She Reunites with her Comrades

A small playful breeze drifted across the plaza, stirring up the desert sand into a whirling spout that disappeared almost as quickly as it had arrived. From the center of the dust that was settling back down, Robin and a bundled up Briar emerged.

"So, let me get this straight, you could have done this the entire time we were at the oasis? I thought that spatial magic was restricted here?" Robin asked, confused.

"That's because it wasn't magic." Briar replied. "It functions on a different energy signature." She tilted her head before shrugging.

"I didn't create the connection to this location, or else I'd have properly labeled it. But look, isn't that your friend's carriage over there? At least we arrived at the right place."

Briar pointed to a familiar carriage, as a white streak darted in Robin's direction, crashing into her chest.

'Robin! you owe me ten snake treats!' Skye meowed, but you could tell that Skye was feeling relieved now that Robin was back. 'I missed you so much!'

While Robin was busy soothing a certain flying cat, Briar lifted up her had to a spot in the air, as specks of light gathered together into a mana crystal.

"As I thought. This was probably set by Cyto..." Briar sighed, before the crystal dispersed into the atmosphere once more. At least this time there was a proper label added, to prevent mistakes.

"Cyto?" Robin asked.

"An old friend. You might meet him in the future, if he's home, that is." Briar replied. "But, regardless, shouldn't you inform your friends that you've returned?"

"Huh? Oh, right." Robin smiled. She booped Skye's nose before heading to the inn to surprise her companions. But Briar did not accompany her.

Briar stayed back, observing the surrounding area with a sudden stern look.

"Surely...that sort of thing should not be here..." Briar muttered, before walking away in a different direction. Even if it wasn't what she thought it was, it would be a good idea to check out the situation.

-----------

"Must you all be so dramatic?" Robin asked, after she was pulled into a group hug with Jasmine, Keith, Gerard, Ponzu, And Christian. Liam stood nearby, fanning Chelsea to dispel the desert heat.

"No! You're not allowed out of my sight for even a moment from now on!" Keith refused. "But, how did you manage to arrive here so quickly?"

"Well you see, the traveler-eh?" Robin turned to see that Briar had disappeared. She brushed her hair out of her face as she wondered where Briar had gone.

"Yes, what about the traveler?" Jasmine asked.

"Well...the traveler had a way to get us to the nearest town surprisingly quickly. It's just a coincidence that you happened to be here too." Robin explained, hesitantly. She didn't want to spill too much without Briar's approval.

"Was feeling generous, I suppose. Even adopted me as their younger sibling."

"What? Are you sure you're okay? They didn't do anything weird to you?" Christian asked, worried.

Robin tilted her head at Christian. "Sometimes I wonder what is running through that head of yours, Christian. Did you forget who I am? Without my permission, no one can do anything to me."

"So says the person who keeps getting into trouble." Christian grumbled.

"What was that?" Robin's eyes narrowed.

"...I mean.." Christian quickly thought up a reason. "There wasn't any magic in your world, right? So there could be a lot of poisons or magic spells that you wouldn't even know how to avoid! The desert is a dangerous place, after all!"

Robin paused, remembering the silent scorpions that Briar had shown her. She nodded. "That very well may be true. But you have nothing to worry about that one. "

"How do you know?" Christian asked.

"If they were going to do something, then these past few days were the perfect opportunity for it. Yet nothing was done. All that they did was just being genuinely helpful." Robin smiled. "I'm not an ignorant child. I know what kind of person I can trust."

Robin then looked at Christian with an appraising glance.

"What is it?" Christian felt flustered under Robin's scrutiny. Robin was just wondering whether the heat was getting to Christian's head, considering how flushed he was.

"You should relax a little, Christian. If you spend so much time doubting people, you'll miss the occasion to make some genuine friends." Robin said.

"Pfft!" Keith's shoulders shuddered as he saw Christian's dumbfounded face. "I am glad that you arrived safe and sound, my nie-ephew."

Robin nodded, before noticing that Chelsea was distracted. "Chelsea?" Robin asked.

"...Hmmm?" Chelsea's delayed reaction was apparent to the entire party now.

"You seem dazed. Are you not feeling well? Did you get heat stroke?" Robin asked, concerned.

"Oh, it's not that....I just...feel this place is somewhat familiar." Chelsea replied, shaking her head. The very breeze itself seemed to carry the sound of a faint melody to her ears. It was familiar, despite Chelsea not being able to recall her brother ever singing it.

She suddenly felt drawn to approach the source of the song. Chelsea stood up suddenly and made her way outside into the sun, surprising the entire crew. Liam was the first to follow, taking out the sea green parasol he had obtained.

The rest of the party quickly filed out after her, wondering where she was going. Chelsea's footsteps were pointed outside of town. Little did they know direction Chelsea was heading was the same direction as a certain elf...

As she made her way towards the outskirts, Robin noticed a small disturbance, like a small ripple fanning away from the two dragons. Upon closer inspection, she found they were made of desert wildlife. The silent scorpions, scarabs, and small poisonous creatures of the desert were in the process of fleeing from the two dragons.

"Keep close behind them." Robin warned. "The poisonous creatures here are avoiding these two."

As Chelsea drew closer, she began to hum as she heard the melody clearer and clearer. Liam too, found that he heard a melody, but his was different from Chelsea's. The one he heard drifted in and out of Chelsea's melody, distinct, yet in harmony with the tune. He also began to hum along as they drew closer...

---

Briar retrieved her knife from the head of a deceased giant silent scorpion. It seemed that she had chanced upon the brood mother of the entire area's silent scorpion population. Briar felt relieved she had made sure to obtain an item that made her immune to all poison specifically for this journey.

She quickly collected the corpse, as well as those of the army she had slain on her way in. She snapped her finger and the dead scorpions flew up, disappearing into the small satchel at her side. The small bag seemed to never get full, despite holding far more inside than it's outer appearance suggested.

Briar then cast a cleaning magic, which cleared away all traces of poison or dirt in the area. the place she was now in was a series of caves formed out of solid stone. Moreover, it was not merely a set of caves. There was a special magic that was cast here. Music hummed in the walls at a frequency that perhaps only elves and dragons could hear.

Briar continued forward to the next room, which was the largest cavern, and stopped in the entranceway. As she looked, she suddenly realized why it had seemed so familiar to her. The magic that was cast here had been placed by a moon elf. Looking at the familiar magic script, Briar felt more and more certain...this was something that had been set down by her grandmother, the Matriarch, long ago.

Her ear twitched as she looked behind her back the way she had come. Was someone singing?

---

Indeed, someone was singing. Liam and Chelsea were no longer humming, but singing aloud the wordless melodies they each heard, dancing together at the entranceway into the caves. It was an odd sight for most, but Robin felt she had seen similar scenes once upon a time...in a certain mouse's brand of childrens films.

The two dragons danced into the shadow of the caves as if they didn't even notice the change in location.

Robin and the others followed quickly behind, and Jasmine waved her arm, sending a ball of light into the dark space before them. It was none too soon, too. Because all of a sudden, the cave entrance closed up behind the group.

"That's not foreboding at all." Christian grumbled.

"Shh!" Robin hushed him as she concentrated on following the two entranced dragons through the circuit of caverns.