Natalia walked through the palace grounds. She was hoping to come across Rean, or one of her other friends. There was not very much to do in the stables today and she needed some time away. Sighing she stopped and looked around. You really could never tell how big this place was until you were looking for someone in it.

Her eyes glanced up to the sun. It was a cloudless day and the sun shone bright. A layer of sweat covered Natalia. Thats funny... she thought randomly, Its hot out, but not that hot. Spotting a bench under a shady tree she walked over to it.

Only five steps away, she stumbled. Landing hard on her knee she cursed. This wasn't like her. "I guess today I'm just a little out of it." she said to reassure herself. It didn't work. Her throat was dry and her voice raspy.

Natalia's heart fell when she realized she couldn't get up. Her heart rose back up again around her throat. Lifting a shaking hand to her forehead, she found it burning hot.

Memories swirled around her. Nightmares, screams, sadness, pain. He worst fear fell upon her.

Sickness.

Rean was walking down to the stables to saddle up Kenshir, and maybe find Natalia to go out for a ride, when she saw her friend collapsed on the ground. Rean gasped and dropped the bridle. Running forward, she slid to Natalia's side, "Natalia! Are you alright?" She saw the sheen of sweat all over the oter girl. Rean put a hand to her forhead and found it blazing. "We.. we need a healer!" She looked around, still kneeling by her collapsed friend. She used a parade ground voice she had picked up, "Help! Someone! HELP!!!" She screamed, her voice desperate and scared. She looked down at Natalia, and grabbed her hand, "It's alright, Natalia, it'll be okay."

A single tear slid down Rean's cheek. She had to be okay... right?

Natalia tried to focus on Rean. She heard her friend's voice calling for help. They would find help. It would be ok. Right? A horrible pain lanced through her stomach. Crying out in pain she squeezed Rean's hand. What sickness could just sneak up on her like this?

Then an aweful truth hit her. Natalia's fear of sickness also brought a fear of healers. She hadn't been feeling to well this past week but didn't say anything. "Curse this sickness." she muttered.

Rolling to the side just in time Natalia vomited. Tears filled her eyes. Now she knew what this was. The Summer Sickness. "Rean.." she said her voice dry. "you..have to...get away. I'll start....hallucinating...I....could....hurt you." she gasped for air. She wouldn't let herself hurt Rean she wouldn't.

Rean held back Natalia's hair when she threw up. "It's okay. It'll be okay.." She murmured. She didn't mind if Natalia punched her in the face, as long as she was okay. "Don't worry about it. I'm a squire, our lives are full of pain. We like pain, I've heard." She made a weak attempt at sarcasm, and then fear and despair filled her face. She scanned the grounds. Why was no one coming to help them. "HELP! SOMEONE! PLEASE!!!" She screamed. She looked back at Natalia, and placed her hand on the other girls forhead, smoothing back her hair. "It'll be okay.."

Natalia's eyes slowly glazed over. She was somewhere else now, in a different time.

Glaring at an unknown source she yelled, "You will not hurt that horse." She recoiled backwards as if having been hit. Her eyes followed someone leaving. "Its ok Trickster. I'll take care of you. We won't let them hit us again. Never ever." A determined look crossed her face. "We'll leave here, Trickster. You and I."

Laying back down Natalia's chest rode and fell with her jagged breaths. Anger flashed through her far away eyes. Staring straight at Rean, but not seeing her she reached up and slapped her right across the face. "Get away Elisabeth!" she said her voice hard with anger. "You're not my mother and you never will be so just leave me alone." She stopped for a moment, as if listening. Tears spilled from her eyes. "It wasn't my fault they died!!!" she sobbed, her shoulders shaking. "It wasn't my fault...it wasn't my fault..."

Rean fell backwards, "Okay, ow." She grabbed Natalia's hand again, and laid a hand on her shoulder. She yelled, "CAN SOMEONE COME HELP US?! GOD!" She dodged Natalia's mood swings as best she could, and listened to her hallucenations. Poor Natalia.. she'd had such a hard life. Rean wasn't prying - there wasn't much to do. How could she help? Was there anything she could do? She couldn't leave her here to get a healer, and no one seemed to be coming. "Oh, what do I do.." She murmured despairingly.

