Book I

Foraois

Forest

Chapter I:

Patrollers

"May your journey overflow with blessings and misfortunes."

"It looks like it's going to storm, doesn't it?" A young woman's voice broke through the comfortable silence of the dinky kitchen with the flickering light-bulb that refused to die, casting oddly shaped shadows and light throughout the enclosed space. The voice's owner turned to her dining companion and gave him a pointed gaze as her bright blue eyes narrowed dangerously at the mere thought of being ignored in the interest of seeing what she was tasked with preparing for breakfast.

"It always looks like it's going to storm, Missy," Her dining companion answered as he peeked at the female over the newspaper that he was using to shield himself from the world. His dark eyes scanned her face and when he realized he was not going to be verbally lashed for his dry retort, he lowered the newspaper and snuck a glance out the window. Through the frosted pane glass he, too, could see that the sky was significantly darker than normal and it was oddly turbulent despite their normally rainy climate. "Although it does look like a big one is coming in over the horizon. Tck, that's going to suck for you, ain't it?"

"Of course, considering it's my turn for patrol duty," Kaoru replied with a heavy eye roll as she reached up to muss her unbrushed hair as she blinked at Sanosuke owlishly, her eyes still swimming with the remains of sleep. The last few days had not been kind to them as they he been pelted with the worst of Mother Nature's brutal revenge on their region: hail, snow, heavy rain, and strong winds made their daily activities much more unpleasant and difficult and they often came home sopping wet and shivering violently from the cold air that penetrated all the way to their very bones. Their outdoor wear was useless against the rages of nature and Kaoru often found herself longing for warmer climates and sultry breezes as opposed to the frigid winds that ripped through her body.

"What area have you been assigned for today?" Sanosuke inquired as he raised the newspaper again, wrinkling his nose discretely at the smell of charred toast emitting from the ancient oven but opting not to say anything. He himself had just worked the night shift and was utterly exhausted from having picked his way through the shift, cursing their shift manager the entire nine hours he was out patrolling the area around their town. The bigger male was used to harsh elements, he himself being born in a northern territory, but the constant onslaught combined with the gruelling work they were expected to perform was excessive—even for someone like him who was a fairly rugged individual.

"I don't know, I have to check when I do a gear swap at the Long House," Kaoru replied as she let out a string of select words at the realization that her toast was burning and the oven was spewing black smoke into the small kitchen. Her long ponytail bobbed about comically as she tried to fish the ruined bread from the confines of the oven and she let out a yelp when her skin made contact with a hot piece of metal protruding from the oven's belly. She grunted as she managed to swipe the charred piece of bread onto a chipped plate before depositing them both into the trash, much to Sanosuke's bemusement.

"I just hope that I'm sticking near to the town, I don't want to be shipped to the base of the mountain or the forest again—at least not until this weather clears up," She grumbled as she cast her eyes through the window again and heaved a heavy sigh at the realization that her shift was going to be longer than the nine hours that it clocked in at and she was going to arrive home a soaking mess and probably in a fouler mood brought on by whatever the sky decided to dump on them.

"Could be, couldn't tell you though, I forgot to check your schedule," Sanosuke said with a sheepish look on his face before his face fell into its neutral resting position. He himself had joined the corps way before Kaoru had ever considered it and had garnered a bizarre reputation for being effective at fending off the enemies but being a sloth in the other associated duties. When he was paired up for housing with the younger Kaoru two years ago, she had been dismayed by his lack of compassion for others in their line of work but soon grew to understand his jaded approach to their labour duties. It was truly a cruel industry to be working and tolling away in and she foresaw her retirement a few years down the line if she were to make it that long.

"Of course you did," She muttered as she gave him a heated glare before leaning agains the counter. Her large wool sweater was oversized on her petite frame and the pants that clung to her hips fell in places that indicated they were also too big for her. It was a typical scenario for the inhabitants of their village: nothing seemed to fit as it should have and they had to make due with what was provided to them by Central in their yearly rations. She crossed her arms as she sighed inwardly and bit her lip as she ran through the mental checklist to ensure that anything around their shared house had been done before she ventured out for work.

"While I'm out, Sano, could you replace the firewood? We're running low. I think everything else is taken care of—or mostly taken care of," She asked as she glanced over at the taller male who lifted a hand in understanding and she nodded to herself as she considered to rack her mind to see if there was anything else missing from her mental list. Sighing again as she tilted her head, she grunted again as she whirled around on her heel and exited the small kitchen, giving Sanosuke a light tap on his shoulder, as she rounded the corner and plodded up the rickety stairs and entered her small room.

