Pretty rad, right!?" Her mother shut her eyes tightly, and she desperately tried to wake up from this unbelievable nonsense.

Lon'qu feared for Peeko's safety attacking the creature, but was distracted by Cynthia and her grand entrance. Lon'qu stared at her in her costume, and thought that there was no way that she could ↓

[dgj hi will • v • it has been a while gosh and i haven't seen jes either :< i missed you guys ;c;]

possibly look any cooler. ...Unless there were more sparkles, or ...Or some cherry blossom petals flying through the air... Or... '...Wait... what am I doing? Focus!' Lon'qu tried to focus on the ↓

matter at hand, which was preventing Peeko from coming to any harm. [Hey Will! ...I've been missing Nowi, Vaike, and Gregor as well.]

After a solid minute, Sumia realized that whatever they attacked was not a potential threat and she threw her hands into the air, babbling about 'being done' and she walked right into her tent. By ↓

then, Cynthia's pose was quickly coming undone, and she fell, her back slamming on the ground. She then screamed, and threw the mask on the ground. "Gods! My poor, innocent back! D-Don't look at me!"

Lon'qu grabbed Peeko out of the air, and placed him on his shoulder. The green thing that somewhat resembled Bob didn't seem to be attacking them, and he realized it wasn't a danger to them. Lon'qu ↓

sheathed his blade, but them saw that Cynthia was doubled over in pain. 'Cynthia! Are you okay?'

'Cynthia... your back... It's...' She seemed to be in immense pain, and Lon'qu didn't want to make it worse.

Cynthia rolled around on the ground, assuming that was going to help her. She couldn't even come to look at Lon'qu in embarrassment. "My..spine." She groaned.

{V} Vaike, after being unconcious for many days, finally decides to wake up. ">groan< Gods... I really need to be more careful when I..." Vaike looks around "...huh. How long have I been out for?"

'Can you stand? Here, I'll help you up.' Lon'qu put Cynthia's arm around his shoulders, and tries to help her onto her feet. Sumia had left, so he was alone to take care of Cynthia.

"Ugh... My head is still pounding... What'd they even do to me..? Ha! It doesn't matter, the Vaike's *COUGH COUGH* ...invincible." Vaike tries to stand up, but fails miserably and falls off of his cot

Cynthia got up with much pain, but she swallowed her tears. She had completely made a fool of herself and didn't want anyone to ever bring it up again. "S-Sorry.." She winced, staring at the grass.

Vaike lay on the ground for awhile, recalling what had happened just mere days before. "...Damn, I almost forgot about Gregor! I've gotta find him!" With his newfound determination, Vaike slowly ↓

After realizing the "risen" was no threat, the three yield. Stahl turns to see Cynthia in a great deal of pain. "C-Cynthia! What happened?!"

stood up and limped out of the medical tent. "Hmm... First, I've gotta find everybody else. They'd go crazy if they didn't have ol' Teach here to protect 'em!"

'Hush. You need medical attention.' Lon'qu saw that Cynthia was wincing in pain, and that he probably was making it worse. 'Stahl! She needs help.'

"It's okay baby girl. I'm here." Stahl puts one of her arms around his neck and gently picks her up. "Lon'qu, where did Sumia go?"

Hearing the word 'help', Vaike's Egotistical senses kicked in, and he began to sprint over towards the voice. "DON'T WORRY, THE VAIKE'S HERE TO SAVE YA'!" Vaike shoved Lon'qu aside and faced Cynthia.↓

"Stahl! You're just the guy I wanted to see! What seems to be the issue here? Ol' Teach can fix it, no sweat!" Vaike suddenly remembered his last encounter with Stahl. "...On second thoughts, how ↓

'I think she went back to her--' Lon'qu was then forcefully pushed to the side, causing him to drop Cynthia into Stahl's arms. '...The helI, Vaike?!'

'bout you take care'a this one? Heh... I'll be sure to watch your back!" Vaike turned and faced Lon'qu. "Very nice way to greet a newly awakened pal, Lon'qu! What's gotten YOU in such a mood!?"

Ignoring Vaike, Lon'qu checked to see if he had injured Cynthia any further by releasing her.

'Vaike, could you go get Sumia? She's in her tent.'

The only extra pain Cynthia received was to her confidence. Everyone was doing what they could to help, making her feel she couldn't be seen as independent. "I'm okay..." She lied through her teeth.

'...Are you sure? ...Your back is all... crooked...'

Vaike, silently agreeing to what Lon'qu asked, arrived at the entrance to Sumia's tent. (Alright, keep it together...) Vaike stepped through the entrance. "OH BY THE GODS SUMIA IT'S TERRIBLE CYNTHIA ↓

HAS RENDERED HER BACK USELESS! >deep inhale< You... You need to go help her..." (Gods... That wasn't calm whatsoever... Oh well!) Vaike rushed out of the tent, dragging Sumia with him.

