As if he returned to his body abruptly, the boy woke up.

He felt as if his lungs were on fire from the force of his breathing. His head was spinning, and it took him some time to recognize where he was and what had happened.

His eyes roamed the warehouse and its stone, wood, and mud; the door was closed, and he was lying on the hay without his blanket. The kid finally noticed everything and turned back to the akajsi girl.

She was resting. She was no longer breathing agitated, but like someone who was sleeping. The boy approached her and noticed how her face had regained color.

He smiled at that, grateful for so much. Of course, the girl could be aggressive, but he didn't wish anything bad on her.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, and he became alert. He remained silent until a voice finally came forward.

"I'm Derica, the girl from last night," she introduced herself. "I brought your breakfast."

The teen sighed in relief and rose from his place to open for the girl. The girl entered as soon as he opened the door, carrying a drinking mug and a bowl of eggs and bread. She was very similar to her mother, but she had the smile and reddish hair of his father.

"Good morning, traveler," she said smiling.

He stared at her as if he still didn't fully understand what was happening. Still in his head were the vestiges of his dream.

Then, a little uncomfortable, she held out her food, "Mama made this for you."

He snapped out of his trance, shaking in place.

"Ah! T-Thank you," he replied, smiling.

He sat down on his pile of hay and silently began to eat. The situation was awkward, to say the least, and he was slow to realize it.

"Oh, will you...?" he asked, embarrassed, making room in his place for her to sit down.

She was also awkward with the situation and gently denied it with her hand.

"No, it's okay. I already ate; that's just for you," Derica expressed as she stared at him.

"E-Excuse me, did your mother tell you if...?" he asked between bites, pointing to her companion. Biting into the first hard-boiled egg made him just want to keep eating.

"Oh, my mother said she'll be fine, but she'll have to rest," she explained. "She said she began to look better in the early morning when what she gave her reacted. So it must have been a long night."

"Is your mother okay?" he asked.

Derica smiled and turned her head, "She's cranky. She didn't get much sleep last night. So it's going to be a long day."

The kid smiled nervously, "Oh, sorry about that."

The girl let out a playful giggle, "Don't worry, you won't have to put up with her temper."

"That's good, I think," The boy smiled but soon tried to dodge conversations with that girl.

Worse, he became paranoid about stopping eating from covering the back of her hand.

"You don't like it?" the girl asked, intrigued, "Dad said you might not have eaten all day yesterday."

"T-That's not it. But, thanks," the boy exclaimed nervously. "I guess I'm still worried about her..."

Derica turned her look to the elf.

"Wow, I've never seen an akajsi before," she expressed curiously. Such was the case that she approached the marked girl without hesitation.

"Aren't they common around here?" the teen asked.

She shook her head and stood watching the elven girl, "I've only heard stories, like bards or fair ones. They talk about them being hostile and not to be trusted."

"Well," the kid hesitated, smiling, "I think she's a little fierce, but I think she's trustworthy."

"That's great; I'm dying for her to be able to relate things to me about her people."

The boy's smile slowly faded. He rubbed the back of his hand and began to wonder again about many things.

The girl had of the elf only her physical appearance, her pricked ears, and the diseases she shared with them. However, she didn't know of that affliction, which caused everything she was now there for.

"Derica!" Erna's shout was heard in all the barn. Then, with a hurried step, the mother made her arrival.

The girl wasn't lying, for on that woman's robust face, there was a good pair of dark circles under her eyes adorning it.

The girl got up quickly, and the teen did the same. The height difference with her was scanty; Derica, with long intertwined reddish hair, was taller than him.

"M-Mom, I came to..."

"You came to evade your chores," the woman scolded hastily, "Stop wasting time and get to work."

Derica rolled her eyes and then looked at the kid, "I have to go."

The boy nodded, smiling, and the girl departed in a hurry. Now, the mother's eyes were on the young man.

When it looked like she was about to rant at him, the woman abandoned any grumpiness with a sigh as she watched the girl continue to sleep.

"Hasn't she woken up?" the woman asked.

"No, at least not since I woke up," the teen indicated, shaking his head.