She herself was a native of the industrial village of Tereré and had grown up in the tight embraces of the small area that flanked the mighty and expansive mountain that was dressed in a covering of rich boreal forests that never seemed to perish. Kaoru had been educated in the only school before it was shut down by Central and its pupils relegated to menial labour designed to weed out which ones would be more useful in more intellectually stimulating positions. Tereré, despite its small size, was revered in importance in terms of natural resources and many of her classmates were sent to venture into the forest to survey the area as well as take stock of what could be easily excavated from the confines of the mountain and what would require much heavier labour and machinery. She herself had gone on a handful of those surveying excursions but found them generally unpleasant given that they often took several weeks and were stupidly dangerous to those who did not take the proper precautions. She had once seen the tally that Central maintained on the death count and she remembered her stomach churning at recognizing some of the names on said list.

Kaoru coughed heavily as she pushed open the door to her free standing wardrobe and reached into the dark space as she felt around for the rough material of the state-issued cloak they were all expected to don on their missions and patrol routes. She fished it from the hanger, tossing the device aside carelessly, and she spread the cloak out on her messily made bed as she eyed it for any damage. Satisfied that there was only slight fraying in the sleeves, she dug back into her closet as she groped around for the heavy boots that were required to move around the outer perimeter of Tereré, tossing them to the foot of her bed with the same lack of enthusiasm she had while performing her work duties.

"Sano? Have you seen my cap?" She called as she realized that she was missing the third mandatory piece of clothing that compromised their makeshift uniforms. The heavy wool cap that they were issued each year by Central was a horrendous crimson colour and it was rumoured to be hand knit by the residents of the Southern villages that lived in a much more comfortable climate. They were decorated with intricate patterns that wove around the base of the cap, greens and whites meshing into bizarre designs that were supposed to tell fables of their people, but she never paid great attention to those minor details as she was too focused on not freezing outside.

"It's on the sofa!" Sanosuke's voice echoed from downstairs and Kaoru muttered a silent reminder to herself that she had to put her garments back when she came home as opposed to tossing them about. Shrugging out of the oversized sweater and yanking a dark long sleeved form fitting shirt over her head, she felt the material ride up her lower back uncomfortably. She reached for her heavy cloak and jammed her arms and head into the appropriate holes before pulling it down over her body. She felt swaddled comfortably within the wool garment and glanced up in the mirror to see that it still fit properly and that her more vulnerable body parts were reasonably covered. Satisfied with having put it on properly, she reached for her boots and laced them up over the heavy socks that she had doubled up on to protect her feet from the elements.

"This one, yeah?" Sanosuke's head poked into her room as he handed her, her red cap with a look of disdain at the offensive colour. "They get uglier and uglier every year. They say they've run out of the dyes down South."

"Oh yeah?" Kaoru grumbled as she tugged the cap on over her hair, her ponytail catching painfully as she tried to free her hair from the tight fitting cap. "Tell me something they have not run out of in the South. Or in the North. Or in Tereré—I swear, they keep mucking up the supplies and we're going to be dead by next year." Sanosuke shrugged in silent agreement knowing that Central was more concerned with nourishing and garbing its capital's inhabitants before the far-flung villages and many of those living in the interior of the country were growing much more resentful of the lack of rations, supplies, and services that were trickling their way up the trade routes.

"It is what it is," Sanosuke said dismissively.

"I can't believe you still take that attitude knowing that we're last priority," Kaoru said dryly as she gave him a lingering look that reflected a certain degree of mirth in her sapphire stare. "You know how it's been over the last few years—when was the last time you ate meat?" Sanosuke's face was passive as he stared down at the smaller female who was watching him intensely before she huffed and pushed her hands into the pockets of her cloak.

"We all knew it was going to happen, Kaoru," Sanosuke finally said as he leaned against her doorway and gave her a pained look. "A lot of people have died because of the mismanagement and it is no secret that people are getting angry." Kaoru's gaze softened at his words knowing that they were true: she herself had lost her mother to an illness that was relatively treatable but due to the lack of medication and supplies, she had haemorrhaged to death on a disgusting hospital bed while Kaoru watched in horror. Her father had vanished into the mountains on a work expedition and had never returned—there was never any information given to her by the state or by the Ministry of the Interior. She resented Central for staining its hands with too many innocent victims but had steeled herself against its cruel hand when she realized that things were already on a gradual decline that was sliding down a dangerous slippery slope with no sign of stopping.

