There was an awkward silence between Van and Yassan as they walked through the forest.

The group had left at first light to get to the second fort by nightfall. Normally it would have taken half a day from one fort to the other, but since they didn’t leave from the other fort, they would most likely arrive late to the second, arriving at near nightfall. And no one wanted to stay a night in the forest, there was simply no safe place large enough for a group their size. So they planned to keep on going until they reached their destination, and in the hopes to avoid any bandits that might get the idea of chasing after them.

As they left the ranger’s recluse, packing up their things and moving out. Van and Yassan naturally ended up walking together. Yesi and a ranger up front. Kella and the second ranger took up the rear, and everyone else near the middle with the males taking up the center for protection.

As the two walked, the awkward silence grew, even as the other girls seemed to chat with themselves just fine… only stopping occasionally when they had to deal with the random monster or two.

Finally, after what felt like forever, the silence was broken.

“So… you and my sister…” Yassan asked.

Van gave a polite cough. “Err… yes…”

“Do you two… like each other?” Yassan asked.

Van hesitated and explained what happened while they were separated.

“Hmm…” Yassan took his time mulling over what Van told him, the silence returning once more for a while before he broke it once more.

“So… you two are pretend lovers? Though you are actually lovers?” looking at Van a little confused.

Van hesitated but nodded. “Your sister… insisted that we are just pretend lovers… but I think she wants to be… real… though I don’t know how that would work with everything going on, plus her job that would keep us separated.”

“Not to mention everything just kinda happened outside of our control… so I'm not sure if anything will really come out of this or…” his voice trailing off as he became unsure of what else to say.

Yassan shrugged. “It wouldn’t be the first time a ranger picked a lover that they wouldn’t see for several years at a time… And whether you two become actual lovers or not doesn’t really bother me. I just hope this somehow helps take the edge off her… if only a little…”

Silence grew between them once more…

Van gave another polite cough, feeling a little awkward about broaching this subject. “You know… I told Yesi about… how it was unfair that she had a lover and you weren’t even allowed to like that girl you like…” he began tentatively.

Yassan stiffened up.

“So… I spoke up on your behalf a little, pointing out the hypocrisy of having a… ‘pretend’ lover while you couldn’t choose who you liked yourself. And… well… she agreed that it would be fine if you also had someone you… cared for…” finishing awkwardly and wishing he just kept his mouth shut.

The two walked on, not a single word being spoken for the next several minutes.

Finally, Yassan spoke after thinking deeply about what Van said and figuring out his feelings on the matter.

“...thank you…” after giving it some thought. “I appreciate it…” nodding his head. “Though I wish you would have asked me for permission before you went and started talking about such things with my sister… And I can’t help but think how she must have taken that…” Sounding a bit amused when he said that last sentence.

“S-sorry… I just… felt it was unfair… sorry…” was all Van could say, feeling a little bad and worried that he might have just made things awkward between him and his only male friend.

“It’s fine… if anything I guess I should be thankful… Now me and Chloe can…” he blushed a little.

“I’m glad…” Van said, looking very relieved that he somehow didn’t make things worse. “I hope you two meet soon after you drop me off at Bright city. Gods know you need a vacation after everything that’s happened to us on our journey.”

Yassan nodded happily. “I should see her when we arrive.”

Van looked surprised. “So she is in Bright city?”

Yassan hesitated, but slowly gave another nod. “Yes… I think I told you she works for the herbalist guild? If not well… Now you know… her job is to take care of plants, but sometimes she delivers them as well. I heard she’s headed towards the east branch of bloodhaven with some supplies. It would be a good time to get close to her…”

Van blinked. “Wait… are you two… not actually going out?” he asked, already picking up on a few cues that Yassan said. “I thought you two were already in love?” then eyes widening when he realized how rude he was being.

Yassan blushed again, looking very much put on the spot. “Not… exactly…” he admitted. “Chloe is a… bit of an airhead… But very sweet!” as if trying to defend her. “She just has this… calming presence to her…”

Yassan couldn’t continue, getting even more embarrassed.

“Well I wish you the best.” Van said, happy for his friend. “At least you have someone you like, not every guy can say the same. When you arrive you should make some time for her. I’ll even help if possible.”

Yassan looked embarrassed, but nodded his thanks.

The two then began to talk about love and how to woo a woman for the next several minutes.

