It started a few days after she found the stone; Kai began to talk to herself…or was she talking to the stone? I could never tell. But ever since that day, I haven't been able to sleep through the night with out waking up wet with sweat––and crying. On the night of my seventeenth birthday, I woke up like I did every night, but the dream wasn't the same as before…it was different.

* * *

I could feel the wind blow gently on my face as I ran to the fields. The trees whispered to me as I ran from the safety of Linoson and into the flowing grass. Suddenly it was dark. When I looked up, I was in the shadow of the trees bordering the fields from the woods. This is where Kai found the stone! She must have gone in there to see if there was anything else. I ran into the woods, figuring that she couldn't be far from here.

"Kai! Kai, where are you? Hey, you out here? Kai!"

I wandered around in the woods for what seemed like twenty minutes, maybe longer. I found my way back to the fields, and walked out of the shadows. Suddenly the clouds thickened and darkened, the wind became violent. A storm's coming, I've got to find Kai! I thought frantically as the wind blew harder and I heard what I thought was thunder. I cried out louder for her, but I couldn't hear anything over the wind and distant noise. Suddenly instead of thunder, I heard the rumble of hooves coming closer, along with hollering men. Above all that, I heard my sister cry out. I ran toward the direction of her voice, shouting her name back, begging that she could hear me.

As I ran, I could hear the men's laughter become louder, and I soon came to a stop outside of their camp. There was Kai, tied to a post in the outer rim of tents; tears drew lines on her dusty face, her eyes red and puffy. Sensing that she was being watched, she looked around, and saw me.

"Mika!" Kai called hoarsely, her throat sore from screaming, hope shined in her eyes.

"Shh! I'll get you out of here."

I looked around to make sure no one was looking, and ran across the camp to her. I told her to stay quiet and to keep a lookout. I looked around, trying to find anything I could use to cut the ropes. A few tents over, I saw a small dagger that would do the job. I showed her the dagger and left to retrieve it. Quickly grabbing it, I crouched and ran back to Kai. I became nervous when I saw her eyes––they were wide open with terror.

"Kai, what is it?"

"Mika…I'm sorry."

"Kai, what's wrong!?"

"They know, they said they would kill me if I warned you. I–I'm sorry."

"Kai––!"

The next thing I knew, the dagger that was just in my hand was against my throat, and one of the men that I saw by the fire had their face next to mine. He grabbed my left hand and pulled it behind my back. I cried out, but the man just laughed and called to the others by the fire.

"Aha! Look w'at Ah've got 'ere mates, anot'er one, can ya believe t'at!"

I struggled to break free from the man, but he kept a firm hold of my wrist and pushed the dagger into my throat. Kai started crying when more men came to see what was going on, forming a circle around us, making it impossible to escape. When the men saw what all the commotion was about, they shouted and cheered. Soon, the men parted ranks as another man walked forward. I stood tall as he approached. His short, spiky hair and eyes shared the same pale-green color; faded scars visible on his light brown skin. He wore a weathered black, sleeveless jacket that went down to his ankles, with a black sash tied around his waist that held a black scabbard to his left side. The gold hilt glistened in the sunlight; a smooth gold stone with black markings sat on top of the hilt, creating a more elegant look. He looked at me: my hair, my clothing, my skin, and then my eyes. At that point, I could tell he was trying to figure out who I was and why I would come to this place. He kept staring into my eyes and I stared back at him, making sure that I wouldn't be the first one to break contact.

"So Amari, how did you catch this one?" He watched me as he listened.

"Well, Sir, Ah was sittin' by da fire, min'in' my own business; w'en Ah 'eard voices be'ind me. Ah took a little peek, an' Ah saw t'is one," He shook me, letting go of my wrist and then point to Kai.

"Talkin' to t'is one an' t'en she goes runnin' off into one of da ot'er tents. Ah t'reatened da little one see, an' t'en s'e came back." He shook me again. "Ah snuck up be'ind 'er an' grabbed 'er. T'at's 'ow Ah got 'er, Sir."

He smiled a toothless smile to his captain and I could feel the dagger leaving my throat, but still hanging there in case I decided to make trouble. The captain didn't say anything, he just watched. He walked up to me, put his hand under my chin and forced my head up. I looked at him as he looked into my eyes, and I had the feeling that he was looking for something. He let go and took a step back.

