Himiki Shono huddled against the oak tree, waiting. She wasn't sure for what. Perhaps her brother running up the path looking for her. Or maybe her mother or father. Anyone...anyone...anyone from Ryube would do. Anyone, proving to her that everyone wasn't...dead...

Abject fear coursed through her again and she curled up into a tighter ball against the rough tree trunk. What if...what if everyone in her family was dead? What if that man in the white armor had destroyed them all? What would she do? She couldn't survive on her own.

Himiki began to sob for what seemed the millionth time in the last hour. Her heaving breath brought the smell of smoke into her lungs, which she coughed back out. The smoke was less than it had been, and it had been quiet for some time. Maybe it was over. Still, Himiki couldn't bring herself to get up and check.

Time passed, and Himiki waited. This was Hoi's practice tree...if he was looking for her, wouldn't he look here? She hoped so...she prayed so...

Night began to fall. Her body rebelled against her, and Himiki fell into a troubled sleep, curled against her brother's practice tree.

Makoto was practicing with his tonfa, hoping Flik and the new archer would be done soon so he could coax the Blue Lightning into another practice match. {I learned a lot just from that one fight,} he mused as he battered the hapless practice target.

Then the soldier called out from the lookout tower. "Smoke from Ryube!! Ryube is on fire!"

Makoto froze for a moment, then dashed to the main building, where he'd seen Flik go with Pohl.

As he ran to the door, the new archer Flik was so enthused about got there a few moments ahead of him. As Makoto reached the door, Pohl came barrelling out, his face a mix of fear and tears. Any other time, Makoto would have asked what was wrong, but he was too concerned with the thought of another city burning at Ruka Blight's hands.

He rushed through the door and stopped behind the new archer. "Flik, the lookout's seen smoke from Ryube! It's afire! We have to go to help them!"

Flik frowned at him. "Makoto, we can't. If Ruka's taken the village, then we're the last thing between him and Muse." Another soldier came in the door, and Flik yelled at him. "Hey! Spread the word! As of right now, all leaves are cancelled, and we're on alert all day and all night! Man the lookout posts at all times!"

The man rushed out, and Makoto's face twisted up. "Flik, we can't just abandon them!" he argued, and Flik nodded.

"I agree, Makoto, and if there were anything we could do, I would. But if there's enough smoke that the lookout's sure that Ryube's burning, the town's been aflame for some time. Ruka's probably already gone, but he could be setting up to attack us. We have to be ready."

Makoto looked down, then glanced up again. "I understand, sir. But... permission to look for survivors?"

Flik paused, then nodded. "Granted. Take no more than two men with you. Kinnison, not you - we still have to talk," Flik amended.

Makoto turned to the young archer. "Your name's Kinnison, eh? I'm Makoto Gentaro - pleased to meet you. I hope we can be friends - but now I have to go," he called, dashing out the door. He looked briefly around for Pohl, but the boy was nowhere in sight. Running to the storehouse and grabbing some of the Medicine he'd helped fetch, the young Highlander ran full-tilt out of the fort and northeast toward Ryube.

He was very close when he saw a woman and two children at the gate to the village. "Hello! I'm from the Mercenary Fort near here, and looking for survivors! Can you tell me if there's anyone here besides yourselves?" he called, and the woman- who had just smashed her fist into the stone archway- turned to look at him. {She seems familiar...} Makoto thought...

Hannah slowly turned her head when she heard the sound of someone calling out to them. A teenaged boy was heading down the road towards them.

'A mercenary fort...?' she quietly started to remember snippets of conversation in Toto that a bunch of mercenaries were building a headquarters somewhere nearby. No one had really known too much about it though, and it wasn't as if they had ever thought that information would be of any use to them.

The boy that came running over, however, did not look exactly as though he were a mercenary. He wore a bright yellow sweater over his shoulders, and in his hands were tonfas. For some reason, he looked very familiar.

Slowly moving from her position near the wall, the woman rubbed her knuckles slightly. A dull ache was beginning to pound through her nerves, but it was nothing she couldn't manage.

'I've seen him somewhere...' Hannah told herself, squinting her dark eyes somewhat, 'Perhaps at Toto...'

Yes, that was it! She remembered now, she had seen him in Toto after the Highlanders' attack. However, she had been so worried about Tomo's disappearance that she hadn't really paid much attention to him. All that she remembered was that he had wanted to pray for the children at the shrine.

'And now he's a mercenary?' she raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Hey," he stopped in front of her, blinking his brown eyes in momentary confusion, "I know you... you're the woman that was at Toto Village!"

Hannah nodded her head in recognition, "I had a feeling something might happen to this village as well, so I decided to come here." a soft growl came under throat, and she turned in the direction of the burned village behind them, "I was too late, though."

Sudda and Richi were both sifting through the remains of one of the buildings, the older girl frantically screaming out "Papa! Papa!" from time to time. The Grasslander assumed that was most likely their home.