Without allotted time to react, Sumia was dragged out by Vaike, who she sworn was gone or something. Instead she focused on the current matters and frantically rushed to her injured daughter. -

"Cinthy! Gods, what did she do?!" She asked Stahl, though Cynthia could clearly speak for herself. "It's alright sweetie, I'll get you fixed up." Cynthia buried her face in shame. "Stahl, she needs -

to be placed on a cot or something." Sumia ordered, then remembered Lon'qu and Vaike had been there as well. "Thanks for your help you two. And Vaike, where have you been??"

Lon'qu hoped that Vaike would not say 'Spying' again.

"Well... I think I've been unconcious for the past... however-many days... Any sign of Gregor?"

'...No.'

Sumia sighed, feeling suddenly stupid for not checking in on Vaike earlier. She also remembered how Gregor and Virion were still gone, and she had two new stressors. "No..Virion's still missing too.."

'...You said that we would go search for them together.... But then you kind of passed out...'

"...Ah. Well then, there's no time to waste! Sumia, you go help your daughter; We'll be on the hunt! Right Lon'qu!?" Vaike wraps his arm around Lon'qu and squeezes, trying to get his cooperation.

'What...? Now?'

"Okay, I'll take her to the med tent. Don't worry baby girl, you'll be just fine. You've the best, and most attentive, nurse about to fix you up." [Haven't been on much today because I just got ↓

Vaike heads into the nearest tent and rips a map off ogf the wall. "Of course! The Vaike never waits for JUSTICE! Where should we check first?"

Bravely Default. Sorry about that. I've also been out a lot today.]

Lon'qu was eager to find the two, but figured that it would be better if he said goodbye to everyone before leaving this time around. 'Well, we could-- ...Wait, are you talking about leaving tonight?'

Lon'qu's question went unanswered, as Vaike had already left the encampment and headed towards the Ylissan Stables. "Two horses please!" *hands 25,000 gold* "Thanks, pal!" (time passage) "Alright,↓

Cynthia just nodded and sniffled. She felt totally defeated, and she was the one that screwed herself over. Sumia slinked away from plotting Vaike, but waved good luck to Lon'qu first. Upon entering -

I'll get the necesarry food and drink! You can pack the portable-tents and hay-beds! I'd say we ride to the Feroxian outskirts, that's a good place to check!" Vaike headed to the mess tent, grabbing ↓

the clinic, Cynthia became more stubborn than a mule when her mother simply sat down on her cot. "You're not going to talk to me?" There was no response from the girl. Sumia huffed and used a recover-

leftover food from the previous meal. He also filled four leather wineskins with water, one for himself, one for Lon'qu, and two for the newly purchased stallions. "Will this be enough? Sure it will!"

on Cynthia, who had ignored her physical pain and was wallowing in self-pity. Her mother frowned, scooting closer to Cynthia, but she reclused and didn't want Sumia near her. She just faced the wall.

Lon'qu was speechless. It didn't seem like he had a say in the entire matter. '...B-But...'

"No buts! We leave now, wouldn't want to traverse the land in broad daylight! Bandits have better vision then." *hands Lon'qu reigns to grey horse* "Here! A gift from me to you! Call him whatever, ↓

as long as he can gallop, we're good to go. MY HORSE, however, will be known as Tenure! [blah blah... Looks like Teach just got tenure... blah blah.] She'll be the best in the entire Ylissan calvary!"

Before Vaike could stop him, Lon'qu sprinted in the other direction towards the med tent. He rushed in and conveyed one last message to Stahl, Sumia, and Cynthia before he left; ↓

'Stahl Sumia Cynthia tell the others I said goodbye I have to go with Vaike to find Gregor and Virion I might be gone for awhile So goodbye I--!' Lon'qu's extremely rushed message was cut short as ↓

he tried to catch his futilely breath, and while doing so Vaike had came and started dragging him back to the horses. '...G-Goodbye!'

"C'mon, it'll be fun! It'll be like a... a camping trip! Only, we'll be riding horses for about... 18 hours each day. Don't worry, we can stop at some ale-houses when we reach Valm!"

'...Could we think about this for a minute? ...Where do you think Oilisab is even?'

"Right... Here!" Vaike draws a large circle with charcoal on the map. Vaike didn't seem to realize that the area was hundreds of kilometers in diameter. "Should be small enough to cover in... Half a ↓

day or so... If not..." *circles the entire continent of Valm* "...We'll try here. That'll take a BIT longer to search, but with Tenure here_" *pats horse* "_We can cover it in a day!"

Lon'qu questioned Vaike's reliability on the expedition. '...So you have no clues, no leads to where Oilisab might be hiding Gregor?'

"Well, I have the most important lead riiiight here!" Vaike taps his head, gesturing to his brain. A dull, clunking sound is heard, as if his skull was hollow. "Alright, mount your horse. We're off!"

Stahl brushes Cynthia's bangs out of her eyes. "Everything will be fine sweetie, don't worry yourself." Stahl kisses her forehead. [Good night everyone! Sorry I was hardly on today.]

'...How did he get the letter into camp in the first place?'