"I know," She mumbled darkly as she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply as she tried to quell the internal storm that was brewing within her. Sanosuke watched her with a careful eye as he tried to read her outward body language as her shoulders tightened and her head listed lazily as she calmed herself and the waves of rage that rampaged within her tiny body. The older male knew that despite being significantly petite and undersized for their job, she was quick-witted and analytical to the point it could have been considered a fault. Her intellect was above average for what their labour required of them yet she never once felt she was above the job.

"I have to get going, I'm going to be late and I don't want any problems with the Chief," Kaoru muttered as she slowly brushed by Sanosuke, her cloak billowing out behind her in a wave of fraying fabric and defeat. Kaoru's red-capped head vanished as she descended to the first floor of their tiny shared house and he winced when he heard the door slam heavily as she stepped out into the cold and bitter morning air. Closing in on the window, he saw her small figure slowly make its way down their residential street before hanging a left that would take her to the industrial area of the town—having walked the route thousands of times before, he knew that she would take about ten minutes to arrive to the Long House and another twenty to gear up and confirm her assigned territory to patrol.

Sanosuke grunted as he flicked the light off, casting her room into darkness as he himself meandered his way down the hall to his own cramped room, tossing his tired body onto the bed as he did not bother to undress himself and don his sleeping ware. He knew that as soon as Kaoru returned, he would probably still be asleep or attempting to start their dinner given that the following day was a day off for him. However, he and the other patrollers were worn to the bare minimum to stay functional and prioritized a significant rest over something trivial like changing into pyjamas.

After all, their environment was too unforgiving for them to contemplate such decisions as to the significance of wearing pyjamas or just conforming to a few hours of precious sleep on their once-weekly day off.

As Kaoru approached the Long House where she would be given her patrolling gear and her assignment, she caught sight of a familiar female that was crouched over the fire burning freely in a disused oil drum. Kaoru put a bit more spring into her step as she approached the lovely blonde that was staring intently into the dancing flicking flames and she closed the distance between them.

"Kaoru!" The female exclaimed at seeing her friend and plastering a warm smile onto her face. She was wearing a similar get-up to Kaoru—red cap and heavy cloak—but she was already geared up with the tools that were shared amongst all those that took patrol duty. She had a hefty pickaxe strapped to her back, the weapon glistening maliciously in the firelight, and she had a medium sized dagger strapped to her thigh that peeked through the open flap of the cloak. Her blonde hair was long and untamed and her eyes were a blue that matched Kaoru's in reflecting once blue sky that had slowly burned away to an ashy grey.

"Morning, Ro," Kaoru greeted as she reached out and embraced the pretty blonde who returned her gesture eagerly. "I haven't seen you in ages!" The dark haired female stood next to the taller blonde who made space for her to join her at the fire.

"Yes, well, I got switched to the morning shift after I threatened Enishi's croons with black mail," Ro said as she pulled a long face and Kaoru felt herself scowl heavily at the mention of the idiots that were in charge of their shifts as well as assignments. "They had been pocketing resources they find out on patrols and I happened to catch one of them trying to barter in the market. Needless to say, they were more than happy to switch me over to the morning shift." She grinned wolfishly as her Southern accent bled into her narrative and she gave Kaoru a much softer smile.

"How are you holding up, Kaoru?" Ro inquired as she fed a sizeable stick into the roaring drum fire as she glanced at her female friend. "I heard about what happened a few weeks ago—I'm sorry." Kaoru stilled momentarily but shook her head as she bit back the words that she wanted to let spill from her mouth.

"I'm okay, I guess, it's part of the job," She answered dutifully as she gave Ro a knowing look that was returned by a sympathetic one. The two had met in their orientation missions and grew to be fast friends: Ro had immigrated from the South to join her partner in the Northern industrial regions and she had been ruthlessly teased because of her flowery accent and her lighter features that were typical of the Southern inhabitants. She had a stiff upper lip the first few weeks but after being paired up with Kaoru, they discovered they had many things in common and their training flew by as they learned the ropes together and passed their practicals together. Ro had lost her partner since then—damned idiot went into the mountain without the right sack—and she had thrown herself into her work to dull the sensation of an empty house. When Kaoru had asked as why she had not returned to the South, Ro had shrugged it off with a casual indifference and said it really did not matter to her at this point.

