〄Hᴀʟғ-Bʟᴏᴏᴅs' Lᴇɢᴀᴄʏ〄 [Ch. 4 Up!]

[melody.]

*claps*
Love it!<33

Why has no one else voted for meeting Okita? ;w;

[scmarshtacky]

I don't know why. I love Okita, but my opinion is quite biased I suppose.
I'm glad that you did vote for it though. ^^

[Muse.]

Friday~ Friday~

I voted for the current arc. Mostly 'cause it has lots of interesting things. xD My second choice was Okita, though.

[scmarshtacky]

Yep, it's Friday. I've already re-read the chapter and saved it so all I have to do is press submit when it's time. I'm house sitting for someone I know this weekend, so the chapter may be out just a little late. It depends on how long it takes for me and my friend to feed her animals and get settled into the house.

[Muse.]

Hehe. Hopefully it all goes well for you. c:

[scmarshtacky]

Chapter 51 – Makings of a War

The days drug on for the girls as they fell into a regular routine. Get up, eat, train themselves for a couple of hours, have lunch, wander around the grounds, help out the maids when they could, and go back to sleep. Some days Kaito would spend with them, other days he was gone for reasons the girls didn't know.

It was after a couple days absence that Kaito came back one evening and announced that he, along with the scouting group he had led – with the exception of Maverick – and the fifth legion had been deployed to the southwestern sect to join the legions already there.

"Apparently the Fire Clan has built up more troops than we originally anticipated. After several larger scale battles on their land, our numbers are wearing thin."

"So they are sending you out to thicken the numbers?" Ayako asked.

Kaito nodded. "The general of the fifth legion is known to be somewhat cruel and merciless when it comes to fighting, and out of the twelve generals he is the second strongest. This brings me to my next point – ”

"You're going to let us come, right? All of us." Ayako put her hand on Mika's shoulder as if to make the point that she wasn't leaving this time without her friend.

"Would you let me finish?" Kaito sat on the bed and let a moment of silence pass before speaking again. "You know that I would much rather you stay here but clearly," he ran his eyes over the girls who were sparkling with enthusiasm, "that isn't going to happen. I've already told you about the general. He is in command of this voyage, not me, so I implore you all, particularly you Ayako, to not speak to him and follow his orders completely regardless of what they may be."

"And what if we don't?" Ayako challenged.

"Then he will kill you on the spot and there is nothing I can do or say to stop him."

The girls paled. "But we're fighting with him. Why would he kill comrades?"

"Apparently you haven't realized this, but no one here, perhaps save Grinwald, considers you a 'comrade'. You are simply foreigners who have wandered in where they shouldn't belong. To the others, you are quite expendable."

Silence followed his words as the trio let that sink in. At last Ayako broke it. "Well I'm still going! Even if that general guy tries to kill me, I'm not going down without a fight!" The other two quickly agreed, and once more the enthusiasm was restored.

Humans, I'll never understand where they get such hope from. "This may be redundant, but let me also remind you this is a war. Not the kind you see on a TV. It's bloody and harsh. There is no place for compassion or soft-heartedness. You may be ordered to kill those that don't deserve it, and you will undoubtedly see some horrible things. Are you still determined to go?"

"Course we are!" Ayako answered for them. "It's too late to back out now." Again the two others nodded their heads.

Kaito sighed. The last chance he had of getting them to back out was gone, although honestly, he hadn't expected anything less. He knew the girls didn't understand the massive amount of pressure this was going to put on him. He had already learned that trying to keep the lot of them alive was no simple feat. He wondered if it would be possible at all, even if they did survive, for them to return to Japan again.

Kaito changed his clothes for the night and stepped out onto the balcony. In just a few days they would depart and everything would inevitably change. He couldn't help but glance inside at the trio playing card games. Slowly he smiled, and walked back into room as the cold night wind began to blow.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Finally Ayako was getting to practice with him again. After a week of working with her friends, she had developed a good feel for their movements and attack patterns. Now she couldn't be more pleased that Kaito was actually having to fight rather seriously.

Mika darted in and out of Kaito's attack field drawing his attention and his blows. As soon as his attention had shifted, Ayako would begin her barrage of attacks, and every time Kana saw an opening between the two, she would fire an arrow or two. Ayako had to admit that they made a pretty decent tag-team.

Ayako jabbed her spear at Kaito's right arm, and he blocked the attack to the side. Mika jumped in and made a couple of cross slashes with her daggers at his left arm. Kaito thrust out his left hand, and managed to hit Mika's wrist in such a way that she dropped one of her blades. She moved out of his range again, and an arrow whizzed past her toward Kaito's legs.

Frustrated, he leapt high in the air and swung his sword. Thin bolts of electricity shot out of it though they fizzled out before striking the ground.