“Uhh… you do at least have some skill in that regard right? Some women are…” Van couldn’t finish, his face going a little red.

“I know how to have sex.” Yassan said red faced. “Even just had it…” his face going redder. “Last… night…” now completely beet red.

“Ah… so that was what that was…” Van said as if saying he heard a little of what happened that night. “I didn’t think you were that type of guy to be honest.” looking at Yassan in surprise.

“Well… I can admit that I don’t have a lot of… experience like you do…” Yassan said though he was a little worried that it might sound like he was calling Van a slut. “After everything that happened yesterday… we all could have used some… stress relief… though…” now looking a little sad. “I’m worried about how… you know… if me and Chloe did it… how it would feel…”

Van nodded sagely as if understanding what Yassan was afraid of. “Don’t worry, it would feel amazing. Trust me, there's an ocean of difference between having sex for the sake of having sex, and having sex with someone you love more than anything… the experience will really open your eyes…” sounding full of confidence in this regard.

Yassan looked… very much relieved by hearing this from Van. he was worried that it would be the same with every other girl he had sexual experiences with. Most of them just wanted to bone and then left, sometimes before he even got the chance to enjoy it himself. But hearing Van speak so confidently about his experience made him look forward to meeting with Chloe…

Now if only he could confess…

Van and Yassan then spent the next few hours just talking about how yassan could ask Chloe out for a date and what to do afterward. This inevitably led them to talking about plants, considering Chloe’s profession. Which they also talked about for the next few hours.

As they traveled, Gwen would cast a swift spell on the group to increase their speed in the hopes of making it to the second fort sooner. While what little of Van’s shadow wolves and hawks spread out and in a circle around the group to warn them of any dangers that might come upon them. Giving them ample warning time.

Which proved necessary as all of a sudden, Van felt one of them blip out of existence, being crushed underfoot by something large.

“Somethings headed right for us!” Van exclaimed out of the blue. He then pointed at the direction that he felt one of his shadow wolves die at. “Over there!”

The group froze, a little confused, or at least the rangers, who were not used to taking orders from Van. But after a few seconds and seeing how serious everyone else was, they brought out their bows and prepared for battle.

Which was just in time, because a large Velociraptor-like creature with bioluminescent blue skin charged into the trail the group had been traveling on. The creature seemed surprised to see them, almost as if it wasn't expecting them, but then roared and went after the closest person to it, which was Yesi and the other ranger.

The two dodged out of the way in the nick of time, just barely avoiding the razor-sharp teeth and talons of the monster.

Yassan and the ranger with Kella began to fire blue-tipped arrows, striking the creature in the torso with great accuracy and power from years of training. Yesi and the other ranger quickly moved to create distance and Kella moved up, sword in hand, ready to do battle.

Gwen started to create a fireball, Luna brought up her fists, and Isa prepared herself as well for anything the monster might do.

The creature looked like it was about to charge at the group, but Van sent a ball of light its way to blind it. The group then tried to coordinate their attacks, striking it from multiple angles and trying to create distance to dodge just in case it tried to charge any of them.

“I had enough things going wrong so far on this trip! You're going to get out of my way whether you like it or not!” Van growled to himself. Taking a stance, he languidly moved his hands around creating eight points of black light. “Dark Thunder Arrow!”

Eight arrows of dark magic enchanted with lightning flew at dizzying speeds, homing in on the velociraptor-like creature, exploding chunks out of it. The monster screamed, glaring at Van, then at the others, but then realizing that it might just be outmatched and taking into consideration the fact it was heavily wounded, it turned on a dime and fled the area, much to the surprise of everyone else.

They stayed in battle-ready formations, just in case this was a trick to lower their guard, but the minutes passed and nothing happened, and Van sensed that it was long gone now.

“Well… that was fucking annoying…” he muttered, somewhat angry about letting it get away. He put his spells away, and slowly, so too did everyone relax, if only a little… they were still on edge.

Yesi and Yassan were still dealing with the fact that Van sensed the danger before they did, wondering how, but just thankful they got the warning in time.

After this they talked for a while, but there wasn’t much to say, and everyone agreed to just continue with their walk towards the fort.

“Wait, before that, I have an idea…” Van said, stopping the group for a moment. He then called all of his shadow wolves to him. Slowly, he combined the shadow wolves into four large ones, the size of a small horse. “It might mean we don’t have anything to screen the area around us… but this way we can travel at twice the speed to the second fort. What do you think?”

