Five days had passed, and Tarik wasn't any better. He was able to bathe himself, sleep plenty, eat food and drink water, but he was sick. He thought that perhaps being a prisoner on a ship was the reason why he had come down with some sort of sickness. When he looked in the mirror in his room, he saw how he had looked different. He was covered in bruises, and his skin had paled. He even had dark circles under his eyes and he was slightly thinner. He refused to leave his room, afraid that people would look at him in pity.

Not that his sister didn't do that already. She was clearly worried about him, and tried not to ask too many questions as he hated talking about his experience. Nayo, the healer that was taking care of Tarik, had treated him well, but she was cautious around him as Greencloaks were not accepted in Fort Zourtzi. Chinwe had to have a guard walk with her to places around the fort just to make sure she wasn't doing anything suspicious. It felt like they were treated like criminals.

Tarik broke into a coughing fit, and Lumeo jumped down from the bed to race over to him. He covered his mouth with the end of the blanket from his bed as he crouched down, eyes watering. Lumeo squeaked desperately at the door to get someone's attention.

"Lumeo..." Tarik croaked. "Stop."

The otter looked back at him with worry. Rushed footsteps came closer from down the hall and stopped at his door. He really didn't want any visitors right now. Tarik tried to control himself, but whoever was outside had already come in.

"Tarik?" Nayo echoed. He heard her approach him from behind and grab his shoulders gently.

He couldn't reply, he just held the blanket on his mouth, almost choking. He felt like he would vomit if he coughed once more.

"Here, drink some water," Nayo handed him a glass of cold water.

He took it and uncovered his mouth to drink, feeling refreshed but still had an urge to cough. Nayo then handed him a type of medicine to sooth his throat and make the coughing stop. He felt better, but it was only for now. He would have to do this again later as the cough kept coming back.

LaReimaja opened the door and froze. "Oh, am I interrupting?"

"No, he's fine for now," Nayo reassured.

"What happened?" LaReimaja made her way to Tarik as he stood up to face her with glassy eyes.

Nayo gently pushed him to sit down on his bed. "He still has a cough."

"Oh," LaReimaja said sadly.

LaReimaja wasn't wearing a bandage around her head anymore. Tarik had discovered that she had fallen off the balcony while the fort was under attack by Lynk. She looked better now, which was a good thing.

"Sorry for the information, but my father is now sick," LaReimaja told Nayo.

Tarik looked up.

"What's happened to him?" Nayo asked.

"He can't do much. He doesn't have strength," LaReimaja whispered to the woman, now aware that Tarik was listening.

Nayo looked at Tarik, then back at LaReimaja and nodded towards outside. His sister gave Tarik a sad look and went outside with Nayo.

They didn't want him to know. Tarik sat back on his bed, alone once again. Lumeo was staring at him with sad eyes.

"What it is, buddy?" Tarik asked the otter.

Lumeo squeaked and nuzzled Tarik's leg, he bent down to stroke the otter's head fur and smiled. Something green caught Tarik's attention, and as he shifted his gaze to where it came from, he saw that his green cloak dangled from the rack on the wall. It was a reminder of the Greencloaks, and another reminder of his friends.

It was his fault. He had run away in the first place, and he kind of regretted it. He missed the protection that they had over him, the friendships, the adventures, Lishay. Of course his mind wandered back to her. He shook his head, and Lumeo was still looking at him. This time, the otter looked cheeky.

"What?" Tarik raised an eyebrow.

There was a knock on Tarik's door.

"Come in," Tarik said.

Chinwe stepped inside the room with Faisel behind her.

"Hi Tarik," Chinwe said with a smile, her cloak stuck on Faisel's arm.

Faisel looked slightly uncomfortable as he lightly pushed the cloak off. Tarik's eyes narrowed at the boy. He was older by a couple of years and he looked to be Zhongese. He was tall, probably around the same height as Tarik. The boy's eyes met his.

"Hello," Faisel said.

"Hi," Tarik replied.

"Oh, you look awful," Chinwe grabbed Tarik's arm.

"Really? Geez, thanks I guess?" Tarik rolled his eyes.

"No! Not in that way, like... uh," Chinwe's face reddened as she let go. "Never mind. I just hope you are okay."

Tarik looked away, hiding his embarrassment. "I'm fine."

Faisel pulled up two chairs for him and Chinwe. "Do you mind if we have a chat?"

"No, actually I don't," Tarik said harshly.

Chinwe and Faisel looked at each other, Faisel clearly looking annoyed. They both sat down in front of Tarik. There was an awkward silence in the room.

"Anyway," Faisel said finally. "Are you aware that Greencloaks are not welcome here in Fort Zourtzi?"

"Yes, I'm aware," said Tarik.

"You don't have to be snappy," Faisel advised.

Tarik glared at the boy. Faisel appeared to be uncomfortable by this, as he fidgeted with the buckles on his robes. It was obvious that Faisel wasn't very confident at the moment.

"Tarik please. His family has taken good care of us over the past few days," Chinwe said softly. "There's no need to be aggressive."

