Small Goals

Stopping in front of the lake Xilo stared at the body of water in front of him as his breathing steadied. "Twenty minutes until we need to get going." Walking up to water he grabbed some of it and splashed it on his face while he recharged. Off to the side Xelfia made sure they were safe as Relia came running up a little behind them. "Stamina is not her strong point." Relia wasn't weak by any means but when it came to long battles she struggled for some reason making her appear weaker then she really was. "She also got stronger as well so I wonder what's holding her back." It could have been her path but she doubted it affected her this much. Which meant it was something else however Relia never said anything.

"Doing alright? I can help you if you need me to Relia."

Hearing Xelfia's question Relia shook her head as she tried to catch her breath. Having her hand be held by Xelfia was the last thing she wanted especially at the moment. "Then what do I want?" She had managed to escape her prison and find the friend she had thought was dead. She knew nothing about her family or where she was born besides some vague things Azalu told her once in a while along with the voices. Right now she was just alive and soon that wouldn't be true either. The longer it took her to grab a hold of fire the more her life got burned up. Just healing Xelfia had taken so much out of her already that she was scared to have it happen again.

"Xilo, Tearia, Xelfia." This small bond she felt from them had grown stronger though and this made her want to stay with them. Her only other option was to be alone if she didn't want to be with them since everyone else she met she felt a large sense of repulsion that repelled her. "I'm basically just following them around...hoping." Letting loose a sigh Relia took a deep breath as she walked past Xelifa and up to Xilo by the lake. Carefully she grabbed some water as she stared at the large scars that still covered her hands.

"Will...they..ever go away."

"I'm sure they will someday Relia for now though don't pay too much attention to them. It'll only serve to deter you more."

With a small jump she was surprised Xilo heard her small mumblings as she looked up at him smiling at her.

"But...ugly..unwanted...marked."

"If that were really true would you still be with us? Besides, take a look at these."

Rolling up his left sleeve he showed Relia something he kept hidden most of the time.

"..Hurt?"

"No not anymore but these icicles are permanently stuck there and I have no way of getting rid of them. There's even some on my chest too and while it might not be the same we both have some form of marks on our bodies."

"...."

"What Xilo's trying to say is that you're not alone, Relia, You've got me, Xilo and Teaira. It might be hard but don't let it get to you too much and if it does talk with us about it. We don't bite..always."

Grabbing Xilo's wrist she covered them again as she rustled his hair a little bit and leaned on him. "They'll also heal eventually." She didn't know exactly what they were but she was sure they weren't something bad entirely and just like Relia's would one day be gone. Besides, if Relia thought she could escape Xelfia now she was wrong. "She helped me a lot plus she's a cute little sister to have." Laughing to herself in her own little world, time passed on as Relia didn't say anything else after that.

"Well time's almost up now, we better get going. Feeling energized you two?"

Backing away from the water Xilo looked at the next landmark as a reminder while they still had time. He was still tired but they still had so much more ground to cover that he had to ignore it. Getting Xelfia's and Relia's confirmation, Xilo began to run once more as the night continued on. Hopefully they would be there by the end of the sunset again. After that they would look for the plant Tearia was after and then return.

"Sounds simple but time is ticking."

Locking the door after giving those crystals to some of the doctors, Tearia sat down and pulled out the materials from her bag. "Now the real challenge starts." Sorting each one out one by one Tearia followed her Grandmother's instructions in her head. "Patience is key here." Before she would move and squirm around to much doing these types of things but now she had gotten a lot better at staying still. Grabbing the first leaf she put it in her hand as she slowly melted it down before throwing it in a metal pot she would use to mix it.

"Deld done, now for some water and extra cleansers."

Speaking it out loud before doing it Tearia retraced her every step as she extracted impurities and made sure everything was good. She couldn't make any mistakes here like she did in the past. "A mistake could cost hundreds of lives." Starting over wasn't an option with the amount of time she had so she had to be near perfect. Unfortunately she couldn't get others help making it because of the time it would take to teach them but she should be able to do it on her own. This was a small test that she added to the endless list of improvements she had made in her head.

"Usually goals are supposed to be small..."

She didn't really have a big choice in the matter though and a small part of her wanted to see if she could really succeed.

"Stay concentrated Tearia and don't get distracted."