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Iaran cautiously put her thief skills to work and followed silently behind Elily. I hate to stalk her like this, but I have to find some answers.

Noticing that Elily had picked up some fabric, Iaran silently snuck up behind her and reach out for the torn fabric. "Whatchya looking at Elily?"

(eheheheheh, I love being cheeky, it's fun!)

[not wasting an easy opening into the story...]

"Hey Malea," replied FulXar. He walked over to the girl as she stood, obviously in a bit of distress. Noticing her relax a bit in his presence, he felt a little better. "You okay?" he asked. As he said that, he reached into his pack and started blindly feeling around inside.


[still rereading the last 26(!) pages so i hope this doesn't seem too out of place. got a few more issues to iron out before you see trainer mode, but hopefully within the next post or two And don't worry, they aren't all gonnna be painfully short.]

[*stretches quietly*]

Karmina sat at the hotel desk, writing a neat note to Mina for when she came in.

I am not going to be able to see or speak for a day or two. Please do not remove my blindfold. Thank you.

It was probably a really bad time to start doing this, but she needed to know what it was like to be blind and unable to speak for at least a day. She didn't think that they would get very far and if they had to hijack a boat ... I'll take it off only if completely necessary, she decided, tying the cloth neatly around her head.

Dark covered her eyes. The cloth was large and very thick, very strong material that did not let in light. That was precisely what she was counting on even when it was broad daylight. She planned to experience blindness for a while. It wasn't like she'd ever been in the dark for a long time without being able to see anything. Highly suspicious that her Darkness Dance only lasted at most thirty seconds, she was afraid that in a fight they would be in trouble if she could not hold on for longer than that.

Reaching out for her staff, she used it as a blind man would his stick, tapping her way around the room. More than once she fell onto the soft carpet before she began to get the hang of it. Putting the note on what she guessed to be Mina's bed, she searched for her bag and some nightclothes.

Elily instinctively shoved the cloth into her pocket and raised her fists in defense, without realising it was actually Iaran. It took her a few moments to register the fact that it was Iaran, and not an enemy. Heaving a huge sigh of relief, Elily weakly slumped against the tree trunk, and sank to the ground.

'Don't, you ever dare sneak up on me like that,' she said, still trying to get her heartbeat rate back to normal.

'Think about it, if I had my guns with me, I'll shoot before asking any questions. And you're a valuable member of the Squad, Iaran. What good would the Squad be with one less member?' she asked.

Realising she was ranting to herself, Elily sighed again and got up, shaking her head. She was getting paranoid. Again.

'Let's...let's just go.' Elily turned to leave, secretly stealing a final glance at the surrounding area. She figured there was no point in lingering there any longer, she had caused too much commotion to be able to investigate further without arousing suspicions. A chance wasted.

As Elily made her way back into town, motioning Iaran to follow her, she looked up into the night sky. The wind was gathering dark, black clouds.

'Come on, Iaran, I think it may rain soon. Let's get back to our room quickly,' she broke into a run.

Iaran giggled brightly, then made a mental note not to scare Elily if she had her guns with her. She quickly ran to catch up and smiled at the thought of what the next day might bring for the squad.

Finally, the pair arrived at the hotel and she quietly ran into the lobby to press the elevator button.

The elevator slid open, and Elily entered. It ascended to the seventh floor, before allowing her to exit. She stepped into her room, only to find that the meeting had ended. She doubted that the squad had done much during the remainder of the meeting. She asked aloud, to no one in particular,'So, what's the decision the other squad members came to? Did they agree on the mode of transport, and means of earning money?'

Iaran stepped out of the elevator and into her room after Elily. "Nope, I'm afraid we became.... er.... sidetracked." Iaran gave some quizical looks at the drawer, which was shaking rather violently and giggled.

Carefully closing the door, Iaran carefully pulled open the drawer to reveal a very angry, very hyper pixie to Elily. A pixie whom, upon seeing the newcommer, grinned maliciously before attempting to zoom forward and realising that its wings were held in Iaran's fingers.

"Elily, I'd like you to meet Necronom, Dark Evil Wizard turned pixie and bound into the book we found. I, unfortunately, released him and now he's bound to me." Sighing at her misfortune, Iaran threw the pixie down into the drawer and quickly snapped it shut. She turned to it angrily and yelled, "If you try ANYTHING to make a noise, or escape from that drawer I'll lock you in there forever, GOT IT?"

Then she quickly grabbed some pajamas and her toothbrush, and walked into the connected bathroom, "I'm getting changed for bed, I'm sick of that stupid pixie already. I suggest the rest of you attempt to do the same."

Menai looked at Elily. No doubt she was probably trying to register the news.

"I'm going to bed too," she said at last. "No one told me whether the river is flowing to or away from the Mountains so we may as well find ourselves in trouble at a later point." Unable to keep the note of extreme annoyance out of her voice, she rummaged about in her bags for some nightclothes.

What was wrong with these people? It was a simple question! Obviously, if it flowed away from the Mountains, they would need a good, large-sized boat that could flow against a strong current.

