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"I'll send Zeus and Ponydash looking, too," Andarien agreed with his sister. He hurried off to speak with his remaining Pokemon.

Kyrie looked around at everyone, and it seemed as though she had shed a heavy burden.

"Thank you all," she said softly, her voice filled with a warmth that had been absent since before the White Elf had been brought to the clinic. "I need to go and prepare, but I'll be back here early tomorrow morning so that we can leave."

Earendil nodded. "See you then. And try to get some rest yourself, won't you?"

He had a feeling she probably wouldn't, not with the way she had reacted to the man her husband had treated.

It only took Andarien a few minutes to find Zeus and Ponydash and explain that they needed to find Eon and Ai as quickly as they could, and then they began to search. Zeus sniffed around the ground, trying to catch his parents' scent, and Andarien followed close behind him, occasionally calling out Eon and Ai's names.

Eon was in the middle of grooming Ai when he heard Andarien's voice shouting for him, and his ears perked up and he looked around. A moment later he heard him calling again, and he nuzzled Ai's shoulder and yipped at her quietly that they should go and see what their masters wanted.

He was disappointed of course, but he was also well-trained, and he knew that he had to put his master ahead of himself and even Ai.

Andarien was glad when Eon came bounding towards him out of the forest, but he gave him a stern lecture about staying close when he went off with Ai - after all, what if they got attacked while he and Ai were gone? Or what if they had to go somewhere - like in this case - but they couldn't afford to wait around for Eon and Ai to return?

But Eon was an intelligent creature, and he understood, and so it wasn't long until neither of them were upset anymore.

They spent the afternoon preparing for the trip, rested well that evening, and in the morning, before the sun was up, Kyrie appeared in the middle of their camp and was waiting for the others.

As usual, Andarien had to be woken by someone else, but eventually even he joined the others, bleary-eyed but dressed and with his things ready to go.

For once, even Kaito had gotten up early, and since he was staying back with Shiro, he had prepared breakfast for everyone.

"Andarien, wear your swords," Earendil reminded his son, nudging him gently. "You need to be prepared for anything."

Andarien grumbled something about "That's what the Pokemon are for," but he did open his chest and start rummaging around for his daishō.

"And don't you forget to practice every chance you get," Kaito spoke up. He was unusually serious. "If you're caught in there it may just be a life or death situation."

Kyrie was deep in thought when Lin asked her question, and it took a moment for her to answer.

"I suppose it means on what you mean by 'there'," she replied quietly. "We can't go straight to the city. That would be suicide."

She exhaled slowly and looked towards the forest. "The land itself is much like Caras Galadhon - rich, fertile soil, and forest anywhere that hasn't been settled ... it's further south, though, and warmer."

She fell silent once more and closed her eyes, her thoughts once again taking over; but soon she opened her eyes again and continued.

"As for what we can expect for treatment," she murmured, "it depends on where we are. Before we go to the city, we will stop and see some friends of mine. There, they will be cautious but welcoming. Once we go to the city, though ... expect to be viewed with suspicion, if not avoided entirely."

Kyrie smiled faintly and nodded. "Yes. We will find out more when we visit my friends."

She looked around at everyone. "Are we ready to go, then?" she murmured.

Everyone was present by this time, even those who weren't going. Wren and Lancariel were ready, and they nodded in response to Kyrie's question. Andarien finished tying on his swords and double checked them before he also nodded. Earendil was ready, and he looked to Lin and Miyuki to make sure they were as well.

So they bid farewell to those who were staying behind, and after one more check that they had everything they would need, they headed out, with Kyrie once more in the lead.