***This chapter, we finally get a peak at Fia's writing. (Yay!)***

The group of students slowly dispersed, and Tennielle glanced at me questioningly.

I turned to address her.  "Do you want to look for the bird now?"

She shrugged.  "Is that all you ever think about?" she asked in a half-serious tone.  "Alright, fine.  I'll go get my sketchbook."

"Why?" I inquired, trying to cover my impatience.

She rolled her eyes and stared at me.  "The plant thing.  Remember -- my brother wanted me to draw some of the native-"

"Okay, I remember," I told her with a wave of my hand.  "I'm actually going to get my notebook too.  Wouldn't hurt to work on my book while you studied all the exciting, lush wildlife."

"Does that book even have a title?"

"Perhaps it does," I told her, trying to convey an air of mystery. "Perhaps I have simply decided not to share it yet."

She snorted. "That's not likely. You tend to squish the most possible bragging rights out of every accomplishment you have."

"That hurts," I told her, putting my hand over my heart. "Alas, I am simply grateful to have accomplishments from which to 'squish' my bragging rights, unlike someone."

She glared playfully, then spun around, auburn hair flying, to get her notebook. I grinned at the back of her head and followed.

"You guys seem hurried," Kiyenta observed when we bustled into the cabin.

"Nah," I told her as I dug through my bag for my notebook. "We are clearly calm and relaxed." For emphasis, I tossed a few miscellaneous belongings over my shoulder as I continued to search.

Tennielle stood up with her notebook in hand. "Come on!"

"Hang on," I muttered. "How hard can it be to find one stupid notebook?"

"Very hard, for those who don't believe in organization."

I chucked a handful of socks at her, and she yelped before realizing what they were. Then I stood triumphantly with my purple spiral notebook clutched in my hands. "Ta-da! My chaotic ways prove their prowess yet again!"

"Prowess. It took you at least 20 minutes to find that."

Kiyenta laughed. "I swear there's something wrong with you two."

"Finally, some recognition!" I said pointedly. Then I abruptly dashed to the door and out of the cabin. "See? You found your notebook first, but yet I am still out before you!"

Tennielle jogged out. When Kiyenta opened her mouth again, Tennielle interrupted quickly. "We're on a ... personal mission."

"That's the world's lamest explanation," Kiyenta told her.  "But have fun anyway!"

We headed out of camp toward our tree, since Tennielle wanted to draw it.  We chatted for about 5 minutes before she squatted down next to a bush.  In my opinion, it was the same as all the other bushes, brown and soggy, but she was already focused by the time I tried to point that out.  With a resigned sigh, I sat down on a rock and opened my notebook to start working.

The first page held a mess of title options.  At the top of the second page, The Last Shard was written in messy handwriting.  It certainly wasn't a final title, but it would do.  From there, I flipped through the disorganized book to where I had left off in the cabin on the first day.

Ravine looked at the crystalline white blade, a piercing white unmatched by anything she had ever observed.  I skimmed the words quickly, having already reviewed them.  It was a whitestone Shard, even if it was one of the strangest ones she had ever seen.  Most whitestone Shards were round, but this one was a perfect, flat blade, attached to an elegant hilt of a midnight color which contrasted the white.  Ravine picked it up gently, examining it.

"I wouldn't do that," Sapphire said in a warning tone.

"Shut your mouth, Prisoner," Ravine spat at her.  She turned back to the blade, turning it in her hands.

Sapphire yelled.  What Ravine had thought was a bright white blade turned blinding as a beam of light blasted forward and burned a hole in the wall.  Ravine dropped it in surprise, and it sank up to its hilt in the solid stone floor.

I tapped my pencil annoyedly against the page a few times, trying to come up with the next section.  I had been stuck on the prison scene since before we'd left for Mist Valley.  The magic system and characters were completely figured out, but the plot itself was still shaky.

"Done!" Tennielle announced, startling me from my thinking.

"Finally," I groaned at her before beginning to walk again, though in reality I would have liked to work longer.  I tucked my notebook under my arm, noticing that the pages felt a tiny bit damp from the fog.