"No fair!" Ayako shouted up at him. She charged forward and lunged at Kaito as he landed. Mika did the same almost simultaneously and the all fell down into a heap together.

"Ah ha!" Ayako exclaimed. "We won."

"Have you noticed where my sword is?" Kaito asked casually.

Ayako looked down. The back of the blade was pressing against her stomach. Kaito was holding up the hilt up slightly so that the sword sloped downward until the point met with the sand. If it had been turned sharp side up, the Ayako would've ended up with a horrible, if not fatal wound across her stomach.

"Have you noticed where Kana's arrow is pointed?" Ayako retorted in the same tone.

"So at the expense of both your lives, you could theoretically kill a stronger minor. Is it worth it?"

"Shut up!" Ayako shouted. "We got you pinned to the ground!"

"I know, and you're heavy so get off." Kaito forcibly shoved Ayako off of him, and let Mika scramble to her feet before he sat up. "All in all, you three aren't doing terribly."

"Oh come on," Ayako moaned. "Can't you give us a little more credit?"

"There's a difference though between a sparring match and a battle," he continued as though Ayako hadn't spoken. "I'm trying not to kill you. You don't realize how big of a difference that makes."

"We'll, I'm not worried," Ayako announced as she wrapped her arms around her two friends. "With these two, I can kill anything!"

"I just hope you can keep that enthusiasm." Though he didn't mean it, a note of sadness crept into his voice, and the three girls went still as if he were announcing their annihilation.

"Hey Kaito," Ayako began slowly, "You said that if I mastered a normal spear I could have Kanrir right?"

"Ayako, I really don't think that's a good idea."

"Won't you even let me try?!" She demanded in a wounded tone. "You said that you would!"

"I said that I might," Kaito emphasized. "I know you're excited about it, but think, is it really worth the risk?"

"I don't think there is a risk," Ayako said. "I think you're just blowing it out of proportion."

Kaito groaned and ran his hand through his hair in irritation. This wasn't going anywhere, and if he did nothing, Ayako would never leave him alone. He glanced down at the girl who was staring at him eagerly, and the two who were off to the side waiting to see what would happen.

Kaito closed his eyes and sighed. The spear had called out to her for a reason Kaito couldn't even begin to comprehend, and he didn't know for a fact that it would do anything to her. To his knowledge, a human had never formed a contract with a demonic weapon. "We can see what happens..." he said at last.

"Yes!" Ayako jumped with excitement and rushed off around the castle. "Well come on then!"

The rest of the group followed more slowly as Ayako dashed forward and then waited impatiently for them to catch up. In just a few minutes, they entered the familiar dark and dusty room. Ayako made a beeline for Kanrir, and reached out for it.

"Wait," Kaito said. "It needs to make the first move."

It seemed like a silly idea to Ayako, but she took a step backwards and stared at the spear. 'Kanrir?' For what seemed like an eternity, nothing happened. Then slowly, it began to glow with a soft blue light which intensified quickly. Ayako stood there watching it until she felt she just has to pick it up. She could feel the heat radiating off of it, but when her hand touched the shaft, it was only slightly warm.

Slowly she lifted it from its spot on the wall to examine it more closely. It sparks of electricity started sparking up the spear, but it didn't seem to touch Ayako at all, so she kept hold of it. Then suddenly, it blazed with an intense light.

"Ayako!" Kana and Mika shouted simultaneously as they saw a large bolt of lightning engulf their friend and shoot into the air.
They both went to rush forward, but Kaito held out his arm and barred their way. "Just wait." The two heeded his orders, though rather reluctantly, and shifted backward keeping a cautious eye on their friend.

In just a few moments, the light had faded, and Ayako could be seen still standing and clutching onto the spear. Though as they watched, she wobbled on her feet, and nearly fell over. Kaito swiftly crossed the room and put his hand on Ayako's shoulders to steady her. Mika and Kana were right behind him.

"So is that it?" Mika asked slowly.

"I-I think so..." Ayako answered somewhat weakly. Kanrir told me that it accepted me as its master..." She craned her head around to look at Kaito for some sort of confirmation.

“I think it is safe to say that you have succeeded in forming a contract with it, though it won’t be quite the same as the others formed with a demon...”

“So I can’t summon it and stuff like that?”

“No, and you won’t be able to use its powers either.”

“Aw man. I really wanted to shoot lightning bolts at people!”

Kaito chuckled. You actually have to have demonic energy for that. Even so, it takes time to master the transfer of energy through a weapon.”

Ayako opened her mouth to respond, but a wave of dizziness washed over her, which would have sent her to the ground, had Kaito not been supporting her.

