Prin and Sarphi were talking to each other, making use of Prin's new ability very well. Aknon was still in a huff and walking in front of us. Senka was on my shoulder, and Onyx was running around like a mad dog. I was walking with slumped shoulders and a frown on my face, dagger still in hand. I wasn't a fan of the silence which I was covered with like some kind of veil. I usually had Sarphi to chat with, but I felt like a third wheel with the girls right now.

The forest was still thick around us, but it was thinning, something which made me relax a little bit. I didn't know why the forest was suddenly so uncomfortable. I had experienced life-threatening danger before, and that usually had no effect on how comfortable I was, so this felt strange to me.

Maybe it was because of my immense paranoia that I was going to be kidnapped at any moment, causing me to be unable to help and protect my siblings, resulting in their death and everything I cared about ceasing to exist.

Or maybe it's because we were meeting a stranger, not knowing what to expect.

We came across a crossroad and checked the sign. It was a wooden post with a few slabs of wood nailed to it, covered in fallen leaves, bugs, and dirt. But some of the words were readable.

"If you've got a hunting ground, why would you advertise it?" Sarphi asked, narrowing her eyes at the only pristine sign there, the one which was covered in carved roses, with 'Roseo's territory' written in bold letters.

I shrugged. "What if they want a hunting buddy?" I asked, smirking a little. "I'd volunteer if we weren't the ones being hunted."

I expected Aknon to make a snide comment, but he kept his mouth shut.

"At least we're close to where you want to be," Prin said quietly as she pointed to what was probably the most deteriorated sign. I could only read a 'D' and a 'C' on the sigh, the rest of it had been worn down by time and what seemed to be knife marks.

"They don't have many friends," I muttered and shook my head as we began to walk that way. "Get ready to see guards, fighting, cruelty, and everything else you don't want to see in a pleasant life."

I didn't mean to make Prin nervous, but it seemed my words had that effect on her as she moved closer to Sarphi.

"But we're not going in the city," Sarphi pointed out, trying to comfort Prin and herself. "We're going to the side of it, so there's less chances of seeing someone having bricks thrown at them." Her tone was somewhat enthusiastic, which didn't suit the words she was saying at all. I was used to this by now.

Prin shook her head and hugged herself. "That doesn't help."

Wordlessly, Aknon moved in front of us quickly, his walk becoming nearly a jog as he sped up.

"Does he know that we're still quite far from where we have to be?" Sarphi asked quietly, beginning to walk after Aknon once more, a little faster to keep up with his steps. "We're not going to get there today, Nevermind in time to search caves."

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter if he knows or not, it wouldn't change how he acts." Maybe he was told by his book that we had some kind of time limitation on our job. But surely, he would tell us if he did. The longer he refused to tell us, the angrier it made me.

The air was growing colder once more, which made me want to move quickly, but my bitter nature wanted me to be as slow as I could possibly go. Even Senka was probably annoyed at me as she'd moved to my shoulder and was moving far too quickly for my liking. She moved from sitting, to standing, to lying down. I thought that it was because she was still feeling scared or ill from her time being a living propellor, but she was looking around anxiously once again.

"You know what's wrong with Aknon," I muttered to her, frowning deeply as my steps turned into stomps. "Why won't you tell us? Why won't he tell us?"

Senka shrugged her shoulders and huffed. "I can't tell you because I made a promise, and I don't want to be punished for breaking it." I figured that was reasonable enough. "As for why Aknon can't talk about it, you were probably right earlier."

"I'm always right," I commented with a snort, causing Sarphi and Prin to glance back at us. I waved them off and lowered my voice, "right about what?"

"He's trying to work something out which isn't' meant to be worked out." Senka sighed and her shoulders slumped as she rocked her feet back and forth, making it feel like she was going to fall. "That book isn't meant to give you the answers to what you're asking, it's meant to give you a clue, a warning, or something like that."

"You act like you don't know," Sarphi pointed out, narrowing her eyes and walking backwards, Prin continuing to watch forward. "Do you even know what's written in the book?"