The boy, his mouth still hanging open in shock, tugged at her skirt and pointed. There was a huge spot of red covering one side of the part of the wall that was left partially standing. The two children approached it, and Richi gave a small gasp. His sister shrieked out loud, and then a soft whimper came from her throat. Pulling the little boy's face into her skirt, she gave him a tender hug and closed her eyes as tears started falling down her cheeks, "Don't look, Richi! It's... it's Papa.."

He started crying as well, and Hannah once again clenched her fist. How many lives were going to be destroyed before something actually happened to stop Highland? She wasn't into politics too much, but some part of her was cursing whatever officials had decided not to put up a rigid defense on Ryube after what had happened to Toto.

"Do you...do you think there's any survivors, Miss?" the boy, who's eyes now twinkled with both a look of sadness and one of anger, asked.

It took her a few moments to force herself to take a deep breath and shake her head, "No, not in the village, anyway. The Highlanders are much too thorough to leave anyone there."

Eyes trailing over to the entrance to the thick forest around the village, she placed a firm grip on her sword's hilt. "However, there's a chance that people managed to escape into the forest." Hannah glanced over at Sudda and Richi. The two were still hugging, but Sudda had carefully turned her younger brother away from their house's remains, and was talking to him softly.

'I'll make sure that them and any other survivors are safe.' she vowed silently, turning to the boy-mercenary, "...We should get going."

The sound of footsteps rose Himiki from her troubled sleep. Her vision was blurry and she felt as if she hadn't eaten or drunk anything in days. She blearily looked down the path, not really feeling anything.

Finally, someone appeared on the path. Two someones, actually. Himiki watched them for a moment, trying to focus her eyes. A hope rose in her at the thought that they might be her parents, that what she'd seen as she ran into Ryube's forest was wrong. Then she realized that neither were any member of her family, and fear rose inside her to replace the hope. Himiki tried with all her might to just melt into the tree and be unseen, but it didn't happen.

The one in front, a fairly tall person, stopped and looked around. Himiki couldn't even tell what gender the person was, but just continued to stare. Finally, the person spotted her and began to run toward her. The one behind followed suit.

Himiki began to whimper and pressed herself against the tree even more. Were they more of those soldiers, here to finish the job? She dropped her head, afraid to look up.

The footsteps came to a stop next to her. The one in front heaved a sigh, then said, "Thank the gods... another survivor." From the voice, Himiki found it was a woman, but that didn't lessen her fright any.

"Miss?"

Himiki didn't move, didn't look up. A hand lightly touched her shoulder, and she jumped away with a cry. Then, Himiki was able to see the two that had found her.

One was a woman, obviously a fighter by her build and the fact she carried a sword. Her brown tousled hair fell forward over her face as she knelt down next to her. "Are you hurt?" she gently asked.

Himiki stared at the woman for a moment before registering what she'd just asked her. "Oh...no, no... I don't think so."

"Did anyone else run into the woods, like you?"

Himiki shook her head. "No...no one."

The woman sighed, then looked to her companion. He was a young boy, only a couple of years older than her. His large brown eyes shone with compassion and sadness. Something else caught Himiki's eye, though. He carried twin tonfa in his hands.

Tonfa? Himiki looked up again at the boy. "You use tonfa. Are you from..." Himiki tried to remember the town's name. "...Kyaro?"

The boy looked surprised. "Yes, I am," he slowly replied.

"My brother...Hoi...he met someone who said his best friend used tonfa. Hoi went to watch them spar the day we stayed in Kyaro." Himiki gasped and grabbed the woman's hand, which was still on her shoulder. "Did you find anyone else? Any other survivors?"

"A few..."

"A boy, long brown hair tied up on his head, used tonfa?"

The woman thought, then shook her head. "No...no one like that. I'm sorry."

Himiki hung her head. She had been expecting that, but it was still a shock. Everyone...everyone was gone...

"I'm Hannah, and this is Makoto." The woman gestured behind her at the boy. "What's your name?"

"Himiki...Himiki Shono."

Hannah nodded and stood, helping Himiki to her feet and propping her up. "Let's go, Makoto."

Makoto nodded, and the three started walking toward the burnt remains of Ryube.

Himiki cast one more glance behind her at Hoi's tree. If you're alive, Hoi, she thought, I'll find you. No matter what.

{Well, this was a surprise,} Makoto thought as the three strode down towards the ruined village. {I never thought I'd run into someone from Kyaro here!} He hung his head for a moment in guilt. {Damn. This is all my fault. I should have found some way to get to Highland. I should have found some way to stop Ruka!!}

It didn't even register for a few minutes that he'd failed - even in his head - to give the junior Blight his title of 'Prince.' When it did, he nearly stumbled... and then recovered. {It's no surprise,} he reasoned. {Anyone who would do what Ruka has doesn't have any claim to royalty. And a country that condones this - even in revenge - has no claim on my loyalty, either. I promised Grandpa Genkaku on his deathbed that I'd live by his ideals, and I can't do that and still be loyal to Highland anymore. From now on, I fight for the City-State... no, I fight to end this stupid war. And no regrets.}

Turning to the young girl - {Himiki,} he remembered - he asked her quietly, "You said that while you were in Kyaro, you met someone whose best friend used tonfas. Was he about my height, light-coloured hair, and used a staff?"

