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***Part 4***
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	The travelers made good time and were in Tri's town about an 
hour after dark. They began searching the streets, mingling with the locals.
"So... where does this Tri person live?" Leo asked after several minutes.
"Um.... well, ...you see..." Zena responded.
"We don't have a clue," Aly finished for her.
"I'm just loving your guy's organizational skills!" Len remarked 
sarcasticaly.
"Thank you, really," Aly replied. "Relax, I do have a PLAN on how to 
find his house," she continued with a fake smile at Len. They continued 
to walk down the main street until they reached a large house. "See, 
it's called a town hall!" Aly stated, pointing at the building.
"Yeah, yeah, special," Len said as she walked in. Everyone followed her 
inside and Aly asked the man behind the desk if he knew of anyone named 
Tri living in town. They lucked out, the man knew him well, and were 
soon on their way with directions.
"Well, this must be it," Zena said as they reached a medium sized 
house, slightly run down.
"Let's hope so, I'm starved!" Aly said as she banged on the door.
	After a long pause they heard footsteps and a young man, 18, 
opened the door. He was dripping wet and wearing only a towel around 
his waist. "NO I DON'T HAVE YOUR DAMN MONEY, I TOLD YOU TO WAIT UNTIL 
TOMORROW YOU PRICK!" he said before the door was even 3/4ths of the way 
open.
"That's nice," Zena said as she shoved passed him and let herself in.
"HI TRI!" Aly said.
"Opps... hey... Aly..." Tri said as he signaled them to come in. "...Hi Zena..."
"Hey," Zena replied.
"Yo," Len said.
"Hi ya," Leo said as he looked about.
"You guys hungry? You looked tired," Tri asked.
"Starved!" Aly said.
"Well... um... if you wanna check out the kitchen I'll get dressed," 
Tri said as he pointed to a door.
"Sounds good to me," Len said and led the way to the kitchen.
	Tri and Aly staid behind and stared at each other briefly. 
"So... Aly... long time no see huh?" Tri mumbled as he closed the door.
"Yeah, sorry about that, you live kinda close to the border of Nirawa ya know?" Aly responded.
"So why'd you come, assuming there's a reason..."
"Long story... reallyyyy long," Aly said. After a pause in the 
conversation Aly laugh-giggled to herself.
"WHAT?" 
"Haha, nothing... just thinking how buff you are... work out much?"
	At this Tri straightened up and cleared his throat. "Oh yeah, 
all the time. Women just die for the muscles ya know? The reason I'm so 
‘buff' is because my wife loves it..."
"YOUR WHAT?!"
"My wife," Tri said matter-of-factly. "In fact we were upstairs when 
you knocked... That's why I was so upset when I answered the door..."
"You evil little liar!" Aly shouted. 
	At this Tri began cracking up. "I had you going there didn't I?"
"Oh get dressed!" Aly said as she marched into the kitchen.
"Welcome to the kitchen Aly, would you mind helping? I mean, I don't 
plan on cooking and serving your lazy ass," Zena commented.
"Oh chill, I was just chatting with Tri! We burst into his house, eat 
his food, and—"
"You were talking? About what, how madly in love you are with him?" 
Zena mocked.
"Zena, SHUT UP!" Aly sneered.
"Yep... you and those blonds," Zena continued.
"Zena, you are just begging for a fat lip," Aly threatened as she 
grabbed some lettuce and began to prepare salads.
"Did he show you his bed... room?" Zena asked.
"No, I'm not a whore like you, remember?" Aly spat out.
"LOOK, just because I can get laid doesn't make me a whore!" Zena 
yelled. "Are we clear on this?!"
"Hell no... slut," Aly responded.
"That's it! You are going down!" Zena yelled as she crossed the room 
and attacked Aly.
