The next day, they continued their travel through the forest, taking the path Rowan had suggested. Midway through the day, they stopped to allow Kronos and Rocky to drink some water and to eat a quick lunch.

Jesika came and sat next to Aquila where she perched on a ledge next to Rowan. Jesika smiled at her as Aquila bit into her sandwich and looked at her.

"Yes?" Aquila asked through a mouthful.

Jesika shrugged. "I just wondered if you would like to come eat with me. Let us have some... girl time while the guys have some... guy time," Jesika clumsily suggested.

Aquila finished her bite and grinned. "That sounds great, actually," she paused, turning to look at Rowan, "that fine with you?"

He responded with a shrug.

Jesika took Aquila's hand and led her away from camp a little, to sit on a nearby tree that had broken in half.

"So, what made you decide to do this?" Aquila asked.

Jesika shrugged. "I guess I just missed talking to you. One on one. There hasn't been much time to do that recently."

Aquila nodded. "There really hasn't. I've missed it too," Aquila paused, looking at her. "I'm really sorry about what Rowan said yesterday. His ego and intelligence make him a butt sometimes."

Jesika laughed half-heartedly, shaking her head. "It's fine. He had a point. I have been a little self-centered as of late."

Aquila tilted her head. "Darryn told me a little about your two's talk yesterday. How are things going with him? I know for a while there was a lot of tension between you two because of the breakup."

Jesika blushed, her mind going back to the impulsive kiss from yesterday. It really hadn't meant anything, but would Aquila see it that way? "We're uh... We're alright. I think the tension's finally gone. We talked about what happened and it seemed to clear up a lot between us," Jesika said, deciding to just carefully maneuver around the kiss.

Aquila smiled warmly. "Good. I'm glad you guys are back to normal."

"Me too," Jesika paused, looking at Aquila, "and I really hope things can go back to normal with you too. I know I pushed you two away and I really shouldn't have. I'm working on changing that."

Aquila's expression softened. She wrapped her arm around Jesika, laying her head on her shoulder. "Oh, Jes—don't worry about it. I can't begin to understand what you've been going through, and I can only imagine how horribly I'd be acting if it had happened to me."

Jesika smiled, leaning her head against Aquila's.

***

"You know, I regret what I said to Jesika."

Darryn choked on his sandwich at Rowan's sudden words. When Aquila and Jesika had left them, they had been left with awkward silence. That awkward silence had remained until just now. Darryn swallowed, looking up at Rowan.

"Come again?" Darryn said incredulously.

Rowan rolled his eyes, pulling at the bread on his sandwich. "You heard me. I regret what I said to her. I wish I hadn't said it."

Darryn set his sandwich aside, turning his attention fully to Rowan. "I didn't take you as the type to regret anything."

Rowan chuckled, looking into the forest. "I'm not. But even I can see when I've gone too far. And I did."

Darryn shook his head. "Then why'd you even say that to her in the first place?"

Rowan shrugged. "I don't think I was wrong in my theory, as unfortunate as that might be. I just regret saying it to her. But she can't keep being so impulsive. It's going to get us killed. I just wanted her to think about what she is putting at risk."

Darryn's jaw clenched, and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "And you really think anything you said managed to do that?" he asked.

Rowan didn't respond for a long moment, but slowly he grinned, looking up at him. "I don't know, you tell me. You went after her and talked to her."

Darryn couldn't help the grin coming onto his face as his mind went back to her admitting her mistake yesterday. "Okay, so maybe it helped a little. But there were definitely better ways of going about it."

Rowan shrugged. "To be completely honest, I get riled up like that and I can't help it. It just slips out," he paused, looking at Darryn, "so tell me more about you and Jesika."

Darryn frowned, sitting back, taking another bite out of his sandwich. He spoke as he chewed: "What's there to know?"

Rowan glared at him in annoyance. "Not with your mouth full, man. Have some class."

Darryn rolled his eyes as he swallowed, then repeated his question.

Stolen novel; please report.

Rowan replied: "There seems to be some type of history to you two. And what's with the whole 'you're not my bodyguard' thing?"

Darryn grunted, looking down at his lap. "Yeah, there's some history, I guess. Pretty ancient though. We dated four years ago when she was fifteen, but we broke up shortly after the king and queen died. And the bodyguard thing? Long story. To put it simply, I was appointed as her guard at a young age and she recently relieved me of that position."

Rowan laughed quietly. "So why did you two break up? And who broke up with who?"

Darryn narrowed his eyes. "Why do you even care?" he asked suspiciously.

Rowan laughed again, a little louder this time. "I'm just curious. You don't get to be a genius without asking quite a bit of seemingly unnecessary, random questions."

Darryn huffed. "Fair, I suppose," Darryn paused, thinking over his response, "after her parents died, she just became really hard to talk to. She acted like she hated being around me and wouldn't talk to me about anything. It was obvious she was mourning, but it seemed as long as I was a boyfriend instead of a friend, I was going to get nowhere with her."

Rowan's eyes widened. "You mean to tell me you broke up with her?!" Darryn nodded. "After her parents died?!" Darryn nodded yet again. "Don't you think that was a little... harsh?" Rowan asked incredulously.

Darryn narrowed his eyes yet again. "What was I supposed to do, man? It was like dating a rock! What would you have done?"

Rowan paused at his question. Finally, he sighed, shrugging. "I suppose I don't know. Probably the same. But I don't envy you for having to make that decision."

