Thalian had no intensions of harming her if it could be avoided, and he replied sharply:

"If you wish to travel through our lands and conduct business with my people, then I think it would be obvious to follow a code of courtesy and present yourself to the LEADER of said people without a fuss! What could possibly be wrong with making a good impression? Friends are in short supply these days, and you look like you could use a few!" He said harshly, and turned on his heels expertly and stomped down the path, demanding that she follow him whether she liked it or not. He didn't stick around long enough for Hollow to come back with a sharp useless remark, and he didn't care.

Thalian was certainly as stubborn and sharp-tongued as Hollow was, so arguing with him would be pretty futile.

Valerie interrupted Aideen's memories with a soft question.

"My dear... are you ready to go before the counsel?"

Her tone had changed considerably, sounding more like a mother nursing a sick child. She must have picked up some resonance from Aideen's painful reminiscing, and she looked at her with a very kind, almost sad expression. Even with this grim countenance, she looked lovelier than ever.

Kara pondered for a moment...and then looked up at Kitara curiously.

"What... what exactly do you remember before you were born into The Realm Kitara?" The question carried a tone that sounded as if Kara were searching for something within the answer; Much more than just the answer itself.

Valerie walked over to the door. Her step was so light that she seemed to float more than walk as her lavender and orchid colored dress wafted only an inch from the floor. Her wings unfolded in their beautiful array once more while her rich black curly hair tumbled down between them.

She waited for Aideen to follow her to the door. Before she stepped out, she paused for a moment, and turned to Aideen quickly and gave her a long admiring look, really studying her. She smiled a very serious smile, and said:

"You were very brave Aideen. I am proud of you. You will do more than well surviving here."

Without another word and without looking back, she floated out the door and down the stairwell to wait for Aideen at the bottom. She had been referring to Aideen's memories when she spoke of her bravery.

"What are you doing", cried the little ball of light that was Alice in surprise.

"I am ridding myself of your ugly old soul", said Olivia softly, as she finished hacking through the little girl's windpipe with Benvolio's meat cleaver. She intended to cut the head off entirely, but she hadn't the strength to chop through the spine, and so she was content to bleed the body, a cascade of red down the operating table, collecting in a pool below.

Benvolio was having serious trouble concentrating... so...so delicious... the SMELL! He wanted it so badly, and it was right there... He hugged himself and began to hyperventilate, "S-so... close... I don' know if I cans..."

It was over in an instant, fractured pieces of skull crunching merrily in Benvolio's mouth... a glowing ball of light falling apart in Olivia's...

Rolgen stumbled hazardously down the hall. The counsel chamber at the back of the mansion wasn't far now, but it felt as if it would take him an hour to get there. His steps slowed as his breath quickened. His heart was racing, and his vision was unsteady. He braced himself against the wall with his good hand, and took very slow careful steps. He couldn't faulter now. Not like this.

"How embarrassing!" he thought grumbling. "Some first impressions I make!"

He couldn't do it. His hand slid down the wall as he doubled over slowly, and with a soft thud, he landed slumped on the floor unconscious. His beautiful black hair fell sadly over his pale face, and his wings laid out limp and lifeless looking behind him. His wounded shoulder had bled through his torn wrapping, and a small streak of blood brushed a trail on the wall where he had collapsed. This was not a normal wound, and he could not stop bleeding. Small trails of blood began to creep out in long rows, following the lines in the floorboards of the hallway.

A small voice, barely even audible, echoed throughout the house with mischievous laughter. There was more at work here than a simple flesh-wound, and Rolgen was in dire need of assistance.

Hollow was thoroughly frustrated with the man, but there wasnt anything she could do. He obviously refused to listen to her complain any further. Thats all she really was doing anyway. It wasnt like she had a defense ready or anything.

She couldnt come right out and say that she was the mastermind behind the black market and if this Rolan guy knew her he would be wise to put her away for a very long time. Perhaps Hollow could keep her occupation a secret. Its not like she was going to give it up any time soon. She didnt really have any other way to make a living.

Hollow followed Thalian with a limp. She was falling far behind him and had trouble keeping up. Her horses were tired, but not as tired as her. She would have loved to hop up on the back of one of them, but she knew better than that. She had watched a guy try to mount one and nearly die because of it. Someone told her that a person had to get to know the horse before they tried anything. Hollow had been traveling with the horses for a few months and they had been so much easier to pull than the first day. Perhaps she had gotten to know them a little. All five of them seemed to have different personalities.