	Aly spun around to face her cousin. ‘Oh good, she's pisssed, 
this will be easy,' Aly thought as she prepared for the attack. Zena 
slammed into her and they went flying across the floor. Aly tucked in 
her legs and kicked Zena off while they were still sliding across the 
floor. She stood up, grabbed a tissue for her bloody nose, and 
continued to prepare dinner. Len and Leo exchanged glances and 
continued to drink their water. Zena stood up and also continued 
cooking.
"You need to chill out Zen," Aly said after a few seconds.
"I've told you not to call me a whore Aly," Zena said between clenched teeth.
"Yeah, yeah, get over it. I'm not the one who..." 
"Just drop it already"
"Fine"
	At this Tri entered the kitchen, dressed, and stared at Aly. 
"Is there a reason you have a wad of tissues on your nose?" he asked.
"Yeah, SOMEONE attacked me," Aly said, glaring at Zena.
"Ah," Tri remarked, looking at Leo and Len who shrugged.
"Sit. Your dinner will be ready soon," Zena demanded.
	Tri looked at the strangers sitting at his table and raised his 
eyebrows. 
"Oh, hello... I'm Len, this is Leo, we've known them for less than 2 
days," Len said as she nodded toward Aly and Zena.
"Ah, great, I'm really lost now," Tri said as he sat at the head of his 
table. Zena brought over some tortellini and some sauce she had whipped 
up, and Aly followed with her salad and the dressing she had thrown 
together. Everyone began to eat and between bites they took turns 
explaining the whole story to Tri.
"I'm so sick of telling this story and it get's longer each time!" Zena complained.
"I know, sheesh!" Aly agreed.
"I guess I should have expected you after I heard of those Griffins," 
Tri remarked, speaking for the first time since he sat down.
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***Part 5***
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"So what do you know about the Griffins?" Aly inquired.
"Well... let's see..." Tri responded as he gathered his thoughts.
"We don't have all night hon," Zena remarked impatiently. Tri shot her 
a look of annoyance and continued.
"They tore through a town to the West, flew into Nirawa, didn't harm 
anyone there, and then they dissapeared without a trace," Tri said.
"When was this and did you see them?" Len inquired bluntly.
"This morning at dawn and yeah. I saw them just as they went into Maru- 
that's the town to the West- and I've heard many people talking about 
how the Griffins disapeared into thin air. Those things are scary and 
I'm so glad I didn't get in their way. I wish I could have helped the 
people in Maru but they just buzzed by so fast... Not too many people 
were hurt though," Tri responded.
"Oh great, this should turn out to be an adventure and a half!" Zena 
complained.
"Dang, and I LIKE lions too!" Leo burst out. At this everyone turned 
and stared at him, wondering the sanity of his outburst. "Opps... I 
mean... I like lions a lot, and Griffins are cool because they have 
lion heads, but I'm not siding with the Griffins or anything!" he 
clarified.
"Um..." Aly said as she shook her head in wonder, "anywayssss... what 
we should do is to get Baha and Shadow to sneak around Nirawa tomorrow 
and we'll get supplies in town while we wait for them to scout about..."
"That sounds like a plan to me, now can we please go to bed, I'm 
bushed!" Zena stated as she jumped out of her seat.
"YOU, TIRED?!" Aly said in shock. "At this hour?!"
"Hell yeah, weird huh? But you can stay up with your boyfriend if you 
like!" Zena mocked and she stuck her tounge out.
"Zena, if you don't shut your lying mouth up I'm gonna-" Aly said as 
she scowled in anger. She was completely sick of Zena's jokes.
"So I see you gals are still bickering 24/7," Tri said, cutting Aly off.
"Of course... though it is better than a bloody nose!" Aly responded as 
she twitched her sore nose.
"Or a stomach ache, blah!" Zena continued as she recalled being kicked 
across the kitchen.
"I guess bickering keeps you gals healthy," Leo commented with a grin.
"And you haven't bickered most of the day, what a shock," Len added 
with a laugh. The cousins exchanged glances and smiled at eachother.

	Several minutes later Zena said her goodnights and began to 
work her way to the door. She paused to glance at Leo and Len, 
signaling them to retire with her.
