Aurelie coolly looked at Planos. “I don’t recall ever saying that, though?” She asked offhandedly.

“I’m not an idiot. It’s obvious, you didn’t kill a Spirit Beast, you killed Farn! That’s why you were covered in blood.” Planos said triumphantly.

Aurelie sighed and opened her mouth to respond, but someone else spoke up before she could (again, she noted with annoyance).

“Please don’t randomly proclaim that I’m dead.” Farn said, emerging from the trees. He held a gun in his right hand, pointing at Cailysi’s temple. Cailysi was pale and trembling, staring at the weapon. Farn shoved her towards Mrs. Dreslin.

“Cailysi conspired with Tanor and Planos to make Aurelie think I was trying to kill her. They involved me in their plot, and were willing to silence me and make it look like I committed suicide to cover their tracks.” Farn said coldly. His eyes were frosty, and he was sneering at the conspirators. The hatred in his tone was evident.

“Wha… you… but… how…?” Planos stammered, looking at Farn as though he’d seen a ghost.

“Surely you didn’t think that I was stupid enough to fall for your plan?” Aurelie asked. Her voice was as cheerful as always, and she didn’t leak any killing intent. She didn’t even have her scary smile on. But Tanor and Planos felt their fear of the young girl before them grow larger and larger.

Aurelie looked at Farn and smiled genuinely. The past few weeks had been quite interesting…

~~~~~~~

Farn lay in his bed, thinking of all the accusations he’d hurled at Aurelie earlier that day. Grief and anger still pulsed within him, but he could begin to think again. And, after reflecting on his words, he truly felt that he had been out of line. Aurelie wasn’t at fault, and he had hurt her with his thoughtless blame. He would apologize tomorrow, and then…

But before he could finish that thought, the rustle of leaves made him look out of his window. Aurelie was descending the tree that grew next to his bedroom. He watched as she jumped to the ground, and then as she ran towards the forest.

Considering the pros and cons of going after her and apologizing now, Farn got up and went after her. He left the house as quickly and quietly as he could, then rushed towards the forest. He had no idea where Aurelie was going, but it was worth a shot.

Rehearsing what he was going to say in his head, Farn entered the forest and followed the trail that Aurelie had left behind. He frowned, wondering why she was in such a hurry. There were broken twigs, and clear footprints in the mud. It was almost as though she had purposely left a trail for him…

So engrossed was he in his thoughts, he didn’t notice the bow and quiver lying in his path until he tripped over them. Sitting up and brushing leaves and dirt off of him, Farn looked back, frowning. Why were the bow and quiver lying there?

Assuming that a hunter had encountered a really powerful beast and left his weapons so that he could run faster, Farn put on the quiver and picked up the bow. He would return take them back to the village and return them to their owner or their owner’s family.

Glancing over at where Aurelie headed, Farn continued to go after her.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. He just followed the trail. And then it ended. Looking around the forest around him, Farn checked to make sure the trial wasn’t continued in another direction. Then, he noticed the arrow that had been shot into the ground. Farn frowned, then pulled it out, examining it. There was no blood on the tip. It wasn’t damaged, either. Looking it over, Farn realized that it belonged in the quiver on his back.

Sliding it in, Farn looked over the forest again, then headed back the way he came.

~~~~~~~

Aurelie watched as Farn took the arrow out of the ground.

‘It’s too long.’ she realized. He had a little trouble carrying it. And the bow, too. It looked heavy, too heavy for him to be able to hold it comfortably or shoot it with ease. On the heel of those revelations came another one- the bow was unfamiliar. It wasn’t Farn’s.

There was no need for Farn to not use his own bow. It would decrease his accuracy, and it wasn’t like the bow used could be told from the arrow. There was also no need to use different arrows. All he had to do was take the arrow away, wash it, and no one would be able to tell. Also, Farn would never reveal himself like that, knowing that Aurelie was still around and would see him. In conclusion, the one trying to kill her wasn’t Farn, but someone trying to direct her enmity towards him. They were trying to blind her to their own movements.

Aurelie felt as though dozens of eyes were watching her. It wasn’t safe to tell Farn what she had found out, or her enemy could be forced to reveal their hand. She could sense that this person was far, far more powerful than Gradas was.

