Red cleared her throat and prepared to speak. She stopped and looked around at everyone. Pinzu was sitting off by himself, Romel and Solaris were sitting together, and Eber was off on his own. She stopped when her eyes met Romel's. She took a deep breath and began.

"I'm Rediva Rose Hawthorn. You all know me as Red. I was born and raised in the village of Hevana, on the eastern edge of the elven kingdom. I lived there until 3 years ago. I fled after the village was razed."

Eber interrupted, "Razed? As in 'burned down'?"

"Yes. The entire village was set ablaze. It was completely destroyed. The only belongings I had when I left were a short bow and the clothes on my back. My family wasn't so fortunate."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Pinzu commented. "I was wondering about you parents and/or siblings".

"I didn't lose them. I'd moved out from that house about 2 years before this incident. I hadn't been on good terms with them for quite some time."

"Ok, I'm sorry to hear that too. But, in that case, who didn't make it out?" Eber asked.

"Shut up and let her finish. I'm sure she's getting to it." Romel snapped at him. Red seemed slightly sad from retelling her story. She continued when they were silent again.

"As I was saying, I wasn't on good terms with my parents. It was because I ran off, got married, and got pregnant far earlier than they'd expected. We fought about my fiancée at the time, and I eventually reached my limit of the nonsense. I packed my things and moved into a place with him.

Things seemed to work out. We were content with our life together, though sometimes I wasn't so sure of… well, anything, or everything. I won't go into that. Anyways. We were fine; then large gang of bandits found their way to our village. This group of bandits was rather infamous in the region at the time. It was said that most of them were mercenaries at one point, or soldiers. All of them knew how to fight, and also had bad attitudes, at least that's what I'd heard.

They'd been pillaging villages in the area for a while, and support from the queen was not yet sent for reasons which I still don't know to this day. Our village took the initiative and set up a defense force of our own. In the days before the raid on the village, there were numerous battles. It was in fact quite a large group of bandits. The whole thing actually seemed like a small scale war."

She paused and took another deep breath. "You OK Red?" Romel asked. She nodded and continued.

"I've just never told this entire story. I don't usually remember it myself. You'll understand why soon enough."

"You don't have to continue if you don't want to." Solaris replied.

Red looked in Pinzu's direction. He seemed satisfied with what he'd heard thus far. "Yes I do. I'm not leaving anything out. I did tag along with you and Romel, and I don't feel like leaving anymore misunderstandings.

I awake a few nights after the initial fighting started to the screams of my twin children. I heard my husband yelling from outside. He sounded like he was in combat. I realized the house was burning as well. I grabbed my bow on the way to the childrens' room and saw the door open. The screaming stopped as soon as I reached the door."

She stopped, and was visibly shaken from remembering the events. Romel got up and went to her side, hugging her. "You really don't have to keep going."

Red shook her head. "No, I will tell the entire story. I never actually came to terms with the events of that night. Just bear with me please." She was now crying a steady stream of tears. It soon turned into hysteric bawling.  Everyone went to console her. She recovered a while later, and continued. She took Romel's hand in hers and squeezed it tight as she spoke. Romel actually showed signs of pain in his facial expression.

"What I saw, when I entered that room…" she spoke while starting to cry again. "…was a man standing over the bed where my children were. His sword was dripping with blood. I heard him mutter something, and he turned around. I'm not exactly sure what happened from there myself, but my husband later told me I raised my bow and shot him right between the eyes, as if without thought.

I remember him grabbing my hand and leading me towards the edge of the village. We ran into some more bandits. He drew his sword, and pointed me towards the edge of town. He screamed 'Go! Don't look back!'. I ran, and looked back to see him surrounded by 4 armed men. I drew back my bow and shot one of them. Before I could shoot another, he'd already been hit in the back. I watched my husband get stabled straight through the chest.

I don't remember what happened here either, the next thing I remember was holding him in my arms, surrounded by other dying men. He looked at me, smiled and said "You shouldn't have looked back, but I'm glad I can at least die like this." He died there in my arms.
I remember hearing screaming all around me as the village burned. I saw more men pointing in my direction. They started running at me. The next thing I remember was running out of the village. My eyes burned from crying so much. It feels the same now." She paused again, still crying, and yet again breaking into uncontrollable sobbing.

Romel held her close and looked up at everyone. "If anyone else has a story that does this to them, just say so. I won't require an explanation of it. I wouldn't be able to stand making someone suffer like this." He glared at Pinzu.

"In my defense, she insisted on continuing, though I'd think it best that she not be left alone tonight." The old man replied. Everyone else nodded in agreement and looked back at Romel. Pinzu spoke again. "And I'd think that should be you, by what appears to be a unanimous decision."

Romel looked down at Red, who was still sobbing on his shoulder. "Like I have a choice" he said as he pat her back. She reasonably composed herself a few moments later and continued.

"I honestly don't remember much after that. Running from the village, walking from place to place, being on an airship, all of it is pretty much a blur.

