Bluh bluh bluh I am the worst to you guys. Sorry, it's been awhile, I know, just read and hopefully be pleased with whatever words my brain vomits.

I awoke slowly, without trouble or start as usually happens when I'm waking up to take my shift of the watch. Gummy crud that lined my eyelids made it difficult to tear them open, but tear them open I did. I didn't really care where I was, or how I came to sleep there. I just hugged the large, warm quilt to my chest and soaked up every bit of peace and silence I could get. Sluggishly, I realized that I had things to take care of and couldn't lie around all day while an evil spirit in human form wreaked havoc on the country and possibly tried to overthrow the current monarchy.

Because that would be lazy.

It was only when I lifted my head, did I realize how much my whole body ached. I had been sword training for the past week, and I did just help fend off a horde of attackers the night before, so it wasn't unexpected. It was simply inconvenient and uncomfortable.

With only a slight cringe, I rolled out of the soft bed and shakily stood. I fisted my eyes to wipe away all crusty residue, and yawned deeply. Mornings had never been my best times. I walked to the foot of the bed to assess myself in the large mirror that sat only a few feet away. Yep, I was still pale and slightly freckly. Yep, my hair still looked god-awful. Yep, I still only slightly resembled a girl. And yep, looking at my pitiful reflection that hardly resembled the old me did absolutely nothing to amp up my morning. It really just made me feel that much worse.

Okay, I told myself. Time to get to work. I grabbed the bone comb that sat on the dresser when my eyesight was finally clear. The unbelievably short hair was too easy to comb through, and I repeatedly scraped the top of my ears with the sharp comb. I would comb, sigh, comb, scrape, curse, then have to stanch the blood seeping out of the cuts on my ears. It was a tedious, annoying process that took longer than it should have. Once I was done, though, I sought out a small, thin knife that lay sheathed in my pack. I stood close to the mirror as I could, and began my makeshift haircut.

Blonde hair fell in little pieces constantly as I touched up my rough, uneven cut. I was no master stylist and would originally never have trimmed my own hair, but just because I was a dirty assassin of sorts did not mean I couldn't try to look nice. In a few minutes, my hairstyle went from shabby and terribly odd to somewhat shaggy but even, at the least. It wasn't even close to the chic hairdo that most celebrities get when they go short, but it was good enough for me.

I had gotten very tired of looking at myself when a hesitant, quiet knock disturbed my thoughts. I looked to the door, and heard heavy, shuffling footsteps behind it. I wielded the knife and braced for the worst, as had become the norm these last few weeks. I slowly turned the knob and took a peek at my possible attacker, then shoved the door fully. If he had wanted to kill me, he would have done it the minute I turned the knob. The door came open the rest of the way by my push's momentum to reveal a dressed, cleaned Will. Since last night he had shaved, cut his hair, and apparently taken a bath.

"Emilie, glad you're awake. I didn't know you had freckles," he allowed himself in and I slapped a hand to my chin, blushing angrily.

"Do we have to leave soon?" I asked, already putting away my things. He nodded, and entered the washroom.

"Yes. Get your stuff ready, Halt should be here with our horses and supplies in just a little bit. He may even bring Horace, if he feels up to lugging him around the rest of the journey."

I slipped on some new tanned leather boots that were with the clothes I found last night. "Heh. And considering Horace didn't ask Halt too many questions when we left them last night. That seems like Halt's pet peeve."

Will laughed. "You have no idea," he murmured, and exited the washroom. He carried a small pouch that was in his hand when he walked in, but seemed slightly fuller now. "What is that?" I inquired, nodding to the pouch.

"Hmm? Oh. Well, since we aren't going to be stopping by an inn anytime soon, I thought I would take a few mementos. See for yourself."

I pulled the drawstring on the bag he tossed, and was met with a sweet aroma that reminded me of summer days spent in a meadow. Back then, anything clean was a slice of heaven on earth, and the little collection of soaps in the leather bag was no exception. Snatching soaps from a hotel was something even I did before, so this reminder of home was a welcome gift. I closed my eyes and relished the scent. "Cleanliness has never felt so amazing."

