Cross was jolted awake as the carriage hit a rut in the road and he was painfully jostled back and forth. He started to sit up, but a firm hand on the side of his face pushed him back down. Opening his eyes Cross stared at up at Kosu. For once she was silent, staring serenely out the window as her hand moved to his head, her fingers gently running through his hair. He was vaguely aware his head was in her lap.

She looked down at him. "See anything interesting?"

"Not really.”

Kosu's lip jutted out. "I'm not interesting?"

Cross said nothing as he let out a soft breath.

Kosu leaned over, her hair cascading down and tickling against his face. "You look like you're dying."

"I'm just tired."

"You should go back to sleep."

"Trying."

"You should have rented a room. The inn you left that annoying little girl had more than enough rooms available. You could have stayed… But you were you were scared to speak to her, weren't you?"

Cross let his eyes close. "Seems so."

"You could have avoided that quite easily if you would have just left her die, you know."

"Aren't you pleasant?"

"Don't get me wrong, I harbor no ill will towards the girl, I simply don't care if she lives or dies. I feel that way about most people." Kosu lightly massaged his temple. "You should have taken the eye, you know."

Cross opened his eyes and pushed Kosu's hand away as she moved to cup his cheek. "I don't want it."

"It would have been your right."

"She chose to stop fighting. I didn't beat her."

"You know that's not what I meant." Kosu pulled back as Cross slowly worked his way into a sitting position. "If you were to die, I would be rather sad. It's very boring having no one to talk to."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Be sure you do." Kosu reached out and ran her cool hands along his burned neck, her touch instantly relieving the pain. "So, where are we headed?"

"Home."

"And where is that?"

"The Guild."

"Ah, then nothing has changed?" The edge of her lip turned up into a sly smile.

"Nothing's changed," Cross said softly as he looked out the window and watched the snowflakes begin to stick against the glass. “…Thank you, again.”

“Of course.” Kosu tilted her head from side to side happily. “Well then, I suppose the fun is over for now."

Cross turned to look at her, his mouth open to ask her what exactly constituted as 'fun' in her opinion, but he was suddenly very much alone inside of the carriage. A bemused smile crossed his face before he let out a soft sigh and leaned his head against the cold window.

"Right, then."

Minutes dragged by as the weather continued to worsen, every gust of wind sending tendrils of frigid air through the cracks of the cabin door. The thin travel cloak he had 'borrowed' from Avril did not provide nearly enough warmth and he quickly began to regret leaving his coat with her. Wrapping his arms around his torso for warmth, he tucked his chin against his chest and started to settle back into a light sleep when the carriage came to an abrupt stop and Cross was thrown forward.

Gritting his teeth, Cross slowly pushed himself back into his seat and ran his uninjured hand through his hair. When the carriage made no forward movement, he leaned forward and rapped his knuckles against the driver's window.

"Why did we stop?"

The window slid open and the driver peered back in at Cross, his eyes wide. "There is a girl…"

"And?"

The driver glanced back towards the road then back at Cross again. "Well she… she's half naked."

Cross blinked. "What?"

"She's uh… She's half-naked… What do we…?"

"Half-naked?"

The driver nodded.

Cross began to rub his temple. "It's snowing."

"I'm aware of that," the driver replied, somewhat ruefully as he shook some snow from his hood. "Never seen anything like this in thirty years of driving. I mean, I've seen a lady of the night before but… Hells, she’s not even wearing shoes."

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"Yeah, well… Yeah…" Cross pushed open the door to the carriage. He was instantly met with a flurry of snowflakes that stung against his skin. Holding his hand up to protect his face he looked past the carriage and to the lone, green clad figure that was standing beside the road.

She was indeed half naked, but was seemingly unperturbed by the driving wind that pulled at her short, choppy hair, or the snow that had begun to pile up around her bare feet.

"Misa." Cross breathed out as he trudged through the snow and stopped in front of her.

"Cross," Misa said, her voice almost carried away by the howl of the wind.

"What are you doing?"

"Waiting."

Cross looked around the empty road. "Waiting for what?"

"For you.”

Cross stared at her for a moment before sighing and taking her hand. She allowed him to do so, following him back to the carriage.

"She's coming with us," Cross called up to the driver. He received a slightly hesitant nod before entering the carriage. Misa did not follow him.

Releasing his hand, she made her way to the front of the carriage, stopping next to the horses. Leaning out the window Cross watched as she gently rubbed each horse's neck before saying something he could not hear.

Whatever she said seemed to have been the right thing, however, as both horses threw their heads and began to stomp their feet, tails swishing wildly for a moment before calming as Misa held up her hand.

"What did you say to them?" Cross asked as Misa pulled herself into the carriage.

"I introduced myself and thanked them their work." Misa said before glancing at where the driver was seated. "I also asked what they think of him. They are quite fond. That is good."

Cross almost asked what would happen if they had not been fond of the driver, but having visited Misa's forest before, he already had a pretty good idea.