I finally settled down in Azidon a few months later. I somehow found a job as a cook in a tavern. I couldn't seem to pay my taxes, when rose sharply. The next thing I knew, I was in prison." She stared at Eber. "I blame YOU for that." She got up and ran to him, tacking him to the ground. She started punching him in the face repeatedly. Romel and Solaris waited for a moment before finally pulling her off.

"You guys could've been a bit faster you know." Eber said. His face was slightly bruised and he had a busted lip.

"After everything you've been responsible for, I think us stopping her at all was showing mercy on our part." Romel nodded. "Keep in mind, you've saved me as many times as you've tried to kill me."

Eber took a seat again. He knew full well he had no valid comeback to that.
Red's breath was heavy as she struggled to regain control of her temper. "You know, I should thank this bastard in a way. Cuz of him, I met you 2, and got to see him get his ass kicked. Actually, I even got to help with that once." She said with a mischievous grin.

"Actually, twice now," Solaris noted. "So from there, you were with Romel and me at Azidon Manor. We'll fill in Pinzu and Eber on some of the essential details of what happened during their absence, but only after we finish with everyone's stories."

Red took her seat next to Romel. "So, I'm about done then. Who's next?" she asked.
Romel pointed to the old man. "Pinzu's going to go next."

Pinzu looked around at everyone. "It seems I haven't much say in the matter. I am the one who started this commotion after all. Let us begin…"

I stared at the fire which burned in the middle of all of us. Pinzu took a deep breath and began to speak. I began to feel like a child waiting to hear a story. I suppose it was only natural, given his age in relation to mine, or anyone else's for that matter.

"My name is Pinzu Roflhiem." He paused, as if waiting for something. I'm pretty sure it was laughter he was waiting for, which Eber obliged as he let out a snicker. His face met a rock a few seconds later and he fell off his bench. The next thing I saw was Pinzu dusting off his hands. The old man continued.

"As I have stated previously, I am 196 years old. I have lived long enough for the 4 of you, twice. My life experiences are vast and mostly unimportant. I won't bother you with minor details. I have been married 4 times. Don't judge, I outlived the first and 2nd ones. 1 left, and the other; well… that's a story all its own."

I was curious, but decided not to ask, Romel did it for me. "Now you've got me curious, do tell."

"Let's just say I woke up one morning and she was standing on the other side of the room with a crossbow pointed at me. It was at this moment that I'd first used the sleep spell I'd been practicing with the most speed and power that I've ever cast anything."

Now Red spoke up, finally sitting up from Romel's shoulder. Her eyes were quite red from the tears. "What did you do? Most women wouldn't just randomly wait for you to wake up with a crossbow pointed at someone."

While awaiting his answer, I thought of simply calling 'Red' 'Rediva', because any intance referencing both her and the color left me confused for a second. Ii decided I'd call her Rediva for now, though I would probably return to simply calling her Red by the morning. Pinze continued as I finished my random mental babble.

"I may or may not have left scorpion venom in her tea, and a may have accidentally left a few potentially dangerous mushrooms in her dinner. Had I realized she was part beast woman, I'd… well… nevermind."

"So Pinzu's a furry lover?" Romel raised an eyebrow.

"No, actually, she was ¼ elf, ¼ human, ½ beast woman, and appeared to be completely human, unless she was angry. That morning she was, and you could see cat ears and a tail, and I'm still not exactly sure how she managed to hold a crossbow with claws that long."

"So, she was waiting for you that morning to kill you, because you tried to kill her? Why did you marry that woman again?" Eber asked

"She kissed me out of the blue one day, her parents saw it, next thing I knew, there were some guards at my door a couple of days later. I married her at spear-point, and the family kept us nearby, so we stayed together for a few months. Her family, given its diversity, was strange, dysfunctional, and somehow influential in the region. Anyways, that morning, I packed my bags of a few things and took my leave, putting anyone who opposed me to sleep. It was at least 2 dozen people by the time I made it to the edge of town. That was actually 62 years ago. I've been roaming the world and in the mountain range ever since. It's quite peaceful up there."

"I must admit, I never would've expected our party's healer to have tried to kill someone. If you have a problem with us, you are free to take your leave at any time. No need to kill anyone." I spoke up.

"I didn't know the beast part of her was so resistant to things, I'd have used more of each, or found another way to get the job done. Anyways, I actually like you all. I won't be trying to kill anyone here. I have been accompanying you as a healer after all. And you can still count on me to cook as well."

I turned and looked at Red. "I think I'll handle the cooking from now on" she said. I breathed a small sigh of relief hearing that. Pinzu's cooking was in fact delicious, but the scorpion venom in the tea thing kinda scared me. I listened as he rambled on.

"Aside from my marriage history, I was also an imperial guard at the elven capital. I'm not sure I'll be of much use when we go there though."

"Wait, you were an imperial guard?! What else have you done?" Romel asked.

"Well, that was over 100 years ago. Even if most of the guards are probably still alive, I'm sure they won't acknowledge me. Anyways, I've been a miner, an imperial guard, and for a short time I was a student at a magic academy. I spent a lot of time traveling and doing research as well, hence why I'm familiar with some things relating to the guardians."