Hollow didnt allow herself to get attached to them. It would be stupid to because she was going to sell them off anyway.

The girl evenually had to limp faster after Thalian. "How far is this place exactly?" she didnt mind that her tone was sharp.

Kara frowned; more concerned than confused. Whatever Kitara's life had been before this, she certainly had not died of old age. No, in fact it appeared to have been cut off quite suddenly... and needlessly for that matter. Kara tried hard to bring to mind anything lethal that made a loud cracking noise. She had been in The Realm for so long... any knowledge of advanced weaponry that didn't involve magic was beyond her now.

A spirit whose life had been cut short before their time posed somewhat of a risk. They always housed a hidden seed of darkness, sadness, pain, and regret; even if they were unaware of it. Training often brought out the peak of one's rage, and this was intentional. But rage coupled with these potential subconscious feelings...

Kara's face became pained again as more memories flooded her mind. She turned her head away from Kitara quickly and thought long and hard about how to begin her training; not to mention occupy her mind with those thoughts so they would keep the tears at bay.

Thalian turned and saw the struggling girl with her disheveled hood and tired limbs. He softened a little... and veered off the path to clear a large flat space in the never-melting (and never cold) snow near a large healthy looking dark pine. He shook a thick layer of snow from one of the low hanging branches and then walked straight over to Hollow. Despite her protests, he managed to pry the reins from her fingers and wrap them loosely around the branch he had just cleared.

"There!" he said. "Now, was that so hard? I just wanted them to rest, and you need it too. We still have another mile to go before we arrive, so you had better come sit and relax before you collapse in the middle of the road."

He faultered for a moment.

"Because... because I am certainly not going to carry you! No indeed! The notion is positively out of the question!"

From the way he protested, one would almost think Hollow had asked him for a piggy-back ride, which she probably wouldn't have done if all her limbs had been cut off and her life had depended on it.

Thalian must have realized his exagerrated and unecessary argument, because he quickly dropped it and went over and sat on the flat space against the wide girth of the tree, glaring at everything but Hollow. However, he had obviously left enough room for her to sit by him... not on purpose of course... never.

Hollow fumed with anger, but it was less potent than before. He was right, but she would NEVER admit that outloud to him.

Hollow was standing by her horses wondering what to do next. She had the mind to fall flat into the ground and go to sleep, but she wasnt going to do anything close to that now. She thought about sitting next to her horses, but the only thing she had to lean on was... the horses. Not something very safe.

Hollow looked at the space next to the tree and sighed to herself. Before she went to go sit down she zipped her jacket back up and put the hood back on. She guessed that if she was covered it made it harder for anyone to speak to her. Without a word she sat at the ground of the tree. She stared at the ground. Her feet felt a little better now that she wasnt pulling on horses or standing.

Hollow refused to talk making the situation just a little akward especiallly after the mention of him carrying her. Good thing he wouldnt do it cause Hollow definetly wouldnt allow him to. He better be up for the fight of his life if he ever touched her.

It had been several months since the incident with the child and, for many weeks after, a cheery atmosphere had descended upon the manor. Olivia had taken care of everything. There was no body, Benvolio had seen to that, and Alice had been such a recluse that her absence startled nobody. The delicate doll saw to the business affairs with a vigor that Alice had long since lost. She kept Benvolio well fed, the manor well stocked, and the coffers quite full.

But... as time dragged on, the cheer began to fade, giving rise to a sort of quiet tension... at least for Olivia, for she had begun to have such terrible dreams. In these visions, she could see Alice as a little girl laughing at her. Laughing and laughing and laughing. Each night, she'd hear this terrible noise for hours in her mind... her dream self would to run to Alice, to kill her again and again, to make her stop, but striking out did nothing. No matter how she slammed the girl to the ground, stabbed her, punched, kicked bit and finally pleaded with her, the laughter simply would not stop.

And then, one day, she gave up the gentle embrace of sleep. There was no peace for her there. There was no peace. Would she never escape that damned woman? Benvolio was little comfort, such a simple creature, happy to run around the manor chittering psychotically about the different flavors of little boys, or perhaps how daisies looked so pretty, planted in the middle of a rotting kidney he'd collected some weeks ago. So long as he was well fed, there was nothing in the world the matter.