She needed to be careful.

~~~~~~~

“I’m sorry, Aurelie. I said a lot of insensitive things that I shouldn’t have yesterday. Please forgive me.” Farn said, bowing to Aurelie. She looked at him coldly.

“After what you did yesterday, did you really think that I would forgive you?” Aurelie sneered. Then she got up and stormed off, into her room. Sitting down on her bed, Aurelie quickly wrote down all the events that had transpired yesterday and her own conclusions about them on a sheet of paper. But she wrote them in English. She had taught Farn to read and write in English, and she had made sure to not use words that Farn wouldn’t understand. So while everyone else would think they were just random scribbles, Farn would be able to read and find everything out. Then, for insurance, she turned the paper over and wrote curses in Sorainellese, including a small ‘Turn the paper over.’ in English at the bottom so Farn would read her true message.

Seeing that there was still a little room left on the English side, Aurelie decided to explain her rejection of his apology too.

They’re watching us, Farn. They want you and I to hate one another so they can move in the shadows. If either of us act friendly, they may kill both of us immediately. I think the only reason they haven’t moved yet is because they are scared of the Seven Heavens Academy. So they’re making a plan. But we’ll also make a plan. And then we wait and see who’s the last one laughing.

~~~~~~~

“Mrs. Dreslin, are there any third stage Elemental Apprentices in the school?” Aurelie asked.

Mrs. Dreslin examined the girl before her. The question was innocent, but Aurelie had a gleam in her eye which made the teacher think there was a deeper meaning.

“Of course there are.” She replied. “You can meet one when you get to the academy.”

“But I want to see one now.” Aurelie pouted. But that gleam was still in her eye.

“I’ll see what I can do.” Mrs. Dreslin said smiling. “And, Aurelie? Take this.” Mrs. Dreslin pulled a stone pendant out of her own storage ring. “If you break this, then my own pendant will glow, and I will come help you.”

Aurelie took it with a smile, and then nodded and walked away with a spring in her step.

Mrs. Dreslin watched her go, and then pulled out a worn turquoise stone from her pocket, injecting a bit of her Spirit Power into it.

“Raotin, how fast can you get to the Wenrey Mountain Range?”

~~~~~~~

Aurelie climbed up a tree, then watched the small camp. She took note of what direction Planos went in, then followed after Farn. A glint went through her eyes. It was time to put the plan in place.

She shook her sleeves, letting a combat knife fall out of its sheath, into her hands. She used it to mark the trees she passed, so she could get back.

Waiting until Farn stopped, Aurelie struck. She slashed down on his neck with her hand, making sure to make her combat knife go back into her ring. At the same, she withdrew a red liquid from the ring, splashing it on Farn’s neck as her hand chopped onto a pressure point, rendering him unconscious.

She then did the same thing as she pretended to stab him, over and over until she felt the eyes focused on her look away, and a presence leave. She couldn’t feel the presence until the night before, when she had finally broken through the bottleneck. Aurelie was thankful for the help. It made things easier.

Aurelie withdrew some water from her ring, splashing it on Farn’s face to wake him up. Farn spluttered into consciousness.

“Well, they think you’re dead. You are now free to monitor Cailysi. You did watch her when you came in, right?” Aurelie asked cheerfully.

“Of course.” Farn replied, getting up. Aurelie studied him. Ever since Mel had died, Farn had become more closed off and serious. But there was nothing she could do about that. Many people changed when someone close to them died. This was something only Farn could work through.

“Oh yeah, Farn, here, a gun.” Aurelie said, handing him the weapon. She then went on to instruct him how to use it. He wouldn’t stand a chance against Cailysi in a fight. The only way to get her where they wanted her was using her gun. Cailysi was a bully. The instant her own safety was threatened, she would give in, and Farn wouldn’t need to kill her. Not that he would mind. Farn had been particularly bloodthirsty ever since she had shared her suspicions that the ones who were currently after them were likely friendly with Gradas Meir. After all, she no other enemies in this world. The only reason someone would hate her would be because of what it was suspected she did to Gradas Meir.

“Now then, just one more thing to take care of…” She said, the smile on her face slowly growing larger.

~~~~~~~

Aurelie barely glanced at the corpse of the Spirit Beast next to her, spending more time inspecting her blood-covered clothes. Though she had moved at the last minute, the only true difference that the motion had made was to move her face out of the way. Neck-down, she was drenched. Looking down at herself, she sighed. It was really hard to avoid an arterial spray of blood… but, then again, this was the goal. The hidden observer would be suspicious if she didn’t have a speck of blood on her after her ‘attack’ on Farn.

She started to walk away, but then seemed to remember something. She brushed her ring and took out all her weapons, putting on all her sheaths and placing her knives and guns in their respective sheaths. It would look strange if she weren’t at least a little affected by Farn’s ‘death’, and what better way to show her sadness than leaving behind her ‘weapons’?

Shrugging to reacquaint herself with the weight of her weaponry, she looked in the direction Planos had moved towards, and a smile tugged at her lips. Cheerfully, she bounced off in that direction…