Himiki gave Makoto a small smile. "Yeah. Papa even gave the boy a staff in exchange for helping us."

Makoto stood up straight in surprise. "Jowy! So *that's* where he got that staff!" he exclaimed aloud, then blushed when both girl and woman turned their heads to stare at him. "Sorry. I noticed somebody watching us spar once back then... it's funny, 'cause that's just how Jowy came to learn from Grandpa. He was watching and we saw him. But the boy never came back. I always wanted to meet that family..." his voice trailed off as Himiki looked ready to bawl. "..sorry. I'm glad to have met you, though," he finished lamely.

Himiki blinked away tears for a minute, and then smiled up at him. "Okay, Makoto-niisan!"

(Niisan = big brother)

Makoto neatly facefaulted as they reentered the village, making Hanna sigh and Himiki laugh.

Sudda had managed to get her nine-year-old brother away from most of the carnage that could be seen in the village. Resting on the outsides of the Ryube's wall, the girl kept her hands wrapped around Richi, whose body was now shaking forcefully with sobs. He had stopped crying out loud, however, due to his throat becoming dry with smoke. Now, all she did was comfort him quietly and waited for the boy and the woman (had Richi called her Hannah? She wasn't so sure about that) to return.

'Maybe they found some survivors...' hope sprang in her heart for a moment, but then her mouth quivered slightly. She remembered the blood on the wall in their house.

One person that she wanted to still be here would never come back. He was gone now, just like their mother was.

'Papa...' new tears formed in Sudda's eyes, but the thirteen-year-old refused to let them fall. Instead, she tightened her hold on Richi's shoulders. She had to be strong now, for him at the least.

The sobbing suddenly stopped, and she heard a creaking, "Su...Sudda?" coming from the boy's throat.

She looked down and smiled sadly, at the dark pools of tears in his eyes, "Yes, Richi?" she asked.

"Papa...Papa's gone." he stated simply.

Sudda said nothing to this. Instead, she simply nodded.

A tear fell down his cheek, and he tightened his hold on her skirt, "Do you think...he's with Mama?" he asked her.

"...Of course."

"Does he still call her mean stuff?"

"No, Richi." she shook her head, and she couldn't help it if her voice wavered a little. Richi had been very young when their mother had died, so he did not know of the time before the fighting and name calling. That had been a time of joyful, caring love, and it was the picture she had always thought of when she thought about her family, even after their mother's death.

Thinking of it now made more tears come to her eyes, "They're both in heaven now. And... and they're both happy together, and they want us to be too..."

Footsteps came from behind them, and both children looked up. Instinctively, Sudda gripped her brother tightly, so much so that he gave a small yelp of pain as her fingernails dug into his skin.

Three forms appeared from what remained of Ryube Village. One of them was a muscularly-built woman with long brown hair, a sword blade in a sheath at her hip. That was Hannah, the one who had saved them earlier. The other two were younger, and one was a teenaged boy. He had introduced himself as Makoto, before, a member of the nearby mercenary fort. Both he and Hannah had gone into the forest to look for survivors.

The third was a small girl, a year or two younger than Makoto himself. She looked a bit happy, perhaps to be leaving the sight of the dead village now, but something in her dark eyes sparkled with sadness, and loss.

Sudda took in a deep breath, recognizing her as Himiki Shono, who's family had lived in Ryube for quite a long time. Though she didn't know them personally, she had always been under the assumption that, from talk, the Shono family was well-respected.

But, something about seeing only the girl caused Sudda's hope to drop.

'No one else...?' her dark eyes lowered to the ground. So much for the hope that Aunt Tisara or one of her friends had managed to get to the forest.

...That meant that her and Richi were truly alone now. She touched her brother's hair softly, trying hard not to let her tears fall into it.

A gentle pressure came on her shoulder, and she turned to see the woman-warrior, Hannah, standing next to her, "It will be all right, child." she said, her voice surprisingly soft, "In the end, you will do what everyone has to do before their time here has ended."

"What's that?" the girl's voice was little more than a whisper.

"...Survive."

For some reason, the simple comment caused something sharp to prick Sudda, and it filled her with a sense of comfort. A small smile formed on her lips, "Thank you... Miss Hannah."

Hannah sighed, once again being reminded of why she felt so uncomfortable around children (no one in the Grasslands had ever called her MISS before), but she patted the girl's shoulder encouragingly, and lightly squeezed Richi's arm.