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Rhea stared at Lin. "I find that somehow ... gruesome, and yet fascinating," she murmured. "Is that strange?"

Whisper glared at Rhea. "You just better hope that there aren't any of them here," she told her flatly. "The last thing we need is to lose someone."

It wasn't until they returned to the beach a while later that they realized just how irony-packed Whisper's statement was.

It was night, and there were torches lit all around the beach, lighting it up for the group that was staying there. There were several dinner fires going, and as usual it was chaos: everyone ate in a different place every night.

Celeb was the first one to notice the missing body. He had been patiently waiting for his sister to return all day, since he knew that it wasn't safe for him out in the jungle, and rather than sitting and eating, he chose to watch the edge of the beach for her to come back.

But as the hours passed, she still didn't return, and, worried, he had asked his parents to go around to all of the fires with him and look for her. Perhaps he had just missed her somehow ...

Arwen was carrying Celeb in her arms when they reached the fire where Earendil, Rhea and Lin were eating. She sat next to all of them and smiled at them all. "Evening," she murmured. "Everyone have a good day exploring?"

Rhea caught Lin's eye and grinned, then nodded to Arwen. "We saw a lot of interesting things today," she told her quietly.

Arwen looked anxious. "Do you remember which direction that was?" she asked eagerly. "Any idea at all?"

Rhea blinked and thought about it. The tree they had climbed had been north of the beach, and the birds ... but she hadn't gotten a very good look at exactly where the birds had come from ...

"No," she murmured apologetically. "I'm sorry."

Arwen nodded, looking more worried than ever. "Leyenda hasn't come back since she left hours ago," she told them softly. "I just ... I'm looking for anything that might help us to know where she went ..."

Rhea looked to Lin, alarmed.

"That's what worries me," Arwen nodded. "I know she's smarter than that. Even at her most scatterbrained, she would never do anything so foolish as to wander away on her own ... something must have happened, I'm sure of it."

She looked towards the trees of the jungle. "Yet there is no way we can search in there by night," she said worriedly. "None of us would make it back here ... we would all be lost."

But four days later, Leyenda was still missing.

All work, all research, everything had ceased, and everyone focused on searching for Leyenda. Rhea had offered to search from the air - until a dragon flying in her direction had frightened her to the ground again. It was the third time that she had seen the dragon - and she was fairly certain that it was the same one each time - since they had arrived on the island, and something about it bothered her. Perhaps because it was the only one she had seen, which didn't make any sense ... if there was one, there had to be more, didn't there?

Arwen was beside herself, so distraught she was essentially useless for the search, and she ended up staying at the beach with Celeb, in case Leyenda returned there first.

The sun was just beginning to set when Rhea's group - the group with her, Lin, Shiro, Kaito, Ura, Earendil, and Roydon - returned to the beach, exhausted and disheartened. With each passing day, their hopes of finding her alive grew smaller.

Arwen had food ready for the group, and she dealt it out to them wordlessly. She hadn't spoken all day, not to anyone, not even to Celeb, who had sat with her from the moment of his waking until now. She didn't dare to speak, lest she voice the fear that had been growing in her mind for several days now.

Once everyone had some food, she sat down with them, though she herself didn't begin to eat. Roydon sat next to her and held her in his arms, rocking her gently, trying to comfort her, though there was no comfort to be found.

Such was the scene when suddenly Leyenda's voice interrupted them from the direction of the jungle to the east.

"Mother? Papa?"

"Leyenda?" Arwen gasped and jumped to her feet and took off in the direction of her voice. She was much taller than Lin, her stride much longer, and she was the first one to reach her daughter. She threw her arms around her and held her tightly, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Where were you?" she cried, sobbing into her shoulder. "We were terrified! What if you had been killed? We had no idea where you were or what had happened to you - where were you?!"

Leyenda flushed darkly as everyone else gathered round, and her father wrapped his arms around both her and her mother. "I'm sorry," she apologized meekly. "I ... I don't know how to explain ... just ... I'm so, so sorry."

"What matters is that you're back safely," Roydon said firmly. "We'll talk again later. But right now, you come and eat, all right? Valar know what you've been eating while you've been gone-"

"I've been eating wonderfully, Papa," Leyenda assured him as her parents let her breathe again. "I-"

"Leyenda," Arwen stared at her. "Your shirt- where ... what ..."

Leyenda blushed hotter. "I ... um ... I think I borrowed this from someone, I don't know wh-"

"Leyenda!" Rhea exclaimed, taking the opportunity to pounce on her and hug her tightly. "You're safe!"

Earendil was there as well. "Welcome back, Leyenda," he said, his voice filled with relief. "We're so glad you're back safely."

Everyone else had been paying attention only to Leyenda, but at Lin's question, they looked around. Near the trees, a tall, dark figure stood. It wasn't that he was in shadow: his skin was as black as could be, though his hair was the purest white.

"Leyenda ..." Arwen said softly.

Leyenda sighed. "If everyone would just let me speak," she said firmly. She motioned for the man to come over and join them. "Everyone, this is Kelirahc Aleanath. I found him a few days ago, he had broken his arm. I set it for him, and he took me to his village."

She smiled at Kelirahc as he drew near. "He showed me much of the island, and many of the wonders that the island holds ... and he brought me back here."

Everyone was uncertain of what to do, but Roydon was the first to recover. He bowed his head to the man. "We're grateful to you for taking care of our daughter," he said warmly. "Thank you very much."

Kelirahc looked a bit awkward, but he bowed back to Roydon and spoke in a strange language.

Rhea blinked. "The ancient tongue," she breathed.

"Of course not," Rhea replied, staring at the man. She spoke to him in his own language, which seemed to delight him very much. He chattered away to her, and she translated as he spoke.

"He says that he is glad that he was able to bring her back to us safe and sound," she murmured, watching him, somewhat fascinated by just how different he was, "and he thanks us for being here in the first place ..."

Leyenda was more excited than anyone. "You have to teach me that language!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

Rhea giggled. "Sure."

Kelirahc spoke again, and Rhea looked at him sharply. She spoke a single word, and he repeated what he had said exactly. Rhea blinked, stared, turned to Leyenda, and stared some more. "Um ... con ... gratulations?" she said hesitantly.