�Are you ok, Singe?� Her voice was quiet.
He simply looked up at her. He stared at her for a while, before finally managing to mutter something. �It�s� it�s all gone.� His eyes were slightly red, indicating he had been crying earlier. Who wouldn�t?
Rosa sat by him and hugged him. �It�ll be ok� Don�t worry. You�ll get through this.�
He merely shook her off. �J-just leave me alone for right now� All of you�� He said nothing more.
Rosa let go and sighed, sad herself. She hated seeing her friend in pain. Silvanus was only quiet. He was never good at helping someone cope with anything. Suvi didn�t know him well enough to help in any way.
Laine shook her head and whispered. �I think we should let him go for a while� but� let�s keep an eye on him.� Everyone else nodded. They walked away, only until the end of the block.
�Yeah,� Silvanus added. �For now, all we can do is let him try get through his first stage of depression.�
Suvi looked at him. �First step? What�s next?�
�Anger.� He added. �And after that� well� I haven�t seen many people get past anger. They usually end up dying fighting, or killing themselves.�
Rosa gasped. �Kill themselves?! But� I don�t want him to die.�
�None of us do.� Silvanus had finally shown a sensitive side, even though it wasn�t much.
Singe had been staring at the ground for a long time now. He fished through the bag of gold. �This is a lot of money,� he thought. It would be enough to buy some good armor and weapons. As he did, he felt something else other than gold� Another note. �Now what?� He opened it up, reading the contents. They were instructions for him.
Singe,
I have left this note for you, to help you begin your training. There is a man, whom you should seek out. His name is Toulouse, and he will be of great help. He has extensive training in the arts of fighting and magic. He will know of you. He will help you.
After that, it gave directions to his home. �Hmm�� He thought to himself. �That�s quite a ways. A days walk a least.� Near the bottom, it read something he wished his father would never write.
Bring help� Take one�s worthy of helping you.
�Damnit!� He yelled it out, making his friends turn towards him. Yeah, he could seem them. He didn�t care. He knew they were just trying to help him get better� The only people worthy of fighting. Why, his friends were the best around. But why did it have to be them? Silvanus was an excellent swordsman, as he displayed earlier. Rosa was the healer. Laine had the power of attack magic with her. Suvi seemed to be a strong one as well, though a little hardheaded. He thought to himself, wondering if he had the guts to even request this from his friends. It seemed like a selfish thing, putting them in danger for his wants. He looked to where they stood, and waved them over. He stood up and looked at the charred house. Most of the people had gone away. He unsheathed his katana, and plunged it into the ground, clasping his hands around it and praying silently. �Be with me, mother and father�� He slowly pulled it out of the ground, intent on destroying the evil that claimed the life of his parents.
Rosa, Laine, Silvanus, and Suvi walked over to him. Singe looked at the four silently. �I�ll need them in my journey� but� will they go with me?�
Rosa looked at him worried. �Is something wrong, Singe?�
Silvanus prodded also. �Yeah. You look like something�s wrong other than what happened��
Singe only sighed. �Well� actually, yeah.� He held them the piece of paper. The four read it slowly.
Laine must have realized what he was going to ask. �You want us to go with you?� She looked at the group and smiled. �I�ll go with you!�
Silvanus gripped his sword. �I�ll help in killing whoever murdered your parents�� His eyes were cold.
Suvi stayed quiet, thinking. I only just met them� But� there�s nothing for me here now. I should at least help him. She nodded at Singe. �I�ll go too.�
Rosa abruptly gave Singe a hug. �We�ll all go with you!� She smiled up at him. He just looked back down at her, and smiled. In his mind, he had no idea how she felt about him still.
It had been several hours since the five joined together. They had already got new armor and weapons, and were resting up in the inn. They would start in the morning. Silvanus put his old, but newly sharpened swords aside and stood by the window looking out. It was raining hard. He hoped it wouldn�t be like this in the morning. Something else however, infected his mind. His reflection in the glass showed his pain, his eyes showing it. He tried to hide it, but it would always show, and now that no one was looking, he stopped hiding it for now.
�Serenity� I hope you still wait��
�What�d ya say?� Singe walked up behind him.
He jumped, and turned around, masking his feelings again. �N-nothing.�
Singe watched him closely now, knowing he was hiding something. His mood was a bit better than tha afternoon. �C�mon� What is it?�
He still shook his head. �I said nothing. I mean nothing.�
His only response was a shrug. �Whatever. Look, everyone�s ready for tomorrow. Are you ready too?� Singe watched him carefully. I wonder what he�s hiding�
Silvanus nodded. �Yeah. I have what I need. We�ll start tomorrow.� He didn�t know it, but a tear slowly trickled down his cheek.
Singe spotted it quickly. �Alright�� He pulled him aside, away from view of the others. �What�s wrong? You don�t want to admit it, but I can tell. You�re crying, man.� He knew his friend would never want him to know that he was crying. He thought he should at least tell someone.
Silvanus gave up. He was, of course, not going to give up until he told him. He sighed. �Alright, fine.� He took a long pause. �Back in Diorre, there was a girl that I� well�
Singe interrupted. �Oh, just say you like her.�
Silvanus seemed to almost blush. �Well, umm� Yeah. I did like her. And she knew I did, I found out. And, I was so close to being with her� then� we were forced to move��
�I see. So that�s why you seem so mad all the time?�
�Well, usually. I just hate the fact that I missed something I could have enjoyed.� He stayed quiet. �I would have loved her with all my heart.�
Singe nodded. So his friend did have a soft spot. �Well, at least you would be one to be able to experience it.�
He looked at Singe confused. �What do you mean?�
�I mean that you�re one of the few people to love someone the way they do so quickly.�
Silvanus shrugged. �I�m not the only one� Rosa seems to like you.�
He nodded. �I know. She�s a good friend.�
He shook his head at Singe. �No, I mean more than that.
�Yes, I know. She�s a good friend�� His tone was more serious.
�I�m trying to say that she-�
He almost yelled, but he stayed out of earshot of their companions. �I said she�s a good friend. That�s all she�ll ever be! In time, she�ll realize that it was a stupid thing to consider�� He stepped away from Silvanus, going to his bed. He grabbed a book and started writing stuff. Silvanus sighed.
�You�re wrong,� he muttered to himself. �You�re the only one she�s ever liked. Ever... And you�re one of the only humans that I trust�� He curled up in his own bed and closed his eyes, slowly falling asleep. Singe had done the same, as everyone else in the room. It was going to be a long tomorrow