Olivia knew better. And sometimes she resented little Benvolio in his simple happiness... but that wasn't right... damn, if only she could sleep for more than an hour.

Benvolio seemed to have fallen into the habit of crawling into bed with her, late at night. Olivia did protest at first, but found that she slept much better with the little bear around, the laughter seemed... perhaps a bit quieter... less ubiquitous. She clung to every second she could stand.

Thalian sighed... He wasn't too keen on making any more conversation either, and it was obvious Hollow was determined not to talk, period.

A thin sly grin slowly creeped across his face. Hollow may not want to talk, but he could still listen in on her thoughts. Though he wasn't as skilled at mind reading as his father, Rolgen, he was still adept enough to get very good use out of it.

He leaned against the tree with his hands behind his head, seemingly in a pose of quiet rest and contemplation, waiting for Hollow to relax enough to make her thoughts more discernable.

Hollow tried to think about what she was going to say to Rolgen. She definetly had to avoid telling him about her career in the black market, but what if he already knew. The name of Hollow could have gotten anywhere. She wasnt in control of what people said. She did like it when her name came around tho. It gave her more business.

If they did find out perhaps she would talk her way out of punishment. She once got a guy to trade a magical basket for a mug of beer. If that went wrong she could just disperse into the shadows and make her get away. Hollow had the ability to turn into a dark mist and float through anything, like a shadow. She could even turn into anything she wanted, but of course it was a black version of whatever she wanted originally.

Hollow started thinking about how she could sell the horses really fast and then leave as soon as possible, but the horses were going to stay in Rolgens stable for a while. Lieng about everything might also work, but Hollow knew enough about the Valrae to know that was stupid. Someone once told her that they could read minds or something.

Thats when it hit her. Valrae could read minds and Thalian was apart of their race. She must have been thinking for 20 minuets straight about herself and her plans. Immediatly Hollow twisted her whole body and glared at Thalian. "Hey!" She shouted as loud as she could hopefully breaking his concentration if he was actually reading her mind.

Thalian kept his eyes closed and remained in a relaxed position with is hands behind his head, only a large sneaky grin DID creep across his face.

"You know," he said sarcastically "considering how many mischievous things that tumble through your head in the span of five minutes, it's no wonder you're so tense and paranoid all the time." The words were plastered with a cheeky grin.

He could kill her right now if he really wanted to. Despite his rather humble appearance, Thalian was one of the best swordsmen of his race; clever and quick to boot. But he had no desire to harm Hollow at all. In fact, he was even more eager to get her to the city of the Valrae. Though it would not be easy to pull off, Thalian had some plans for Hollow, and he was certain his mother and father would be up for the task. After all, they had already taken on another pupil named Aideen recently. What was one more? The only difference between Aideen and Hollow was that Hollow would most certainly NOT go willingly.

"Oh well." He thought. "I can take care of THAT troublesome part." He gave Hollow a sidelong squinty-eyed grin and chuckled a bit.

HGollow clenched her fist and growled. "You!...You!..." She was to angry to let the words come out. She made an irritated scream and got up from her spot. She forgot about her horses and started walking back on the trail. She started running. She wasnt going to get caught for what she did. She would have to have one of her cronies come back for the horses, but until then she was getting out of here.

Hollow didnt answer to no body. She was whatever she wanted to be whenever she wanted to be it. She wouldnt be a slave to someone that probably didnt even know her or was to busy to get to know her. Hollow was free, like the horses were before their previous owner found them.

Thalian shook his head, but did not pursue her. The forest would not let her get far if Thalian did not wish it. The paths would loop and turn and twist back on themselves until she would be thoroughly lost. Even if she ran in a straight line, the forest would still find ways to bar her path. Either way, this meant Thalian would have to find her eventually.

He rolled his eyes before starting on Hollow's trail.

"What a hypocrite!" He thought to himself. "Here is a woman who lives off the benefit of lies, theft, manipulation, and slavery; and yet she would fight for her own person as if she actually had a right to herself at this point."

Thalian had no intention of handing her over to his people for slavery or imprisonment. He merely wanted her to be properly trained and constructed for better uses than this nasty underhanded work of which she seemed so fond. It would certainly benefit her more than this life behind a web of lies...

