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Andarien was clearly perplexed by something, and he looked over at his parents as if hoping they would explain whatever it was for him.

"If you want help understanding what just happened, you're going to have to tell us," Earendil chuckled. "Most of us have no idea what she said."

Andarien shrugged and turned up his palms in an I-have-no-idea gesture.

"She said she was going to wait for me to come back, and I told her not to because she would probably get really bored if she did," he said helplessly. "I mean, it's going to be a while before we're back here, isn't it? I don't want her to just do nothing until we get back!"

Kaito had to turn away so that Andarien wouldn't see his face, but he couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped him.

Earendil's eyebrows shot up, not in surprise that she had asked him, but in incredulity that she thought he could do it well.

"Well, I can try," he supposed. Still, he took a few moments to think about what to say before he tried explaining to his son.

"Andarien," he said slowly, "when someone is going away for a long time - especially if it's going to be for a very long time - and one is a boy and the other a girl ... it means ..."

He trailed off, trying to figure out how to say it without shocking Andarien.

Andarien, for his part, was looking anxiously up at his father, waiting for him to finish his explanation. He wanted to know what was going on, and why Sy was acting so weird!

Earendil gave up trying to find a tactful way to say it and decided that straightforward was, in this case, the only way.

"It means," he picked up where he had left off, "that that person - in this case, Sy - will wait for you to return in hopes of marrying you."

Andarien blinked, silent for a moment as he processed what his father had said; and then it sank in. His eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped.

"Wait - wait a second!" he protested in a panicked tone. "Don't - don't I get a say in this?! I'm just a kid! I mean, I know I'm not a kid but I'm not an adult either! And I hardly even know her! We were only there for a week! Barely!"

"Yeah, but ... but at least they both wanted it," Andarien said weakly. "I mean ... she's been bragging all week to her friend about me, but she didn't know I understood because I didn't say anything, and she spoke to her friend in that other language, and I figured - well, you said it was advantageous to understand other languages without the people realizing that you do ..."

"And just what was she telling her friend?" Daeron asked inquisitively, his eyes bright with amusement.

Andarien blushed and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Bragging about her handsome new student," he mumbled.

"Well, and the first time it kind of startled me so I didn't say anything," Andarien explained, "and then after that I didn't know how to tell her because ... well, it was awkward for me, too - especially after I figured out what you meant by 'dashing' when I had to go back for my goggles ..."

He trailed off, suddenly connecting the comment about him being 'much better' without his goggles, and her frequent comments about him being her 'handsome student'. Until now, he had just thought that his mother thought him handsome without the goggles rather than Sy thinking him even more so.

Kaito had both hands over his mouth, and Shiro was looking at him threateningly.

"I sure hope so," Andarien said anxiously. "I really hope so."



The days passed, and once again, travel became routine: wake each morning, eat a warm breakfast, walk, have a cold lunch, walk, have a warm supper, make sure tents were set up, and sleep, with two people taking turns watching for the night. Whenever they stopped, Andarien made sure to alternate between lessons with Kaito, training his Pokemon, and tinkering with his gears. His lessons with Shiro were almost entirely oral, so they did those while they walked.

They came across a few more settlements as well. Though most were only a single home, a few of the places had three or four families in the area. They rarely stayed more than a night or two in these places, as Kyrie insisted they continue to that they would end up in the northern countries during the summer, rather than the winter.

The group also grew a bit closer during their time together. Thanks to their size, they were left unmolested by animals that, to a single person, might have been dangerous; and as the group learned much about the land from Kyrie, Kyrie herself became more open with them, even Lancaeriel and Miyuki.

A few minutes previous, Earendil had asked Kyrie to show them on her map where exactly they were, especially in relation to the other countries around them.

"About one hundred miles east is the Xieland border," Kyrie was explaining to him at the moment, pointing it out to him. "Earth Elves. We're here. And about ... sixty or seventy miles north is Sier Belen, White Elves. It should be fine for visiting, at least for a short period of time. They don't like visitors much, but they're not the worst."

Kyrie looked up from the map and glanced at Miyuki, her brow furrowing ever so slightly. "Who?" she asked for clarification. "The White Elves or the Earth Elves? Or both?"

She had mentioned both, after all, and Miyuki hadn't specified.

Kyrie nodded and began to fold up the map again so that she could return it to her bag.

"The White Elves," she began, starting with them since that was where they were heading first, "are a very proud people. I know, all elves are somewhat proud, but the White Elves are proud to the point of arrogant. Anyone different from them is either beneath their notice, or not worthy of existing, for the most part. It depends on which country of White Elves you're taking about, but in some of their countries they aren't even good towards each other. Sier Belen is one of the better ones that way, at least they care about their own people."

She paused, then added, "As for government ... they live in tribes, and each tribe has its own chief. The chief is simply the strongest man in the tribe, and he gets his position by challenging the current chief and winning. In some countries - not Sier Belen - the challenge is only won when the old chief is killed."

"Sounds lovely," Kaito said grimly.