"Why are you giving me that look?"

"Enough with the games."

"What games? What are you talking about? I'm trying to get information and you're not telling me what's up."

"Joan."

"...okay, fine, I admit it, I did it, but in my defense she double dog dared me. Plus everyone was watching me, I couldn't back down then- I don't want to be a coward."

"There is a difference between a coward and a fool, and I'd much rather you end up the coward."

"I'd really rather not take either but okay. Cool talk, dad, can we go back and eat now?"

"Joan."

"Ugh, come on, dad, it was one stupid thing."

"Unfortunately, you tend to have a repetitive cycle of 'stupid' mistakes. You need to be mindful of your actions and surroundings at all times; one foolish mistake can cost you everything. You do know the worse part about this talk?"

"Oh, this was a talk? Seemed more like a fire and brimstone lecture."

"If that is how you view it then consider it as such, but the worse part about this is that I, or your mother, or anyone, could talk to you about this for an infinite amount of time and you would continue to go down the path you want to."

"And I'm guessing that's not what I should be doing..."

"Joan."

"Okay, okay, I know I can be a bit stuck in my ways, but I don't purposefully try to stir the pot or anything."

"I know you don't, I know. But I also know the next time someone, anyone, 'challenges' you, you'll go about trying to rise to the occasion, whether it's warranted or not. This was not intended to scold you, your mother did enough of that, this is just to make you mindful of yourself. You're brave, but recklessly so; do not allow yourself to go into war over a minor indent to your dignity. Can you at least give me your word that you won't destroy yourself?"

"Okay, fine, but no promises."

"Also-"

"Yes?"

"No more dares."

"Fine by me."

°°°

Cracking one, crusty eye open to the bright, blurry world, I hiss and drop my face into the moist sand. Moaning, a warm lap of water gentle tickles my toes before retreating back into the ocean. I can feel something wrapped around my leg, and looking down I see a long strand of seaweed is entangled around my leg.

Sitting up in a kneeling position finally, I wipe the sand off my face and stretch.

"God." I thought I was dead for a second. Getting up, I toss the seaweed aside and shake the sand and salt from my hair. "Where the heck am I?"

It's an easy answer: on an island in the middle of the ocean. But how did I get here and where does that leave me?

As I shake myself down, I spot my sword glistening in the sun near the edge of the water where I washed up- thank God it didn't get lost after that huge wave.

Speaking of nearly lost things...

Sputtering and coughing up water a few feet from me, Chasan comes to, still tied up.

"You got any clue what this place is or where we are?" I ask him, my eyes still roaming the area.

He attempts to sit up but after three failed attempts, he falls back in frustration.

"How should I know?"

"Well, someone sounds awfully pissy considering they could have drowned if it wasn't for me."

"If it wasn't for you?" He manages to pop up perfect at that. "If it wasn't for you- if it wasn't- you nearly got me killed!"

I give a double take. "Um, what? Bro, I'm the very reason you're breathing O2 and not H2O right now."

"If you would have just untied me when I told you the first time then you wouldn't have had to waste the energy saving me, and maybe then we wouldn't be stranded here without a boat."

Of all the ungrateful little sh-

"You never told me to untie you," I cut back.

"Yes, I did. I told you twice on the boat before it went down but you were as stubborn as an ass and thought I would run away- as if there were any place to run away."

"Well, I still saved you."

"You have a warped way of looking at things, you know."

I give a cheeky grin that's not well received. "Yeah, keeps life interesting that way."

"Yeah, well, maybe try not to put my life on the line to keep yours interesting, how about that?"

"Gee, I don't even get a thank you," I mumble.

"Can you untie me, please?"

"I still kinda need you so..."

Again, I have him fired up.

"What!? Do you simply enjoy other people's misery because I'm starting to think you thrive off it!"

"Okay, okay, calm down, I'll untie ya, alright?"

Cutting the ropes with my sword, I free him from his restraints. It's much nicer not hearing his mouth. Once he's free, he gets up, patting the sand off as he surveys the bleak landscape. There's not much but beach for miles, a dense jungle behind us and the humidity which leaks from it.

