Okay, here's chapter 3. It's much, much longer than any of my previous chapters (I decided it was time to post something long since the semester's over and I'm refusing to take any summer courses this year).

Oh, and there's a reference to a bezekira in the first paragraph. So those of you out there who are Clueless, a bezekira is a lion-like devil that is completely invisible in any light a human can see by.

Enjoy!

Several hours after the scuffle with the lizard men, Tertek and Meiryou had left the site of the portal. The tiefling had worked a beacon spell at the spot. He knew that if and when he found a key to open the portal from this side, finding it again would be as hard as finding a bezekira in broad daylight, with no place for it to hide, either. Reaching into his pocket, Tertek pulled out the small stone he'd keyed the beacon to. The stone looked simple and plain, not unlike the thousands and thousands of others the tiefling and samurai had walked past during their trek through the forest. Something about this stone, however, had triggered Tertek's magical senses as soon as he stepped on it. The stone, despite appearances, conducted magic incredibly well. Perhaps it was merely a strange twist of nature that this stone, out of all its brethren, attracted magical energy. Whatever the case, the stone took to the beacon spell quite nicely.

The rogue sighed and looked around at the surroundings. So much forest and it all looked the same. Why did trees have to be so damn boring? The fiendling's lava-colored eyes narrowed just faintly as he glanced at Meiryou. The human hadn't said a word the whole time they walked through the forest and the silence had really begun to annoy Tertek for some reason. Clearing his throat, the tiefling tried to start up a conversation.

"So," he began boldly, "This place like anything on yer Prime?"

Meiryou arched an eyebrow as he looked over at his traveling companion. "On my 'Prime?'" he asked suspiciously.

Tertek sighed heavily. This man was Clueless, though the fact hardly surprised the tiefling rogue. Ordinarily, a Clueless wouldn't irritate him but this human was so distant and frustrating, probably because Meiryou was even more clueless than Clueless. Tertek felt an out-of-character sense of resentment building up within him at this man.

"Prime," Tertek repeated, his voice getting just a slight, barely perceptible tone of irritation in it, "Yer 'ome plane. Th' place ye bang 'round most o' th' time."

Meiryou smirked. "Well, why didn't you say so?" he replied with an amused tone. He paused a moment, then continued in a more serious voice, "Yes. We have bandit incidents like the one we endured earlier."

Tertek trained his gaze forward and seethed for a moment. This human was insufferably haughty and for no reason. Tertek tried thinking of ways to put this human in his place. Meiryou had no knowledge of planewalking and seemed, judging by both his mannerisms and the annoying way he had suggested going to the mountains before, the man was entirely clueless when it came to wilderness survival.

"I did say so," the tiefling said, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice. By the Ivories, this berk needs to learn Cant, he thought. "Well," he ventured, "So a body isn't e'en safe on yer Prime? They as bad as th' Book-burners when they finally get th' guts t' raid a temple."

"Book-burners?" Meiryou mused before switching subjects, "A 'body' is only as safe as they work to become."

Bleeding sod, Tertek scowled to himself. Every leatherhead knew that a body was only as safe as they made it. What kind of barrikin was this sod making? The fiendling shook his head, and then decided to try a different approach.

"Ye really are a ringwalker, aren't ye?" he asked bluntly. He figured Meiryou wouldn't realize he was being insulted - most Primes didn't when they were referred to as ringwalkers.

"No," Meiryou replied flatly, "I'm an agent for the government of Japan."

Meiryou's typical Clueless response brought a guffaw from Tertek. Planars, especially Sigilians used the term "ringwalker" to insult Clueless without their realizing it. Since ringwalker seemed to have positive connotations to it, many Clueless thought it to be a compliment to be called one. Oddly satisfied that he'd managed to make the warrior look stupid, Tertek's mood lightened.

"Japan?" the tiefling repeated, "That th' name o' yer Prime?"

Meiryou turned his head to look at Tertek, wondering what was so funny. He briefly shook his head and dismissed it, answering the question, "Yes, I suppose you could call it my plane."

Tertek frowned and abruptly decided to just shut up. He wasn't going to get any information out of this human so he quit trying. Instead, he focused his attention ahead, trying to find a way out of this forest.