"Where are you from?"

"Linoson." I replied flatly.

He pointed to my sister, "Do you know her? Does she mean anything to you?"

I glared at him and growled. "Of coarse she means something to me ––SHE'S MY SISTER!"

I broke free from Amari, the dagger digging into my shoulder and down my right arm, as I charged at the captain. I didn't notice the pain or the blood as I ran, I didn't notice Kai screaming, I didn't notice the captain reach into his jacket and grab the hilt of his sword. He pulled it out far enough to make contact with my chest before I could jump on him. When we connected, I couldn't breathe; I tried to, but the air wouldn't come in. I fell to my hands and knees, trying to fill my lungs, but with no success. It was quiet, all accept Kai, who was crying. The captain looked at me as I started to breathe again, my chest a flame, rising up and down slowly. He squatted in front of me and lifted my chin. I knew he could see the hate and anger in my eyes because he smiled, amused. He got up and turned to his men.

"Now you know how some have the will, that strong will to keep fighting. She is a perfect example, and one of the most strong-willed ones I've ever met. For this I reward her her freedom, but the child is ours." The men cheered, I couldn't believe my ears. "Now go, pack up. We have to move before their people come looking for them; then us."

"No! You can't have her. No––Take me instead…take me."

He looked at me, his men leaving to pack their things and get ready for the move; accept a few. They looked at each other and then back at me. They made a small circle, whispering to each other, but I couldn't hear them. Instead, I crawled back towards Kai. I sat next to her and she leaned her head on my good shoulder, tears rolled down her face. I hummed the song that my mother sung to us and she fell asleep. The captain and his council broke apart, one of them walked to us. He had a dusty old bag, with small holes in the corners and withered tassels along the flap. He knelt beside me and asked for my arm. At first I didn't give it to him, I just glared at the ground.

"Please let me fix up your arm, I promise it won't hurt." He said softly.

I lifted my head up and looked at him. He wasn't a man, at least not yet anyway, he couldn't have been that much older than me. His chocolate brown hair tussled, making him look childish. His eyes were a dazzling blue, with flecks of green and gold. He wore a dark, red-brown vest over his light brown tunic, with a cream colored sash going around his right shoulder and meeting together at the left side of his waist, tied to a small pouch of the same cream color. I gave him my arm and he started to clean it. I winced every now and then, and his hands would soften when he heard me. Once he was done, he put a yellow paste on the wound.

"Don't worry, it's nothing poisonous. It'll help heal the wound and keep the pain away. It's rare, so don't tell them I used it on you; they wouldn't like that."

I smiled and he smiled back. The paste made my arm numb and I could feel the pain leaving. I wanted to know why someone this gentle and young was with a group of thugs and slavers. Was he born into this, or among those taken?

"Okay, all done. Now just eat these."

I snapped back, not even noticing him putting the bandage on. In his hand were some small red seeds; I took the seeds and ate them quickly. Then I looked at my arm and tested it. The paste worked, I couldn't feel any pain. I stroked Kai's hair, and looked up at him.

"Thanks."

"No problem, that's what I'm here for."

"What do you mean, are you a healer?"

"Something like that…" He packed his things into his bag and got up. "Well, I've got to go help pack. Don't worry about your sister, I'll make sure she gets treated well."

"Thanks," That was all I could say, I didn't know what else to do. He turned to leave, but I called him back. There was something I wanted to know. He came back over and sat down across from me.

"You know, you didn't answered my question."

"What question?"

"Are you a healer? You never answered, you just changed the subject."

He sat there, quiet, looking at the ground. Then he lifted his head up a little and took a deep breath. "I am a healer, but I'm sure you've noticed, I'm not like the others––I didn't choose to be here." I looked at him, piecing together what he was saying. A tear rolled down his cheek, splattering on to his bag. "When I was younger, my village was raided and my parents were killed. A week later this band came. When they found me, I took one of the spears left over from the raid and threw it at them."

He's hands became fists. I heard the anger and frustration in his voice.