"The most beneficial course of action might be heading through there," He points to the humid jungle. "There might be a village."

Not great for my hair but when did I ever care about that mop? Through the jungle we go.

"Alright, bet."

I take the lead, starting towards the unknown with Chasan close behind. Not really sure what to expect in these jungles- whether they're like the ones at home or something entirely different in exotic flare- but I'm not about to be stranded on this island when I'm so close to getting out.

It's a pretty quiet walk since I can kinda sense he's still a little hot with me, I don't know what for; I saved his life and now he has an attitude with me because I didn't untie him the first time- there wasn't enough time. The thanks I get.

One good thing about the humidity is that it dries us off pretty good, though I'm starting to perspire a great deal.

As we've been trekking through this place, something interesting occurs to me- something I point out to Chasan.

"You know what this place is missing? It's kind of weird."

"No." He still sounds peeved at me but whatever.

Knocking an oversized leaf from my path, I reply, "There aren't any animals. Where I'm from, the jungle is full of eerie, strange sounds, but I haven't heard anything but us in this place."

"I see nothing to complain about. Or perhaps maybe an alpha predator roams this jungle."

"That too, but it's just weird."

It really is weird the further along we go. I've never realized how much noise wildlife made until it's gone. As Chasan said, it might be caused due to some ferocious beast that rules this jungle, but it might not be as vicious as that.

Several minutes elapse before the silence is broken again.

"Where are you from?"

Oh, look who's talking again.

"This place called Earth, you wouldn't know it."

"Earth?" He makes a face. "What an unusual name."

"As is Edalirwen and Pyranaleath'tai," I counter.

"All in familiarity, I suppose. I'm from a province called Heaw."

"See, now, that's not as strange sounding."

"I'll admit, Pyranaleath'tai is a strange name for a place. I wonder what it's like."

"Well, if the people there are anything like this Tymos guy then it's not going to be an enjoyable visit."

"Tymos?"

Oh, right, he doesn't know.

"Tymos is this guy who has a beef with me- or my dad but is taking it out on me. He calls me 'girl with a bloody crown' or whatever the heck that means and he took my brother."

"He took your brother?" He says with genuine surprise.

"Yeah, and now I have to go get him."

"I genuinely hope you find him, your brother, I mean."

I can tell he does mean it- he's so sympathetic, it almost makes me regret being such a dick to him earlier, almost.

We wade through this sickly thick heat and vegetation to arrive at the start of a real path. Okay, maybe not a true real path but a paved, clearly man-made, leads to civilization dirt path. As we walk the path, I also notice the increase in other activity picks up like normal; the birds chirp overhead, there are buzzing sounds like I would expect, that kind of stuff. Another difference I only just notice as we walk this path is that the area has grown lighter due to the sunshine being able to spill in.

There's nobody else traveling this road except us, making for an easy trip of no strangers, until Chasan steps closer to me- just about on top of me- and lowers his voice.

"I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news but I have an odd feeling that we're being followed."

Keeping my eyes ahead, I act casual. The more I block out the natural ambiance around us, the more I pick up on the soft crunching coming from both sides and the rustling along the jungle floor. I'm not sure what it could be- whether it's an animal or human- so I rub the top of my sword as we continue along and reply nonchalantly-

"Maybe it'll go away. Just act like you don't hear it."

So we continue walking like nothing's wrong, but as the disturbances amplify, I grow agitated, pulling out my sword to put an end to this.

"Alright, where are you? I know you're following us, now come out before I drag you out."

Chasan looks pretty PO'ed at me for this but I don't take kindly to stalkers.

My threat works, though, and a guy with ginger-blond hair emerges slowly from the foliage. I know I should never underestimate my opponent but he's not much of an imposing threat from the looks of it- he doesn't possess a hostile, alpha male aura about him.

"Why are you following us?" I narrow my eyes as I make sure my weapon is visible.