“I think it’s time to go back to the room,” Kaito announced, pivoting himself around so that he could wrap his arm around her waist to keep her on her feet while walking. “It takes a lot of energy to from contracts, and I can’t even imagine what it would do to a human.”

Ayako attempted to protest at his touch, but she was too weak to put up much of a fight, so she let him partially drag her back to the bedroom. She didn’t even realize they had made back to the room until she became aware of being lowered onto her bed, though, she didn’t have much time to dwell on her blackout before she lost consciousness once again.

“Is she really going to be alright?” Mika asked worried as she looked at the limp body of her friend laying in the bed.

“She’ll be fine,” Kaito reassured them. “It does take a lot of energy out of you. I was out for about half a day. In a day, maybe two, she’ll be running around with her usual vigor.”

Mika nodded slowly. “I guess if you say so, it’s alright then.” With nothing else to do, and it being only slightly after mid-day, Mika wandered over to the couch to read. Kana did so as well, grabbing some of the books from her bag and heading over to the desk.

It wasn’t much later when a knock on the door sounded through the room. Kaito, who was dozing in his bed, sat up abruptly. “Enter.”

Agatha came into the room slowly. “The master wishes to see you Lord Kaito.”

“For what reason?” he asked as he stood up.

“I do not know,” she replied with a small shake of her head, “but he seemed rather upset...”

“I’ll be down shortly.” Kaito dismissed the maid with a wave of his hand and grabbed more formal clothes to change into. He was aware of the other two watching him, but didn’t answer their glances until he had come out of the bathroom.

“Do you think something important has happened?” Mika asked hesitantly.

“Probably... Stay here until I figure out what’s going on.” Kaito exited the room, and headed swiftly down the hallway leaving the two girls staring shocked and confused at the closed door. It didn’t take him long to reach the throne room, and he didn’t hesitate before shoving the door open and entering.

He wasn’t the only one in the room, he noticed. The fifth general was already kneeling on the floor in front of his father. So this must be about our legion then, he mused to himself as he crossed the room and knelt on the floor beside the elder man.

Slowly the King stood and addressed them. “If you have not already realized, this rather abrupt meeting is to address the time of your departure.” The two before him stayed silent and he continued. “I have received a word from the other legions, that the Fire Clan has already begun to cross our borders and cause significant damage. In light of that, I want you both to be prepared to leave by sunhigh tomorrow.”

“Of course my Lord,” the fifth general said, bowing his head even lower.

“Take your leave then and begin the necessary preparations.”

Both the general and Kaito nodded and stood. Kaito was almost through the doors when the voice of his father called him back.

“Are you taking the humans with you?” he asked once the door to the room had closed once more between them and the general.

“I believe it would be impossible not to,” Kaito answered.

The King frowned slightly, and his face darkened. “You know I don’t approve of sending these meager humans into a war. They have no place in our world much less fighting our battles.”

“I am aware,” Kaito replied evenly with his voice carefully emotionless. “However, it’s impossible to convince them of that.”

“If you cannot even manage to persuade three lowly humans to do your bidding, how do you expect to run this land once I am gone? You have changed my son. I should have never allowed you to go to the world of humans.”

Kaito turned his head slightly so that the shadows were hiding his face. “Perhaps not, but what’s done is now done. There is no going back.” He let the silence settle over the room for a moment. “If you don’t mind, I’ll take my leave now.” With one final bow in the direction of his father, he turned and exited the room.

As soon as Kaito entered his room once more, Mika and Kana demanded to know what was so important to call him out, and he told them, leaving off his father’s ending sediments about their involvement in the war. With his father’s words about now being too soft ringing loudly in his mind, he turned from the girls and spent a bit of time on the balcony.

He had never wanted to be harsh. Anyone in the town could attest to that, the majority of them he’d at least talked to once or twice, but as much as he hated to admit it, it was true. He’d begun to let his guard down around the trio, and it was really something that he couldn’t afford to do.

Before Kaito knew it, he’d been lost in his thoughts for an hour and the sun was beginning to set on the horizon. With a last deep breath of fresh air, he returned to the room to find Kana and Mika both surrounding Ayako’s bed. She was sitting up, but still sounded pretty groggy.

“So you’re up are you?” he asked as his eyes met hers. “Good. There’s been a slight change in plans. Our convoy is leaving for the southern border tomorrow at noon.”

“What?!” Ayako shouted as she jumped to her feet. She immediately regretted her outburst as the blood rushed to her head. “When did this happen? How long have I been out?”

“Actually, you’ve been a sleep a lot less time that I predicted. It wasn’t long after you fell asleep that my father called me down. Funny how much you miss when you sleep the day away,” he added with a smirk.

“Don’t patronize me!” Ayako retorted with a huff. “I couldn’t help it.”