I found it interesting that he told us more of himself, while becoming more mysterious at the same time. It was slightly bothersome, yet 196 years of history would be a little overkill. In any case, I found myself more fond of the calm and wise Pinzu than the one who showed himself tonight. At least we'd all have a few less things to misunderstand about each other.

Romel spoke up again. "So, anything else we need to know about you? You know, aside from that fact that you tried to kill your ex-wife?"

"I prefer to call it 'justifiable homicide' thank you very much. And no, I can't think of anything else that would be important to mention, except for the fact that my magic skill are on the level of a high imperial mage, as far as healing and defense are concerned."

"Wow, that's quite impressive. You also have quite an arm. That rock HURT!" Eber replied.

"Oh, I was also known to play a lot of baseball in my younger days as well. Its good to know I still have my throwing arm" the old man said with a smile.

I looked over at Red who napping on Romel's shoulder. "There's not much of a point to continuing our story time at the moment. Red seems have fallen asleep." I said, looking in Romel's direction. He tapped her shoulder and attempted to wake her up. I gulped, remembering what happened the last time someone tried to wake her up. We all sat and watched, expecting to have to save Romel from a near certain death.

I stood in complete surprise at what happened next. She woke up just enough to mumble "but I don't wanna walk to my room." She then wrapped her arms around Romel's neck leaned over slightly. Romel looked at me with the " dude, what the hell" look. I gestured for him to try picking her up. He wasn't dead yet, nor even getting attacked, why not go with it.

He picked up gently and headed back inside. "I guess late night stories really make her tired." He said as he walked away. It wasn't only her. I was feeling quite sleepy myself. I felt at peace from getting to know some of my companions a bit better, and I felt a sense of danger, a dark energy as everyone drifted off to their rooms for the night. It was quite unpleasant, yet sickeningly familiar. I didn't sleep very well that night.

When I awake the next morning, I stared blankly at the sausage and eggs sitting before me. It didn't take Romel long to notice something was wrong as he turned and asked "What's wrong Sol?"

My reply left everyone nervous and speechless. "I think we should leave here soon. I think Siralos is on the move again. He seems to be closer than the last time he sensed him."

Romel dropped his fork, Red froze as she chewed her food, which fell out of her mouth, and Pinzu finished all of his drink in a matter of seconds after nearly choking. I looked for reassuring words for my comrades, finally settling on these: "I'd like to think that we can defeat him with this party, however I don't think we should seek him out, and train some more while he follows us, since he most assuredly is following us, or at least me. We'll need to get out of this city either way before he gets here."

Everyone nodded in agreement. I told them Siralos would arrive in about 3 day's time, based on the speed he appeared to be moving. We gathered our things and resupplied all by that evening. We were prepared to leave that following morning. We mounted the horses and prepared to leave the palace when the king stopped us from the gate.

"You know, there is 1 more undamaged thing here. You may want to use it instead. I already have a crew assembled here."

We stopped and looked in confusion wondering what exactly it was that he was talking about. He took us back to the garden, just beyond the spot we were last night. Just beyond the nearby trees sat an airship. I have no clue how it went unnoticed for the duration of our stay, but we were told to board and give a destination.

Everyone looked at me. Apparently I was randomly voted the captain. I took a deep breath. "set a course for the elven capital of Aglarost. Be sure to avoid the central mountain range as much as possible. There's something there which could endanger all of us."

The actual captain of the replied "yes sir!" and prepared for liftoff. We were in the air a few minutes later, finally on our way to the elven capital again. I sat on the deck with everyone as we took a loop north of the Fujima at a leisurely pace. I heard the thud of a hammer and a strangely familiar voice.

Long time no see lads, I see you got yourself some new companions too. I turned around and looked, I saw no one. I felt something hit my foot. "Down here laddie!" I looked down and saw a dwarf standing in front of me, though I didn't remember who he was.

"Well, seems Oddie is on board. I'm not sure whether I should feel safe, or learn to levitate." Romel teased.

"I was requested to come repair this ship. It was damaged in a recent attack on the city. If you ask me, I'd say its in better shape now than the day it was made. I'm not exactly sure why the king ordered us to start on construction of another one though." The little man replied.

The captain came onto the deck and joined the conversation. "That would be because by order of the king, this airship and its crew are at your command" he said while looking at me.

"Look at you, moving up in the world. Lord of Azidon Manor, and now commander of an airship!" Romel poked my shoulder as he spoke.

"Speaking of which, I'm going to request a detour. Can you take us to Azidon Manor. I need to check on the state of the city."

The captain nodded and ran inside. We took a turn heading southeast and I looked out to the horizon. Red walked up beside me. "Looks like our little vacation is over, if you could've called it one."

"As far as I'm concerned, in you and Romel's case, it may as well have been a honeymoon." Eber replied to her. Romel wasn't paying attention to what was said, he was staring off at the sky as well, until he heard Eber screaming and running around the deck for his life, being chased by a blushing Red.

I looked across the horizon once more. Though I don't remember much between losing my memories twice, I remember quite a bit of most of these people. I have come to like them quite a lot. I have also decided that I will not make a captain's log.