When I saw the lone frantic looking Suta, I got up and began walking towards him while asking “Are you okay? Also where's Lin?”.

“Yes, I am okay.” Suta said as he began relaxing his face. He then looks off to where he came from and while fixing his glasses he told me “I… don’t know where Lin is. The last I saw her was when she went to go chase a bunny that she said was the same one as before. She got ahead of me and while I was chasing her down, a Tarabaca came out of nowhere, cutting me off from Lin.”. Suta looked back forwards to the ground, he then clenched his fists tightly around the reins of the horse while he spoke up again “The Tarabaca was young so it wasn’t hard to fight but I took too long to kill it. By the time I was able to pursue Lin again, she was already long gone.”. After he spoke, Suta’s face began glaring at his clenched fists “If only I was a bit stronger, I could have killed the Tarabaca faster and would have caught up to Lin.”.

Upon hearing all of this, it was hard for me to figure out what to ask him first. “I take it the reason you’re here so late is because you’ve been looking for her?” I finally asked him.

Suta’s fists begin to relax as he looks towards me “Yeah, I searched all around where I last saw her. I sadly couldn’t find a clue of where she went and I didn’t stop until late into the dark.”.

As Suta begins getting off of his horse I ask him “So what are you going to do now?”.

He began fixing his glasses while looking towards me “I know Lin, if she’s lost, she will most likely try to find the road again and would probably go straight to Nishilon since we are getting close anyways.”. He then looked towards the treeline behind him “Just in case though, whenever we do our patrols, I’ll try to look for any signs to see if she passed through the area.”. Suta then turns back to me and begins taking out his sleeping roll “Anyways, right now all I got is to believe that Lin will go to Nishilon. Once we finish this subjugation and she isn’t there then I’ll go looking for her.”.

I nod to his words since it seems like he has a plan. “I’ll try to look for any signs that she passed through as well then.” I tell him while thinking that I don’t know much on how to track a person though.

Suta gives a small smile “Thanks Crim, you’re a good person.”. He then laid his sleeping roll by the fire like the rest. “It took a lot out of me tonight trying to find her so I need my rest.” He said while lifting his glasses with one hand and rubbing an eye with the other. “Could you keep an eye out just in case she shows up?” Suta asked as he gave out a yawn after.

I nod to him and decide to watch the fire a while longer before doing something else. As I walked towards a tree near the fire, I looked to see Suta closing his eyes, trying to go to sleep.

Some time passed while I sat by the fire, waiting to see if Lin would show up. Unfortunately nothing was heard except the crackle of the fire and the sound of the four sleeping. Instead of sitting by the dying out fire, I decide to get up and move a bit away from the rest to not disturb their sleep. Once I was in a suitable place, I took off my cloak and hung it off a tree branch that was near me. After which I drew my blade and decided to do sword swings for the remainder of the night.

Daylight broke while I continued to do sword swings while keeping an ear out to hear if Lin would show up. Once the light around me began getting brighter was the time I decided to stop. I then grabbed my cloak to wipe the sweat off my head and neck before putting it on. While I placed my sword upon my back, I began walking towards the campsite to see the usual morning of Howari tending to the horses.

I treated Howari and we woke up the rest as usual. When Brell woke up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, he saw Suta and called out to him “You’re back, Suta!”. He then looked around the campsite “What happened while you were out there and where’s Lin?”.

Suta rubbed sleep out of his eyes before he put on his glasses “I… lost her.” he said depressed.

“What do you mean lost her?” Brell said surprised while he got out of his bedroll.

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“Well she was chasing this bunny…” Suta began telling him everything he told me last night while we all were packing up camp.

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Suta finished telling the rest what happened and what he was going to do as we got all packed up. Brell then said while everyone began eating our rations “I understand what happened now, Suta. Everyone here will give a hand while we’re on patrol to find her.”.

“Thanks.” Suta said while he began mounting his horse. “I just hope she makes it to Nishilon safely.” He said while looking towards the direction of Nishilon.

“Lin’s strong willed, we all know that. She’ll make it back safely, Suta.” Brell told him, probably to try and ease Suta’s mind.

“I hope you’re right, Brell.” Suta said while he waited on top of his horse.

Once everyone finished their rations, we all followed Suta’s suit and mounted our horses, getting ready to leave for the road. Nothing else was said before we took off for the day.