“In any case, it’s probably best for you all to attempt to get a bit more sleep. There’s no telling how much you’ll get on the journey.”

Ayako and Kana, who already had a bit of experience on the matter agreed, and after a hot bath, the three of them settled down for the night just as the room darkened. Kaito followed them not long after fell into a nice, deep sleep.

Mika however wasn’t as lucky. As soon as she closed her eyes, nightmares began to fill her mind. She was in the middle of a battle, attacking as she’d been taught and with her friends by her side, she cut down several demons, but as soon as they turned to ashes, they began to reform and take shape again. No matter how hard she fought, she wasn’t making any progress. Then a scream cut through her vision. The other demons in her dream faded from her line of sight and she was left staring at a wounded Kaito.

Blood poured from an invisible wound, staining the ground a deep red. She wanted to run to him, but it was like moving through molasses. She watched him fall and begged her legs to move faster. Then he turned to her, and after meeting her gaze with a bit of a smile. Began to turn to ash like all of the others she had destroyed. “No!” she screamed. “Kaito come back! Don’t die, please!” But it was too late...

Mika awoke with a start, covered in sweat and panting. The room was still pitch black indicating that it wasn’t anywhere near morning. The images of her vivid dream danced against the dark walls, and no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t shake the horrible feeling. Her mind replayed the image of Kaito dying over and over again, and when she put her hands to her face, she wasn’t surprised to find it wet with tears.

“Mika?” a soft voice came from the direction of Kaito’s bed.

“I-I’m okay,” she answered back in a shaky whisper. She heard Kaito shift in his bed, and then he appeared, kneeling down next to her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, the concern coloring his voice.

Mika wasn’t sure how he could see her face so well in the dark room, but she had no doubt that he could. “It’s nothing really. I just had a bad dream.” She could feel Kaito asking for a more thorough explanation, but she shook her head. “I am okay, really.”

Even though she couldn’t see him well, just his presence calmed her down. There’s no way Kaito would die. He’s the strongest person I know. But still, the nagging in the back of her head wouldn’t cease.

Kaito frowned in the darkness. It must have been quite the realistic dream to have upset her this much. “It’s alright Mika,” he said softly as he wrapped his arms around her body and pulled her closer to him. He could feel her muscles still trembling slightly, but the scent of fear which had awoken him up to begin with was slowly beginning to fade.

Mika nodded slowly. She could hear the strong, slow beating of his heart and before she knew it, her eyes had closed, and she was drifting back into a dreamless sleep.


A/N~ Life for me has not been very good this week. My computer fell and the end of the power cord ended up getting broken off in the computer. While I was still half asleep wondering why the cord wouldn't go in, my PC sparked. It's being fixed now, but I don't know how much if any damage was done by the electricity. It is very luck for you, and myself, that I have multiple back-up copies of this story. If I didn't discover Dropbox, you all would be out of weekly chapters, and I would've lost 50 pages worth of work. Technology sometimes... well anyway, enjoy your chapter! ^^

<==Chapter 50

Chapter 52==>

[Muse.]

o: I'm sorry about your computer. That really sucks. But, I am so glad that you had copies saved. ^^~

Hehe yay. The fun begins. xD

[melody.]

Ooh, I'm excited! x3

[scmarshtacky]

Chapter 52 – Off to Battle

Mika woke up early the next morning but oddly enough, she was not the first one up, she was the last. Ayako was already rushing about the room gathering up everything that she could find and shoving it into her backpack.

Kana was also moving about, picking up trash strewn about by Ayako and stacking up several books that were spread out across Kaito’s desk. She chose four and put them into her backpack. “Good morning,” she greeted Mika when she saw her.

“Morning,” Mika replied, stifling a yawn. She glanced around the room, and immediately noticed Kaito wasn’t there. Although as soon as he entered her thoughts, she felt her the blood rush to her face along with the memory of last night, and for once she was almost happy that he wasn’t there to see her. When she had forced her heartbeat to slow again and her face had returned to normal, she asked, “Where is Kaito?”

“He left early this morning,” Kana answered. “Though I don’t know for what reason.”

“Oh okay.” Mika rolled out of her bed and started folding up her mat and the sheets. Since they wouldn’t be here for a while, she figured it was best to get it out of the way. Afterwards, she changed and put her remaining clean clothes – Agatha had helped the girls wash them a couple of days ago – into her backpack.

Mika didn’t have as many supplies as Ayako or Kana, so it didn’t take her long to gather up her few belongings. Just as she closed the zipper, the door creaked open and Agatha entered the room carrying a large pile of clothes. She dumped them on the bed and addressed the girls with a small smile. “Look for things that fit. You will need more clothes than what you have.”