"Well, she's already regained some color," she added, moving toward the girl, and taking a seat at her side. She didn't have a fever either. All that brought a proud smile to her face.

The kid sat down next to her, "She's looking much better. Thank you."

"You're thanking me now," She shrugged. "Last night, you weren't too happy that I called her a 'criminal.'"

The marked boy looked at his friend, then at the woman, "She won't admit it, but she felt bad about killing that person too."

"She cried a lot last night," the woman emphasized. "Screamed and vomited even more. Finally, she had a couple of lucid moments and fell asleep."

"What a wild night," the boy exclaimed, impressed but drawing a small smile.

The woman nodded with a soft smile. Then she looked at the teen with a raise of her eyebrow. "You weren't so quiet either, pup."

He watched her in confusion.

"You started squirming and babbling a lot last night. Did you have a nightmare?"

The kid vaguely recalled his dream, like the sensations going through the swampy waters or what that beast looked like.

"Samson!" A desperate scream, and several sudden thumps, were heard from the window of the warehouse.

The woman raised her eye and then followed the galloping of the horses. The marked boy saw worry across that mother's face.

"R-Ruelle!" exclaimed the woman, who hurriedly left the place.

The boy remained with his friend but could not help but be startled when he heard that heart-rending cry that only a mother has was heard at the top of her lungs.

Amidst hesitation, he wrapped his friend in her cape and remained on the alert. First, he peeked at the marked girl and then looked in the direction from which Erna's heartbroken cries were heard. Then, finally, he opted to hurry out of the barn and ran toward one of the side doors.

As his eyes adjusted to the bright morning light, he watched Samson hug his wife, in tears, in the way only large, protective arms could do.

Off to the side, one of the farmworkers was standing and in each hand, holding horses reins. The man looked agitated, sweating heavily, like someone who must have escaped quickly from danger. The marked kid easily recognized that feeling.

"We'll get the payment, Erna, don't worry..." exclaimed that huge man in a trembling voice.

Soon Derica made an appearance.

"Mother, Father, what is it?" asked the girl.

Then, amidst the silence and a quick peek from the girl, she asked again.

"W-Where is Ruelle?"

The teen also asked, trying to prove he was there, "What happened?"

Samson looked at his daughter and then at the dark-skinned boy. Then, he hugged his wife with a trembling lip, sobbing against his chest.

"Your brother was imprisoned by the Black Rats," exclaimed the man, as he wrapped his arms around his wife and tried to hold back his tears. "I couldn't pay the tribute and..."

"They took Ruelle as collateral," added a worker on that farm in a faltering voice.

Derica opened her eyes and brought her hands with slender fingers to her chest. The girl had now framed a face of fear that soon brought several tears.

"Miserable rats, I should have gone myself!" reproached Samson to himself.

"Who are those Black Rats?" asked the teen cautiously.

"They're thieves from the area," the worker explained. "Every week, they ask the tribute to farms, so they won't loot and burn them."

The kid looked at Samson and then at his wife, that rough-looking woman who was now in tears. Only something as dreadful as that could make the woman's sullen face lessen.

Derica suffered almost silently, and soon she came to her father, who put an arm around her, and her mother did the same.

Samson tried to calm himself, "There must be something I can give them here. Maybe if I go to Loren's farm, I can ask them for a loan."

"That bastard son of a whore won't give you anything!" shouted Erna, separating from her husband abruptly. "Those wretches are always the first to pay. They won't help us at all!"

"Then I'll go to the Eastfront bank and ask for money!" exclaimed the man, trying to find another solution.

"And then how do you plan to pay them and those Rats?" replied the woman.

Soon that was a back and forth of screaming, and the girl in the middle of it trying to stop crying and appease the pain of both parents.

In that back and forth of screaming, the boy had enough.

"Stop it!" he shouted, and soon he saw both parents, "You don't have to be yelling at each other!"

Samson and Erna held back their emotions, if only for a moment. But then, he was able to continue.

"I want to help him. I think... I think I have an idea," the boy raised his hand, exposing that mark freely.