"I'm sorry I have not been able to check in on you," She apologized as she brushed a blonde strand from her face that was red from the cold. "But, hey, good news! We're going to be working together on this shift! I checked the schedule and they have us together for the next four or five days." Kaoru smiled brightly at the thought of being able to work with the impish blonde and she tapped her shoulder as she rushed into the Long House to get her gear and to get suited up for the route they were going to take that morning.

"Morning, Kaoru!" Another voice called and she returned the greeting to Tae, who was manning the desk with the gear registration and the overall inner mechanisms of the Long House. Tae's face was gentle if not weathered from having to deal with some of the more barbaric individuals of the division, yet she and Kaoru had a fairly good working relationship.

"Good morning," Kaoru returned the greeting as she gave Tae a snappy salute in plain mockery of their work. Tae gave her a disapproving look but did not comment as she checked Kaoru's name against the schedule and her assigned route. Kaoru waited patiently as Tae ran through the lists and muttered a few things to herself before vanishing into the vast weaponry and tools room that was behind her. Kaoru often wondered about what was inside the sacred room—having no legitimate right nor authority to enter on her own accord—and she often tried to crane her neck to catch a peek at what was resting within the darkness of the expanse of room.

"You're going out this morning?" Another voice called, seemingly directed at Kaoru who tore her eyes away from the dark room and glanced over her shoulder. Aoshi, one of the more respectable commanders, was peering at her from across the room as his own cloak swathed his tall frame within its warm folds, his red cap perched precariously to the side and threatening to slide off at any moment.

"Commander," Kaoru said as she saluted him and straightened her back.

"I see that you and Ro have been assigned together on Route Zed," He said dryly.

"Yes'sir," She replied as she lowered her hand from the salute and rested it at her side as she internally cursed her bad luck for having been given Route Zed. Each of the routes around the village and the forested mountain were given a letter so that their delegation to the patrol groups was easy to follow. They had been required to memorize all twenty six routes and geographic features of each one so that they would be able to work any route without much need for prior information or preparation. Route Zed was not a difficult route but it was steep as it wound its way in and around the forest before looping around and depositing its travellers at the front gate of Tereré. It was a long route, though fairly flat and peaceful, and Kaoru knew that she should expect to tack another hour or so onto her shift just because it took so long to clear the area and patrol the assigned zone.

"There have been reports of more attacks along that area as well as Route Y," Aoshi said simply as he looked away from her. "Ensure that you and Ro are not bumbling around and you actually complete the patrol correctly." Kaoru bit her tongue momentarily before giving a brusk nod of her head in acknowledgement of her Commander's orders. Aoshi had been the one to have trained her and Ro and knew that the two of them, despite working well together, were often distracted and this meant it could lead to potential consequences if they were ambushed on the route.

"What sorts of reports, sir? I have only been patrolling Routes C, F, and J recently," Kaoru asked as she straightened her cap on her head and flattened a part of her cloak that was sticking out haphazardly.

"We have been investigating but it has been slow given that the weather has not been cooperative," Aoshi answered as he reached up and removed his cap from his head, pocketing it within the folds of his cloak. "One individual has been killed and others have sustained wounds. From the medical reports from the medical brigade, it seems that they are wounds that are designed to disable movement or even become lethal if hit with the right amount of force."

"Are they human, sir?"

"I cannot answer that question," Aoshi said as he looked behind Kaoru to see that Tae had returned to the desk with Kaoru's supplies bundled in her arms. Kaoru nodded in relief to see that her wooden bokken was resting on top of the messenger bag as well as a dagger identical to Ro's. The messenger bag was neatly organized with a notebook for observation and field notes, a few pens and pencils, a meal ration that was pathetically laughable, as well as bandages for any nicks or cuts they could receive tramping through the forest.

"It's all here and logged, Kaoru," Tae explained as she handed over Kaoru's gear and watched as the younger female strapped the bokken over her back, its hilt poking over her left shoulder for easy access if needed. Kaoru slung the messenger bag over her shoulder and she ensured that it was securely fastened before letting it slide against the natural angles of her body.