The whole ride to the next campsite spot was rode in silence and the air felt heavy since Lin was missing. Once we finally began to stop with Brell announcing everything as usual except for one difference. “Since Lin is missing and there's five of us, I’ll be joining Suta for his patrol while Crim you can patrol the north by yourself.” Brell claimed. “You are most capable of being by yourself since you’re used to it as well.” He said while looking at me.

Once we all knew which way we would be going, we all started taking off in our respective directions one by one. It felt a bit weird to be patrolling by myself but it didn’t bother me since I was used to being alone.

I spent the first side of the patrol on the lookout for any signs of Lin moreover than looking for any bandits or monsters. Once I turned around and began patrolling the west side, I did the same and kept an eye out for any signs of Lin.

To no luck, I found nothing related to her and as well no monster or bandit was found either. With nothing found, I ended up back at the designated camping spot for the night before the rest and decided to get the campsite all ready for when everyone comes back. The first to come back was Krello and Howari who joined in helping me get the campsite ready for the night. Shortly after the two started to help, Suta and Brell showed up to which they quickly joined in helping us set up for the night.

No one said a word while we set up so it seemed like nothing was found on their patrols. The air as well seemed to still be heavy while we all ate our nighttime rations. One by one everyone climbed into their sleeping rolls after they ate with nothing said.

As usual for the night, I watched over the fire while everyone went to sleep. Today felt a bit weird to me since someone in the group would usually be having a conversation about something but I didn’t let it bother me. After a good amount of time watching the dancing flames I decided to get up and move away from the dying campfire towards a suitable area almost out of sight from the rest and laid my blade by a nearby tree. Once ready, I sat down cross legged and closed my eyes to begin meditating. When I was inside my consciousness, I decided to focus on controlling and feeling the way my mana moves around my body to burn the sensation into me.

Once a good amount of time passed, I roused myself out of meditation before the sun began rising. After which I got up while I grabbed my blade to fill the rest of the night with some swordsmanship practice. Before I began practice, I took off my cloak to place on a branch nearby. When I was ready, I kept it simple once again and just focused on my sword swings.

A bit after the light broke through the treeline was when I decided to finish for the morning. I then grabbed my cloak and began wiping the sweat off my forehead and neck while walking towards the campsite.

As usual, I gave Howari my morning greetings while I put on my cloak as she tended the horses. Once everyone was awake we all packed up the campsite in silence. I don’t know when it started to bother me that the air was always silent now but didn’t know what to say or do to make it better. We all then ate our morning rations and mounted our horses and got back on the road for the day.

The whole ride out till when Brell came to a halt was once again rode in silence. Brell then gave the usual speech and we all broke off in our patrol paths.

I spent the whole patrol once again looking for any signs of Lin or bandits and monsters to find nothing. When I arrived back at the designated campsite, Krello and Howari were the first to arrive this time and I joined them in setting up camp. After the campsite was all set up, there was no signs of Brell or Suta arriving.

“It seems like they ran into some monsters or bandits. If you guys want to go to sleep now, I can wake you two up when they get back.” I told the two.

Howari stood still while Krello just sat down by the fire “No, we’ll wait until Brell gets back before we go to sleep.” he claimed. All Howari did was follow his suit and sit down while nodding her head. I didn’t want to argue with their choice and left it alone and placed my sword on the ground while I sat by the fire as well.

We spent a good while all watching the fire dance along the logs in silence while waiting for the two to hopefully show up. After a while we heard rustling coming from the direction of their patrol and out came from the treeline were two people who looked exhausted which eased the tension around the campfire.

“Sorry, we ran into bandits setting up a base.” Brell told us while he got off his horse.

Suta got off his horse as well and began taking off his bedroll from his horse. “They didn’t have Lin but at least I was able to vent some of my frustration.” He said while he began unrolling it by the campfire.

While Brell did the same, he brought up “Don’t worry Suta, we should arrive in Nishilon mid to late day tomorrow, she’ll be there.”.

Not much else was said except for Krello and Howari telling them they were glad they didn’t disappear. Once we all ate our nightly rations, one by one they all climbed into their bedrolls and went to sleep. I spent the night as usual and began with meditation several hours after they all passed out.