"Well, it seems to me that I'm having trouble staying awake, I guess 
I'll be going to sleep too," Len said as she stood up, stretched and 
made for the door.
"Yeah, same for me I guess, g'night," Leo said as he too began to exit. 
Tri stood up to show them their rooms but Zena stopped him.
"Oh it's alright hon, I know the place well enough, I can show them to 
their rooms," Zena said as she grinned at Aly. Aly rolled her eyes and 
kept them pointed toward the ceiling until Zena, Leo, and Len had 
departed.
"Thanks Zena," Tri called after them as he retook his seat.
"Oh I wish I could kill that nut sometimes," Aly growled under her 
breath. "Anyways, I'm gonna go to bed too I guess."
"Oh come on," Tri protested, "you have to stay and talk for a few 
minutes at least! Besides, Zena went to all that trouble..."
"Blah..." Aly moaned, "fine, you win, I'll stay for a bit."
	Meanwhile, Zena led the way upstairs and showed Leo to his 
room. She then proceeded into the last empty room with Len right behind 
her. 
"Oh good, there are only two beds in here, Aly will have to sleep 
somewhere else," Zena said with a grin. 
"Okay Zena, I don't know you, but I sure as hell know that you're up to 
something," Len remarked as she claimed one of the beds.
"Oh come now Len, I'm only letting the kids catch up, is there any harm 
in that?" Zena asked as she searched for clean sheets.
"Under normal circumstances, no, not at all. But when you say it I 
begin to wonder," Len responded.
"Then lets just leave it at that!" Zena said as she chucked a pillow 
and some clean sheets at Len. They both made their beds and went to 
sleep.
	Downstairs, Tri and Aly sat around in silence. Neither knew 
what to say, but both were thinking of the past they had spent together 
and how their worlds came tumbling down so terribly that they had not 
seen eachother for several years though they had been close friends.
"So... Tri Guy... who do you owe money to?" Aly inquired after clearing 
her throat.
"What?! How did you know- ...oh yeah," Tri burst out before he had a 
chance to think, "Sorry about greeting you like that, I thought you 
were this idiot who's been extorting money from me just so I can keep 
the house that I fully own... makes sense huh?" Tri said as he cracked 
his knuckles.
"Hm... I guess not... well other than that, how are you getting along?" 
Aly asked.
"Okay I guess. My dad died in his sleep 2 years ago and left me this 
house along with some land in Nirawa that's been reposesed by that 
idiot king..." Tri said with a shrug.
"At least he went easy huh?" Aly said as she shut her eyes and sighed.
"Of course, and I got married yesterday so everything's great," Tri 
joked as he changed the subject to something less painful.
"Oh please, you? Married? That will be the day!" Aly mocked with a grin.
"Oh well, enough teasing, why don't we get to bed?" Tri asked as he 
stood up and waited for Aly to follow suit.
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***Part 6***
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"Sounds good to me," Aly said as she yawned. "See, I told you I was 
tired!" Tri grabbed a lamp off the table and led the way upstairs, only 
to find that the only bedroom left was Tri's, and there was only one 
bed in it. 
"Well, Aly, it looks like you'll have the comfort of my bed tonight," 
Tri remarked as he faced her and grinned. 
"WHA, WHAT?! Whoa, if you think for one sec that I'm gonna-" Aly said 
with concern.
"Relax, relax! What in the world is wrong with my bed?" Tri inquired 
inocently, knowing that Zena had tainted her mind enough to make her 
jump to the conclusion that they would be sharing a bed.
"Um, it's yours for starters..." Aly replied with irritation.
"So?" Tri mocked as he grabbed Aly's hand and pulled her into the room.
"So that's where you sleep and thus where I don't!" Aly retorted as she 
snatched her hand away from Tri and crossed her arms, trying to look 
serious.