"Perfect, I'll bring it back in nine hours," Kaoru said as she gave Tae a grateful smile before signing her name on the log sheet to acknowledge that she had received her assigned tools and gear. Aoshi watched the exchange with a heavy look of boredom on his face and did not send Kaoru off with a farewell as she saluted him again on her way out, making her way over to Ro who was conversing with another immigration to Tereré, whose name Kaoru did not know but whose face she recognized from seeing her in the rationing office or on the street.

"Great, you're ready to go," Ro commented as she looked over at the other female that was watching Kaoru passively with a critical eye that made Kaoru shiver slightly. "Sorry, Tomoe, I have to be off now. Shift is starting—but let's catch up soon, hey? I'm working mornings again so I have lots of time in the afternoon to visit you."

"Of course, Ro," Tomoe said stiffly as she refused to budge her stare from Kaoru. "I beg your pardon, but your name is…?"

"Kaoru," Kaoru replied as she extended her hand out and Tomoe stared down at it. Tomoe had a similar accent to that of Ro, hinting that she was from further South and not indigenous to the frigid North and its icy customs. "It's nice to, uh, meet you?" She waited hesitantly for Tomoe to shake her hand but the alluringly beautiful woman did not acknowledge her gesture of greeting as she stared down at Kaoru with a heavy look of contempt painted on her elegant face and a stare that was inky dark. Kaoru dropped her hand to her side.

"Kaoru," Tomoe repeated blandly as her face revealed nothing to the younger women who were staring at her. "I see you and Ro are both patrollers."

"That's right, Tomoe," Ro said nervously as she felt the tension in the air thicken significantly and her body felt the static between the two dark haired females. Ro's ears were red as she tried to read the situation and the atmosphere and seemed anxious to defuse it before it became that much more unbearable. "I know you're still new to Tereré, but you have to shake someone's hand if it's offered to you, eh."

"You carry a sword," Tomoe's caustic voice reached Kaoru's ears and she felt her veins ice over momentarily at the statement. It was a simple observation but it seemed to transmit something unknown to Kaoru but made her extremely nervous as she side stepped and tried to put a bit of distance between her and this so-called Tomoe that was regarding her with a cool expression that did not reveal any of the typical Southern warmth that Ro seemed to let roll of her in waves.

"We are required to be armed while performing our jobs," Kaoru settled for as she answered something that was not even a question. She blinked harshly as Tomoe continued to eye her but she felt something tugging on her arm, only to discover that it was Ro trying to steer her towards the path they were required to take to reach Route Zed.

"Tomoe, we can catch up another time, alright? Kaoru and I have to be going now if we want to be back by nightfall," Ro interjected harshly as she tugged Kaoru's arm viciously once again and guided her towards the start of the Routes that forked out into different paths that diverted its travellers along the different paths around Tereré and the surrounding area. Tomoe simply nodded at the blonde and cast her eyes once again to Kaoru, her face expressing her desire to vocalize something but her mouth remaining firmly shut as she watched Ro shove Kaoru around the Long House and out of Tomoe's line of vision.

"Jeez, what's her problem?" Kaoru griped as she readjusted the messenger bag so it rested comfortably against her. Ro was silent as she refused to release Kaoru's sleeve and continued to insistently tug her along until they reached the part of the road where it forked off into Routes Zed, G, and K. The blonde was unusually quiet, a complete one-eighty from her normally bubbly personality that seemed to radiate sunshine, but she continued to ferry Kaoru along as they hit their stride on the right path.

"Ro? Are you okay?" Kaoru asked softly as she felt Ro's hand slide down her sleeve and latch onto her hand, weaving her fingers with Kaoru's as she squeezed the dark haired female's hand gently, seeming to reassure herself that Kaoru was intact and still breathing. Ro's own face was one painted with preoccupation and anxiety as she quickly glanced at Kaoru before training her eyes ahead on the path with the great forest looming ahead of the two of them.

"Ro?"

"Tomoe said something to me before you came out of the Long House," Ro forcibly said as she bit her lip and gnawed at the tender skin before glancing back at Kaoru, drawing up next to her so that they were walking together in stride as opposed to her pulling her along the path. "Do you know who she is?"

"She's… Tomoe," Kaoru answered dumbly and Ro gave her a baffled stare as though stating the very obvious was the wrong thing to have been said in such a bizarre moment. "Otherwise, no—I've seen her a few times around the village but… I never paid attention, I guess." Ro nodded slightly as she released Kaoru's hand and stuffed her hands into her sleeves as she seemed to contemplate what she wanted to say to Kaoru.

