Frides walked back to camp. Elle was sitting against a tree, and sat her book down. "How's it going?"
Frides looked around for Nero. "He's not back yet?"
"Do you think he can learn it?"
"He learned it."
"He learned it? That was fast, is he going to join us?"
"No. In order for him to join us, he has to get his skill to a level that can keep him alive."
"I can agree with that. Where did Nero go? Its quiet."
Frides turned and Glowed a dagger. Nero walked from around some trees. "There he is, and he's got company."
The man stepped up to Frides. "I'm sorry to ask this of strangers, but my son has gone missing and I need help finding him. I think your friend thinks you can help me, but he doesn't talk much does he."
Ouran walked past him and grabbed some water. "Man I'm so tired." He took a few gulps then looked up and saw the man. He looked to Frides. "Who's he?"
"Just Nero being a do gooder. He lost his son in the woods and wants us to help him search."
Elle got up put her book back in her bag. Ouran put down his canteen.
Frides sighed, "Okay we'll split up. Do you know what area you were in from here?"
"I'm sorry I don't. I've been walking through these woods for a day now with no luck."
"Do you know where your camp is?"
"Yeah I can show you guys."
"Come on Ouran, we'll search the woods." Elle said.
"Hey, Nero do you think Urs can track?" Frides looked at Nero. Nero cocked his head. "Okay until we find his son you can talk."
Nero took a deep breath. "I think this is a waste of time. Did Ouran learn how to slip? I don't know ask her and where's my breakfast?"
"You can talk?" The man asked in disbelief. Ouran smiled.
Frides hung his head low. "Do you have anything of your sons on you?"
"Yeah I have his fishing hat." The man pulled his bag around and got his sons hat out of it.
"Elle this food is so good. I wish there was more. If there was more would it be in your bag."
"Stay away from my bag. That's all you get until lunch time." Elle yelled at Nero.
Nero looks over to the plate that he set out for Urs and she was licking it clean. "How long until lunch?"
"You can wait until after we find his son." Elle walked into the woods and Ouran followed after her. "Whats your sons name?"
"I forgot to tell you my name. My name is Baethan and my sons name is Iziah." Baethan walked over to Nero and handed him the hat.
Nero leaned down to Urs. "Urs you need to find this lost boy if you want more food." Urs' eyes lit up, then she stuck her head into the hat.
Frides shook his head. "Baethan you go with Nero. I'll go into the trees and see if I can spot him from up above."
Urs took her head out of the hat and ran into the woods. "We're going to be eating in no time. Come on guy."
"Its Baethan. I liked you better when you didn't talk."
Frides climbed up into a tree. "Baethan, where did you guys make camp?"
"It was that way." Baethan pointed towards the river. "It was a little west of Hercule's River."
"Okay, I'll check there to see if he returned and check near the river for any tracks."
"I checked for tracks but wasn't able to find any."
"You're not me." Frides said confidently.
"What does that mean?" Baethan said unaware of Frides' skills.
"Well maybe a calm set of eyes can turn up something."
"Baethan hurry up! I'm starting to lose sight or Urs. Oh wait where'd she go? Come on!" Nero ran into the woods. Baethan scooped his strap over his shoulder and ran after him.
Elle and Ouran walked through the woods. Ouran tried to slip but wasn't able to get much farther than he did earlier. "You're doing a good job so far. You need to collect glow faster in your ankles. Like this." She stepped down harder than Ouran did and easily made it the twelve feet.
Ouran ruffled his hair. "Ahh. You guys make it look so easy."
"It is easy but you have to practice a lot. It might be impossible for you to learn to do it at this level so fast. You don't have to become a Retainer, right now."
"I do. I have to."
"Why are you in such a hurry. It's going to be dangerous, you know that right?"
"There are people doing bad things. Everyone just looks away and pretends it's okay. They fight. Retainers stop those people. I want to be one of the people that look right at it and says no. This is bad."
"You might die."
"That's okay. People are dying right now somewhere because of bad people."
"People die all the time. People become Retainers because of things that happen to them. They become Retainers for money or fame. They're not heroes. You're going to need more resolve than that. You said there were bad guys at the port. Why don't you help get rid of them."
Ouran was silent for a long time crunching leaves and twigs under his feet. "My brother said he was going to fight them and the dock workers were on board. I don't think they would have done that if Nero didn't get rid of the guy and burn the place down. Everyone was so happy. I want to make people happy. He. Gave them hope. Retainers give people hope. I don't to be a hero. I don't want money or for people to know my name. I want to show them that anyone can fight."
"I see. Hope." Elle looked down at Ouran. His face was resolute unlike when he pleaded the night before. She could see how serious he was. Elle reached down grabbing Ouran's shirt pulling him back and making him face her. "Okay. If you want to learn how to slip by the time we get to New Oania your going to have to slip everywhere you go. Until you can't move your legs and then I'll carry you until you can move them again." She grinned and pinched his cheeks.
Ouran backed away and rubbed his glowing cheeks. He looked at her smile and returned it. "Okay." He turned and kicked off. So excited he landed himself face first in the dirt.
Elle reached down and picked him up. "Try it again."
Frides made it to what looked like Baethan's camp. He looked around but didn't see any sign that Iziah had returned. He climbed back into a near by tree and jumped from tree branch to tree branch but didn't see anything. When he got to Hercule's River he hopped down and inspected near the river's edge. He came across a set of foot prints. After looking them over he concluded they belonged to Baethan. He inspected the river and noticed the river's edge was higher and had thinned over the past few days.
He realized that Baethan was searching for foot prints along the river and decided after not coming across any foot prints to head into the woods. It must have rained upstream and the river rose and widened then receded again washing away any foot prints. There was a chance.
After running for a couple of minutes he came across a set of small foot prints. They lead away from the river and into the forest. "Iziah!" He waited, looking around for any sight of the boy. He ran into the woods following the track. He found clear traces of animal tracks and then the indent of the foot prints and the animal tracks deepened. "Damn, He was being chased!" Frides climbed up into the trees and followed the tracks from up above. "Iziah. Iziah!"
To Be Continued...
Thanks For Reading!