“These are for us?” Mika asked as she gazed at the big stack. Most of the clothes were white, but some of them were light blue or green. Mika picked a shirt off of the top of the stack and held it up to study it. It was very similar to the ones she’d seen Kaito wear, thin and loose. It didn’t really look to her like something one would wear in the middle of a battle, but she thanked Agatha anyway and picked out a few to try.

“Do we really have to take these?” Ayako asked once Agatha had left. She held up and looked at a pair of white drawstring pants in mild disgust.

“I think it would be in our best interest,” Kana answered. “I doubt we will have a lot of time for washing our clothes, and they will likely get extremely filthy.

“Tch. Well I guess you do have a point,” Ayako muttered. She grabbed a few from the stack as well and headed into the bathroom. A few minutes later she returned with five different sets that fit, and crammed them into her already bulging backpack.

Kana and Mika also ended up with only a couple of sets that they liked and were easily able to get them into their backpacks. As soon as they had finished, Kaito entered the room.

“Where’ve you been?” Ayako demanded. “It’s already mid-morning! Aren’t we supposed to be somewhere by noon?”

“Chill, Ayako,” Kaito muttered casting a sideways glance in her direction. “It’s not like I just decided to walk around for the fun of it.” He reached around, pulled a long black case off his back, and lowered it onto the couch. “Open it.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ayako untied the leather straps that were holding the case together. When she pushed the material aside, she gasped. “Oh cool. Look, it’s new weapons for you guys!” She pulled out a polished, new bow and the quiver of arrows that went with it and handed them to Kana.

“There’s new daggers too,” Ayako added with a smile in Mika’s direction as she removed them from the case and gave them to her friend.

Mika took the sheathed daggers carefully as if any moment they might break. “But when...how...”

“Baldwin owes me a couple of favors,” Kaito replied with a wink. “Unfortunately, it was a bit short notice so you don’t really have the chance to practice with and break in the new stuff, so you’ll probably want to bring the others as well until you get used to them.”

Mika nodded numbly as she ran her hand over the black sheath that covered the blade. The design was incredibly intricate for being short notice. The handle’s base was black and golden threads spiraled up it. Slowly Mika pulled out the blade. “It’s black!” she exclaimed as she saw the metal.

“Yeah, that’s kind of one of Baldwin’s trademarks. For whatever reason, he favors using iron to create black blades. It’s not heavy though is it?”

Mika shook her head. “Not at all,” she said as she slowly turned the blade to the light so she could examine it more closely. It was wickedly sharp, much more so that the daggers she had been practicing with.

“Did Baldwin make your sword as well?” Kana asked, carefully laying down her new bow and quiver of arrows next to her backpack.

“He did. It’s probably one of the few things he didn’t gyp me on.” Kaito rested the palm of his hand on the hilt of his katana. “After everything he did to me, it was probably the least he could do.”

“Oh, and what exactly did the old man to do you?” Ayako asked raising an eyebrow.

“That, is none of your business.”

“What if I make it my business?” Ayako challenged, grabbing Kanrir, which was leaning against the side of the couch, and pointing it at Kaito.

“Are you really trying to start a fight in my bedroom? If you want to know that terribly, you can ask him about all the gory details when we get back.”

“Gory?” Ayako’s face paled ever so slightly. She turned to Mika and whispered, “Hey you worked with him a while, was he really that brutal?

“I – I don’t know if I can say,” Mika replied slowly. “I did only work with him for about a day and a half after all.”

“Well it does not really matter that this precise moment,” Kana stated. “We have bigger things to concern ourselves with.”

The other two nodded slowly. The girls combed through the room several more times looking for any other miscellaneous things that they may have missed the first couple of times. The few things that they didn’t take, like Kana’s extra books, were stacked neatly in a corner for when they, with any luck, returned to the castle.

Agatha returned to the room a short while before the group was set to leave, and gave Kaito several different duffle bags stuffed full.

“I guess this will be the last time we see each other for a while,” Mika said quietly as the maid approached them. “Thank you so much for everything.” She bowed, as did Kana.

“You don’t have to sound so sad dear,” Agatha said with a smile. “Lord Kaito will return you here in once piece I’m sure.” She held out her arms, and all three girls gave her a final hug.

Mika hadn’t realized how much she’d come to rely on the old maid. Agatha reminded her a lot of her lost mother, and she hadn’t even realized it until just now, when she was preparing to say goodbye. Judging by the expressions on her friend’s faces, Agatha had become like a temporary mother to them as well.

“Now remember to eat well,” Agatha said pulling back to examine all of their faces. “Keep your clothes and weapons clean, don’t bother the other warriors too much, and do try to be safe. Keep the young lord out of trouble too,” she added in a whisper with a wink in their direction.

Then she turned to Kaito, and with a bow said, “Be careful my Lord, and I do expect you to protect your little human friends.”