"She's from a neighbouring village in the South, I think it was called Elizondo," Ro began to explain as the two females worked their way up the slight incline that would dump them close to the entry port of the forest where only those with credentials and work papers were allowed to traverse.

"It was called Elizondo?" Kaoru repeated as she emphasized Ro's use of the past tense.

"Those small villages around mine were destroyed in the campaigns launched by Central as they attempted to pillage as well as take account of our village populations and who was who," Ro remarked as her eyebrows drew together tightly. "It was about ten years ago that Elizondo was destroyed, I guess. They burned it to the ground—there were too many problems and Central just wanted to rid it from the map. She and a few others were then shipped to my village, which thankfully was spared from the more intense warfare from the national campaign.

"Anyways, Tomoe was the sort of girl that was quiet and kept to herself but rumour has it she sees things or predicts things—whatever, I'm not sure what the facts of the story are or even if they're true—like I said, total rumour," Ro continued as she looked at Kaoru who was listening to the story intently. "But a lot of what she was saying was a nonsense sort of thing, you know? Crazy things that we never quite understood where they were coming from. A lot of people sort of laughed at her or blamed it on the trauma from the campaign on her village. Well—until a lot of those things she was saying became true."

"What do you mean 'became true'?" Kaoru asked as she felt a sense of dread knot up in her stomach and churn dangerously in warning that she was not going to like what she was going to hear from her close friend.

"For example, she said that a prominent member of the Central Delegation government was going to be found dead within two weeks," Ro said softly as her eyes narrowed at the memory of hearing the rumours for the first time as a much younger individual. "Well, you know that saying things like that gets you in jail—so while she was in jail, she was under watch and the Delegation member just died. Heart attack, they think—it doesn't matter. She predicted it."

"That's a coincidence, isn't it?" Kaoru pointed out as she stuck her nose in the air and took a whiff of the cold morning air that seemed to clear her lungs. "Or she was potentially collaborating with someone that knew about it—there's a whole bunch of explanations."

"She also said that our village would suffer from a great famine because of a drought of the river and she was right again," Ro murmured quietly as she reached up to tuck her golden mane to the side. Her blue eyes were glassy with the memories of her childhood that were not openly discussed between the two friends and Kaoru felt herself sobering significantly at the seriousness with which Ro spoke. "The point is, Tomoe sort of got a reputation for knowing things before they happened. She was often consulted by Delegation members or by merchants or trade officials to ensure that our village's region was able to keep its head above water despite whatever the idiots in Central were doing."

"So why is she up here in Tereré?" Kaoru asked briskly.

"Well, I got to talking to her about that and she said that there was something that was pulling her here and she could not ignore it," Ro answered stoically as she brushed her chin with her hand and glanced back at Kaoru who was watching her with a guarded expression. "She wandered all the way up the trade routes from the South and bypassed Central—said something about a dream and a mountain village. There's not that many villages in the North with mountains, so I guess she went from village to village until she found what she was looking for."

"And what was that?" Ro's neck stiffened at Kaoru's question and she gave her friend a nervous look as her celestial blue eyes peered into Kaoru's sapphire ones with an almost empty pleading to them as she reached down and grasped Kaoru's right hand between her two own hands. The blonde's behaviour was unsettling to Kaoru—she had never seen Ro act this bizarrely, including after her husband's death, and she felt the entire experience was too surreal to believe and she was having her own odd dream and would wake up in the warm embrace of her mother's handmade blankets.

"Well, what was it, Ro?" Kaoru insisted.

"You," Ro hissed between her teeth as she squeezed Kaoru's hand once again. "She kept rambling on and on about Kaoru, Kaoru, and Kaoru. Believe me, I was surprised when I ran into her a few weeks ago! But she had not said anything then about you—in fact, we just had tea and caught up with news from the South that had not reached her. It was only today that she mentioned you."

"And why would she predict something about me?" Kaoru asked incredulously as they drew closer to the forest that was looming ominously ahead of them. They flashed their identification plaques to the two guards that were standing before them and parted on the path to allow the two patrollers to continue on their assigned route. "Why is she seeing me in these visions of hers?"

