"Let's stop here for the night," Sierra instructed while indicating an inn along the street.

"We ought to keep moving," Terra responded while attempting to keep her face hidden from the pedestrians on the street by pulling her hood closer, "I wouldn't be appreciated here."

"C'mon, Terra! We've been walking for hours and we haven't eaten anything all day! Besides, it's almost night and we need to stop somewhere,"

"We can camp outside of town,"

"What's the whole deal? No one is going to attack just because you look different. I doubt they'll even notice your face considering how you keep your cloak about you. Besides, this is bandit season and to rest outside of the city would be dangerous,"

Terra stopped for a moment and considered Sierra's words. They had already encountered several gangs of bandits along the way, which they had taken care of without much difficulty, but to let the bandits have the advantage of first strike would be suicide. She sighed, then nodded her head in assent.

"Alright! I'm so hungry!" Sierra happily stated while walking into the entrance of the inn.

Sierra and Terra sat down at one of the tables in the inn's commons room and awaited a server. Sierra leaned back in her chair, observing the others in the commons room while Terra slouched forward in her chair, trying to hide her face.

The crowd wasn't too unusual: some drunkards at the bar, travelers at the tables, a few couples here and there, and some gamblers. It all seemed pretty normal until Sierra noticed a young man at the table with the gamblers. He had long brown hair that he had to constantly push strands of out of his face so that he could see in front of himself. He wore trousers, a cloth shirt, and leather boots.

"I'm pretty sure I've seen him somewhere before. . ." Sierra absent-mindedly commented to Terra.

Terra looked at the man her friend was referring to, "He doesn't look familiar to me,"

"Really?" Sierra asked while thinking that it was odd that Terra didn't recognize him, "Isn't he Stein?"

"Stein?" Terra flatly asked, then, "Oh! Stein! Yeah, I remember now!"

"Hey, Stein! Over here!" Sierra shouted while waving to him.

"Excuse me a moment," the young man commented to the rough-looking men who accompanied him in a game of poker, "What do ya want?"

"Hey, come sit with us!" Sierra offered.

"Huh? Sierra? I thought you were looking for the lost relic," Stein commented as he approached Sierra and Terra's table. He sat down a moment and then seemed to realize something. He stood back up and walked back to the table of his gambling partners.

"No looking at my hand," he scolded one of the rough gamblers whose eye seemed to want to wander a little more than was healthy for it, "I'll only be a moment, you'd better not consider cheating while I'm gone."

"Cheat? Me?" the gambler scoffed, "What do you take me for?"

"You really want me to answer that?"

The rough gambler mumbled some sort of off-color remark and scooted his chair a little further away from where Stein's hand was lying face down on the table.

Stein came back to Sierra's table and sat down again just as the waiter arrived.

"Give me one of everything on your menu," Sierra instructed.

The waiter dropped his notebook and scrambled to catch it before it hit the ground. Terra dropped limply onto the surface of the table.

"You must be joking!" both Terra and the waiter stated at the same time.

"What's so unusual about that?" Sierra asked Terra. It seemed odd that Terra didn't remember Sierra's eating habits. Only Stein didn't seem surprised by the order for such a huge quantity of food.

"I see you haven't changed a bit since I last saw you," Stein chuckled, "Who's your companion?"

Sierra was about to tell him it was Terra, but Terra cut her off, "I'm just a traveler who's made a temporary companion of this woman."

"Ahem," the waiter interrupted, "And what will you two have?"

"Nothing," Terra simply replied.

"The big guy at the table over there wants a bottle of wasabi sake; I don't need anything," Stein pointed to the table where he previously sat with his gambling companions.

"Very well," the waiter replied and wandered back to the kitchens to begin processing Sierra's order.

"So how went the mission?" Stein asked Sierra, "I'm assuming that it was successful?"

Sierra's expression looked pained for a moment, but then she hid her sorrow with a broad smile. "What do you expect, Stein? You really think I would lose to a bunch of ragtag drunkards who try to pass themselves off as bandits?"

Stein laughed aloud. "That's the Sierra I know! Always better than everyone else, eh?"

"Hey, I can't help it if I'm so good," Sierra replied coolly. There was a moment's pause, then both Sierra and Stein burst out laughing.

"So, how's Terra doing? Did you see her along the way?"

Sierra paused for a second before responding to the painful question. "No, I didn't see her,"

"Oh, well, I'm sure that she'll be on her way back to the shrine soon," Stein said while sighing.

"Oh? What's up?" Sierra asked of Stein's sigh.

"Can you keep a secret?" Stein asked, Sierra nodded, "Well, I was hoping to ask her out on a date when she returns."

"You really have something for her, don't you?" Sierra teased.

"Yeah. . ." Stein sheepishly answered.

"Does that explain why you went out with Cellia before we left?"

"W-What!? How'd you find out about that?"

"It was pretty obvious. She was telling the other women about it,"

"Shit. . .I hope Terra isn't mad. . ."

"Hey, you gonna take forever over there? We'd like to play some poker if you don't mind!" the rough gambler whom Stein was playing with shouted in an edgy voice.

"Well, I guess I'll have to talk to you later, Sierra. If you see Terra give her my best wishes," Stein bode farewell while he trekked back to his table.

The gamblers continued their game as the waiter came over to deliver the wasabi sake. It apparently wasn't received overly well by the people at the table with the exception of Stein, as evidenced by a few shouts and threats made regarding the sake. Eventually one of the rough gamblers was forced to pay for it and Stein got the bottle because no one else wanted the drink what most people thought of as revolting.

Sierra chuckled to herself while watching Stein's antics. What a tricky little fiend. He never changed. Stein apparently noticed she was watching and held up the bottle to triumphantly display it.

"He's not even old enough to drink," Sierra commented to Terra while smirking.