"There were only three of them; the one I shot down and two others. One of them ran to get the captain and the other grabbed me so I couldn't run away. By the time the captain came, the one I wounded was close to death. I tried to convince the man that held me to let me go so I could heal him, but he wouldn't let me. It wasn't until I promised the captain that I would come back did he let me go. When I found what I needed, I came back as quickly as I could. I didn't want that man to die, I've already seen too much death.

"Luckily, the man lived, and couldn't stop thanking me; even though I was the one that wounded him. Because of this, I gained respect from the captain. He promised me that he wouldn't sell me, that he would keep me with him and make me a healer for this batch. I'm thankful for that."

He hid his face from mine, but I could tell he was crying. I sat there; thinking about all he'd told me, thinking about what could happen to my sister, what could've happened to me. I leaned over to hug him, to comfort him; I felt a connection to him that I couldn't imagine having before. He stiffened when I touched him, then relaxed, and put his head on my bad shoulder. I winced, but luckily he didn't hear me. Now that I was closer to him, I could see how tired and worn out he was, how much he needed a rest. I pulled away from him and got up.

"Here, you lay next to Kai, I'll do whatever you were assigned to do."

"No, you won't be able to do anything with that arm of yours. I'm fine, I can do it." He got up and pushed down on my shoulder until I was sitting again. "You need to spend as much time as you can with her, we'll be leaving soon. By the way, what's your sister's name, 'Kai'?"

"Yeah, that's her nickname. Her full name is Kaiyako, I'm Mika."

" 'Child of forgiveness' huh? That's a powerful name she's got."

My eyes glazed over and I whispered softly, "Or 'forgiveness child'––at least, that's what my mother meant," No, I won't tell him, that's Kai's choice. The boy didn't hear me and continued.

"My name is Taru, and Mika; I promise you I'll protect Kai. You might want to wake her up now. We'll be leaving soon, and she's coming with us. Better say your good-byes."

I stared at the ground as he got up and walked into one of the tents. Kai squirmed next to me, mumbling to herself again. Her hand clasped against her chest. I took her hand and pried it open; inside was the little red stone she found a few days earlier. I took it and played with it in my hands; the sun sparkled off of the stone, creating a warm, red glow around it. I didn't notice the captain and his council return until one of them took the stone from me.

"Hey, what do you think this, Sir? Is it valuable?"

I watched him while he threw the stone in his hands. I was about to get up and take it back when the captain grabbed it from him first. He made his own inspection before tossing it himself.

"Where did you find this, girl?"

I didn't know what to say, I wasn't even the one who found it. It was Kai. But he looked at me, waiting for the answer he seeked. I stared blankly at him, unsure of what to say. I started to speak, but hesitated, I didn't want to put Kai through anymore. If I told him that Kai found it, how would I know if he didn't make her search for another one? He noticed my hesitation and impatiently asked me again.

"Well, you see, I didn't find. Someone else did, and they, um…gave it to me."

I could feel the sweat dripping on my face, hoping he would believe my story. He was looking at the stone again, thinking about what I had said, checking to see if what I said made sense. He looked at my sleeping sister and mumbled to himself.

"She's the one that found you,"

"How…?"

I couldn't believe what I just heard; it wasn't even a question. It was a statement. His face looked surprised, and then I realized he wasn't even questioning me. It was too late now; he knew that I lied to him. My reply told him that. His face was calm again and thinking once more.

"So, it was your sister who found this?"

"Yes," That was all I could say, I couldn't even look at him. All I thought about was Kai and what I've done to her.

"Were you with her when she found this?"

"No, she came back home with it and told me she found it in the woods near here."

"Hmm." He tossed it some more, and then gave it back. "It's nothing, just a pebble. Wake up the little one now, it's time to go."

The man at his right stepped forward to take Kai. I got up quickly and stepped in-between them, arms spread out. I wasn't going to let them take her without a fight. The man got angry at my interference and raised his hand up to strike me. I closed my eyes, waiting for the blow, but it didn't come. I opened my eyes and I saw Taru in front of me, holding the man's wrist, still in the position to strike.

"Now Ushida, you wouldn't want to do that. She's under the captain's protection…as well as mine."

The two stared at each other. Ushida was a man in his prime, and looked like a seasoned fighter, anger burned in his eyes. But Taru was young, quick and strong, with a different kind of fire in his eyes. Ushida pulled his wrist out of Taru's grasp, and took a step closer to him.