"I'm sorry, I had just noticed you wandering and took interest in you," He replies innocently. "I thought it wise of me to follow you."

"Yeah, not the best move when it comes to me."

"I'm sorry," He repeats, keeping his eyes on the ground.

After a brief assessment, I determine he's not much of a threat so I put away the sword.

"You're fine, just be careful."

Lifting his eyes, he meets mine with a suppressed smile. "Thank you again for your understanding, but..."

People are right when they tell you not to underestimate your opponents- I didn't even see him coming until I'm disarmed, knocked on the ground, and Chasan is in a choke hold with a sword to his neck. Getting to my feet, the stranger digs the sword into him a bit deeper, warning me from approaching. Apparently, that little apologetic, meek facade he put on for me was just an act- an Oscar worthy act- because he now wears a smug, oddly cheery demeanor.

"I wouldn't come any closer if I were you," He presses the sword even deeper, earning a wince and sharp inhale from Chasan.

"Look," I throw my hands in the air. "I just want to get through this adventure without any more issues. I'm not going to lie, this would be cute if I was in the mood but I can already feel myself wasting away so I'm not even going to bother fighting you."

Pulling Chasan back with him a little, the guy is taken off-guard by this but tries to recover, acting even fiercer.

"Well, if you don't wish to fight then this should be an easy transaction. Give me whatever valuables you have on you and I'll-"

"Seriously, this is just for some treasure or something? If I had anything of value, I would give it to you but I'm poorer than dirt. Plus, I don't have time for this."

"Well, what about that necklace you have? That must be of some value."

The necklace he's indicating to is actually the ring my dad gave me (a ring that surprisingly stayed on during all that commotion in the ocean).

"Yeah, no, that's about the only thing you can't have."

"Well, you don't seem to be in the position of bartering, not if you want to save him."

Even though Chasan cries out in discomfort again, I'm not really seeing the urgency. In fact, I'm about done here.

"I honestly don't care at this point, you can have him."

Both males are taken back by this, both voicing their synchronized "What" in different ways.

"I mean, I literally just met this guy not even twenty-four hours ago, plus he tried to sell me so..."

"This is not a joke, I will hurt him." Sounds like he's trying to convince himself more of that than me.

While I shrug, Chasan voices his opinion in all this.

"I have no connection to this girl, really. Let me go and you can handle her yourself."

The dude is still trying to get a rouse out of me, though. "So, you don't care if I slit his throat right here, right now?"

"Well, I do. I kinda don't want blood to get all over me, so..."

While a red-faced Chasan burns holes through me, the wannabe thug is left pulling at straws, trying to think of anything else that he could hold against me, but sadly for him, there's nothing.

"If we're done here, I'm just going to peace out."

This actually is a blessing in disguise. Now I don't have to deal with Sir Douche anymore.

When no one protest as I walk away, I immediately forget about the scene, already consumed in thought about how to get to Pyranaleath'tai now. I don't get very far before a compromise comes. I tell you, I can call bluffs for a living.

"Uh, wait," He calls me back. "We can do this without having to shed blood- I'm a man of peace. How about just giving me your sword in exchange?"

"How about no?"

I turn to walk away and right on cue-

"Food, you have any food on you? It doesn't have to be fresh. Slightly moldy is all right too."

"Ew. So, wait, let me get my ducks in a row," I start. "You stop me in the middle of a jungle, hold us up, threaten to kill him, just for some food?"

His eyes have slowly found their way to the ground where they remain as I approach him again. Finally, he releases the dagger to Chasan's neck but keeps his sheepish gaze on the ground.

"If that's what you're telling me then join the club, I go off the deep end without food too."

Surprised by my lax response, he looks at me, causing me to chuckle.

"Look, if you just wanted something to eat you should have just asked, no need to act thuggish."

His tough facade- which was never truly convincing- drops as he as he eagerly waits for me to pull out some food from my bag.