“Naturally,” Kaito said with a bit of a smirk.

After scanning him up and down a couple more times as if analyzing what else he may or may not need, Agatha said a final farewell, and left.

“Well, it’s about that time,” Kaito said glancing out of the glass doors. “Are you ready?” His eyes travelled over the three girls who each nodded in turn. This was it. There was no going back now. Kaito tied the packs he had been given together and hoisted them over his shoulder. After checking to make sure his sword was fastened securely at his side he said, “Alright then, let’s go.” He swung open the door and exited with the girls hot on his heels.

The meeting area for the warriors was on the other side of the town, so naturally, the group of four attracted a lot of attention as they passed through. Ayako seemed to absorb the attention of the people and if possible, it seemed to give her more energy.

Mika on the other hand wished she could hide from it. If she had the option, she probably would’ve chosen to detour around the whole city, of course they didn’t have the time for that now. She couldn’t help but glance at Kana and Kaito who seemed oblivious to everything. What she wouldn’t give to get rid of her shyness.

By the time they reached the grassy area on top of the hill, nearly half of the legion was already gathered. Ayako immediately picked out Grinwald from the crowd and waved. She also recognized Dacus and Alistir. "So exactly how many people are in this little entourage?" she asked Kaito. Already there must've been twenty or thirty people in the clearing.

"Roughly fifty," Kaito answered simply. "You three stay here." With that, Kaito left the girls and began to weave his way through the crowd until he was out of sight.

Just a minute or so later, Grinwald appeared in front of the group. "Well hello again little humans," he greeted Ayako and Kana happily. "Who's this?" He leaned down to study Mika who instinctively backed up slightly.

"This is Mika," Ayako answered, and then turning to her friend, she said. "This big guy here is Grinwald. He may look a bit intimidating with the giant ax and big build, but he's a pretty good guy."

Grinwald took a small bow, and Mika dipped her head. "Nice to meet you."

"So how much longer is going to be until we leave?" Ayako asked Grinwald.

"Shouldn't too much longer. The fifth general and several of his men have yet to arrive. After that, everyone should be account for. Oh, speak of the devil..." Grinwald's attention turned toward the far side of the clearing where a large, heavily built man was emerging from the trees.

"Wow..." Ayako breathed. He was exactly how she imagined a war general should be. Even from several meters away, she could clearly see the large muscles bulging from his arms. He wore steel armor around his chest and torso, and carried a rapier at his side. A scar covered the majority of the right side of his face going from the corner of his eyebrow down to the curve of his jaw.

Behind the general, several other warriors were wheeling wooden carts laden with materials to build tents and a giant iron pot to cook.

"Everyone is accounted for?" the general asked one of the warriors beside him.

The soldier nodded as he cast his eyes over the area. "We are fifty-two strong General."

The general scanned the area and all those who filled it. "Let us not waste daylight. Order yourselves and form the lines."

Immediately, there was a rush of movement from everyone. The girls froze and looked for Kaito to give them any sort of direction, but he had yet to reappear. It was in the chaos that Ayako ended up running straight into Alistir. Of all the people, Ayako couldn't believe that it happened to be him.

Alistir had to do a double take of the trio before everything finally registered in his mind. "What are you doing here?" he spat at them. "This is no place for a human, much less a female human."

Ayako leveled Kanrir. "You want to say that again, jerk?"

Alistir's hand flew to the sword at his side, and he had just begun to draw it the general called out, "Halt."

Both Ayako and Alistir froze at the harsh tone and slowly turned to look at the general who towered above him. Kaito was at his side with his arms crossed, but his expression remained carefully emotionless.

"General!" Alistir cried out, seizing the opportunity to have his attention. "These rude little humans are intending to fight with us! They should be arrested and confined to a dungeon until we can return them to the world they came from!"

Ayako opened her mouth to shout back, but a quick glance and silent order from Kaito restrained her, so she simply sent a hateful glare in Alistir's direction.

The general turned to address Kaito, "What is the meaning of this? Why have you brought your pet humans?"

"Why not?" Kaito said in a carefully measured tone. "They can be useful to us."

"And what use could a human possibly have?" Alistir questioned in a harsh tone.

"You forget your place," Kaito said, his voice taking on a note of hardness. Nonetheless he addressed the question, "I suppose you are capable and willing to wash your own clothes then, or cook for the group. Perhaps you even have knowledge of treating injuries." Kaito raised an eyebrow waiting for Alistir to answer the rhetorical questions.

Alisir's face turned a slight shade of red and he looked down at the ground. "Surely it still is unlawful to bring humans along."

Kaito laughed though it was devoid of humor. "Unlawful? We have no laws governing what to with the likes of humans. If they stay, they might as well be useful to us, should they not?"

