Flames covered the expanse of the room. Charred beams fell to the floor around the little girl. She was very scared and did not know what to do. "Mommy?" she called. "Mommy, where are you?"
"Yuki…" came a shaky voice. The girl ran through the fire toward the sound of her mother's voice. Oddly enough, the fire did not hurt her. She ran only to find her mother underneath a charred wooden beam.
"Mommy, are you okay?" the girl sobbed.
"There is no time for that!" said her mother. "Listen to me, Yuki. You must leave this village!"
With tears streaming down her face, the girl asked, "But why, Mommy?"
"Just listen to me, Yuki. You must leave this place. They must not find you! They cannot have you!" Her mother grabbed her hand and said, "Now go, my sweet little Princess. Be strong." She suddenly felt heavy in the girl's arms and she stopped breathing.
"Mommy?" the girl sobbed.
A crash came from behind her and she turned and saw nothing but figures in the flames. One of the of the figures spoke, "Is this the girl that he wanted?"
"Looks like it." said another.
The two figures strode toward Yuki, who sat there cowering in fear with tears running down her cheeks. Before they were an arm's length away another crash was heard and the child found an older girl, about the age of 16 or so, standing in front of her holding a long sword.
"Yuki," the girl said. "Are you alright?"
Immediately she recognized the voice.
"Kocha!" exclaimed the frightened girl.
The teen turned her head and smiled weakly at the child then faced her foes once more. "If you cause any more pain to this girl I will drive this sword into each heart that is among you!" She readied her sword, which gleamed in the firelight. The steel blade was toothed on all the way up the back and had three bluish-black opals going up the middle of it. Inside the stones a strange smoke whirled around within. The teen turned to the child and growled, "Yuki, I want you to run as far away from this village as possible." The girl only stared at her friend in fear. "Run as fast as you can. Do not stop until you feel that you are safe."
The girl stood trembling. Before she turned the teenage girl gave her a trinket and smiled, "I'll be right behind you! Now go!" With that the child ran past the burning flames, escaped the building, and fled the village. While she ran she could hear steel hitting steal and crashes coming from behind her. She also heard vastly approaching footsteps from behind causing her to run faster. After a mile or so she heard a noise that sounded like something hitting the ground, and the footsteps ceased. She continued to run through forests and plains without looking back. Whenever she felt weak she gripped the trinket and kept going.
Finally, she came to another forest. As she ran she tripped on a twig and fell to the ground. She heard a rustle in the canopy above her then felt a hard force hit her in the back of the head. The blow was so strong that it caused her to become dizzy and she fell to the ground. She looked up not knowing where she was but she could hear the steel again. Once it stopped darkness began to veil her eyes. Her last vision was that of a figure with silver hair.