And now...the moment you've all been waiting for. THE NEWEST CHAPPY! Enjoy!

There are some dark moments near the end of this, just as a warning.

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Chapter 6

Rale felt slightly bad after acting hostile towards Sarii, but he shrugged it off. It didn't matter; she didn't seem to take offense to his remarks. He saw her walk up next to him and glance at him quickly. What was she looking at? Rale was starting to get annoyed again. His patience had been wearing thin lately. Especially when raindrops got on his face.

They continued to walk through the forest, Sarii occasionally checking the direction they were heading. They hadn't said anything to each other in over three hours. The whole time, Sarii debated with herself whether she should tell the boy her story or not. She wanted him to trust her. Again, she had no idea why.

The boy, however, wasn't thinking about his past at all. He was just bored. But could you blame him? Thinking about what had happened yesterday, he figured, would make him even angrier. Thinking about the future wouldn't help, things could easily change. Finally, he decided he should try to start a conversation with his companion. He tried to make the topic fairly simple.

"Nice weather we're having, huh?"

Sarii looked at him as if to say, "Are you insane?" Instead, she just stated, "It's *raining*."

Rale felt slightly put out, he was just trying to talk to her. He was never that great at talking to girls. "Well, yeah, besides that." He finished, slightly exasperated.

He decided he should just leave it at that, he didn't want to bother with the girl; she obviously didn't want to talk. She thinks too much. Rale rolled his eyes.

When the rain cleared, it was almost dusk. Finally, they would be able to stop and rest. That sounded good to Rale. Sarii was still mute and hardly ever looked at him. He didn't mind so much though, he needed his space. Sighing deeply, smelling the fresh pine, he turned his light eyes to the sky. Soaring across the now blood red sky, was a hawk. As if seeing a vision, memories clouded his mind. Blinking hard, they stopped. He turned his intense gaze to the ground.

He realized it was time to share his story. "I remember Stolob and me used to follow a strange old hawk everyday, like that one there." He pointed up to the hawk, now much farther away. Sarii gave him her attention. He was opening up to her. Did this mean he liked her?

"The bird liked to fly low through our village, almost like he was looking for something. We used to get up at dawn everyday just to see him land on the tallest tree in the square."

Sarii looked back at Rale, who had stopped. He had gained a twinkle in his eye. It was a happy memory. She couldn't help but give him a small smile.

"To Nel," He continued, "the hawk was like a wise leader. She said it was because of the way he held his head up proudly and flew almost with a bit of arrogance." Then he shoke his head a little, "And we always wanted to grow wings and fly with him. It's a little strange, I know." His last sentence was said quickly as if to make up for their childishness.

"He was never afraid of us, which was unusual for a bird. But you get weirdos in every species, no?" Sarii gave a small laugh. She could say the same. "Every single time we tried to touch him, sneak up on him, you know, he'd cuff us over the head as he took flight again. We considered him as a friend too."

Sarii felt a swell of gratitude for him. She had forgotten her troubles because of his story, and she wanted to know more. However, Rale said nothing more over the next few minutes. The sun was almost gone and the woods were getting dark. The Sarii heard his voice, bitter, "I miss them...so much."

She instantly looked down to the ground, she felt sorry for him. But there was nothing she could do. Then, his voice hardened, "I swear I will find those people who killed them. I will avenge my friends. I know it."

Sarii couldn't see his face, but she knew for a fact he was furious. She finally understood that his friends were dead, and he wanted revenge. Though they had both lost people dear to them, Sarii felt that she couldn't relate to him anymore. If she had been Rale, she probably wouldn't have gone out to get back at those men. Maybe Rale was a more loyal friend than she is. That's why he's doing this.

Sarii found her voice, though it came out hardly more than a squeak, "We should start moving again." Rale silently agreed and began to follow her, twigs crunching beneath his feet.

Rale felt cold, both inside and out. He watched his best friend die, but it was still had for him to believe it. He wanted him back. Nightmares aren't normally this bad, he thought. Rale wanted to ask Sarii to kick him, punch him, even stab him, just so he could wake up again and have his friends back. Step by step, he realized this wasn't a dream or a nightmare. It was real. And it had taken him this long to find that out.

Sure, he could've tricked himself into believing what he had been for the past 12 hours. But no one can live in a fake world. Rale knew that he looked brave and strong on the outside, but inside, he felt weak and cowardly. He didn't know what to do.

Sarii suddenly threw out her arm and caught Rale in the stomach. He could barely see her face because of the dark, but the look on her face told him to be still and quiet. She pointed up ahead. There was a faint light, the light from a campfire.

Rale's heart nearly jumped into his throat. "It might be the men." This was his chance. He could take them on now and get it over with. Looking over at Sarii's scowling form, he realized that was far-fetched. Those men were big, strong, and looked more than capable of murder at the moment. He and Sarii, well, were the polar opposites. They wouldn't last a minute.

Sarii tugged on Rale's sleeve, motioning for them to get closer, just so the could sneak by unnoticed. Hopefully. As they inched closer, the drawling voices of the men, most likely drunk, got louder. Sarii spotted a pile near the campfire, behind the men. It was something that looked horribly like-

"Bodies." Sarii whimpered as she saw a few faces looking back at her, through her. Rale looked horrified, then his eyes widened and, "Nel! She-" Sarii jumped on him to keep him quiet, but Rale seemed beyond control. He was clawing, trying to get to her body. This couldn't be happening. It can't be. She can't be dead. No. He wanted this to stop. Rale was falling into hysterics, Sarii had to act quickly.

Thankfully, the men didn't notice. They began to talk again. Sarii released her hand clamped on Rale's mouth. He didn't speak, but listened intently to the men, all the time glancing back to his friend.

"Well, an'way, the Queen told us that we's had ter burn it down ter get the King of this country to give it up. She wants more powers. She's a sly one, she is."

Sarii's jaw dropped open. She knew the Queen was horrible, but she didn't realize she would actually kill innocent people just to get a little more land.

Another man continued talking to the others, "She tinks that the bodies'll bribe 'im to help her. Notin' more than trophies ter her." He took a swig of his bottle.

Sarii took one look at Rale's face and decided it was time to go. His face was twisted with grief and pain as he listened. She couldn't bear it. She pulled him up gently and they moved stealthily around the camp. The last thing they heard from the men was, "And the Princess, in jail and all, wanted to help the scum. No wonder the Queen got rid o' her."

Once they were out of earshot, Sarii turned to Rale. She said in the softest voice, "I'm sorry."

Rale shook his head. "You have nothing to be sorry for." She looked back at him, hearing the defeat in his voice.

They walked through the darkness more until they felt it was safe. Lying down to rest, Rale felt as though the darkness had swallowed him. He had lost his soul. Then he said, in a voice most unlike his own, "Even in death, they used them."