"I don't know," Ro answered heatedly as she whirled her head around once again to stare at Kaoru, her light blue eyes wide open and red rimmed with tears as she gawked at her dark headed companion's face. Her eyes were just as stormy as the skies above them that threatened to open its divine wrath upon Tereré once again and Kaoru took a hesitant step backwards as Ro swiped angrily at her eyes. "But, Kaoru, anything that Tomoe has ever seen has always been bad."

"B-bad?" Kaoru stammered as she reached up and tightened her hold on the bokken that was fastened around her. Ro froze in her steps as the first branches of the expansive canopy began to block out the minimum light that they had and she turned around to fully face Kaoru as she wrapped her arms around her body and shivered at the onslaught of memories of Tomoe's predictions that she had been more than happy to block from her mind upon abandoning the Southern villages.

"If she's seen you, there's something bad that's going to happen to you," Ro whispered harshly as she felt the breeze pick up, ruffling her mane of golden honey hair, both their cloaks billowing around them and exposing their shins to the forest and the cool air that threatened to suffocate them. "I don't want to lose another person—not so soon," Ro continued to whisper as she closed her eyes and sunk to the ground, the handle of her pickaxe sticking up proudly over her shoulder as she coughed heavily, her lungs racking and the cough vibrating her body. Kaoru sighed heavily as she ran a hand over her red cap but approached the blonde who was going through some unseen trauma that she could not comprehend.

"Ro," Kaoru whispered as she lowered herself onto the damp forest round with the pretty blonde who was on the delicate cusp of crying. "Ro, sssshhh, it's okay. We're here together, remember? Think about our training days and how we were there for each other—it's the same, nothing is going to happen, alright?" She reached out and wrapped her arms around her friend's shaking body, trying to will her friend's fears away as she felt a lump rise in her throat.

"It's just that Tomoe—"

"—Ro," Kaoru cut in as she embraced her friend tightly to her own small body. "Nothing will happen. We have each other—Sanosuke is here, too—we just have to watch each other's backs like we always have." She watched as Ro tried to detach herself from Kaoru's arms and stared at her friend—two hues of blue orbs meeting each other as they stared into each other's eyes. "Now, we have to get moving, okay? We can't be out here until nightfall—otherwise we will be in deep trouble." She gave the blonde a hesitant smile as she dragged both of them to their feet and steadied her friend on her feet.

"We didn't get into this patrol brigade worrying about visions and predicts or death," Kaoru reminded her firmly as she grasped her friend's hand and took the role of ferrying her along Route Zed's marked path as they walked along in amicable silence, their weapons clinking together and their cloaks rustling with their movements. "If anything, we signed away our lives to a promised death—but we're not going to go out without a bang if it comes to it." Ro's eyes widened in realization that Kaoru was parroting her own words back at her and she let a crooked smile tip her lips upwards as she nodded firmly.

"And if we go out dying—"

"—We do it in style," Kaoru finished as she gave Ro her cheeky grin only reserved for those who knew her intimately and were on her good side. Kaoru was a social individual who did not despise meeting new individuals yet she was cautious when allowing people to skirt close to her personal life. If they flew too closely to things she wished left unsaid or untouched, she would balk and reject them—her own insecurities rearing their ugly heads. Sanosuke and Ro were a few of the individuals she had allowed to approach her and it had paid back wonders in spades as she found great friendships in the two of them despite the fact it had taken a spell for them to reach a mutual point of understanding and comprehension.

"We've got nine hours ahead of us, hey," Ro remarked as she steeled herself against the wind and glanced at Kaoru with a look of mischief on her face as she tried to hide the fear that was still pooling in the corners of her brilliant eyes. "Let's do some serious catch up—it's been ages, right?"

"Of course," Kaoru relented as she touched her messenger bag and adjusted her bokken once more as they trailed deeper into the talons of the mysterious forest that had taken so much from them yet gave them very little.

A/N: Hello! Thank you for deciding to read this lovely work of fiction. Despite not owning any of the characters, it is always fun to plop them into AU situations and to take their development in different directions. Plus, the introduction of certain OC is always a nice bonus because you can change their interactions with canon characters. Ro is going to be a fun creature to write about and flesh out and I look forward to doing so! As we get deeper into the plot, you will begin to understand the mechanics of the world that they are living in as well as the backstory, politics, and the different types of individuals that inhabit a fairly turbulent environment. For now, don't forget to leave a review! :)