Yesi looked at the now large shadow wolf, the first time seeing such a thing and unsure of what to think of it. Its menacing glowing red eyes peering into her… “is it possible to ride them in the first place?” she asked, hoping for a negative answer.

Van hopped on one to demonstrate. It felt a little weird, and he had to apply some of his magic to make sure he could properly sit on it. But it was doable… “Yes, though it is a little difficult…” he admitted.

Yesi looked at the number of wolves. “There are only four of them, and nine of us… there aren't enough wolves for everyone, even if we rode them two each.” she pointed out.

That was actually true, Van realized, then hesitated, he then sacrificed the remaining shadow hawks he had to empower the one he was riding, making it a little larger. “Isa can ride with me, the wolf should be large enough to carry the three of us. Though it just cost us our eyes in the sky… but… if you want… we could try walking the rest of the way if you think we should keep the summons scouting the area around us as is… though we won’t be able to get to the fort as fast…”

Yesi paused to think of that slowly, she sighed after much hard thinking. “Let’s do it your way. If we happen to get into any trouble, we’ll switch back to walking. That fine with you?”

Van nodded. “Even if we stop an hour from now, we would have at least made more than twice the distance if we went by walking. Anything to help eat up the distance even a little is worth it to me.” he said, thankful that Yesi was willing to give him and his wolves this chance.

“Do you need me to help you on using the wolves?” he asked.

Yesi shook her head, “if they are anything like the wolves we rode, it shouldn’t be a problem…” getting up on her shadow wolf, which to her surprise she somewhat awkwardly did. After a few moments though, she quickly got the hang of it, though it was clear she didn’t really enjoy the sensation of the wolf.

“Speaking of wolves…” Van began, wondering how to say this. “About what happened to the wolves during the ambush… I’m sorry…” only realizing now that he never once mentioned the deaths of their wolven companions that they rode as they guarded the caravan. And now that he thought about it, all the other rangers that died protecting him.

“I know it's a little late… but I wanted to thank all of you for everything you’ve done in protecting us… even sacrificing your lives for us… sorry, it took me so long to say…” Van said.

The rangers looked at each other, but it was Yesi who spoke. “It’s fine Van, a lot has happened these past few days. It’s our duty as rangers to protect our charges with our lives. You're not looking at just any rangers after all, but those who are being trained and groomed to become knight rangers! The cream of the crop!” she said somewhat proudly. “And not all the wolves during that ambush died. I’m sure a few of them survived and are now headed straight to the nearest ranger’s guild as trained. Meaning they will tell the handlers there of what happened, even if it does take a few days…” she said in a confident tone.

“Oh… good…” Van said, sounding very relieved, and hoping she was right.

Yesi nodded. “Alright then, shall we head out?” She looked towards the group, making sure she got confirmation from everyone. “Good! Let’s head out!”

And with an awkward movement, but quickly learning the ropes, Yesi led them down the trail they were following, the wind in their faces as the shadow wolves took great leaps and bounds, eating the terrain in no time flat.

--- bandits ---

“Boss! Are you sure we shouldn’t drop some of this stuff at the base first before chasing after the marks? Some of the girls are complaining of the weight.” a bandit said to Karmine as they traveled through the woods.

Karmine grunted, “Our scouts report that their trail leads from the tree fort deeper into the woods, they are definitely headed towards the second fort. Meaning if we don’t intercept them before they get there, we will have no way to catch them before it’s too late.”

She then turned to give her lackey a glare. “If they are complaining about the weight so much, then tell them to drop it! Because I'm not slowing down our pace.”

“But boss! The loot!” the bandit complained.

“Means nothing if we can’t catch those brats!” Karmine growled. “We sacrificed too many resources attacking that fort, and all of our shriekers. Not to mention we are no longer spread out anymore… meaning now would be the perfect opportunity for some fort commander to tell the other fort commander… so they could coordinate and try to capture us all! So we can’t afford to waste this opportunity, because if we fail…” Her hands turned into fists at the thought, she definitely did not want to fail…

She gave one last glare to her lackey. “We… will… not… fail! Do I make myself clear…” glaring hard at her subordinate to the point the bandit shrunk back from the sheer intensity of her boss’s eyes.

“Y-yes boss! We’ll find them! Promise!” the bandit said in a panicky voice.

“For your sake… you better…”