When I woke, Vus was nowhere to be found in the den or the surrounding area. I couldn't help but wonder where he had gone off to. I rummaged through my bag and pulled out some dry fruit to satisfy my complaining stomach. I looked over at Thaleia and Renier who were still in the same spot Vus had carelessly flung them last night. I pulled Renier off of Thaleia so we could avoid an argument over a mishap when they woke up. As I pulled him off her, her hazel eyes fluttered open. I fought the urge to freeze as her eyes began to focus and pulled Renier's feet off her in the last second.

Thaleia sat up and blinked a few times. She looked at me holding Renier's hands and misunderstood the situation. "You know the barbarian is only interested in women right?"

I stared at her as my face began to flush red. I didn't know if I'd rather be in the situation I was trying to avoid or the one I was currently in. '"I-I'm moving him to the other side of the den."

She shushed me and put a finger to her lips, "It's okay human. Your secret is safe with me." I dropped Renier on the ground and gave her an exasperated look. She laughed at my facial expression, "I'm only teasing you Aren."

I blinked, surprised she actually said my name. "You said-" I muttered.

Thaleia interrupted me and waved nonchalantly in my direction, "A slip of the tongue. Go look for your Vurussian friend. It's nice to see someone bothers to care about me, but I'm sure you're more worried about him than anything."

I thanked her and walked off to look for Vus. Birds sang delightfully as they flitted through the trees looking for worms and berries. I ignored the bugs buzzing around my head and looked around for Vus. I found his bootprints lingering in squashed grass and packed dirt. I followed his careless trail through the beautiful forest brimming with life. I passed a patch of yellow wildflowers and picked one. I twirled it in my fingers as I walked. My urges to bite my nails or chew on my cheeks with nervousness faded away inside the calm forest. I pushed a couple of drooping branches out of my way and found Vus sitting on top of a mossy rock.

He breathed in the clear air with a rise of his chest and turned to face me. His voice reverberated through my head as I remembered what he had told me back in the Elven Forest. I stared at his dark blue eyes and I knew he was asking the same question but in a more subtle manner. I sat down on the mossy rock next to his tall form. A butterfly relaxing on top of his dark hair fluttered away after my sudden movement scared it.

Vus sighed and opened his mouth to speak as he turned back around, "Aren, I apologize for-"

I stopped him by holding up a hand, " Vus, you don't need to apologize for anything. In fact, I should be the one apologizing. I take you for granted and then I get lost without you. I never give you anything in return. Even so, you still stand by me and help me through my obstacles."

He shifted carefully as he made sure he wouldn't knock me off the rock with his elbow. "Allowing me to be your friend is a good enough payment for all I've done for you."

I looked up at him and searched his face not quite understanding. Isn't he angry about my lack of appreciation and lack of repayment? I couldn't help but ask, " Why?"

He rolled a silver-colored ring I've never seen before in his palm as he thought of an answer. " Back in Vurussia, I had no friends. I was sneered at, beaten, and outcasted by children my own age. I almost died anytime I walked the streets. " He gave me a sad smile, "You were the first person around my age to treat me like a real person."

"Vurussia sounds like hell, " I muttered looking down at my hands. I thought of my childhood. The only real tragedy that had happened to me was the death of my mother. Although it could hardly be called a loss when I never met her. Elowen had been more upset about her death than I was when we were younger. I viewed our mother as the first person to ever leave me and then I watched more people leave me as the years went by. I had grown to think of myself as an unfortunate boy who had been abandoned by those disappointed by him. I'm not quite sure how my mentality connected to my mother who had no choice in the matter. It is human nature to blame someone else for your problems and at the time, my mother was the only one I could blame. How could Vus sit through my complaints all these years when he had to deal with a worse situation? I felt ashamed of my actions and my thoughts.

The sad smile on Vus' face faded away until the mostly emotionless expression Vus tried so hard to keep dominated his face. He looked down at the ring he was rolling hin his palms, "It would be a wonderful place to live in if everyone had a will of their own."

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean Vus. Every single person is born with a will of their own."

A strange emotion flickered across Vus' blue eyes as he waved a hand nonchalantly, "It's not important."

I could tell he didn't want me to ask any questions about what he had mentioned so I turned the conversation in a different direction. I stared at the silver-colored ring as I twirled the yellow flower with my fingers. "Where did that ring come from?" I asked, pretending to only be slightly interested in the strange piece of jewelry. Vus stopped rolling it in his palms as I asked allowing me to get a clearer view. As I looked closer, I could see a symbol carved into the strange metal. For a reason I couldn't discern, the ring looked familiar to me even though I had never seen it before.

Vus looked down at the ring, " Uevareth handed it to me while Thaleia was saying her goodbyes, " he turned it around in his palms, "It seems to be made of a Vurussian metal called Virlithunk."

I furrowed my brows as I tried to think of a reason why Uevareth would give the ring to Vus. Nothing came to mind. "What's the ring's purpose and why does an elf have Vurussian jewelry in his possession?"

Vus shrugged his broad shoulders, "I do not know sire."