Laughing sheepishly, he replies. "Yeah, I'm really sorry about this, it was not my wisest decision looking back on it now but I grew a little, eh, desperate."

"Hey, desperation is understandable when it comes to food. Food is life."

His eyes practically devour the loft of bed I pull out to give to him before he even does- the loft is gone within a few bites.

"Thank you for that," He nods appreciatively.

"No problem."

It's also true what they say: Don't judge a book by its cover. This guy really isn't too bad, just down on his luck.

The only person not satisfied with the end result is, of course, Sir Douche.

"I cannot believe this. How did I end up with two undesirable people who care about nothing more than a morsel of food and themselves? It would be my luck."

"Shall I start playing the world's smallest violin?" I reply mockingly.

"You are a-"

"Yeah, I know, it's fill-in-the-blank from here."

Throwing his hands up in the air, he refuses to face us even as I pick back up my conversation with the stranger.

"So, how long has it been since you last eaten?"

"Too long. At times, I'm saw figures and odd occurrences, which I know are in my head but my body is overriding common sense."

"Well, glad I could get my charitable act of the day out of the way."

He chuckles, "Yeah. Who are you by the way?"

"Joan. You?"

Before he can answer, a high-pitched female voice cries out from the thickets-

"Lan!"

All of our attention snaps over to the originator of the voice, who is coming out of the greenery as we turn our heads. The voice belongs to a female who wears an irritated look on her as she shoots daggers at the guy, Lan, and I'd be damned if I didn't say she looked like an Ahri rip-off; navy blue hair, whiskers, ears, the tail and everything. The things that were different, like the whiskers actually being real and her tail resembling that of a regular house cat's, aren't enough to redeem her from being considered a bootleg in my mind.

"Lan," She storms over to him. "What are you doing out here?"

He holds his hands up innocently. "Nothing, I swear it."

"Then who are they," She blindly gestures at us. "And why did you abandon your post?"

"They're nobodies, in fact, we should be leaving."

"Nobodies?" Um, hold up.

Biting his lip, he seems ready to dash, but the Ahri chick begins interrogating me.

"Who are you?"

"Better question is, why should I tell you?"

Clearly the "who are you" question wasn't that important to her because she returns her attention- and aggregation- to Lan.

"Every time I think you're maturing and you come out here and do this. Well, aren't you going to explain yourself?"

From the calm, unfazed way he listens then sighs, I can assume he's been lectured by her before and weathered the storm.

"Okay, you have a valid reason for being upset, I understand. But," He gestures to us. "I was trying to help these poor travelers on their journey."

"So...that's bull," I pipe up. "If you consider trying to mug us helping us then you're messed up, dude."

With her arms folded across her chest and a peeved look etched on her face, Ahri 2.0 lets me know that Lan here isn't the most honest Joe around- and I keep record of things like that.

"We need to return back to our posts," She finally says.

Looking nothing close to remorseful about skipping out on his duties, Lan gives a sheepish grin before shrugging.

"You're right."

"When am I ever wrong?"

As they start to venture into the jungle again, I decide that it wouldn't hurt to ask some questions that might help move this trip along quicker.

"Hey, do you know about the other side of Edalirwen? Pyranaleath'tai?"

Pausing, they exchange a look before Ahri 2.0 replies-

"Pyranaleath'tai? Yes, why?"

"You wouldn't happen to know how to get there would you?"

Please say yes, please say yes.

The two exchange another nonverbal look before Lan grins impishly.

"You wouldn't happen to both be shipwrecked, would you?"

Now it's Chasan and me who exchange a look, a look of confusion.

"How'd you guess that right?"

While Lan seems amused, Ahri 2.0 gives us a sorry look.

"Oh, one just knows these things after a while," He replies. "It's rather funny that you're searching for this place, Pyranaleath'tai."

"Why's that?"

"Because you shouldn't be searching in the first place."

Enough of this run-around.

"Look, I know it seems far-fetched but I know it exists, it has to."

"Well, I should hope it does."

"What do you mean?"

"Because this is Pyranaleath'tai."