Crossroads was trying to push the latest vision out of her head as she
was out running errands. After burying that girl curiosity had gotten
the better of her and she had decided to look into her own death. Now
she was regretting it. What would she do if she ever ran into Ambience
again? Could she comfortably be around the boy knowing he was going to
be the one to kill her one day?

She lightly chewed her lip as she walked; thinking things over.
Crossroads was not really paying attention to where she was going.
Other than her errands she had the day off and was free to do as she
pleased today for the most part so she hadn't really cared or worried
about where she ended up while she was thinking the matter through so
long as she got to what needed to be done eventually. Sometimes walks
were good for thinking after all. But she was a bit surprised when she
looked up and found herself at the pier.

Truce - Under the Pier
Flooded with coarse sand, the maintenace platform under the pier nearly
resembles an actual beach. Made of the sturdiest timber, this platform lets
workers make repairs to the water-worn pylons holding up the pier and
separating it from the ocean. A rock wall is to the west of the platform,
serving as the foundation for the landing.

Lorastine had been sitting under the shade of the pier most of the
day. She watched at the small sea-life that scuttled on the sand as
the water lapped at the shore. She pulled her legs up to her chest,
wrapping her arms around them. Going out about town didn't even appeal
to her like it usually did. Ever since the funeral, all her thoughts
had been so... negative.

Sitting on the top of a little sand lump sat her dull darkened gold
soul gem. Lorastine's gem looked as if it was placed on a throne of
sand still held by the leash around her fingers. It was taunting her,
constantly reminding her of her fate. "I hate you..."she muttered to
her soul, "I hate, hate, hate, you."

Crossroads caught the sound of a familiar voice, a voice that she
hadn't heard in a few days now, and looked around trying to find the
source, "Lora?"

Lorastine looked up slowly when she heard a voice, snatching up her
crystal in her hand. She paused when she saw it was only Crossroads.
"Hi, Cross. How are you on this /fantasic/ day?" The sarcasm in her
voice was evident.

Crossroads found a ladder and climbed down onto the spot where
Lorastine was sitting. "I can easily say I have been better." She
smiled a little at the girl then took a seat next to her. "I take it
by the sarcasm that you can say the same?"

Lorastine sighed and looked out at the sea as she spoke. "Yea.. I'm
starting to lose the reason for fighting. What’s the point if all we
are going to do is end up like that girl we killed?"

Crossroads followed her gaze and was quiet for a moment. "As long as
we are alive we can still do some good. Or at least that is what I
like to believe. We may all end up like her, yes. But I think..."
Crossroads pauses, trying to think of what might be the best thing to
say. She really wasn't that good at this kind of thing. "I think it is
best that we try not to lose hope."

Lorastine looks at Cross with an unchanged gaze. "The more we fight
the more we lose..."She said standing up. "We can't all use the seeds
we get from victories. Eventually we'll get greedy. Turn on each
other."

Crossroads Stares off into space, looking for an answer. What good was
it having the ability to look into the future if she didn't use it to
check these kinds of things? After a moment, the visions started
appearing. Each bit crystal clear but devoid of sound.
No one was fighting. In fact everyone seemed to be quite happy.
Crossroads could see herself, and Tyr, and even Kyrk though he was
occasionally being his irritating self... but there was something
missing in the vision. Lora was not there.

Crossroads pulled herself free of her vision sucking in a deep breath
as what she saw was sinking in; Lora was gone. Something was going to
happen to her. It took everything in her to keep her voice steady as
she spoke, "No Lora. That won't be happening. No one is going to fight
each other."

Lorastine looked up at Cross and blinked. A slight smile crept on her
face, a sympathetic yet happy smile. "I do have a bit of a problem
though. "She said quietly showing her darkened crystal to Crossroads.
"Do we have any seeds left that I maybe able to use?"

