Around mid-afternoon, Elia and Ruby arrived at the Ajar Forest with knapsacks. Ruby was dressed in a green, short-sleeved, hooded tunic that fell above her ankle-knee high boots. Underneath her tunic, dark brown, long sleeves were tucked inside her leather arm bracers. Her twin daggers were sheathed by its belt that was wrapped around her thin waist. A steel pauldron rested on Elia's shoulders. She wore a red tunic over her chainmail shirt with its sleeves slipped inside leather gauntlets. Chainmail leggings disappeared into her steel greaves.

Elia thanked Jaden for providing her the new armor. Ruby's parents were worried that their daughter was going with her, but the warrioress promised them that she would take good care of her.

"Do you remember where her 'home' is located?" Ruby asked with skepticism. On their way to the forest, she recalled Elia describing Sable's home in detail but not where it was.

"No," Elia replied flatly as they walked, "but I hope I can remember." She tried to remember the way Sable brought her to the entrance of the forest in reversed directions. They had to find that exotic-looking tree cavern which should not be hard to miss. However, she remembered the trip was a long walk.

Ruby resisted to roll her eyes. "That's great. I hope we don't get lost."

"Hey," Elia said, a bit offended at the remark. "you wanted to come with me, didn't you?"

Ignoring the warrioress, the redhead quickened her walking pace. It was true that she wanted to come with her, but she assumed that Elia knew where they were going to find the ranger. The decision to return to Sable was badly planned. Now they were blindly searching for the ranger in the large forest which could possibly take days. By the time they did reach the ranger, Cathan and his partners would probably be ahead of their plan.

Elia caught up with Ruby. "Why do you keep snapping at me? Did I make you angry in some way?"

Ruby walked a little slower but fell silent. She did not know why she was acting hostile towards the blonde. Could it be she was feeling anxious around her? There was nothing to be nervous around Elia, however; Elia was her friend.

Ruby stopped walking and glanced at Elia's grayish-blue eyes which showed she was worried. "I'm sorry, Elia," the redhead began, "I don't know what's with me today, but please don't take anything to offense."

Elia nodded understandingly. "Well, I think it's that hood you're wearing," she stated bluntly. "Since when did you get so insincere about your looks? You still look beautiful with or without clear skin."

Ruby flushed, jabbing her pair of cold, dark green eyes at the warrioress. "Why can't you just leave me alone?" she said angrily as her voice rose. "You know I hate flattery. I'm not 'beautiful.' Why can't you understand? I'm wearing this hood to do everyoneand you a favor."

Elia wanted to grab her wrist and turn her around; it was ridiculous how Ruby had to hide her face. Ruby was still beautiful to her, but apparently, the redhead did not believe in her. "Prove it to me that you're not beautiful then," Elia replied calmly.

Freezing, Ruby glared at Elia with tears emerging in her eyes. "You want proof, Elia? Here!" She furiously yanked her hood off. The sunlight through the foliage revealed the clearer image of her from last night. This time Elia was able to see the pinkish-red blemishes dotting her jaw line. The only part that was not red was her pale lips, neck, and sides of her cheeks. Ruby still looked like the same since she was twelve, but some of her features matured such as her nose and cheeks.

Elia stared softly at Ruby's face. "You are still beautiful," Elia murmured, hugging the sobbing redhead. "You don't need to hide your face around me."

"But I was never liked this," Ruby cried, burying her face into Elia's shoulder. "If it wasn't for him, I would've never been like this."

Him? "Who?" Elia asked confusingly. "Who is him?"

Ruby wiped her tears away. Taking a few breaths, Ruby tried to calm herself down before answering. "My ex-lover," she replied in a bare whisper. Elia's grayish-blue eyes widened; Ruby had been with someone? "He and I used to do falchion training together with the same swordsman. We became friends and eventually fell in love. I didn't realize he only loved me for my looks until he broke off our engagement promise when I developed this cursed skin inflammation. I quitted falchion training and moved on to daggers. I never went out again and bothered to take care of my skin until it got worse."

A mixture of jealousy and anger swelled Elia's heart. "What a shallow jerk, and just because of that?" Elia remarked angrily. "You deserve someone much better than him." Despite this was unsettling to hear, Elia was relieved that Ruby told her. She could imagine how emotionally damaging it was keeping that inside. Breaking off the engagement just showed that he never loved Ruby at all. It was just cruel.

Ruby shrugged. "It doesn't matter anymore; it was three years ago. I absolutely despise him now."

Elia rested her chin on Ruby's hair. "Well, you shouldn't give up the falchion; it's a great weapon."

Ruby closed her eyes with a sigh. Her rejection from her ex-lover had deeply scarred her confidence but telling Elia now felt relieving. "No, it's fine with me," the redhead replied. "It'll just bring back the memories of him if I decide to use it again. Besides, I prefer daggers."