"Oh, is that the problem?" Tri asked with pretend shock, "Well chil, 
I'm gonna sleep in Leo's room, there's a spare bed in there."
"Oh... alright... that's cool I guess..." Aly said, feeling rather 
sheepish.
"Of course, we could share this bed and cuddle up," Tri said as he 
gestured to the king sized bed and tried to repress an outburst of 
laughter.
"No!" Aly said as she pushed Tri out of the room, "Geeze, you are 
getting worst than Zena!"
"I know, it's fun to tease you!" Tri said and both of them stood 
smiling and staring into eachothers eyes. After a few seconds of 
silence Aly shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Hey Aly," Tri said 
hesitantly.
"HM?" Aly responded and raised her eyebrows.
"I'm really glad you and Zena came back... I was beginning to wonder 
about ya... and... I really missed the both of ya..." Tri said quietly, "Well, 
good night Aly!"
"Nite Tri Guy," Aly said and she watched Tri retire into Leo's room 
before closing her door and going to bed.
	When Tri entered his room he accidently slammed the door and 
woke Leo up. Leo sat up, rubbed his eyes and stared at Tri briefly.
"If you tell me it's morning I'm gonna shoot myself," Leo grumbled.
"Relax, it's still evening... sorry I woke ya," Tri said as he 
collapsed into his bed.
"Shoo..... So... I'm gathering you, Aly, and Zena knew eachother well?" 
Leo inquired.
"Yeah, old friends... I haven't seen them in years though..." Tri 
mumbled.
"Why? Not to pry but it is odd..." Leo asked as he laid back down.
"Blah, it's a long story that can't be made short... forget it..." Tri 
again mumbled and he turned out the light.
"Alright, have it your way..." Leo mumbled as he closed his eyes. Just 
before he fell asleep he thought, ‘Funny how none of them want to get 
into the long stories of the past.'

CHAPTER 7

	Aly awoke at dawn and slowly got out of bed. She noticed the 
sun making it's morning climb so she stood by the window for several 
minutes and watched. As she stood there her thoughts turned to her 
past. She recalled how blissful her childhood was, but soon she thought 
about the turn of events that destroyed that bliss and forced her and 
Zena to run. Soon a lone tear escaped her eye and ran down her cheek. 
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Aly spun around and headed for 
the door, wiping the tear off her cheek as she went.
	Aly stepped into the hall, fully composed, and noted that all 
was silent. She checked in on Len and Zena and found they were still 
sleeping. She began to walk toward the stairs, but paused at Leo and 
Tri's room. She cracked open the door and found that they too were 
still asleep. Aly crept downstairs and began preparing bacon and eggs 
for everyone. After a moment she recalled that Len was a vegetarian and 
grabbed a few bagels for her. When everything was done she began to set 
the table and serve the food to the empty seats. Just as she turned to 
go upstairs and wake everyone, Leo walked in.
"Morning Aly" Leo said as he looked at the table full of 
breakfast. "...How long have you been up?"
"A bit, have a seat... the others comin?" Aly said and she and Leo took 
a seat.
"Yeah, they'll be down soon," Leo said as he began to munch on his 
breakfast.
	As if on cue, Len walked in and paused at the doorway to sneer 
at the bacon and eggs. She caught sight of the bagels and made a bee 
line for them.
"Moo!" Len called out just as she reached the plate of bagels.
"Pardon?!" Aly said as she snapped her head from Zena to Len.
"Opps, sorry, force of habit... hallo," Len replied as she rubbed her 
eyes in an attempt to fully wake up. At that moment, Zena entered the 
kitchen, also mostly asleep.
"Huh? Cows? What are cows doing in the kitchen?" Zena mumbled as she 
stumbled toward the table.
"Someone needs more sleep," Leo mocked as Zena sat down and began to 
pick at her food.
"Oh no, Zena is more awake with less sleep. Too much and... well, this 
is the result!" Aly remarked as she watched Zena attempt to maneuver 
the bacon into her mouth.
*end of part 6*