"I can read it." Senka shrugged. "I don't know what's written in it without actually reading it, I'm not that kind of magic." She gave a weak laugh, which compelled me to laugh with her.

"That's a shame," I commented with a shake of the head. "It would've been nice if you were."

Senka gave me a slightly insulted look, but then she tilted her head, looking at something behind me with wide eyes. "You want to go that way." She pointed behind me, causing me to stop in my tracks.

"That way?" Sarphi asked, her and Prin slowing to a stop. Aknon was still walking briskly, seemingly lost in his own thoughts and not noticing that we'd stopped. "How do you know?"

"How do I walk and talk?" Senka retorted. "Magic. Let's go." She jumped off my shoulder, which was strange because she'd always climbed down, and began heading in the direction of a very thin dirt path.

"Aknon!" I called, ready to be shouted at, but he just kept walking. "Hey. Aknon!" I jogged up to him and tapped his shoulder, which caused me to get a tail in the face as he spun around.

"What?" he snapped, looking left and right, frowning even more as he saw Sarphi and Prin waiting on the left side of the road. "Where are you going?" His voice was almost suspicious.

"Senka said that this is the way," I replied, throwing Senka into the fire. "Come on, it's accurate to what we were told. It's just going a little bit further west."

"Was it west we were meant to go?" Sarphi asked from a little way down the dirt path. "Or was it North?"

"It couldn't have been north," Aknon argued quickly. "That just means up, we'd have to go straight through the city to be north of it."

Sarphi looked like she was going to disagree, because I would have if it were me being talked to like that. She and I would probably team up and argue that it would depend on where you are in relation to the city, because sometimes East would be straight through the city if you were coming in from the West. But she just shook her head and continued on the path behind Senka and Onyx, Prin still holding her hand.

"How do we know we can trust her?" Aknon whispered to me. "How has she helped us before?"

My mind went blank, even though I'm sure there have been plenty of times when Senka had helped us, but once again, I couldn't really think of any, or at least how to express them. It was odd for me to not have words, it seemed to only happen when words mattered.

"Come on. They won't wait for us." I sighed and turned, following the others. I knew that Aknon would follow us, if not straight away then in a few minutes time.

The path looked very old, or very new. It could be so old that plants had grown along the path, due to lack of upkeep. It could also be because it was so new the path simply wasn't made well.

I don't know, I've never tried to make a path through woods before. Is this even called the woods? I don't think it is, there's not enough trees for that. Either way, my wording might be wrong, which would frustrate me immensely if all this wasn't in my head.

I tried to shake those thoughts away, because thinking about thinking isn't something which should be done as you're walking in a strange place, and most of the world is a strange place.

I spun my dagger in my hands and jogged to catch up with the girls. "I'll go ahead," I offered, not slowing down as I passed them and reached Senka. Onyx and Senka were walking side-by-side, a strange sight as the two of them looked like shadows. "It's so annoying how most of the world looks the same."

"That's because you haven't seen much of it," Senka pointed out. It looked like she was doing some kind of strange skipping action, as she looked from side to side, moving from one foot to the other. Whenever she moved, she jumped about two to three feet each side. It looked bizarre, but I had seen this behaviour on her before.

"What are you expecting?" I inquired with a suspicious tone. "Because you're making me nervous."

"I have no power over emotions," Senka replied dryly. "I cannot make anyone nervous. If you're nervous, it is you who is making you nervous."

I opened my mouth to argue, but I was stopped in my tracks. As was the rest of the group who followed me, Aknon eventually caught up to our small group.

In front of us was a very familiar person, but she didn't look like a person.

Our old babysitter stood in the middle of the road, eyes glassy and lifeless. She wore a long cloak, obscuring most of her body in shadows, whilst she otherwise remained motionless.

"Finally!" Senka yelled, startling me and causing me to gasp as she raced forward towards our babysitter. "I missed you!" She leaped up onto our babysitter's chest and then she stopped moving.