Not knowing how to reply, I let out conversation fade into a comfortable silence. We listened to the noises of the wilderness and stared at the exquisite nature in our vicinity. The light blue sky shone down in between the leaves of the surrounding trees. A fawn crashed through some bushes in front of us only sparing us a small glance before swerving around the gray rock to get to its destination. I looked down at my hands which had been twirling the yellow flower I had picked absent-mindedly during the silence.

I offered it to Vus who took it carefully from my smaller hands. "Vus, thank you for obliging me all these years. Promise me you'll live so I'll be able to do the same for you."

He twirled it around with his fingers after placing the ring in the folds of his clothes. A small smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he spoke, "I promise." I could see in his eyes that it wasn't a true promise, anything could happen to him and I wouldn't be able to prevent it. We both knew this but decided to ignore it. He placed the flower away in the folds of his clothes for safekeeping and took in a deep breath. As we sat there savoring the moment, he told me stories bringing a feeling of nostalgia and a longing for the earlier years of our lives.

~

We returned to the bear's den once the sun hit the highest point in the sky. Surprisingly enough, we found Renier and Thaleia roasting some fish they caught together over a fire in front of the den. I tripped over a pile of dusty bones removed from the abandoned bear den and lost my balance as I made my way over to them. Vus caught me by my clothes around the scuff of my neck preventing me from landing face-first into the fire. After chocking for a moment as the clothes pressed against my Adam's apple, Vus hauled me upright. I thanked Vus and rubbed my neck as the pain faded away.

We sat down on the opposite side of the fire from the other two as they continued roasting the fish. I ignored Renier's attempts at goading me into a fight with his sinister smirk as he spoke, "how are you ever going to accomplish anything your highness if you can't walk without tripping?"

"Shut your trap Renier or I'll shove a bone up your arse, " Vus muttered as he rummaged through Renier's bag to find the map.

Renier snorted at Vus threat, "I'd like to see you stick up for yourself once your highness."

"I won't oblige you by spouting foul words in your face, " I replied as I pretended to be interested in the grass. I tugged a few blades from the ground and tossed them into the fire. "You seem to be just as irritating as aways Renier. Tell me, how did you two become betrothed? A troll would be a better fit for you. Then you would have a partner who would be stupid enough to think your insults are compliments."

Renier glared at me from across the fire as Thaleia threw her head back and laughed. After she stopped shaking with mirth, she spoke about their betrothal. " The Elves were trying to establish an alliance with Animalis. My father decided to offer me as the bride so he could bring our small Elven house more popularity. Now I'm betrothed to the King of Animalis, " she said and pointed her roasted fish at Renier.

King of Animalis? Renier? He can't be. My eyes furrowed as I thought back to the arguments Vus and Renier had when we met in Fures. I had assumed he had been high class but a Prince and now king? I sputtered with disbelief, "You're the King of Animalis? Why are you here? You should be taking care of your subjects."

Renier snickered at the expression on my face, "Are you that desperate to get rid of me your highness? If you listened to Aithlin of the Elven Council, you would recall her saying I was banished. Taking care of my dying country is no longer one of my concerns or responsibilities. " He turned to Thaleia, "Our engagement was called off the moment I was banished. Bury it in the depths of your memory and never mention it again."

"Oh, how dare you speak to me that way. Have you no respect for your formerly betrothed?" she cried in mock offense.

Vus gave the two of them an exasperated look and took Renier's roasted fish off the fire as they argued with each other. We ate their food silently as we waited for their escalating argument to fade away. Once they finished spitting in each other's faces, they turned back to the fire to grab their food only to see the bones of their fish strewn across the grass around us.

"Your heads are going to be rolling on the grass tonight, " Renier hissed and stalked away.

Thaleia started to walk after him but Vus stopped her, "Let him walk where he truly belongs."

She snorted, "You're not far from becoming a wild monster yourself. I wouldn't be surprised if you turned on us and left us for dead."

My hands curled into fists at her words, "Vus would never do such a thing."

She smirked at my angry reaction, "Save your anger for someone is truly worth it. How can you trust him-, " she said and pointed at Vus, " if you know nothing about him?"

Her words rang with truth and I hesitated for a moment before speaking, "I do not appreciate your harsh words towards Vus. Keep your thoughts to yourself if you have nothing beneficial to say."

She scoffed, "You are foolish and too trusting. I'm only trying to prevent a situation where you will be stabbed in the back by the one you care so much about." She stalked off in the same direction as Renier. I stared after her thinking nothing of what she said a few moments after. Little did I know, her words would become the truth in a matter of days and I did nothing to prevent it.

~

After looking through Renier's bag, Vus found the map of the continent we desperately needed to look at in order to discover where we had ended up. We located our current position and discovered a village, named Inpietas, on the other side of the forest. The village had been built near a flowing river connected to a lake nestled in between what had once been the lands of Kaput and Ezorlath. With Kaput a conquered kingdom of the Ezorlath Empire, its lands now belong to Emperor Ethelred.

Vus expressed his interest in looking around the village and asking for information on Ezolath. Inpietas is a lone village and belongs to no kingdom. If the villagers decided to pass on some information to Vus, it would not be considered treason. My first mistake was allowing Vus to do as he wished in a few days' time. My second was ignoring the repeated dreams plaguing me during my sleep. If I had paid more attention to Vus and his actions, we would have avoided an unwanted outcome.