"Regardless," the general spoke with a note of finality, "it is disgraceful for humans to be fighting in our wars. They should return."

"Is there disgrace in winning, or honor in losing?" Kaito questioned, keeping his tone even, and slowly raising his gaze to meet the larger man standing before him. "If we are able to gain the force of a few extras, and they can be of assistance, what does it matter if they are human or not? As much as we all would hate to admit it, they have knowledge and technology of things that we do not, and it is rather helpful."

Kaito's eyes met Kana's and she dug in her pouch for one of the little bombs she had crafted. She grasped the small package in her palm and held it out toward the general.

"What is it?" he asked with a note of disdain.

"A bomb," Kana said simply. Then, realizing that these people had no idea exactly what that was, she elaborated, "It produces an explosive force that is strong enough to take down a rather well-structured building."

"They are useful," Kaito repeated, "and if they die in the process, there is no real loss taken is there?"

The general frowned as he continued to examine those in front of them. After an endless moment, he turned from them. "To the back with you." Without another word, or further explanation, he moved up to the front of the formation.

The girls were so engrossed in the conflict, they hadn't noticed everyone else had formed the lines the general had spoken of previously. There were multiple rows of three people standing shoulder to shoulder.

Mika's eyes met Kaito's and he gave them a small nod before turning to follow after the general. "Come on guys," Mika said quietly heading off in the direction of the wagons in the back.

The procession of warriors began and the girls trudged along nearly at the very back. The two wooden carts full of different supplies, and the two fully transformed demons that were pulling them, were the only things behind them. Even with the wolf appearance, the trio could tell the two behind them were displeased.

Those ahead of them weren't much better. They would turn around, glare at the girls and turn to whisper amongst themselves. Grinwald was the only one around them that didn't seem to be bothered. He was in the row ahead of them, and would occasionally turn around and flash a smile in their direction.

Even through the shade created by the trees, the sun warmed the air, and after only a short while, the three girls were sweating badly. Mika hadn't made the journey south, so she had no idea how long it actually took. Just looking at the map, it didn't seem like it would take more than a couple of hours, but as the hours slowly passed, she learned it was much longer than it seemed to be.

By the time the sun set, they had only made half of the journey. Luckily for the girls, a order came down from the front of the pack that they would be resting in a clearing not far ahead, and twenty or so minutes later, they stopped.

With the girls being near the back, they arrived last at the little area and got the worst possible sleeping spot: the hard, rocky, clay ground. Some of the warriors set to work collecting wood for a fire while others set off to hunt. Mika looked around for Kaito, but sadly, didn't see him anywhere amongst the crowd.

"Mika. Hey Mika, are you listening to me?"

"Oh, sorry," Mika apologized turning to Ayako. "What did you say?"

"Kana and I are going to try to find a stream for some water to drink and to cook some of the rice. Do you think you can find some wood?"

"Sure," she agreed with a nod of her head.

Ayako dug around in her backpack and distributed the two flashlights that she had. "I have some matches too somewhere..." Again she dug around, and after pulling out a couple sets of clothing and the playing cards, she produced the small box and handed it to Mika.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," Ayako said, and with a small smile in Mika's direction they split off.

Mika flipped on the flashlight and scanned the area. The spot they had been forced to take was right on the edge of the woods, so it didn't take Mika very long to find a nice collection of leaves and sticks.

She remembered long ago her father used to have bonfires, and even though she'd been very young back then, she could recall a few of the things that he had told her about setting up an outside fire. The most important thing she remembered her father telling her was to get all of the debris out of the area. So, she ran her hands over the dirt trying to sweep away the bits of leaves and dried grass.

Once that was completed, it didn't take her very long to set up the actual fire, and fortunately, the leaves and branches were quite dry from a period of drought. By the time the fire was crackling nicely, Ayako and Kana had returned. They both carried flasks heavy with a large amount of water.

"We're really lucky," Ayako said as she set down the water. "There's a stream just over the ridge, and the water tastes really clean." She pulled the bag of rice out of her backpack.

"What are we going to cook it in?" Mika asked.

On the other side of the clearing, the other soldiers had a large fire burning. They all had sticks stuck through various smaller animals–rabbits, fish, and a few other rodents the girls couldn't identify. In the middle of the fire sat the large iron pot that they had seen on the cart.

"There have to be other pots right?" Ayako said somewhat hesitantly. "Where'd that stupid prince go? He'd get them for us."

"I haven't seen him since we left," Mika replied, and she too looked around the area just to confirm what she already knew.

"Then I guess we'll have to find something ourselves," Ayako declared and she set off toward the carts parked in the middle of the clearing. Mika, along with Kana, headed after Ayako.