Elia nodded understandingly, accepting the redhead's decision. She cherished the silent moment of their embrace until they broke off to continue their search for Sable. Throughout the walk, Elia remained quiet to give Ruby some space for reflection. The thought of Ruby's ex-lover plagued her mind with hate and jealousy; he was an awfully wicked person, and she could make Ruby happier than anyone else could if she can.

~~~

"Bluey!" Sable's desperate cry echoed in the depths of the Ajar Forest. "Bluey, where are you?"

The sun was setting below the horizon, scattering dominate orange and red hues into the fading blue sky. The lake remained still and calm, unmoved by the loud cries of the ranger. Sable panted as sweat clung to her deerskin tunic, and she drank from the waterskin. She had been looking for the alacat cub throughout the whole afternoon, but she still could not find any trace of the cub. Her cub.

Sable had not eaten for hours, feeling the hunger devour her stomach. She headed back to the tree cavern to restore her body with freshly picked blackberries. I'm not giving up," Sable whispered to herself. "I'm going to find you, Bluey."

The ranger's imagination wandered as she thought about all the possible things that could had happened to the cub. Sable walked faster when an image of a large bear was eating the cub. She banished the gruesome thought, but another thought sprung up of Bluey being attacked by an adult alacat and injured to death; her small body leaking out blood. Trying to push all the violent thoughts away, she took a deep breath and assured herself that Bluey was hiding somewhere safe.

Sable mostly wondered how Bluey disappeared. She knew she should had watched the cub more often while she was berry picking, but she thought that the cub was asleep. Only after a few seconds of not watching Bluey, the cub suddenly disappeared on the rock. Where could Bluey had gone?

As Sable came near the tree cavern, she froze in her feet. Something did not feel right about the air as if her territory had been invaded. Whatever it was, it was most likely her intuition trying to warn her about something. Without hesitation, Sable camouflaged among the tall honeysuckle shrubs to hide.

"I'm surprise we finally found her home after those endless hours," a feminine voice began. "I wonder how she lives alone here."

"She's a ranger," a voice replied which Sable recognized. "I hope she'll be back soon."

"Elia, is that you?" Sable called out hesitantly, peeking out of the shrub.

Elia and a green-hooded woman, whom was as tall as the warrioress, stepped out of the ranger's tree cavern. The two women were surprised by Sable's presence as the ranger stepped out of the shrub. Elia and the woman were dressed in a manner as if they were prepared for danger. Sable noted the hooded woman curiously.

Elia stared confusingly at the ranger whose ponytail was almost slipping away from the band, and there were splashes of mud on her deerskin clothes. It looked as if Sable had wrestled a wild animal. Approaching the ranger, Elia asked, "Sable, where have you been?"

Sable sighed, furrowing her thin, faint eyebrows. "Bluey… Bluey disappeared, and I'm still looking for her."

Elia and Ruby glanced at each other with confusion. "Bluey…?" Elia questioned.

Sable's tense complexion relaxed, softening her dark brown eyes. "Bluey is my alacat cub, but she disappeared. I adopted her a few days ago, and now… she's gone." The ranger tried to keep her voice steady, but she felt her voice tremble as she spoke. It frightened her that the cub was vulnerable and unprotected somewhere alone in the forest.

"We'll help you find her," said the hooded woman. "Right, Elia?"

Elia nodded, but Sable shook her head. "You two will get lost," the ranger said. "The Ajar Forest is too vast." It would be a problem if Elia and Ruby got lost; Sable would end up having to search for two more people. "You stay here instead. Maybe you will find Bluey nearby."

"All right," Elia said, coming to agreement. "Ruby and I also found out why the rogues were in the forest." Sable looked at her attentively. "As I expected, the three rogues were hired by a fur trader named Cathan."

Cathan. Sable recalled the last rogue mentioning his name. His name suddenly tasted bitter on her tongue.

"They were hired to trap alacat cubs in cages to breed them for their fur. However, they didn't return yet, so Cathan and two fur trappers are planning to carry out the plan themselves. They will be right here in the Ajar Forest at dawn tomorrow."

Sable growled. It was inhumane to even think of trapping alacat cubs just to raise them and kill them for their furs. These fur traders did not even exist to be alive; they lacked so much respect for nature and life. "I killed all the three others before they could find any cubs," Sable retorted. "Now I have to worry about my cub and them at the same time." The ranger sighed heavily. "I really have to find Bluey now before it's too late."

"At this time?" Ruby asked. "It'll be too dark and dangerous. You should probably get some rest."

Sable stared hard at her green eyes. "Bluey is the one in more danger. She's just a baby alacat, and any predators can find her easily." She paused, growing pale from her pessimistic thoughts. "If I don't find her soon, my mind won't be able to rest for tomorrow."

Ruby was about to protest, but Elia stopped her. "Sable knows what she is doing," Elia whispered. "She'll be fine."

Frowning, Ruby surrendered to the ranger's decision.

The two followed Sable back inside the tree cavern. Sable bent down to grab the basket of blackberries from the ground and offered some to Ruby and Elia. They gratefully ate the dark fruit realizing that they had been hungry as well. Ruby remembered the loaf of bread and ham packed inside her knapsack, so she took them out to share.

"I picked these this afternoon," Sable said, talking through mouthfuls of berries. "That was when Bluey disappeared. I looked for her during the rest of the day, but I still couldn't find her." She gave the basket to Elia to share some with her friend and thanked Ruby for the small portion of the bread. The ranger realized she had not had bread since her grandmother died and smiled faintly at the memory.

"How does the cub look?" Elia asked.

Sable measured an imaginary Bluey with her hands in the air. "Bluey is this tall and this wide. She's a little bigger than a domestic cat, and she has blue eyes."

"No wonder you named her Bluey," Ruby remarked with a small grin.

Sable smiled at her. "It was the first name that came to mind. If you find her around here, try to lure her back inside with food. It's probably the only way you can win her trust." After satisfying her hunger, Sable went to the corner of her tree cavern to grab flint and a torch. In a rush, she left the two women in her home.