Alastair's question lingered in his mind for several minutes after he left. The path (F/N) walked had always been so clear to him. So certain. Every decision he made, every action taken, and every battle fought had been done so with the best interests of The Family. To see its survival, its growth, until one day, every bandit tribe in Anima would be united underneath a single banner. Everything he'd done had been to bring peace to the continent, and in doing so he would achieve his ultimate goal. To reunite with the woman he loved, and to free her from the prison she had built for herself.

Alastair knew none of this. As far as he or anyone else was concerned, The Family's goals ended with the unification of Anima. The rest had to be kept secret. If anyone knew that all of this had been done for Raven, he would lose all credibility and authority, and his mission would end in failure. Everything had been so meticulously planned. Every scenario accounted for. He had built contingencies for his contingencies. But this new piece of information, it was something he could never have foresaw.

He had a daughter. They had a daughter. Yang. Proof that, despite everything she said, Raven did love him. His mission changed. He now had to account for a daughter. For a family. Well, he had built a family once before. Now he had to do it again.

He found his daughter... his daughter. It felt strange to say. Perhaps he had come to see her as such in the months she had spent in his camp, but to address her as such. It was unfamiliar. But somehow, it felt right.

He found his daughter still with the forge master, sitting on the wooden counterspace as the grizzled blacksmith tinkered with his latest invention.

"It's not that I'm unhappy with Ember Celica," he overheard Yang say as he drew nearer, "it's just, I don't think she's quite ready for Beacon."

"And why are you telling me this?" Faust asked irritably.

"Well, you're The Family's blacksmith." Yang said. "And I don't mean to brag, but I do have this fancy pin that (F/N) gave me."

"That pin symbolizes The Dark Slayer's trust. It does not entitle you to order me around."

"Well, actually," Yang said with the hint of a smirk, "(F/N) said it granted me a portion of his authority. So, I'd say that maybe it does."

Faust's aggravated sigh elicited a small laugh from the blonde. "Alright, listen closely girl." He said through gritted teeth. "For whatever reason, his lordship has taken a liking to you. So, I'll improve upon your weapon as a favor to him."

"And here I thought we were becoming friends." Yang pouted.

"Perhaps on my deathbed. Until then you will be nothing more than a thorn in my side." Faust said. "Now, hand it over. Let's see what I'm working with."

Yang removed her yellow gauntlets and passed them to Faust. "Right now, they fire standard shotgun rounds. But I was thinking about adding something with more flare. Like maybe explosive rounds? Much more me."

"You kids and your flashy weapons." Faust said disapprovingly. "All day long all I hear about is adding guns and canons and lasers. When did a sword become insufficient? You'd never see his lordship waving around some exploding hand axe."

"Actually, I have been meaning to talk with you about adding some modifications to my Yamato." (F/N) said as a way to announce his presence.

"My liege." Faust bowed as Yang hopped off the countertop. "Surely, this is an attempt at a distasteful joke."

"Are you telling me you would be against modifying my blade?"

"I would rather be put to death." The old man said.

The corners of (F/N)'s mouth twitched upwards in a small smirk. "If it's not too much trouble, I was hoping I might steal Yang away from you."

"Trouble?" Faust scoffed. "My liege, you would be doing me a great favor."

With an inquiring look, Yang fell into place at (F/N)'s side and the two made for the southern gate, leaving Faust behind who walked back into the stone shanty to begin modifying Yang's gauntlets.

"We're leaving camp?" Yang asked, seeing (F/N) approaching the stables.

"We are." He answered, untethering two of the horses and handing her one set of reigns.

"Where are we going?"

"Oh, nowhere in particular." (F/N) responded cryptically as he mounted his steed. "I just felt in the mood for a ride."

It had been a while since Yang had paid attention to the camp's security. Really paid attention. Since the attempt on (F/N)'s life, Minister Ebonwood had heavily increased security both in and around the campground. Despite everything she now understood, Yang still disagreed with the slave labor employed by The Family. She had always done her best to avoid it whenever possible, and because of this, she hadn't really paid much attention to the modifications to the wall. A second layer had been added, the top adjoined by planks of wood that formed a rampart allowing men and women of the tribe to patrol from atop it. Watchtowers manned by the tribe's best archers had been erected periodically along the wall, their bows trained on any movement coming from the surrounding forest.

Formerly, the entrances and exits to the camp were simple gaps left in the wall to allow passage, but Lucian had since had them replaced by gates, large logs that fell into slots between the two layers of wall and lifted and lowered by a pully system. Said gates were opened as the two riders approached, the guards on the inside stepping aside to allow them to pass, and those on the outside turning to see who was exiting. 

"Lucian's been busy." Yang said, more to herself than (F/N).

"So, it would seem." He responded.

She didn't know what it was, but there was something in the tone of his voice that made her think something was amiss. But she decided not to comment on it.

"Alastair tells me your riding skills have greatly improved." (F/N) said, making light conversation. "So, fancy a race?"