Will shrugged and accepted the bag again. "Good luck getting Halt to bathe. Any chance he has to grow out his beard and stop cleaning behind his ears is like Christmas to him."

We met up with Horace and Halt outside the inn within the next hour. Our packs seemed to have been replenished with extra blankets, medical supplies and food since I last saw them. "The attackers were more than pleased to contribute to our diminishing supplies from their own provisions," Halt answered when questioned.

"Well, once we tied them to a few trees and interrogated them, they didn't protest much when we looted their horses." Horace smiled from the top of Kicker, and I couldn't help but smile back. At that point, I had pretty much fallen into their sense of right and wrong, than the one I owned previously. Food was food, no matter where it came from or who we had to tie up to nab it.

"And, also," Halt slipped a hand into a satchel hanging on Abelard and produced an oval-shaped silver mirror. It glistened in the yellow sunlight, sending flecks of shimmer onto the ground and into my eyes. It was one of the prettiest things I had seen in a very long time. "We happened to find this in a sack of theirs, which we thought you may like." The mirror was extended to me, but I did not want to accept for a moment. I shook my head slightly, pushing the mirror back to Halt.

"That was nice of you, but I would rather not see myself anymore. At least, not for a long time," I moved past Halt to reach Willow, who huffed softly at my appearance. If Halt had been my father, I would have suspected him to give me a speech about how no, I was beautiful, I should enjoy my image, and try to lift my self-esteem. Instead, he shrugged and put the mirror back. "Suit yourself."

We strapped into our horses and rode off on the main road. It was nice to not have slink around some half-blazed trail that was far from any humans, as we had done most other days. Instead, we got to bask in the sunshine and cool breeze that flowed with it. Autumns in Araluen were much more beautiful than any of the ones we had back home. None of the trees had been cleared to build huge cities and towering business plants. None of the wheat fields were paved over to make room for the excessive parking lots and strip malls that were so common back home. Instead, trees of every size and shape bore leaves of the deepest red and most vibrant yellows that trembled and whispered with every breath of wind. The wheat was tall and fine, red and blue flowers speckling the fields like sprinkles on a cupcake. The wheat would move as one in the breeze, bending and swaying together in a delicate ballet.

And the sky! It was the bluest of blues. The sun could've been a large, golden fish, stationary in a Hawaiian ocean. The clouds that swirled and weaved in the blue were pure and white, without and trace of smog or smoke. It was one of the most precious times I had spent in the distant country. The men chattered away and I would sometimes join, too, but mostly I just marveled at my surroundings and relished the fine, clean air that was free of all and any pollution.

It wasn't much later until we were close to Hemlock Creek. This was the place where he and his followers resided in a huge, complex camp. No doubt there would it would be reminiscent of a village, with cooking tents serving as the taverns and other tents used for homes, storage, and privies. I had zoned out for the last leg of the journey, and only snapped back into reality halfway into the plotting of Will, Halt and Horace.

"—which should be safe from any guards he may have, Horace," Halt explained, to which Horace nodded with vigor.

Will's eyebrow arched slightly. "Emilie? Have you been listening to any of this?"

I was caught off guard, and rattled my brain for some answer to make me sound like I was actually vital to the group, and indeed had been paying attention. "Wha—Oh, of course I'd been listening." Halt and Horace turned at this, and the three of them gave me that silent, awful look with the one raised eyebrow. My face reddened and I couldn't look to their faces anymore. "Okay, I have no idea what you are all talking about. Now stop looking at me like you think you're smarter than me!"

Halt coughed a short laugh. "Like we think we're smarter than you? Little girl, I believe you have a lot to learn about judging your elders like that." His grey eyes gave me a slight, knowing look and I couldn't tell if the chills that shot down my back were from the wind or not. "We are planning to sneak upon him," the older man continued. "And in doing so, we need to get an insider in the camp. Learn where Jonathan's tent is, how to get past, then we kill him. Admittedly, I have seen much harder missions than this."