After about another hour of walking, the sun had fallen below the horizon to the point that the forest became noticeably darker. Tertek grumbled, not exactly relishing the idea of having to make camp with this human. Unfortunately, he didn't have much of a choice. On the positive side, however, the tiefling's ring enabled him to do just fine with only two hours of sleep a night. He turned to Meiryou and said, "We need t' call kip for th' night. D'ye know 'ow t' hunt? Ye'll be needin' food."

"Hunting is rather difficult without a longbow," the human replied, "I suppose I could try with Mochidzuki, however. Would you like a share of the catch when I have finished?" Meiryou arched an eyebrow and habitually twisted his grip on the hilt of his nihontou.

Tertek shook his head. "Nay. I don' need t' eat," he said, deliberately leaving out mention that his ring relieved him of the need to eat and drink. "Ye sure ye can hunt w' that chiv? I 'ave some throwin' daggers that'll serve nicely."

Meiryou considered the offer for a brief moment. He had practiced with throwing kunai briefly while training at his dojo. The warrior nodded and said, "Thank you for the offer. If I cannot kill with the daggers, I shall attempt to use Mochidzuki."

Tertek chuckled and rested his hands on the hilts of his twin swords. "Nay, cutter," the fiendling replied, "I wasn't sayin' ye could use me chivs. I was sayin' I'd 'elp ye find somethin' t' eat and maybe see if we can get ye some bub. If nothin' else, I 'ave a spell that'll keep ye from getting' any thirstier."

Meiryou arched an eyebrow. "Well," he said, "I do have two days' worth of rations, though I'd like to conserve them just in case." He took a breath before continuing, "How far to the next settlement or city?"

The planar shrugged. "Bubbed if I know. Ne'er been t' this plane before, that I can think o'. But then, all th' forests on Primes look like this. I figure if we keep south, we should 'it a burg sometime." He pulled one of his throwing daggers from its sheathe and tested its balance on the tips of his clawed fingers. "Ye prefer rabbit or squirrel?" the tiefling asked, half-jokingly.

"I don't normally eat meat," the warrior replied sternly, "However, if I must, I will take whichever is caught first, I suppose."

This comment brought a raise of Tertek's scaly eyebrow. "Ye don't eat meat?" he asked incredulously, "Then what do ye eat?"

"Fish, steamed vegetables, rice, pickled vegetables," Meiryou seemed to babble on, fondly remembering some of the dishes he had sampled throughout his lifetime.

Tertek shook his head, the dimming orange of twilight reflecting off of his horns. "Ye're a barmy berk," he muttered under his breath. Smiling with somewhat feigned anticipation, he said, "Well, we'd better get huntin'. I can see th' animals in th' dark without much problem but I doubt ye can." He paused a moment, searching through his stock of prepared spells, looking for one that might help. Infravision and darkvision were never spells he'd bothered to learn, since his fiendish heritage granted him both abilities naturally. He hadn't prepared any similar spells since he wasn't expecting company on what should've been a calm trip to Elysium.

Sighing, he looked at the human and said, "I don' 'ave any magic that'll 'elp ye. Ye think ye'll do all right?"

Meiryou stopped his list abruptly, responding to Tertek's question with a dull, "Of course."

The tiefling rolled his eyes and took a moment to survey the surroundings. Already, the light was dimming to the point where the red overlays of warm-blooded creatures began to mingle with the black-and-white darkvision his heritage granted him. He grinned and wrapped his hand around the hilt of the dagger he'd drawn, scanning the area for something that moved.

"I'll tell ye what," the rogue said, suddenly coming up with a good idea, "I'll set a light 'round 'ere. Ye can go get some firewood and I'll get ye some food. Meet back 'ere when ye're done."

"Hmph," Meiryou grumbled, seeming less than enthusiastic about the idea. He decided his best bet would be to comply, since the creature before him seemed to know more about wilderness survival than he did. "Very well," he grudgingly acknowledged.

Tertek smiled broadly and flicked his free hand through the gestures of a simple light spell. "Get yourself some wood and meet back 'ere," he ordered, then turned and stalked off into the trees to find some game. Why he went out of his way to help the human like this, the tiefling couldn't answer. He decided it boiled down to two things. First, helping a Clueless survive on a foreign plane was something he'd never done before and second, if he didn't feed the human then he'd be stuck with an even grumpier traveling companion.