"And fear..." he thought softly. "People like Hollow are always afraid of something; always running from something. If she were as brave as she pretended, she certainly would not be running from me now."

As much as the idea of Hollow running around in circles entertained him, being lost and isolated in this dark world was never a safe gamble. He knew he would have to find her soon. Even his father had been attacked recently by something that didn't even belong to their woodland, so there was no telling what could happen to a young girl wandering around alone, lost and unprepared as Hollow was.

And he was sure neither of them would be keen on finding out.

His long gleaming cape billowed far out behind him, as well as his long rich black ponytail with a soft curl at the bottom. And for the first time since he'd run into Hollow, he let his beautiful black wings unfold and stand rigid from his back. This would make him look more like what he was and command more authority from creatures that might otherwise attack him accidentally. His onyx pendant radiated with the brilliance of a moon accenting a sun's corona during an eclipse. He unsheathed his plain sword, that turned out not to be quite so plain as first suspected.

For when it caught the moonlight, it hummed and illuminated into a soft white glow that actually dripped light onto the ground as if milk were running down the blade. It left a long silvery trail in the snowy dust-covered path as he walked, but faded away like a mist after several feet as if it had never been there. His dark black eyes glazed over with a milky silver, making it easier to see beneathe the shadowy canopy, despite the assistance from the twin moons and starlight.

"At least Hollow took off in the direction of the city." He grimaced. "If I'm lucky, maybe somebody else will find her and take her off my hands so I won't have to deal with her anymore!"

He felt a little guilty after thinking this. Hollow couldn't really help the way she was after all. She just needed some guidance and good friends. He quickened his pace a little. No matter what it took, he would hunt this girl down. He would drag her to the City of the Valrae kicking and screaming the whole way if he had to. She needed help and discipline, and she would get it even if brute force was necessary.

Hollow knew something was wrong when she ended back up with her horses. "What the...!" She tried the path again, but this time she was desperatley lost. "This is so stupid." It must have been Thalians doing. Eventually she knew she was completley lost. It started to get really creepy. She couldnt hear any noise. Why wasnt Thalian following her.

Hollow wanted to turn into a wolf and try to blend into the surrounding woods, but whenever she turned into anything it was ONLY her that turned into anything. Her clothes on the other hand would be a problem. It wasnt exactly fun carrying your dirty clothes in your mouth. It got even more complicated when you had to change back.

Hollow slowed down a little and looked around and tried to listen. She heard a rustling in the bushes. That was never good. She started to back away when she saw a pack of large creatures resembling some sort of demented wolves come out. This was not good. The first one roared and then charaged.

Hollow started running in a random direction away from the creatures. They caught up to her fast she quickly turned into a wolf and ran as fast as her wolf like legs would take her. "Damn!" They were still a little faster than her.

Kara turned her head quickly and gave Kitara a very sincere look. She had no reason to lie to Kitara about anything, or even soften the truth. Knowledge is what kept a person alive in The Realm, and feeding Kitara white lies could land them all in a very bad situation later.

"Kitara..." Kara said very gently. "You have neither done, nor said anything wrong. I'm sorry I keep dazing off. I should not let my memories get the better of me, but sometimes it can't be helped. I was merely concerned with what you told me. Because... you see..."

Kara hesitated. She was so reluctant to tell Kitara the truth.

"When a newborn has memories like yours... ones that cut off sharply at a certain point... it usually means they were killed very suddenly, either by accident or... on purpose."

Kara looked at Kitara very hard.

"A being whose life was ended before its time usually harbors dark seeds of regret, sadness, and even hatred deep within their souls; moreso than others who died or crossed over into this world assisted by an outside source. In the process and growth of training, these seeds can often bloom into fires of hate that course uncontrollably within their owner's veins, consuming them, and causing them to turn against any righteous purpose... and sometimes even attack their loved ones. While this is not always the case, the risk is considerably higher."

Kara still looked at Kitara with utter kindness as she spoke these foreboding words.

"I am STILL going to train you to your fullest potential regardless." Kara said, knowing Kitara's gentle and passive nature might persuade her to argue against it, or even run away.

"Your memories are not whole, and so your passage into this world could have been caused by pure accident. We'll never know for certain until you regain more knowledge of your previous life. But, until then, I am going to train you as often and as hard as I would train one of my own children. Do you understand?"

Her tone left very little room for argument.