The farm employee opened his eyes in astonishment; Derica did too.

Erna and Samson watched him in shocker because he had made it public.

"The kid is..." began that employee with his words.

The marked teen looked at him and then at Samson and his family, "Ruelle kept this secret. "

Samson let out a gasp.

The kid hesitated nervously, "I want to help him. I owe it to him,"

"What do you plan to do?" asked Erna. "Are you going to kill them?"

The boy pursed his lips, then sighed.

"I don't want to do that, but I sure can fool them," the boy argued, pointing emphatically to the back of his hand. "P-People are afraid of the marked ones, right? Others try to kill us on sight. Perhaps if they see me, they might be frightened enough to retreat. But, if they try to attack me, I might as well be a decoy while you get Ruelle out of there."

"What things do you say, teen?" expressed Samson incredulously.

"Please, just give me a chance. I know I can do it..."

Samson watched his wife. They were both desperate and confused. That was their only hope in those simple lands where everyone protected themselves without seeing others.

Then, the farmer turned to the boy, "What you'll do for us, it's priceless..."

The marked kid looked at the man with hazel eyes and smiled warmly, "You sheltered my companion and me. Your wife spent all night watching over her, and your son was the second person to help us. So many people hate us, and I don't know why, but he didn't hate us. So I owe him..."

Erna looked at her husband, "Samson, you don't plan to...?"

"We don't have much choice," interrupted the husband. Then, turning to the boy, he confirmed the plan with a nod, "I'll go get your horse."

"I need a weapon," the teen indicated, "Something non-lethal, like a stick..."

"I have a club in my hut," the worker pointed out, ready to leave with them.

"I'll get my crossbow," Samson said without further mediating the situation.

"Have you gone mad?" blurted Erna, hugging her eldest daughter.

"How far is it from here where Ruelle is being held captive?" the kid asked the clerk.

"If you give me another horse, we'll get there fast," the boy indicated.

"My companion has her horse. Perhaps you can take it."

"Heh, Not a chance."

The boy opened his eyes in surprise at hearing that voice. Then, turning quickly, he saw his companion peering out of the barn.

Hunched over and tucked in her cloak, she stared defiantly at her companion.

"What are you doing awake?" the kid hesitated, "You should be resting."

"You're not taking my horse." Said the girl, walking towards him.

"I'll give it back to you, I promise. That man will lead us to where his son..."

The girl turned her look to the tall, thin man who still carried the reins of both horses with which he rode to the farm. Then she turned her eye to the dark-skinned teen.

"You don't know how to ride a horse; they won't obey you," the akajsi girl argued.

"Come on, let me do it," pleaded the kid, "Samson and his family helped us. Erna stayed up all night guarding you and helped you purge the poison you ate."

The girl watched the sturdy woman. Her steady eye saw that woman hugging her daughter, trying to comfort her.

"Fine, but I'll go," the girl sentenced. Her companion tried to contradict her, but she was withering, "I stole those horses, they are mine, and they obey only me. So if they go, I will go with them. Now, give me my bow..."

The boy tried to get some words out. However, he soon saw this was in vain, so he let out a heavy sigh. Yet, even with all that, he smiled.

"Well, thank you. I'm going to need your good eye to fight..."

Even as upset as that girl was, he raised his gaze to the kid and sketched a small smile, "It's only been a day since we've known each other. So how do you know I won't miss an arrow and hit you in the head?"

"If that ever happens, I might have to rethink sticking with you," the teen smiled. His companion watched him and took the opportunity to elbow him in the ribs.

After a few minutes, another of the farm helpers brought along both horses they had brought with them. Without the saddlebags and all their weight, they would be faster.

Both teens were prepared, and Samson and his workers were ready to go.

"We'll be back in the evening," Samson indicated to his wife.

Erna watched her husband with great concern on her face. Sitting on his horse, he stroked his wife's face, then pat his son's head in her arms.

One of Samson's attendants must have been on the horse the dark-skinned boy had used. Both marked kids would go on the one the akajsi girl had stolen.

Armed with few things, all that was left for them to do was set out for the hills.