Trickster had broken down his stall door. Feeling his Lady's pain he raced to her and stood looking down on her. Seeing her beloved horse brought her back for a moment. "In Mithros NAME WHY IS NO ONE HERE!" she shouted using the last of her strength.

"No Grandma, we won't loose the hose. We won't live on the side of the rode. We won't" she said her voice sad. Shaking her head she cried until the memory changed. Eyes wide with fear she grabbed onto the stallion's leg. "No! Don't come near me you sickos!! Get away!!" tears spilled down her face as she whimpered. "Trickster, make them go away."

The horse whinnied shrilly. He rememberd too because Natalia held to his leg. Raiders had been going after Natalia and she had asked Trickster to make them go away. He had killed them. Natalia had run. He remembered her rambling about how beauty isn't a gift at all. It had taken a long time for both of them to get over that. He watched with sad eyes that were too intelligent for a horse, as his Lady rolled and cried and sceamed. He felt her pain when it lanced through her stomach. He snorted at the lady squire, seeming to say do something.

Rean watched Trickster in his fear. She looked at him, scared, "I don't know what to do!" She cried, still holding ont Natalia's hand. "Trickster, I don't know what to do!" She felt Natalia jerk away, and Rean buried her face in her hands. After a moment, she looked at Natalia again. Rean wouldn't let her die. She wouldn't. She screamed, loud and long, and there was a crash from their left.

A healer ran up to them, and dropped some of her stuff next to Rean. "Let me look at her." After a moment, she looked at Rean, "It's the Sweating Sickness."

The healer looked at Rean sadly. "The Summer Sickness is very rare to be able to heal. I'm sorry. I will try my very best." she said earnestly. She rustled in her bad and crushed some herbs together and put them in with some water. Lifting Natalia's head she said softly "Drink this, child."

Natalia parted her lips, eyes glazed. She drank it down. A weird sort of calm filled her. THe healers soft hands cooled her forhead. Natalia still blazed with heat. Feeling her heavy cotton shirt taken off, she felt her skin breath. Normally lying in a courtyard with only an undershirt and breeches on, ranting and raving with hallucinations, and also with layers of sweat all over her, she would have been mortified.

For know, Natalia floated in a place the medicing had brought her. 'Mother Godess, help me' she cried out with her mind.

But the medicine just let her stay in this peaceful place. It didn't help her. She was drifting very close to the darkness. To the Black god. She shuddered.

Sad eyes looked on Rean. "I'm sorry sweetie. There isn't much more I can do."

Tears slipped down Rean's face, and she an her fingers through the ends of Natalia's hair. Natalia was one of her best friends. She was her only friend that was a girl. Rean cried, and said, "Please, please, can you do anything else?" She looked up at the healer, scared and pleading.

"I'm sorry, dear, but there's nothing I can do. She either pulls out of it herself, or she doesn't pull out of it" She didn't add that they uaully never pulled out of it. She sighed, and touched Rean's shoulder.

Rean sat there, staring at her sic, sick, friend.

Natalia fought. The medicine, she found, did help. It cleared away all other thoughts of her physical state and left just her mental state. So now she fought. She found herself armed with a sword, facing off against a huge black mass.

With a grim face she did a cut sharp towards the blackness. Making a connection, she felt more pain. Grumbling the sword vanished. She had nothing. No weapon to fight this with. Where was Trickster.

Outside of this internal battle, her hand twitched. Tears spilled down her lovely face. Her lips twitched. Trickster knew. He wanted her. Laying down, he lay by her. In her mind, there was Trickster. She was seven again.

Looking up from seven year old eyes up to a three year old horse she cried. "Trickster I'm scared. Where are we?" she sniffled and grabbed the horse's leg. "I want to leave here."

'Are you sure you want to leave Natty?' Sad eyes looked up at her favorite thing in the world. "Yeah" she said a small hand wiping at her eyes red from crying.

The noble horse's eyes were sad. He didnt' want to leave his lady. But he didn't want to go to where she was going.

Rean just watched as Trickster lay next to Natalia, and she squeezed Natalia's hand, and patted Trickster's shoulder.

The healer backed away and watched.

Rean let the tears stream down her face openly. Trickster laying down was like the cherry on the top. It was like he knew she was leaving, and he wanted to be with her. Rean wiped her face, and new tears fell down onto her tunic, making dark spots on Natalia's undershirt, and Rean's own shirt.