"Get out of my way Taru, this girl needs to learn her lesson! I have no idea why you and even Ronin are soft on her, she's just a brat!"

"It doesn't matter what my reasons are, but the captain told you not to lay a hand on her. You've been with him long enough, you should know to trust him…"

I don't know why, but I couldn't hear Taru anymore, I couldn't hear anyone. My head began to hurt and everything started to spin. I dropped my arms and swayed, trying to keep my balance, but not successfully. I dropped and hit the ground. I heard people talking around me; then I felt someone pick me up and hold me, talking urgently. I honed in on the voice and noticed that it belonged to Taru.

"It worked faster then I thought it would. I don't believe she broke anything when she fell. Now do see Ushida? The captain told me to give her something to knock her out. He said it would be easier this way for us, and it'll keep her quiet, but I didn't imagine that they would be this strong."

Taru put me down carefully and leaned me against a tent pole. He moved over and picked up Kai, who finally woke up. She saw me and cried out my name. All I could do was mumble; soon I couldn't even do that. The seeds started to take more of an affect on me, and all I could do was sit there and listen. Taru took her to the side and calmed her down.

"I don't know why you couldn't have just grabbed the younger one and leave her Ronin. We could've brought her with us just as easily too, why is she so different?"

Ronin, Then I thought about Ushida's question. He said I was a fighter, but so are plenty of others, what made me different?

"I already told you Ushida, the captain knows what he's doing. So don't question his judgment."

"I don't need it from you Taru; you're just a slave, a kid under Ronin's protection. Did you ever wonder what would've happened to you if Ronin didn't come to your defense? We were going to kill you for almost killin' one of us, but Ronin saw potential in you as a healer; he persuaded most of us to keep you, but I never agreed and still don't––"

"Ushida!" Ronin called, "The others are loading the tents, go tend to them."

"Yes, Sir." He grumbled and stomped away, mumbling and cursing to himself. He must have been with the others, because Taru spoke again to the captain.

"Are you sure you want to do this Ronin?"

"Yes, they're the ones we've been waiting for. They even have one of the Helpers."

'The ones we've been waiting for'? 'Helpers'? What are they talking about?

"Give me the little one Taru, I'll put her in my cart. You take care of her, something tells me we'll see her again."

Taru gave Kai to the captain, and walked off with her. I found the ability to call her name, but she didn't hear me; Taru did.

"Mika…" There was sorrow in his voice. He knelt beside me and brought me closer to him, as if to protect me. He stroked my hair and held me tight. "I don't know if you'll remember all of this, but I promise you, I'll keep her safe, no matter what." He took a deep breath and continued, "There's a reason why I told you my name Mika, and hopefully you'll find out why soon, but I can't be the one to tell you. At that time, everything will make sense to you. We'll meet again Mika, then you and Kai will be together again."

He continued to stroke my hair and hold me. His presence calmed me, and made it feel like a dream; like none of this was really happening. Then it began to slip away. He got up and leaned me against the pole.

"Until next time Mika."

It was gone, and reality came back. I could hear hooves beating again and men shouting. I tried to get up, to look for Kai, to bring her home with me, back to Linoson. But I couldn't. The thunder was back, but far away now, leaving everything behind. Just like before, when the storm first came; I could hear Kai's voice above everything, shouting my name and crying for help; but I couldn't do anything. Her voice broke the silence, leaving the air shattered.

"Mika! Mika!"

I sat there, waiting for it to end, for it to die. Finally it was gone, unable to haunt me anymore. I let the power of the seeds to take control, shutting me down. But when unconscious overpowered me, I could hear the echo of her voice crying out to me, haunting my dreams forever.

MIKA!!

MIKA!!

Mika

Mika…

* * *

If only I'd known that what I saw during the nights were a vision. I could have stopped her from leaving, I could have gone prepared and ready to fight. I could have also been able to spend more time with her, more time to plan an escape. But I didn't. Only after waking up in the mud, cold and wet with a bandage wrapped around my arm, did I realize that this wasn't what I thought it was. It was no longer just a dream to haunt me in the night, it had become real––it had become a living memory. It had become a dark shadow to linger with me for the rest of my life, never allowing me to forget that fateful day