"I'm sorry, Redwar.  I let my emotions get control of me."  

Redwar let out a long breath and some of the fire in his eyes relaxed.  "I'll talk with you later Ravine."  His voice was mellow, like the usual Redwar,  I knew he had forgiven me.  

But when he turned back to Daxton, it was gone.  "Give Derrek his blade back, we're going to have a talk."  

Derrek hopped up and hastily took his blade from Daxton.  Daxton's carefree smirk was gone, replaced with the usual glowering look.

We were all silent as they left the clearing, Daxton being marched in front like a captured prisoner of war.  

Valeria let out a breath when they were gone.  "I wouldn't want to be in his shoes," she said, referring to Daxton.  

I shook my head as I lifted Bound to examine it for nicks.  "No.  I've never seen Redwar that angry."  I reached back in my mind.  "Well, except for being irritated with that thief you captured."  I smiled at the memory.  

Valeria giggled.  "Yeah, but he didn't act on it then."  

"How long were you and Redwar watching?"  I asked as I sheathed Bound.  Thankfully, my impassioned duel with Daxton had left it without any nicks.  It was almost a miracle. 

She wrinkled her brow.  "Quite awhile, actually.  I'm surprised he didn't interfere sooner...  Daxton sure does know how to fight, doesn't he?"  

I looked back to where we'd had our fight.  "Yeah, he does.  He pulled a few moves that I've never seen before."  

Her face lit up.  "Oh yeah he did!  Like where he ducked away from your pommel and nearly sliced your arm."  

I nodded.  "I only barely got away unscathed from that."

As I thought back over our fight, sometime was poking me in my mind.  It was something I should remember, something I should tap into, but I couldn't grasp it.  Solid, and yet not quite there, it slipped through my mental fingers like smoke.

Valeria glanced at the sun.  "It's nearly time for lunch, we'd better hustle something up."  

I nodded.  As the woman of the group, it fell to us to do the cooking.  Not necessarily because we were woman, but because all of the men were, to put it mildly, not very good cooks.  Valeria and I did it in an effort to save our taste buds.  

A delicious smell was wafting through the clearing when Daxton and Redwar came back from their little 'talk.'  Daxton still had the glower on his face, but something had shifted.  He picked up the stick he'd been working on before our duel and went back to whittling.  

Redwar sniffed as he came up to the fire.  "I smell camper soup."  

Valeria nodded as she stirred the warming soup.  "We thought it'd be best for Simran, if he wants to eat."  

"A good choice."  Redwar looked over to me.  "Have the horses been watered?"  

"No."  I shook my head as I stood from tossing pieces of jerky into the soup.  "I was about to go do that." 

"I'll join you."  Redwar took on last long whiff of soup before turning and heading to the horses.  

I followed after him, knowing that he wanted to talk to me.  I was a little apprehensive, but I knew Redwar was fair in his judgement.  I opened my mouth to apologize again my recklessness in the duel, but Redwar spoke before I could.  

"Yes, Ravine, I know you're sorry  for that.  And I know you won't do it again.  Let's leave it at that, okay?"  

"Alright."  Axe looked up at me as I came to him.  I patted his shoulder and started untying him.  

"Now that's out of the way, let's talk about the duel itself," Redwar said as he unknotted Ladine's rope.

I was surprised, but said, "Okay."

"What is Daxton's fighting style like? Aggressive? Careful? Offensive or Defensive?"

"Definitely aggressive and offensive." My answer was without hesitation.

He chuckled. "I figured. What was your overall impression?"

"He's cunningly quick, and has awesome reflexes. He pulled a few moves I haven't seen before."

Redwar nodded. "I noticed. You handled them well. Anything else?"

By now we were walking towards the creek, which happened to be the same one we camped by a few nights back.

I knew Redwar was probing for something. He was trying to encourage me towards a conclusion, but what was it?

"I... Well, his fighting style reminded me of something, but I can't put my finger on it. Actually, the whole thing is just strange. He's supposed to be a town urchin who's only skill is thieving, but he has sword skills that match my own."

The more I thought about it, the odder it was. "Plus, he totally lost his accent and-" I paused as I tried to find the right words.

"Bad language skills?" Redwar interjected.

I laughed. "Yeah. Like, his whole persona has changed."

By now we'd reached the creek with the horses, who, as quickly as they could without overrunning our authority, plunged their heads down to drink. I felt a bit bad for not bringing them to drink sooner.

"Ravine, I want you to think hard about this next question."

Something in Redwar's voice set me on edge. I shifted uneasily and started rubbing my thumb over Bound's pommel.

"Does Daxton remind you of anyone or anything?"

I thought about that for a moment. I took his sword skills, darker personality, looks, etc. and tried to find the closest match to them.

I came up with one answer that caused my eyes to fly open and my fingers to curl around Bound.

"He's Ravagerian!" I hissed.

It all matched. His sword style resembled Redwar's and Corban's too closely to be denied. Plus, he reminded me so much of Corban. How in the world could I have missed it?

Redwar dipped his chin in acknowledgement. "I'm surprised you didn't recognize it sooner."

"You knew? All this time, Redwar? How?"

"If there is one thing a Ravager knows, it's another Ravager. Yes, I knew from the beginning. And he knew that I knew."

Seeing my glower, he smirked. "Ravine, I considered there were more important things to worry about at the time, like finding your brother. Daxton could not afford to be revealed as Ravager, so he cooperated."

I shook my head, not sure what to do with this. Once again, I'd been tricked by a Ravagerian spying boy.  

"Okay, but what do we do now? I'm not okay with having a Ravager in our midst!"

He raised an eyebrow. "I am a Ravager."

"I stopped thinking of you as a Ravager a long time ago," I countered.

Something flickered in his eyes and he turned to face Ladine's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, did I offend you?"

"No. No, you didn't." He straightened. "I know you don't want him here. I understand. But... But I see my younger self in him, Ravine. And I want to stop him before he goes down the road I did. If you want, he doesn't have to travel with us. The choice is yours. I know how strongly you feel about spying Ravagers."

Yes, I did feel strongly about it. My life had been ruined by Corban and his kind. To travel with Daxton was not something I was comfortable with in the least.

But on the other hand, what if we could stop Daxton before he became like Corban? And who was I to deny Redwar his chance to try?

"You know I don't like this. And that I'm going to be watching him every minute. But... Alright, do what you think best."

He looked over to me. "Are you sure, Ravine?"

I nodded. 

AN:  Whoa, who saw that coming :)  I did hint heavily at it.  *rubs hands together*  Daxton is becoming an enamoring character for me.