Terra said nothing.

"Hey, did you hear? Looks like the troublemaker has the hots for you,"

"I'm really not given to caring," Terra responded flatly.

"Oh, come on. Don't be so cold, Terra. He looks like he genuinely cares about you,"

Terra looked as though she was about to say something when some commotion from Stein's table interrupted her. She and Sierra turned to see what was going on.

Stein had stood up and was slowly backing away from the table and the other gamblers who were also now standing and has swords drawn and pointed at Stein. The rough gamblers were throwing insults at Stein ranging from "Cheating fishman!" to "Sneaky bastard!"

"I changed the cards in your hand while you were gone! How'd you get four kings!?" the leader of the outraged gamblers accused.

"Hey, weren't you just calling me the cheater? That sounds like confession of cheating to me,"

"Shut up! I'll cut you to pieces!" the gambler shouted.

Stein smiled nervously while scratching the back of his head and slowly backing away from his aggressors who were slowly advancing on him.

"Heh heh, looks like I've overstayed my welcome here. . ." he commented while a rather large sweat drop ran down his head, "Well, it's been fun. . .but. . .See ya!"

Stein ran out the front entrance with his pursuers on his heels. Sierra smirked.

"He forgot something," she commented.

A second later Stein came running back in, grabbed the bottle of wasabi sake and ran through the kitchens with the pursuers running after while shouting various vulgarities. The sound of dropped dishes smashing echoed from the kitchen as the procession went out the back exit. Sierra shook her head and smiled.

"Some people really never change," she said. Even Terra managed a smirk.

"I'm tired, can't we find an inn in this stupid town?" Kleo complained to Toshi and Zelgadis.

"Yeah, I'm feeling a bit sleepy too, Zel. Let's find a place to stay the night," Toshi agreed.

Zelgadis nodded his head. "This is a pretty big town. I have no clue where an inn might be so let's split up and return here in half an hour, alright?"

"Sounds good to me," Toshi replied as he walked off down one of the avenues in search of lodging.

"Meet you later!" Kleo told Zelgadis while walking off another direction. Zelgadis wandered off in a third direction after nodding to Kleo's farewell.

"Inns, inns, inns. . .where are the inns in this town. . .dammit, I'm too tired for this. . ." Kleo said to herself as she walked down the street.

Off in the distance Kleo heard the sound of something that resembled a small mob. A man with long hair came running down the street and accidentally rammed right into Kleo.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, ma'am!" the man politely stated while offering a hand to help up Kleo who had fallen on her rear end.

"That's okay--" Kleo started to respond, but she looked at the man's face and suddenly her expression changed.

"YOU!" both Kleo and the man stated in surprise.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Kleo angrily asked.

"I could ask you the same thing!" the man angrily replied.

"I suppose the great Stein has come to drink, gamble, and womanize as usual?" Kleo sarcastically asked.

"Hey, I don't womanize," Stein defensively stated.

"But you do drink and gamble?"

"Umm. . .well. . .yes," Stein said.

The mob of angry gamblers was getting close so Stein began running again.

"Hey! I'm not done with you yet!" Kleo angrily yelled as she ran after him.

Once Kleo had caught up to Stein and was running beside him she continued her questions. "What have you done now?"

"Oh, no biggie. These guys are just a little excited over a game of poker, that's all,"

"A little excited? Only my stupid brother would say something like that at a time like this,"

"And I'm glad to see you too, sis," Stein sarcastically replied.

Stein suddenly stopped his flight and looked from side to side. After a moment's hesitation he ran over to the side of a nearby building. With an impressive vertical jump he managed to barely grab onto the gutter in the roof. After a few moments he had completely pulled himself up on top of the roof and began running along the rooftops. Kleo's expression seemed incredibly tired as she stood by watching, shaking her head.

"Hey! The son of a bitch is up there!" one of the gamblers announced as he noticed Stein running along the rooftops.

There was an odd whizzing sound like an object traveling quickly through the air. Suddenly the gambler who had pointed out Stein was hit in the face with some object or another and fell to the ground unconscious.

"Don't you dare talk about my mother like that!" Stein shouted from his perch.

One of the gamblers took a moment to inspect the object thrown at his companion. "That's pretty low, throwing a bottle of sake at us. You're gonna get it now you little asshole!"

Kleo sat by watching with half interest as the gamblers one-by-one attempted and failed to climb the gutters to the rooftop.

"Why won't he change?" Kleo complained to herself with her head buried in her hands.

"Why won't who change?" a voice from behind Kleo asked.

Kleo spun around to see Toshi standing just a few feet down the street.

"Oh! Toshi! I--"

"Hmm? Some sort of trouble?" Toshi asked curiously, then he directed his attention to the gamblers down the street, "Hey! What's the deal? Is this necessary?"

One of the gamblers turned to Toshi and shouted back, "Shut up if you wanna keep yer hide, kid!"

"My, my. . .how rude. . ." Toshi muttered as he approached the gamblers.

Upon reaching arm's length of the gamblers, one asked, "Whaddya want, shrimp?"

"Well, that's not a very nice thing to say," Toshi chided, "Let me tell you a little secret, hmm?"

One of the gamblers actually raised an eyebrow indicating attention. Prompted by the action, Toshi cupped his hand to his mouth and leaned to whisper in the gambler's ear.

"Explosion Array," Toshi whispered quietly. The gambler gang seemed quite confused for a moment before the ground below them exploded and the whole group went sailing off in the air to crash through the roof of a distant building. Toshi took a moment to inspect the various items that had been dropped near him in mid-flight but didn't find anything interesting so he returned to where Kleo stood staring at the whole spectacle.

"I. . .I can't believe you just did that. . ." Kleo told Toshi while staring at him in disbelief.

"Can't believe I just did what?" Toshi innocently asked.