Yang, never one to back away from a challenge, grinned at the offer. "You're on."

With a snap of the reigns and a dig of their heels into the sides of their mounts, the two took off towards the tree line, (F/N) disappearing into the wood followed closely by Yang.  The two raced down the dirt path of the forest, Yang doing everything in her power to overtake the man in front of her. She was so close, too. But every time she thought she might manage to pull ahead, he managed to maneuver his horse to force her back. After some twenty minutes, she found an opening which she took advantage of, allowing her to gain some ground and put herself even with (F/N). Tugging on the reigns, she steered her horse sidelong into his, causing him to pull hard and slow.

"Are you crazy?" He shouted from close behind. "A move like that could have taken us both out."

"Sounds like you're just making excuses." She laughed.

Now a full horse length ahead, she pressed her advantage, urging her horse even faster. Up ahead she saw a low hanging branch, and smiling to herself, she grabbed it as she rode by, letting it snap back behind her.

Looking back, she laughed as she saw (F/N) tug hard on his reigns, quickly ducking his head to avoid being dismounted by the branch.

"You're reckless!" He called after her.

"But winning!" She yelled back.

A few more seconds and she looked back once more to see how much of a lead she had taken but was surprised to find (F/N) was nowhere to be seen. Though she had lost sight of him, her ears still picked up on the second set of horse hooves as they met the ground.

"On your left!"

(F/N)'s steed jumped out of the tree line, catching her by surprise and causing her horse to falter. He retook the lead, much to her dismay.

"Hey! No fair!" She shouted, urging her horse to catch up to his.

"Sounds like you're just making excuses." He called back, echoing her earlier sentiment.

They continued on for several hours and though the well-trained horses could have continued at their pace the entire day, they eventually slowed to allow them some respite. The two now rode side by side, Yang allowing (F/N), who knew the forest better than she, to guide them along their journey, the destination of which, she still did not know. She considered asking him if he even had a destination planned. She found though, that she didn't really care. She'd never really been one to plan, always much preferring to live spontaneously. And besides, she didn't think she'd ever seen him smile as much as he was now.

"So, why'd you want to see me?" She asked. "Not that I mind, it just, it's been several hours now, and you still haven't tried to impart your cryptic wisdom upon me."

He smirked a bit at the way she said that last few words. "No wisdom to impart today, I'm afraid."

"Then why'd you bring me all the way out here?" Yang asked. "I mean, we must be close to crossing over into my mom's territory by now."

"We crossed over about fifteen minutes ago."

"What?" Yang asked, a sense of dread and uneasiness settling in the pit of her stomach. "Won't they try to kill us if they catch us out here?"

"I imagine they will, yes." He nodded.

"Well, that's just great." Yang scoffed.

"I don't think you'll need to concern yourself much with that."

"Easy for you to say. You're the Dark Slayer. Me? I'm just some high schooler who doesn't even have her weapons with her."

"We should be fine." (F/N) said calmly. "Raven's men aren't exactly renowned for their courage. I'd wager that if we were to come across any of them, they'd sooner turn tail and run than stand and fight."

"Just at the mere sight of you, huh?"

"Can you blame them?"

"I guess not." Yang muttered. "Still, you haven't answered my question. Why'd you bring me out here?"

"I wanted to talk with you. Without the chance of being interrupted or risk of being overheard."

"That sounds... serious." Yang said uneasily.

"It is." He responded. "To be honest with you, Yang, I'm not entirely sure how to approach the subject. I've been mulling it over our entire ride. Trying to decide how best to go about it."

"Go about what?" Yang asked. "What did you want to talk about."

"Not yet." (F/N) said. "Let us first reach where we are going. By then, I hope I will have managed to figure how best to approach the subject."

"Will we be there soon?" Yang asked. "It's almost nightfall."

"It shouldn't be more than two more hours." He answered. "Besides, you get the best view at night."

The two hours passed, neither saying anything as the sun disappeared beneath the horizon and the stars began dotting the night sky. Yang shivered as the air grew colder, both from the darkness of night and their approaching the shoreline of the continent. (F/N) shrugged of his jacket and placed it over her shoulders as they rode onward. Finally, they came to a stop in the middle of a field where the grass grew wild. The earth dropped down in a jagged rockface, a fifty foot drop to the frigid waters of the ocean that separated Anima from Sanus, where Vale and Vacuo lie.

Yang's hair danced in the wind, the breeze carrying salt from the waters below. The two dismounted their horses which wandered slightly about the field, dropping their heads to graze on the wild grasses. Stretching her muscles which had grown sore from a full day's ride, Yang looked up to find (F/N) standing at the edge of the precipice, staring across the ocean. Silently, she moved to stand next to him.

She hadn't been this close to home in months. There were several pinpricks of light traversing the waters. Boats and freighters whose glow were indistinguishable from the starlight reflected on the ocean's surface. Off in the distance she could just barely make out the shoreline of Sanus. And further still, like a star that had fallen from the heavens but still clung to the sky, shined a brilliant green light. Beacon Tower.