In Jowy's arms, the boy shook violently as his breathing became further irregular and jagged. His eyes rolled wildly, but he didn't seem to register anything, from Jowy's supporting arms to Nanami's battle cries. The monster screamed in pain from Nanami's deadly blows. It crashed into the ground and faded into the earth.

"Phew..." Nanami sighed, then raced towards the fallen stranger. "Hey hey! Are you alright?"

Jowy frowned gravely. "He's poisoned. We have to get him to town. Ryube's not very far from here."

The word 'Ryube' seemed to stir something in the boy. His hand spasmed about Jowy's forearm. His voice cracked dryly as he spoke. "No," he whispered. "Not."

Nanami's eyes softened. "He doesn't want to go to Ryube."

"Toto's burned down. Muse sealed off. The only place we can go to is Kyaro." Jowy gripped the boy's hand reassuringly. "Don't worry, we'll get you to safety."

With Jowy carrying the boy on his back and Nanami carrying Pilika on hers, they rushed as fast as they could to the North Sparrow Pass. Two guards stood firm at the entrance with no intention of letting anyone through.

"Halt!" one guard cried. "What are you kids doing here?"

"Please...*pant* ...let us through..." Jowy pleaded in between tired gasps. "This person is poisoned. We need to go to Kyaro immediately."

"You can forget it! Lady Anabelle ordered us not to let anyone pass!"

Nanami pushed Jowy aside. "Let me handle this." she winked. Hands behind her back, she sashayed to the guards, batting her eyes, in a sugary voice. "Please let us through... Or I'll rip your balls off and shove em down your throat."

The first guard gulped. "Okay! We'll let you through!"

"As long as you take *her* with you when you go!" the second guard insisted.

Nanami growled.

The group passed. On Jowy's back, the boy's breaths became increasingly intense - they had to hurry.

"The North Sparrow Pass is full of monsters. We're both carrying people so we'll be hindered somewhat." Jowy said.

"Well then! I'll take care of that. Here, hold onto Pilika." Nanami dumped the still sleeping girl in Jowy's arms. She brandished her Sakura Rod. "CHARGE!!!!!"

Nanami plowed through the monsters like a tank. Jowy tried his best to follow behind her with the weight of the anonymous boy and Pilika on his back.

In no time they reached the Highland town of Kyaro. On Nanami's suggestion they raced to Genkaku's dojo and placed the feverish boy on Nanami's bed. The young martial artist raced around to prepare medicine while Jowy stayed at the bedside. Jowy squeezed his hand, trying to give him hope, anchor him to life.

dead

No...Someone was gripping her hand, holding it tightly, squeezing. There was a cool, pleasant numbness on her shoulder; something moist was being pressed there. She remembered being hurt. Poison? For a moment, the grip on her hand was her mother's, then her father's, and so she opened her eyes.

An unfamiliar face smiled at her, and an unfamiliar voice greeted her. "You're awake! Do you feel okay?"

"I feel...dizzy. And my arm hurts. Where am I?" As her eyes adjusted to the light, she took a quick stock of her surroundings. She was lying on one of two cots pressed up against the wall of a wide, roughly rectangular, large room. It looked like a sparring room or maybe a dojo of some sort...there was a slightly lowered dirt pit in the center, and a few weapons were lying around. At least one spear. Someone had tied a poultice to the gash on her shoulder.

"You're in Kyaro," the unfamiliar young man answered. "It's north of Ryube...do you know where that is?" Beside them, on the second cot, a girl somewhat older than Tomo herself was sprawled, asleep. There was a little girl curled up in the hollow of her arm, likewise asleep.

"Yes..." She sat up abruptly as the implications struck her, and the world spun crazily. The boy put a hand on her shoulder to steady her, and she lay back down. "That's in Highland...that's not right...I can't be in Highland...They..." She closed her eyes. "Did you find my journal?"

The young man cocked his head. "Journal? No...I'm sorry."

stupid

I didn't have my journal. It was...I didn't have it. Pay attention.

"Oh, no..." Tomo struggled for a moment, trying to sort the past, the present, and the dreams into some order within her mind. "That's okay. Don't worry about it. Who are you?"

He smiled reassuringly at her. "My name is Jowy. Jowy Atreides. Can you tell me your name?"

tomo

No. Tomo is a girl's name.

"It's...ah...That is, my name is..."

wolf

"Wolf. Wolf." She felt something in her cringe, but she couldn't quite remember why... "Have I been sick? What time is it? How long..."

"You were poisoned, Wolf," the man called Jowy replied. "You were attacked on the road, and we rescued you. Do you remember that?"

"Yes, I think so."

He nodded. "You were really sick, so we brought you here to help you. My friend Nanami - that's her on the bed - knows a thing or two about healing, and she helped you. She's sleeping now, but I thought I should sit up until your fever broke."

"Thank you...that's very kind."

liar

All of a sudden she found it difficult to meet his eyes. An obscure kind of shame washed over her like a wave. "Oh," he asked offhandedly, "who's Tomo?"

Tomo blinked. "What?"

"You were calling out for someone named Tomo when you were delirious. You kept calling that name. Is she someone you know? Can we send word to her?"

tomo

"No...no. Tomo is...was, my little sister. She..."

was killed

"She died."

Jowy blinked, and unconsciously took her hand, squeezed it again. "I'm sorry. I didn't intend..."

From the other cot, the girl Nanami snorted loudly and rolled off the bed, landing with a crash and a yelp of surprise. The sudden noise set Tomo's heart hammering against her ribcage like a bird against the bars of its cage, trying to escape. She felt herself break out in a cold sweat. She forced herself to control her reaction to the shock and sudden noise.

Jowy jumped up and rounded the end of the cot to help Nanami to her feet. "Nanami! Are you okay?" The girl blushed and quickly brushed herself down, and grinned at him.

"Yeah, wonderful! Slight bump..." She laughed. "How's the boy?"

"Tired," Tomo cut in. Nanami and Jowy both turned to look at her, and Nanami smiled at her.

Jowy shifted uncomfortably. "Well, now that you're awake...I'm sorry to run off, Nanami, but can you look after him? I should go see my family." He made a slightly disgusted face. "Besides, I need some sleep." As if on queue, he swallowed a yawn.

Nanami nodded. "You're welcome to stay here."

"Thanks," Jowy replied, "but I really should go home."

"Go, then!" Nanami made shooing gestures with her hands. "I can handle it." Jowy waved once as he reached the doorway, then was gone.

Nanami looked Tomo over. "Hey, it's good to see the medicine worked! I'm Nanami. What's your name?"

"Wolf. It's Wolf."

After a little while, the weariness overcame her again, and she begged off conversation to try and sleep. Nanami seemed very nice, and Jowy...seemed very nice. Tomo frowned at herself and curled up a little bit tighter on the cot.

weak

She reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, and paused when she remembered that it wasn't there anymore. She wanted to sleep, but couldn't quite convince her body to drift away, and she found herself envying the girl across from her, still sleeping soundly.

She was in Highland, and she didn't know if that was a good thing or not. She remembered her father telling her that the area north of the Pass had used to belong to Jowston, but had been lost when Genkaku lost to Han Cunningham, so Kyaro hadn't been part of Highland for that long. The facts that her father had drilled into her began drifting to the surface as easily as they once had, without anything to distract her. She closed her eyes and stretched out again, savouring the comforts of a bed, and warmth, things that she'd almost forgotten in the last week.

Just a week?

time