"Do you guys see anything?" she asked as she shined the flashlight into the cart. The two shifted around the tents that the group obviously wasn't using tonight, but found nothing that even resembled a pot.

"Let's try the other one," Ayako said after a minute or so of searching in vain.

"What are you doing?" came a deep, booming voice from behind them. The girls whirled around and came face to face with a rather brutish looking man. He wasn't tall like Grinwald was, but his height didn't hinder his intimidating appearance.

"We're just looking for a cooking pot," Ayako said defiantly.

"There is no pot for the likes of you," the man snarled. "Get out of here and go back to the wretched place you belong!"

"Hey–!"

"Ayako stop." Kana said putting her hand on Ayako's shoulder to hold her back. "It isn't worth it."

"But I'm hungry!"

"So am I, but we can't afford a fight here and now. You remember what Kaito said about the general right? We shouldn't do anything that would give him a reason to–"

"Okay okay fine. You win," she hissed at the stout demon. Then in a huff, she turned and marched back toward their little campsite.

They all sat down together, huddling close to the fire as the cold winds of the night began to blow. Across the clearing, the warriors were gathered around thier own bonfire, drinking and talking loudly amongst themselves as if this were some sort of camping trip.

"For this mission supposedly being discreet, they are awfully loud," Ayako muttered to her friends.

"It may be the last day some of them are alive," Kana reminded her. "It's late. We had best go to bed if we plan to be functional tomorrow."

Mika nodded in agreement and rolled out her sleeping mat before helping Ayako move some of the bigger rocks away from the area. They doused the fire, and lay down.

Mika, however, had a hard time falling asleep. She had never slept outside before, and the sounds of animals in the woods put her on edge. The only comfort she had was the casual demenor of the demons off in the distance. With their keen senses, she knew that they would sense an enemy presense long before they came within striking distance.

Her gaze shifted to the small spot of sky that she could see through the limbs of the trees. It really was amazing the amount of stars that she could see, and Mika couldn't help but wonder if they were the same stars that shone over Tokyo. Before she realized it, Mika had drifted off into a deep sleep.

When the morning finally dawned, Mika found herself uncomfortably sore and stiff. She guessed that the sun had just begun to peak over the horizon, but the shadows of the trees kept the forest as dark as night.

Mika stood up, stretched, and glanced around the area. Those that had been dancing around all night were now spread out on their mats in no particular order about the clearing. Slowly, some of them were beginning to stir. As Mika sat back down on her sleeping mat, a loud, harsh shout ripped through the still forest.

"Rise!" the general called. Most of the warriors jumped, startled by the sudden cry. Immediately they began scurrying about, packing up their belongings and changing clothes without any regard for those around them.

Startled by their behavior, Mika immediately whirled around to face her friends again before the demons completely stripped themselves.

Kana had risen to the shout, so Mika helped her wake up Ayako, and pack up the few things that they had. They also changed, though behind the largest tree they could find in the nearby area. By the time the sun had started to color the sky a light pink, they were in the move again.

"Are you alright?" Kana asked a bit later, noticing the stiff way in which Mika was walking.

"Yeah," Mika replied with a small smile. "Just a bit sore. I'm sure my muscles will work themselves out soon though."

"Look in my backpack for a small leather pouch," Kana instructed. "Before we left, I had Agatha teach me the different types of herbs in this area, and I was able to collect a decent amount."

Mika did as she was told, and after shifting around Kana’s sleeping mat, her fingers found the pouch. She handed it to Kana who dug around in it for a bit before producing a slender, thick leaf.

"This will numb the pain a bit," she said as she handed it to Mika.

"Thanks Kana." After swallowing the leaf and chasing it down with a good amount of water– it really was almost as bad as Kaito had said – Mika felt significantly better. It was lucky for her that Kana had them because shortly after, the chaos began.

The group was trekking through fields full of tall, dead grass stalks when those in front of the girls suddenly stopped.

Curious, Ayako leaned slightly forward and asked Grinwald, "What's going on?" They were on a slight hill so the girls could see a bit of the front of the procession which seemed to be bunching up together as if discussing something.

"You can't smell the smoke?" Grinwald asked. "It's coming from the east."

Ayako turned in the direction, but still saw nor smelled anything out of the ordinary. A moment later, the path of the group changed, heading in the direction that everyone but the girls could smell the smoke coming from. Although it didn't take long before they could smell the faintest traces of ash, and see the light of a large fire on the horizon, coloring the morning sky a sunset red.


A/N~ I feel like I kind of rushed through this chapter to get to the action in the next one. Sorry if it's a bit painful to read, but from this point on, action is going to be plentiful.

<==Chapter 51

Chapter 53==>

[Muse.]

It's Friday~ xD

I didn't comment last time 'cause I was swamped, sorry. ^^;