Lon'qu sighed, as they headed off on their journey to find the missing Shepherds (against his will). '...Tell you what... We'll ride to Ferox and I'll see if Basilio knows anything about ↓

Oilisab's whereabouts.' Lon'qu would have preferred to not leave on such short notice and leave the Shepherds behind, but he didn't really have a choice. Mounting his horse, Lon'qu was sure to bring ↓

the supplies and his two blades along with him. Before they got too far from camp, Lon'qu quickly scribbled the word 'GOODBYE' on a piece of paper, signed his name on it, crumpled it into a ball and ↓

lobbed it behind him onto the ground. He hoped that someone would find it, as it could be his only farewell to the others for a long while. Peeko circled overhead, following the small convoy of ↓

the two, following Lon'qu on yet another adventure. '...I'd better not regret this...'

[Lol sorry, was just giving some guy a step-by-step guide of Lunatic-ch. 2.] "Ugh... Fine. We'll go see Basilio." »meanwhile« {O} "Hah! Those fools would never check for their ally here! Not in a ↓

million years! Oh well. If I just leave him there, It'll be sure to erupt and drown him in a pool of liquid fire! HAHAHAHAHA!" [Demon's Ingle, anyone?]

>back at the convoy< {V} "By the way, Lon'qu. Have ya given any thought into your horse's name? Also, I meant to ask... What's with that seagull? I rarely see 'em around Ylisse, why's this one here?"

'...That's Peeko. I met him when I was in Valm a while ago. He's been following me ever since.'

Lon'qu looked at the horse he was riding. '...Not sure on a name for this one yet...'

"Ah! How'd you get a SEAGULL of all things to like ya'? Hell, Teach can barely get a fly to like him... But you can keep that between us, otherwise ol' Teach's reputation'd be ruined!"

'...Don't worry... Your secret is safe with me.' Lon'qu checked over his shoulder, and the camp was falling out of sight. '...I feed Peeko seeds. Pumpkin seeds are his favorite. ...Although I don't ↓

think that would work with flies.'

"Thank the gods! For a second there, I thought I was a goner! In exchange, you can tell me one secret! Teach'll never tell!" With Vaike's flawless logic, he eagerly awaited Lon'qu's secret.

[Sorry... Couldn't resist...]

'...A... A secret?' Lon'qu immediately started thinking of ways to try and escape the situation.

Lon'qu couldn't think of any viable secrets, and didn't know what to resort to. '...Well... Uhh... I... Have... Constant nightmares...?' He decided to list some random facts about himself instead.

"...Nightmares, huh. Well, doesn't matter, your secret's safe with me! I think we've been riding for awhile now... Let's hit the hay!" [Goodnight! Happy Birthday to Morgan btw!]

Lon'qu shouldn't have talked of his nightmares right before sleeping, and that night memories of that fated day of his childhood plagued him. However, he had experienced the nightmare so many times ↓

before, that it began to seem repetitive and ordinary for him, and he had a relatively good rest that night. He didn't tell Vaike the cause of the nightmares, and had never told him the story. ↓

...Maybe it would be a secret for another day. [I'll be getting off now too. Goodnight everyone!]

[Wow I missed a ton...]*After being attacked and being called a risen yesterday, Michael decided that trying to be friends was a disaster and made a fire and played his harp away from the shepards.*

Lon'qu awoke before Vaike, and performed his morning stretches. With the thoughts of the terror that was his dreams still fresh in his mind, Lon'qu began to prepare food to clear his head. He fed the↓

Stahl wakes up to see he'd fallen asleep next to Cynthia's cot. Just by looking at her back he tells that she's healing. Figuring that Sumia is still asleep, Stahl chooses to watch over Cynthia.

horses and Peeko, and prepared servings of bread, cheese, and meat for breakfast. '...Vaike. ...Get up. Food's ready.'

Cynthia continuously twitched, though she had still been facing the wall, not making it clear if she had been awake or not. She had an obvious stuffy nose, probably the aftermath of crying frequently.

Oscar and Donny both wake up and head to the med tent to check up on Cynthia. Outside the tent, Oscar stops Donny. "Donnel, who was that woman yesterday? With the red hair?"

(Donny)"Huh, y'ain't never heard of Cordelia? Figured you'da heard her name 'fore meetin' her." (Oscar) "Thanks Donnel. Let's see how Cynthia's doing."

Vaike didn't seem to want to wake up, so Lon'qu started eating without him. He wished that Vaike hadn't grabbed the stale bread from the mess tent.

"How's Cynthia doing bro-" (Stahl) "Shh. She's still sleeping. Her back is doing better, but it isn't fully healed yet. She needs her rest." Stahl whispered to avoid waking Cynthia.

Cynthia squirmed, but kept her mouth sealed when Oscar and Donnel walked into the med tent. She was less than pleased by everyone huddling around her like her injury had been such a big deal. She -

was ready to just scream at the top of her lungs for everyone to get out when her voice cracked, and she started a coughing fit. Feeling incredibly ashamed, she curled into a ball.

"Are you okay sweetie? I can get you some tea with honey if you'd like." Stahl was oblivious as to how Cynthia felt being coddled so much.

Vaike wakes up and rubs his eyes. "Uggh... What time is..?" *sees the sun low in the sky to the west* "Wha_! Lon'qu! Get your horse ready! We've gotta make up for the lost time! No sleep tonight!"