Crossroads looks at the soul gem, then speaks slowly "I... I think Tyr
still has one. I will tell him you are in need of it." She stands up,
brushing the sand clinging to her clothes and forcing herself to
smile. If Lora was observant enough she was sure she would catch her
shaking a little "How about we do something together? Something fun."

Lorastine's ears perked up a little when she offered to do something.
She never really was part of anything other then missions. It caught
her off guard to be sure. "I would like that." She said with a real
smile for once. When she opens her eyes she looks at Cross, something
seemed off like she was shivering.

"I think I remember seeing a Ferris wheel out by Wutai. Its not very
far from Truce.... Altamaria I think is the place’s name? We should go
there tomorrow and make a day out of it! Maybe have lunch, or do some
shopping. Something that doesn't involve witches." Which Crossroads
decided was just what they needed; A day where the two of them could
pretend to be normal again.

Lorastine smiles happily and nods. "Sounds like fun, I've never been
there before. Thanks for showing up Cross. I don't know what I'd be
doing if you hadn't shown up."

"You'd still be moping about here in the sand. That's what you'd be
doing." Crossroads’s grin was a little forced, but still convincing,
"So cheer up, alright? There is nothing for you to worry about."

Lorastine nods and looks down at a crab that scuttled near her foot.
She nudges it and flips it over onto its back where it panicked for a
little bit before righting itself up and escaping. "We should go find
Tyrranis first though, I don't want to be a hazard. hehe.."

Crossroads says ' Yeah. We definitely need to get that taken care of.'

***

It was some time before Crossroads and Lorastine were able to locate
Tyrranis. Having no idea where the giganto was, they had to resort to
asking around Truce to see if anyone had spotted him. Luckily a few
people remembered him heading west and the city guard stationed at the
gate remembered someone matching his description passing through.

Guardia - A Field of Stumps
The industry and inhabitants of Truce have deforested this area, using
the lumber to build and heat their homes, among other things. The gates of
Truce open up to the east, shaded by several large oaks which have been left
for just that purpose, while a road runs through this field into the west.
A large sign is posted by the path to the north, which leads into a
forest.

The road directly west of Truce's gate is Littered with holes, and
weapons. Tools of war of all kinds, in various states of repair or
disrepair lay on tarps, lightly dusted with freshly fallen dirt. A
little bit away, Tyrranis is waist deep into another hole, grunting
and straining at something.

Lorastine looks around at all the holes scattered around in confusion.
Was he digging them up or burying them? Whatever it was it was a
pretty odd task for him to randomly be doing. She looks at Tyrranis
waist deep in a hole, curious if there was a purpose in his actions.

Crossroads steps around one of the holes and over one of the weapons
as she approaches, her hand waving towards Tyrranis in hopes of
getting his attention while calling out to him. She had to admit that
the sight before her was odd, but at the moment figuring out
Tyrranis's actions was the last thing on her mind..

Tyrranis wrenches something that looks disturbingly like a body bag
out of the ground, and looks up as Crossroads calls his name. Setting
the sealed container aside gently, the giganto pulls himself out of
the hole and nods to her, clapping his hands to get rid of the worst
of the dirt. "Hello Apple-Knower."

Lorastine waves to Tyrranis lightly as they approached. "Might you be
able to um... help me?" She asked a bit embarrassed that she waited
till such a dire time to ask for help. She should have asked earlier.

"She is in need of a grief seed. Do you still have one?" Crossroads
said glancing at Lora and feeling her stomach tighten into what felt
like a knot.

Tyrranis frowns, and steps forwards to Lora. Holding out his bat, he
pulls the cork stopper out of the handle, and taps out the yoma's
grief seed. "Neither of you have been cleansed since the fight with
the yoma, have you? Show me."

Lorastine hesitates, but takes out her darkened soul gem. It had
changed a lot since its shimmering appearance when she first got it.
It no longer sparkled in the light and its lustrous gold color was now
a dingy yellow. Lorastine looked away not wanting to see Tyrranis's
reaction.
Crossroads reaches under her shirt and pulls out her gem to show it to
Tyrranis. It was darker than she had remembered it being last time she
checked and there was a mildly surprised look on her face as it
dangled before her.