As the carriage once again resumed, Misa sat silently, gazing out the window and Cross stared at her, unsure of what to say, and even less sure of what would get a straight answer.

"How did you find me?" Cross finally asked.

"The mark." Misa turned her green eyes on him. "As long as you live, the mark of the forest will be on you. I can always find you."

"Why now?"

"You are in danger.”

Cross smiled. The decided lack of urgency in her voice would have been strange for anyone but her.

"Was. I was in danger. But I handled that." Cross waved his hand thoughtlessly and Misa's sharp eyes narrowed.

"Your hand? What is wrong with it?" Misa said as she reached out and took his hand in hers. "It is swollen."

"Broken," Cross grit out as Misa began to run her fingers along his skin, pressing and prodding here and there. "Had a little bit of an incident."

"No."

"No?"

"No."

Cross hissed and tried to pull his hand away as she pressed a particularly tender spot. "No what?"

"It's not broken.”

"It feels broken."

"It's not broken."

"Then what's wrong with it?"

"Your fingers are dislocated," Misa said, her head tilting ever so slightly to the side

"Oh." Cross thought about that for a moment before an overwhelming sense of fear, aided by a sudden spike in his temple, filled his being. "Wait!"

Misa did not wait, wrenching his fingers back into position without a moment of hesitation. There was a quick series of pops and Cross wrenched his hand back, holding it protectively against his chest as he let out a long string of colorful curses. He closed his eyes and began to rock back and forth, waiting for the pain to subside.

Misa watched him impassively.

"You have many injuries," she said as he began to calm down.

"Like I said, there was some danger, but it's over now."

"is it?"

"Maybe not." Cross grimaced. "But I'm pretty sure, at the very least, I'm not in danger anymore."

Misa said nothing.

"Will you be going back, then?" Cross said. He tried to keep his voice as even as hers, but didn't quite manage it, a touch of eagerness slipping into the question. Same as always, Misa showed almost no response, but he thought maybe her eyes softened, if only a touch.

"No, I will not be returning to the Forest. It was decided that it would be best if I were to experience the world. If the Forest comes to need me, I can return at any time." As Misa spoke a vine crept out from under her shirt and slithered across her arm. Cross watched as the end bloomed into a bright yellow flower that Misa crushed in her palm. She gestured for his hand. "Here."

Cross cautiously held out his hand. "What is it?"

"It will accelerate your healing," Misa said as she dumped the crushed petals into his hand. "Chew it."

Cross stared at the crushed flower. A thick liquid had begun to leak from the petals and it made his skin tingle. Sighing, he pushed the flower into his mouth and began to chew. The texture was quite squishy, with an almost minty flavor.

Cross hated mint.

Still, he chewed and chewed until the flower was nothing more than a thick paste in his mouth before, with some difficulty, he choked the medicine down. Almost immediately he felt his head go light and he slid against the side of the carriage.

"You will sleep now," Misa said as Cross continued to slid down in his seat, his eyes dropping.

"You should warn people before you drug them." Cross yawned.

"I did not drug you."

Cross yawned as his eyes closed. "You know, I didn't expect to see you again."

"Are you displeased?"

Cross cracked open one eye. Misa was not looking at him. "No, I'm glad to see you."

He saw Misa's mouth open in response, but he never heard what she said as the darkness took him and he fell out of consciousness.

When he woke again Cross felt shockingly better. Sitting up and stretching out his arms he glanced around the carriage.

Misa was exactly where she had been when he had fallen asleep, sitting in her seat with on leg pressed up against her chest and the other curled beneath her. Her eyes stared out the window, taking in the world with silent contemplation.

"I have never been inside a town, or a city," Misa said, her eyes remaining fixed out the window. Even on my travels to find you, I stayed mostly to the backroads and the forests.”

"Our town isn't bad. Small enough to be comfortable and not so big that it feels overcrowded."

"What is it called?"

"Vedic."

"Vedic," Misa ran the word around her mouth. "Your Guild, The Sleeping Dragon, is in Vedic."

"That's the one." Cross rubbed some frost from the window and stared out over the familiar landscape. "Looks like we will be there soon. No one is going to believe that an elf is here. Lexi is probably going to talk your ear off about magic."

"The Shadow Mage."

"Yeah," Cross smiled. "After Lexi, Servilia is probably going to want too…" Cross trailed off as he glanced at Misa. Slowly he shrugged his cloak off and pushed it into her hands. "You know, you should put this on.”

"Why?" Misa glanced at the driver's window as he rapt on the glass three time and the carriage began to slow as the entered the town proper.

"You're cold," Cross said as the carriage came to a gentle stop.

"I'm not cold."

Cross's eyes traveled over Misa's bare arms and legs, pausing for a long moment on her exposed stomach. He could see the outlines of taunt muscles beneath her porcelain skin. He pushed the cloak again as he heard the driver slide down from his seat and come around to open the door.

"Yes. You are."