Falik ran down the hill at full pelt. He'd been grabbed by another healer to come and help with the stretcher to carry a patient up to the infirmary.

"No!" Falik cried out through gritted teeth as he saw who lay on the ground with Rean. He skidded down on to his knees next to Rean. He could see the girl was deathly pale and had a blazing feaver.

"What..." His voice cracked. "Oh no."

At Falik's arrival, Rean started shaking. Tears fell faster, and she looked at him. She didn't have a frown on, her face wasn't scrunched up, her pain was beyond that. Tears fell quickly out of her eyes, no expression except for the pain and sadness in her eyes. "I didn't know what to do.." She sobbed, her voice cutting off, and she looked down her and Natalia's clasped hands. "I didn't know.."

The seven year old in Natalia's mind tugged on Trickster. "Come on! I'm ready to go be with mama and papa. They are where we're going!" she tugged harder on the patient horse. 'Don't you want to say good-bye to your friends? Don't you want to fight a little more?' he begged of his lady.

Natalia's eyes fluttered open slightly. She managed a very weak smile. It was more like a twitch of her lips. She took in Falik and Rean, Trickster at her side. "I have to...go." she rasped. Tears slipped out of her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Falik bit his lip, practically drawing blood. He hugged Rean to his side tightly, not knowing what else to do and barely keeping his own tears back.

He tried to smile as Natalia spoke, he could see in her eyes that she was all but gone already. "We know." He managed in a whisper. He patted her arm.

Rean let Falik hug her, and she didn't want to be strong, she didn't want to be brave. She wanted her friend back. She shut her eyes as tightly as she could, and focused on her breathing. She needed to calm down. She had lost people before; her mom, her older brother. But this was different. This was Natalia. She held in a sob, and kept her eyes closed. She didn't want to see it, she didn't want to watch her friend die. She was scared she'd see Natalia's soul leave her, and that she would actually have to believe that this was real.

It was fighting now. The Darkness. It was tired of her fighting and childesh games. The Black god was coming. And she could do nothing more. "You guys," she panted, "Were the best friends...I ever had..." she held tight to Rean's hand. "Bye..."

Natalia looked around for the last time. She felt all her horse friends in her mind. Saw the beauty of the first place she could ever had called home. And she took it all in. She felt it there right next to her as she slipped slowly away.

Back in her mind, she climbed on Trickster. "Come on Trickster. Let's go." she said sadly back in her sixteen year old body. A tall man cloaked in black came forward and led the horse forward. A tear slid down her cheek. Patting Trickster one last time she nodded, and they set off.

In her real body, her hand slipped from Rean's grasp. Her chest fell, but didn't rise again. Trickster's body slumped to the ground as he died faithfully with his lady.

And a light went out in the world, forever.

OOC: Omg.. that's so sad.. :( :(

BIC:

Rean opened her eyes, and the sight before her broke her heart. She swallowed, and raised her eyes to Falik, "We should.. we should do something.. with .. th-the bo- the body." She said, then looked at the ground, tears still seeping out of her eyes. "I-I can't do this.. I can't do this, Falik.."

She looked at her friend, laying on the ground, and she swore she wouldn't let another friend die... not if she could do anything about it. She tried not to keep crying, but she couldn't stop. Sob after sob tore through her.

(OOC: It really is!))

IC:

Falik blinked, a look of pain on his face as he stared numbly at the body of his friend. He couldn't cry even, as he sat there. It was only Rean's sobs that stirred him and he turned and hugged her tightly agains him, as much for his own comfort as hers, feeling her sobs shaking them both.

Very softly under his breath he began a prayer to the Black God for Natalia and Trickster, the only thing he knew to do at a time like this.

Rean heard his prayer, and she just leaned against him, sobbing so hard she thought she was going to tear apart. What were they going to do? Natalia was gone... she was really gone...

The healer went to go get the others, and the gravedigging team.

OOC: We need to get Damien in here. He was her friend, too. Who else?

OOC: lmao I'm not sure she had many more friends....lol!

OOC: Oh... *looks away* ... lol

OOC- OMG! That was so sad.... :( Natalia was cool, she said hi to Gwynn and talked to FireDancer once.... I guess I'll have to make a stable hand with wild magic (if I can get wild magic). But, why did she have to die???