"Oh yes," she added as she found her pyjamas. "Karmina said not to hijack a boat." Menai wasn't sure what to think of this. In normal circumstances, they would not have dared to hijack a boat. Too many risks and it was breaking the law, after all. But these weren't normal circumstances - this was a do or die situation. And they were Squad members, after all. They would be able to get away with it - weren't they the best of the best?

Squad members. The phrase set off a ticking process in Menai's mind.

"Why," she said slowly. "We don't need to hijack a boat. If we're the Squad and if we say we need the fastest boat to save the Turie world, we'll get it." She stared at the wall, amazed that no one had thought of this before. It was just as well she had, because if not and they were caught hijacking, it wouldn't be particularly impressive that the Squad meant to save the world ended up breaking the law.

Elily felt a smile spreading at Menai's statement.

'Yeah...great idea,' she said, pondering over the matter. But then...something was not right.

'But who...is willing to give up one of their ships just like that, to about a dozen people claiming they need it to save the world? What if they have never heard of the Squad? The ships with better engines are obviously more costly, and most people wouldn't part with them so easily.'

Iaran quickly changed and brushed her teeth, then she came back out, into the room and grabbed a brush. Taking time, and care, she undid all the beads and braids and brushed through her hair. "That sounds good guys, and if no one gives us a boat we can always hijack one. It's a shame that you're all worried about stealing though, it makes me feel rather rotten, being a Thief and all."

Elily grabbed her toothbrush and other toiletries from her bag and went into the bathroom. There was a sound of rushing tap water, and some brushing noises. A few moments later, Elily emerged from the bathroom, yawning. She sat at the dresser, and undid her hair which was formerly held up with several pins. Her long, almost black hair fell to their natural state, somewhere in the middle of her back. Elily combed it a little before returning into the bathroom to change into her pyjamas. She came out a few moments later, and plopped onto her bed.

'Well, I certainly don't mind. If we have to hijack a boat to find the portal, I'll do it. At times like these, we have to resort to the methods available for us.' Elily leaned back on her bed, and stared blankly up to the white ceiling. It DID make her wonder why so many members were so against bending the rules, even if it was juuust a little bit. Elily closed her eyes. Maybe she felt this way because her personality had always been of a guardian or assasin or warrior sort. She always wanted to be guarding something, or to tear something from its guard. She found triumph in succeeding in doing what was believed to be unbelievable.

She thought of nothing else, as the waves of slumber lulled her away to Dreamland...

"ehh, im ok." Malea said to FulXar, not wanting him to know that she was a little freaked out by this hotel. "what is your bag?" she asked, giving him a funny look.

Andy wasn't sure about the pixie being dangerous or not anymore, but considering that it was bound to Iaran brought a bit of relief to him that the thing could at least be controlled. He still eyed at the pixie though.

Andy heard Karmina's question but he didn't know the answer. Perhaps he shouldn't say anything. He frowned at his lack of knowledge about their destination. Did the river flow to or flow from the Mountain? Common sense told him that water flows away, except for a few rivers in Turie that flow upwards because of some anomalies with that particular location. I guess we'll have to see it for ourselves to know the answer...

He got up and called out to Aki, who had behaved strangely at the book a while ago, and suggested that since the meeting was already over, they should go back to their rooms.

Elily opened her eyes slowly. She found herself in a field, covered entirely with purple, pink and light blue flowers that reached up to her mid shin. She could hear the rushing of a waterfall some distance away, but the swirling mist to her left blocked any other attempts to see any further.

Somehow she knew she was dreaming. Dreamland was believed by all Turies to be one of the seven Heavenly Gardens. Each person saw Dreamland their own way, meaning there was no direct or correct idea of how Dreamland looked like. Some people could remember how it was like, and some naturally forget. Sometimes Dreamland could appear to be wide plains of grass in one dream, and a bustling town in another. It is common for a person to see several versions of Dreamland in different dreams.

You also had to be careful of what you do in Dreamland. Silent death in sleep is blamed on the person's soul wandering too far away from the Heavenly Garden and into Heaven itself. So far, there has been no proof of the borders between Heaven and Dreamland, so nobody really knew.

Elily looked around slowly, for some reason in the mood of a sloth. A gentle breeze blew, caressing the flowers and scattering their scent at the same time. A quiet, but sure sound suddenly jerked her attention. Something was approaching from the mist. Elily grabbed both of her guns and aimed it to her left, to nothing in particular. The figure came closer, as more features came into view. That...it couldn't be?

But before she could do anything, a flurry of random memories attacked her, followed by a swirl of white, and Elily woke up abruptly, startled.

Iaran smiled and lay back on her bed. She too, like Elily, drifted off into a deep slumber. But Iaran's sleep was unlike Elily's, for Iaran didn't visit Dreamland, and she had no recollection of ever doing so.

Instead, Iaran spend most nights within eternal darkness, and when her mind was still vaguely conscious she would ponder over the happenings of the day, or why she never dreamed.

Iaran's slumber was interrupted by the rustling of sheets next to her, blearily lifting her head above the pillow Iaran looked at Elily's bed. "Are you okay Elily?" she whispered.