Tyrranis sighs through his nose, and thumps the bat again, letting
another seed tumble out as well. He touches the Spider Queen's seed to
Lorastine's gem, to cleanse it fully. With that he touches the Yoma's
to Crossroad's clearing it up a good bit, though not all the way.
"There. You two need to keep a closer eye out."

Tyrranis stashes both seeds back in his bat, and replaces the cork. "I
will need to find the Wish-Granter later, give him these. Though for
now, I am still busy." With that, he kneels and opens up the cloth
bundle in front of him, revealing a mess of bows. Picking them up one
at a time, he examines the weapons before putting them down, checking
for damage.

Lorastine thanks Tyrranis as her gem started to return to its previous
shine. She felt a lot better as well, like a weight was lifted from
her shoulders. She felt genuinely happier then before.

Crossroads tucked the gem back under her clothes feeling slightly
embarrassed that she had not realized that it had started growing so
dark. "Thanks Tyrranis. I'll be more careful from now on." Crossroads
said. She then watches Tyrranis for a moment as he goes through each
of the weapons, "What are you doing?"

Tyrranis looks up at Crossroads for a moment, and then back down to
the weapons, blinking slowly. "I am doing... my hobby? These are all
weapons used against me in conflict. I keep the ones that are memory
worthy. I store them, care for them. Each is a foe who tried to end my
life, now instead ready to fight with and for me. I hoped to move them
to a different place, with the offer you gave me."

Lorastine blinks confused for a moment but finally got it. "So you
honor the dead warriors by fighting with their weapons?"

Crossroads looks at the weapons then to Tyrranis. If Lora was right,
it seemed all well and good that he was honoring the dead warriors who
fought him, but looking at all the holes... "Tyr, how many weapons do
you have?" Something told her that her house was going to end up being
filled. Then something dawned on her, hadn't Tyrranis brought her a
similar bundle with bows? " And...Is this where my weapon came from?"

Tyrranis pulls a shovel from the hole last dug, and begins digging
another, a short while away. "I have less weapons than I have scars.
Just this last hole to be dug." He is silent for a little while,
digging into the ground with the efficiency of when he was digging the
grave earlier. He speaks up again soon however. "Your weapon... It was
not from a battle. It was a reward from a small farming town. Many
children had been taken from them. Things happened. The children
returned." He doesn't seem to want to talk about it right now.'
Lorastine looks at Tyrranis with a trying to get a sense of what he
was feeling. "You're like a hero from one of my childhood
stories..."She said recalling a memory back when she was a child and
they were told stories about a giant who protected the people of a
village.

Crossroads smiles lightly, "You're a good guy, Tyr." She was realizing
that more and more lately it seemed. Since he didn't seem to want to
say any more on the matter though she thought it was best to leave it
at that.

Tyrranis looks at both the girls with an expression. His eyebrow is
raised, but the rest of his face just read tired. He turns back to his
shovel work. "Both of you should get back into town. It might rain
soon, with the way this sky looks. I will be to the home when I can."

Lorastine nods looking up at the sky.

Tyrranis thinks, 'Hmmmm.'

Crossroads nods. She still had some errands to run. If it was going to
rain she figured it would be best to return to town and finish with
them soon. She didn't really like the idea of taking care of things in
the rain. "Alright." She then looks at Lorastine and smiles, "Weather
permitting, does 8:00am outside of the north gate sound good?"

Lorastine says ' Yes, Perfect! See you there'

Tyrranis continues digging, assuming that Crossroads and Lorastine are
done with him for now.

"Great!" Crossroads then looks at Tyrranis, "Don't get caught in the
rain either, alright?"

Tyrranis says ' I will try not to.'