Darryn scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Yeah, it wasn't easy."

"Do you still love her?"

"What makes you think that?"

"You tried to punch me."

"Aquila would've too if she had been closer. You brutally insulted our best friend."

"Touché. But do you?"

Darryn's mind went back to the kiss from yesterday. He was glad all the cards were laid out on the table now, regarding him and Jesika. It had been paralyzing, wondering if she still had feelings for him and wondering the same for himself.

Darryn shook his head. "No, I don't. Not that way."

Rowan arched one brow. "Then what about Aquila?"

Darryn frowned. "What about her?"

"Are you in love with her?"

Darryn wondered faintly why it suddenly felt a little warmer. "What type of question is that? Where do you get that notion from?"

Rowan tilted his head. "Just a feeling."

Darryn scowled. "Well, no. I'm not. She's a friend."

Rowan nodded slowly, letting the conversation die for a little. Darryn finished his sandwich and stood from where he had been sitting. "We should probably get back on the trail. Losing daylight hours fast," he said.

Rowan nodded in agreement, standing. Darryn started towards the girls, but Rowan stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Darryn turned to him, raising one brow in question.

"I want to apologize to the queen, but she doesn't seem like she wants to talk to me much right now and she also doesn't seem like the type to accept apologies."

Darryn chuckled, nodding. "Those are two assumptions that are definitely correct. I'll see if Aquila and I can't work something out for you. Alright?"

Rowan nodded, smiling. "Thanks."

Suddenly a squeal echoed throughout the forest, alerting Darryn and Rowan immediately. Darryn looked at Rowan.

"Come on, something's wrong. We have to go protect them," Darryn said, before turning to run in the direction of the girls. Rowan rolled his eyes, swearing under his breath as he took off after him.

***

A few minutes beforehand

Aquila and Jesika were enjoying a moment longer in peace, eating and enjoying each other's company like they hadn't in a long time. Aquila grinned suddenly at the sight of a bunny slowly and shyly approaching them. She nudged Jesika, pointing to the cute little bunny as it got closer. Jesika grinned, looking at the cute, furry creature. Aquila turned and looked at her, her cheeks rosy in delight.

"I'm going to try and pet it. Maybe give it some of my food," Aquila said excitedly.

Jesika nodded, laughing slightly.

Aquila moved from where she was sitting, slowly approaching the bunny in hopes to not scare it off. Oddly enough, it didn't seem to flinch at all at her approach. Jesika furrowed her brows as the once shy bunny now waited unflinching for Aquila to get closer. Odd behavior for such a small animal.

Aquila leaned down to pet it, looking back at Jesika with a victorious smile on her face. Jesika started to smile back at her when she noticed the bunny's eyes go red, it's mouth opening to show rows of dagger-like teeth.

"Aquila! Back away!!" Jesika yelled, jumping off the log.

Aquila shot away as the bunny swiftly morphed from its small, innocent form, into a large, threatening bear with claws the length of Jesika's forearms.

It rose its large arms, the claws glinting in the sunlight. Its claws came down to strike Aquila's face and Jesika moved in front of her in the nick of time, blocking the hit with her sword. With a grunt, she shoved the bear away with her sword.

"I'll fight the bear from the front. Hurry and circle around to catch its back. If it turns on you, dodge!" Jesika yelled.

Aquila didn't respond, only running to the bear's back as Jesika dodged its lunge at her.

It rose up again, preparing to strike her. Once again, she blocked the bear's hits, watching Aquila raise her sword behind it. The bear came back to all fours, turning on Aquila and dashing after her. Aquila jumped out of the way as Jesika got out her bow, swiftly setting an arrow and releasing. The arrow hit the bear, staggering it and making it turn on her yet again. Aquila took the bear's moment of distraction as an opportunity, stabbing the bear with her sword. She squealed, stabbing it over and over until it died.

When she finally felt safe enough, she stopped, falling to the ground on her knees, panting as the adrenaline left her body. Jesika approached her, kneeling before her.

"You alright?" Jesika asked, her hand going to Aquila's shoulder.

Aquila nodded, as a grin slowly came to her face. "We make a freaking kickass team, Jes."

Jesika laughed, throwing her head back. Once her laughter calmed, she grinned back at Aquila, giving her a solid high five. "You got that right," she said confidently.

Someone cleared their throat, making Jesika look up to see Darryn and Rowan. Darryn looked relieved and proud, but Rowan was paled, his eyes wide at the brutally stabbed bear on the ground next to the two girls. Jesika giggled at the intimidated look on his face as she stood, helping Aquila to her feet.

"Glad to see you had the situation under control," Darryn said with a grin.

Jesika grinned back. "You doubted us?" Jesika asked teasingly with a brow raised.

He laughed, shaking his head. Rowan only continued to stare at them in disbelief.

"You guys are nuts, you realize that?" he asked incredulously.

Aquila rolled her eyes. "Just be happy you have some fierce girls on your side to protect you," Aquila said.

Rowan grunted as they turned to return to camp. Jesika came up to Rowan's side, placing her hand on Rowan's shoulder to make him listen. She whispered in his ear, lowering her voice to sound ominous as she spoke:

"Better having me on your side than against you. Don't you think?"

He only glanced at her, a wary look in his eyes. She laughed quietly, moving away from him and continuing on.