"So…So, I go in and, ah…stab Jonathan, with my sword, and then this'll all be over?"

Will nodded. "That's what the man in the void led us to assume."

I blinked. "Oh. This was a short journey."

"Whatever you say," Horace murmured with a roll of his clear blue eyes; I was suddenly reminded of all the times I complained and cried. Maybe this was more of a babysitting job than an adventure to them.

"Who's going to go in?" I wondered aloud, and was returned with that eyebrow look by all three of them, the look that made me want to simultaneously gnash my teeth and yank out all the hair I had left.

I was stripped of my horse and pack, and then sent to wander into the village. Horace, Halt and Will would lie in wait for a message from me in the woods on the outskirts of Hemlock Creek Camp. I had no weapon, shield or any means of defending myself. I hope I looked like some boy, perhaps carrying dirty dishes to the cook, or an indifferent girl, just helping my mother sew the rags. I prayed that the one semester of Drama I took had paid off, because I was not sure if my acting skills were good enough for this job. Would I fit in and get the information I needed? Or, would Jonathan recognize me in the bat of an eye, and slay me then and there? Worst-case scenarios flashed past my eyes faster than rational thought allowed me to process them.

In an effort to calm myself, I thought of home. The well-sized home we owned in the little suburb, with the green shutters over pink brick and the cracked window from when my friends and I were left alone for a day. The sound of my older brother playing street hockey came almost as music to me from the open window when I did my homework in my room. I would sit on my fluffy, crystal-blue paisley bed and text or chat my friends for hours on ends while my mother cooked something very, very spicy. Dad would be away on a business trip. The cool wind would blow scents of poplar trees and dying freesia blooms up to my room. It would be a peaceful night, and the next day there would be school, and then I would go home, and then most days would continue on just as that one had.

Driven by memories, my feet carried me swiftly to the campsite. It was just around one last, final curve. I knew the others followed me closely in the woods just left of me. I closed my eyes, inhaled a deep breath, and walked into the campsite…

Nothing.

Nothing was there. No tents, no cooks, no men, women, or children. No people forming an army, no cult action stewing, and definitely no evil entity waiting to take hold of the nation.

I stood there, stunned. My hope of finally heading home was a snuffed candle. Heck, it wasn't even that someone had quelled the flame, it was as if they had just devoured the candle, then flushed it down the toiled. In an absolute fit of frustration, I exploded. I stomped on the ground and grasped my thinly cut hair, wanting it to be longer just so I could tear it from the roots. I looked like some oddly dressed toddler who had missed her afternoon nap.

My comrades were out of the woods the minute they heard my ranting. I was too fed up, too frustrated to have cared what they said. But, when the haze of anger lifted from my eyes and I cooled my head enough to think, I heard Halt utter the words, "They've gone west."

Hope you like! Took me about a week to get done, but hey! It's done! Alrighty, I've officially started my swing in High School, so homework will be a constant excuse from me. Lordy, I had forgotten how much school takes it out of you! So I'm constantly tired and even though it's only 11:00 as I write this, I'm tired as crap cause I have to wake up at 5 to get ready every morning. Guys, you have it so lucky! You can just roll out of bed, slap on a shirt and go; It takes me a solid hour just to straighten my hair.

To "nijakitty": Well, sweets are really my weakness so it's gonna be hard to pick! I like apple or chocolate, but really I'll eat any kind, so long as it satisfies my sweet tooth.

****Alright, this is REALLY important: Follow me on Tumblr! You can ask me any question you want, and I can answer back within a couple hours' notice. Also I can keep you updated on when I'll post here or where I am in the chapter. The link to my Tumblr page is posted in my profile here. ****

Also, if you don't have a Tumblr, then get one. It is the best website I have ever visited. Period.

Catchya later, peoples!

-Tempest