few med..."

Her peripheral vision disturbed by a certain unsusual gleam, the vampire suddenly trailed off.

"Well," she breathed, "We may have found our weapon after all..."

Pesmerga, who was busy cleaning what was left of his armor, seemed rather brightened by this. As cheered, that is, as the dark knight's complexion of now bloodstained marble was ever likely to be.

"Milady?"

"Over there," Sierra cocked her head to indicate the source of her curiosity, and then proceeded to wrench the Star Dragon Sword from Pesmerga's hands.

"I believe that this belongs to us again."

That was when the screaming protests began.

"What!?! Don't give me back to the demon! Kill her! I, the legendary Star Dragon Sword, demand that you..."

Grinning as Pesmerga ambled over to the formerly well-guarded Sindar equipment and Oulan tended to the inevitable scrapes of battle, Sierra raised the ancient vampire killer to her lips.

"What are you doing!"

Very parched lips, that is. Slowly and cautiously - so as to avoid any unpleasant blood loss - the albino began to lick the blood-drenched blade clean.

"Ugh! Someone help! This is beneath my dignity! You! Don't put on that other armor, you don't need that other sword... come back right now and GET HER OFF ME!"

The blood really was delectable - not human, of course, but the monster had been of an interesting and flavorful nature. The resulting message down the link was, however, inevitable.

{Sier! You know that you don't need that blood... you just drained three Salamanders,} Oulan scolded, though the tinge of amusement to her thought was as delicious as the blood...

{I know, I know,} Sierra mentally responded, {But it was just too tempting. Do you hear how offended the old man is by all this?}

"For the last time, half-Sindar, it doesn't matter how pretty that glowing new broadsword is! I am the superiour blade. Now come back here and...."

{Oh, I admit it's amusing, Sier-} Oulan paused, clearing a smirk off her face - {but should you really be offending it *before* we've beaten Neclord? Or is there some other purpose to this?}

"Alright, so that black plate armor is worthy of me! But don't you think that you should come back here and..."

{Of course. That's where you come in. We do, after all, have to get the maggot attached to you again.}

{Ah, of course,} Oulan agreed, now struggling not to laugh. Stalking up behind a vampire all too aware of her presence, the newly healed bodyguard prepared to strike.

"Finally! Finally you're coming back here. Just get rid of that inferior sword and..."

"Star Dragon Sword!" Oulan exclaimed before his tirade could lengthen itself further, deftly grabbing it from an albino quite willing to be rid of it. "Are you alright? I would have taken you from the demon's clutches earlier had I not been somewhat wounded, oh great blade." Fortunately, she managed to keep a straight face as she said this.

"Finally!" the Star Dragon Sword exclaimed, too relieved to complain about the change of ownership.

Pesmerga, newly outfitted and ready to rejoin the pair, simply shrugged.

Two hours and twenty unimportant battles later, all three adventurers were once more at the ruin's characterictically Sindar entrance. To her surprise, or perhaps to her chagrin, the vampire made the unpleasant discovery that she did not particularly want this Pesmerga with them for the battle against Neclord. For some reason, something she couldn't quite pin down beyond the rather broad category of instinct, *something* wasn't right about him. There was a secret in that immortal energy, something staining the young man's soul for him to have been a wanderer for so long.

That poison was, Sierra knew, a deadly one. It had taken hold of her far more times that she would like to admit, and the albimo could not allow it to jeapourdize the mission. Not now. Not when she was the closest she had been in centuries. A Lady did not let personal preferences stand before the good of her people.

"Well, I suppose that it's time we parted ways."

Shooting her a questioning look, Pesmerga couldn't help showing a glimmer of disappointment in his expression. Odd, that. The vampire couldn't see what reson he had to stay.

"But Mi'lady, I owe you..."

"You don't owe us anything," Oulan cut in, understanding Sierra's rather paranoid purpose through the link. "We came away with just as much treasure from this as you did."

"Besides," Sierra continued," You have a mission to fulfill. And so do I."

Crestfallen, but seemingly realizing the pertinence of the undead woman's words, Pesmerga nodded, "Yes. Yuber."

"Exactly. I need to find Neclord to put a memory to rest. You need to find this Yuber in order to find whatever vengeance you crave," replied the vampire. "Perhaps we shall meet again one day, knight... but those must take precedence. We both know that."

"Yes, they must."

Beginning to make her way once more to the north, Oulan paused to give one last wave to the knight errant.

"Goodbye, Pesmerga-sama! It was good working with you. Good luck!"