"Aggressive?" Tarik questioned. He wondered if she even knew what 'aggressive' meant.

Faisel narrowed his eyes. "Look, I just wanted to talk to you about something important."

"Please tell us what you have to say," Chinwe glared at Tarik.

Faisel sighed and didn't say anything for a moment, then he looked at the two Greencloaks. "So, as you both know, Greencloaks are not supposed to be here. And also, you have attracted unwanted attention to us," his eyes focused on Tarik.

"Yes, we are sorry. We needed to get away," Chinwe said.

"Then you must leave tomorrow," Faisel looked away.

"Tomorrow?" said Tarik, a little shocked. Chinwe also had a similar expression on her face.

"Yes, sorry. If you stay here, those men that were after you will attack us again," Faisel stood up from his seat and paced the room. "We've already been attacked before, and your sister almost fell to her death. Do you want to risk her getting hurt again?"

"But Tarik is sick," Chinwe protested. "If we leave tomorrow, he'll only get worse."

Faisel stopped pacing. "Your Greencloak friends are on their way. They somehow found you, and my patrols have seen them off the coast. My father does not want them here, because there will only be a war between them and your hunters. Who are they exactly?"

The Greencloaks had found them? Tarik thought. Perhaps if they left Fort Zourtzi, they might have a chance to find the Greencloaks before Lynk catches them again. Lenori must have had a vision of their location.

"They were also Greencloaks," Chinwe admitted.

"So they are bad Greencloaks?" Faisel asked.

"I don't even want to call them Greencloaks. They don't want anything to do with protecting Erdas," said Chinwe as she glanced at Tarik.

"Either way, we can't trust you. Greencloaks are too secretive to the rest of the world. They think they know everything, always getting involved in other people's business, always trying to be the good guys," Faisel snarled. "So you must leave."

"How dare you?" Tarik stood, meeting the other boy's height.

"Tarik-" Chinwe grabbed his arm.

Tarik shook her off. "We are not secretive, and we don't know everything. We are just trying to do what's best for Erdas. I don't even know why you can't trust me when you trust my sister. You must have a screw loose in there," he tapped his own head.

"You are very disrespectful," Faisel frowned and clenched his fists.

"Well you don't respect us, so why would we respect you?" Tarik was so close to Faisel that their noses almost touched.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because we let you in? We had a healer help you recover most of your strength?" Faisel was almost yelling now.

"Please stop before things get really bad," Chinwe tried to pull Tarik back, but he held his ground.

"And now you're kicking us out, even though we are in so much danger," Tarik shot back, trying to ignore Chinwe.

"Well that's your problem, don't bring it here," Faisel watched Chinwe.

Tarik desperately wanted to punch Faisel in the face. "Why do you like my sister so much, by the way?"

Faisel's cheeks turned crimson.

Chinwe punched Tarik in the arm.

"What the Tellun!" Tarik turned around and glared at Chinwe. "What's your issue?!"

"You need to calm down," Chinwe said. "I know it's hard. I know you have been through a lot, but please don't argue with him."

Tarik rolled his eyes. He was about to explode with anger, so he moved passed Faisel, lightly shoving him to the side, grabbed his cloak and left the room. Lumeo followed, and he heard Chinwe rushing after him as she shouted at him to come back. He didn't listen, so he kept moving down the hall. Chinwe got in front of him, but he pushed her away.

"Stop!" Chinwe yelled.

Furious, Tarik turned around and faced her. "Stop? No, I'm leaving. He wants us gone so let's go."

"Tarik, you aren't well. Please just go back to your room." Chinwe looked sad now. Tarik felt bad, but not bad enough.

"I told you I was fi-" he began to cough again.

"Tarik? Tarik!" Chinwe grabbed him as Lumeo let out anxious squeaks.

Tarik held a hand over his mouth as he thought he felt his last meal leave his body and fall onto the floor. Chinwe took a step back, shocked. He stared at the floor, noticing it was just mainly water.

Faisel stepped into view and sighed. "Idiot, look what you've done."

Chinwe stared at Tarik, then looked at Faisel. Tarik was frozen, hardly breathing and still surprised from his attack. A few guards approached and studied the scene before speaking to Faisel in low voices.

"I told you, but you didn't listen," said Chinwe as she shook her head.

He hands were shaking and he leaned against the wall, still covering his mouth. He felt that his hand was dripping, but he didn't care. Chinwe patted his shoulder.

"We'll leave tomorrow and find the Greencloaks. If Lynk finds us, we'll have to run," Chinwe whispered. "Can you do that?"

Tarik nodded slowly. They would leave Fort Zourtzi tomorrow.

"My Lord!" another group of guards came rushing in. "An army of Greencloaks has been spotted not far from us, they seem to be coming this way," said the first guard.

Tarik and Chinwe looked at each other. The Greencloaks were already here.

"Then escort these two to them," Faisel nodded towards Chinwe and Tarik. "We can't have that army anywhere near the fort."

The guards obeyed, grabbing them roughly and dragging them outside.