A flash of red streaking across Tertek's vision brought the planar out of his reverie. "Damn," he muttered under his breath. He'd been so lost in thought that he wasn't watching the forest around him. That fading red signature was probably a rabbit and a decent sized one, by the looks of the red spot. The tiefling debated going after the creature but decided not to stray too far from his magical light. Glancing back, he watched the glowing white sphere for a moment before turning back to the dark woods around him.

To his left, Tertek heard a rustling of leaves. Immediately, his head snapped in the direction of the sound. He brought his dagger up for a throw, scanning the colorless forest around him. Inside a small thicket, the planewalker saw what caused the noise. A red spot, in the rough shape of a rabbit sat huddled within the leaves. Tertek froze, making no movements except his tail swirling lazily behind him. The rabbit watched the tiefling, seeming too scared to move. A toothy grin formed on Tertek's face as he snapped his arm down, hurling his dagger at the rabbit. A dull thud greeted his ears and when the red spot remained in place, Tertek guessed his blade had hit home.

Picking up his kill, he held the furry carcass close to his face so he could get a better glimpse of what it really was. A rabbit, just as he had guessed, and a pretty big one, too. Hopefully, that idiot of a human would be satisfied with this meat. If not, then he could starve for all Tertek cared right now. He pulled his dagger from the rabbit's body and wiped the blade clean on the leaves of the thicket, and then walked back to the magical light he'd created.

Upon reaching the designated spot, he saw Meiryou sitting near a cheerily burning campfire. Well, the tiefling thought, at least he doesn't need to be told everything to do. Smiling, Tertek tossed the carcass next to Meiryou. "If ye need a dagger t' clean it with, I can let ye use one o' mine," he said happily, curious as to how this Clueless would react to being forced to do his own cooking.

Meiryou arched an eyebrow, taking the dead animal by the hind legs. "I would appreciate a dagger," he said calmly.

Tertek nodded and pulled the dagger from his belt that he'd used to make the kill. Nonchalantly, he tossed the dagger on the ground next to where he'd thrown the rabbit then, with a bored flick of his wrist, he banished the ball of light. The tiefling walked to a nearby tree and sat down with his back against it, trying to get comfortable so he could begin preparing his spells.

The swordsman deftly slit the rabbit open and began to clean it. After a few moments, he managed to remove the pelt. Placing the fur aside, he began to look for a stick to impale the raw meat on.

Tertek watched with some amusement as Meiryou cleaned the rabbit. Smiling faintly to himself, the tiefling decided that having this human around might not be too bad after all. Shrugging the thought aside, the rogue reached into a pouch at his belt and pulled out a perfectly cut ruby that rested nicely within the palm of his hand. Slowly, he ran his thumb across one face of the gem. Many of the incantations for his spells were stored within the red precious stone and he'd need to study them tonight. He debated waiting till Meiryou went to sleep but decided he should try and get as many spells committed to memory as possible so that he could keep watch.

Lifting his hand, the tiefling activated the gembook. Obediently, the ruby floated off his palm and into the air before his eyes, spinning rapidly and emitting a faint red glow. Tertek stared into the depths of the stone as the runes and symbols of the incantations began to flash through his mind. He knew which spells he wanted to prepare; he just had to find the proper incantations amid the swirling red sigils.

Meiryou turned to look over his shoulder at Tertek. Seeing him sitting there, staring into a spinning gem with eyes as red as the gem itself was rather unnerving to him. He shook it off as quickly as it had come, taking a stick off the ground and quickly carving a sharp point into one end. He then found two other sticks that branched off into a "V" towards an end, and placed them opposite to each other on either side of the fire.

After what seemed like only a few moments in his meditative trance, Tertek snapped his hand closed around the ruby. Glancing around, it took the tiefling a moment to realize he was seeing by darkvision. The fire had died down to smoldering embers and Meiryou lay sleeping on the other side of the dying coals. Snickering inaudibly, Tertek placed the gem back in his pouch and settled back against the tree. His magic ring enchanted him so that he only needed two hours of sleep every night. Judging from the darkness above him, Tertek guessed morning was still a long way away. He'd be awake long before the human. Smiling contentedly, he rested his head against he trunk of the tree and fell asleep in moments.