Hinoka slipped away from the party. They were all celebrating the birth of her newest sister, but Hinoka couldn't be happy...this was also the death of Mother. And that new woman Father has been bringing around...she gives off a weird air. And she's always around Chisai-ryu...it's weird.

And Hinoka wanted nothing more than to be alone. To be alone with her emotions...with her anger and sadness. So she retreated to the garden, slipping to the back and hiding in the shadows, away from others. She curled up and let out a long sigh.

"I miss mommy…" she muttered to herself, closing her eyes and sniffling to herself.

Her sniffling was interrupted by a rock hitting the dirt beside her. She jumped up and found...a young girl, about her age, sitting in a tree above her head.

"Hey! Did you shoot that at me?!" she demanded angrily.

The girl blinked a few times and slowly looked down at the princess. "Oh...hello…" she muttered blankly. "Didn't notice you…"

"What are you doing up there?"

The girl shrugged and fiddled with a slingshot. "The party was too loud…"

"So you came out to play with a slingshot?"

"...yeah...better than their noise."

Hinoka blinked a few times and stared up at the girl. She was very strange from the people the princess was used to. "How'd you get up there?"

"Climbed." The girl pointed to the wall, then up to the tree as she spoke. Then she yawned and leaned back. "...boring…" she mumbled before grabbing a rock from a pack on her side and fiddled with her slingshot.

Hinoka was upset. She was a princess, how dare this...nothing girl call her boring! She looked around carefully, making sure no one was watching from the house, before carefully scaling the wall.

"...you're going to fall…" the girl muttered.

That only made Hinoka more determined to get closer. She wasn't going to let some lazy, slow talking girl show her up! She was the daughter of the great samurai Sumeragi! Hinoka gripped each stone and pulled herself up, scuttling to find a foothold each time. It was awkward and fumbling, she missed a foothold and nearly fell once or twice, but she made it. She pulled herself on top of the thick stone wall and smiled up at the strange girl.

"Hah! I did it!"

"Yeah," the girl muttered. She didn't seem impressed at all. She put the stone in the slingshot and pulled back, aiming it at the tree in front of her. She let the stone fly, and it knocked down a small branch.

Hinoka frowned and slowly stood, balancing very carefully on the wall. It was thick and sturdy, enough to balance on, but the stones were uneven, a little slippery and hard to find her footing. She stumbled and nearly fell, quickly crouching down and catching her balance.

"It's easier without shoes…" the girl mumbled, glancing down.

Hinoka hesitated for a moment before sitting down again and carefully slipping off her shoes. She tossed them to the ground, then tried to stand again. She found it easier to find her footing now, her feet able to adjust to the changing the surfaces. She took a deep breath and moved very carefully towards the tree.

Hinoka inched beside the tree trunk and reached, grabbing a branch that hung above her head. She took a moment to take a deep breath, then jumped. She pulled herself up and braced her chest against the limb. It shook under her weight, but didn't let go. She rocked and kicked out, the branch biting into her hands before her feet found purchase on a different tree.

She took a moment to breathe, then she managed to pull herself onto the branch, ignoring the stinging in her hands and feet. She sat against the tree trunk and looked up at the girl sitting on the branch above her head.

"Did it."

The girl looked down again and raised an eyebrow. "You did."

Hinoka smiled at the vague interest on the girl's face. It was better that nothing. "So...who are you?"

"Setsuna...you?"

Hinoka was shocked by the question. How did this girl not know who she was? "I am Princess Hinoka!" she said proudly.

"Oh...huh. Cool." The girl rocked a little and looked down. "...Hinoka is kinda hard to say...Hino would be better."

Hinoka frowned and crossed her arms. "What are you doing here anyway? You don't look like a noble."

Setsuna blinked a few times and shrugged. "Papa's the...um…" She stopped, putting a hand on her head. "He takes care of plants and stuff…"

"You're the gardener's daughter?"

"Yeah...that's the word…"

"Why haven't I seen you around the castle then? I know most of the servant's children."

Setsuna gestured at the forest and lake adjacent to the castle. "Spend most my time out there...hunting little buggies and bunnies…"

Hinoka's eyes widened and she glanced back at the castle. "Will you be here tomorrow?"

"Yeah…"

"Can I join you?"

Setsuna paused and blinked a few times. She spun her slingshot, then nodded. "Yeah...okay...I'll be here."

"HINOKA!"

Hinoka tensed and looked down, finding her father stomping in the garden. He came to stand by the wall and looked up at her, waiting for an acknowledgment. "F-Father! I-"

"Did you get up there all on your own?"

Hinoka paused at his question, confused. Wouldn't he assume the girl helped her up? She looked up and found the branch bare...she scattered fast. Hinoka sighed and looked down at her father. "Yeah, I did."

Father was silent and stoic for a moment, then he laughed heartedly. "I wouldn't expect any less from my little filly. Always trying to keep up with your brother. But come down, you're wanted back inside."

Hinoka nodded and moved to get down...then she noticed how far down the ground was. She swayed a little and gulped...she can't make that. "Father I'm...I'm stuck…" she muttered.

Father sighed, then started to climb up the wall. For him it was easy, he just pulled himself onto the wall. He stood and reached out. "Come on, Hinoka, jump down. I'll catch you."

Hinoka hesitated for a moment, then leapt down into her father's outstretched arms. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on to him as he carried her inside.

In the morning, after being dressed and having breakfast, Hinoka slipped away to the garden. She waved to the gardener, a small quiet man who is fun to talk to. She commonly spoke about what bugged her, and he just nodded and listened. It was nice. But, she wasn't here to talk to him, but to find his daughter.

She went to the corner where she met the strange girl and looked up in the tree...the girl wasn't there. Hinoka sighed and shook her head. Of course she wasn't there, her and her father probably got in trouble. She sighed sadly and lowered her gaze, kicking a rock on the ground.

"Princess Hinoka? Is something wrong?" Hinoka jumped and spun around, looking at the gardener.

"Um...well, I met...a girl here last night an-"

"You mean Setsuna?" Hinoka simply nodded. The gardener smiled and chuckled softly. "Ah, so you're the mysterious redhead she saw last night. She mentioned meeting you again, but she must've forgotten."

"She forgot?"

The gardener sighed and shrugged. "She's a strange girl...doesn't seem to think normally. She's probably under the large willow by the lake. That's normally where she spends time. She likes quiet."

Hinoka nodded in understanding and started towards the gate. She waved goodbye to Setsuna's father, then slipped away to the lake. It was silent, only a gentle breeze disturbed the lake surface. A large willow sat secluded from the other trees. That must be where Setsuna is.

Hinoka inched towards the willow and gently pushed the curtain of leaves aside, finding the strange girl Setsuna crouched on the ground by the roots, rocking back and forth while digging through the dirt carefully.

Hinoka smiled and called out. "Hey there!" She didn't think that would make the poor girl jump with fear. Setsuna scrambled away and hid behind a tree, peering out at Hinoka. "Setsuna?"

Setsuna blinked a few times. "Er...Hino?"

"Yeah, you said we could hunt bugs together, remember?" Hinoka gently prodded.

Setsuna nodded and slowly stepped out. "R-right...I remember now. Papa told you where I was?"

"Yes. What were you doing?"

The blue-haired girl recoiled, then knelt down and dug through the dirt a little. "Rolly polies…"

Hinoka blinked in confusion and stepped forward, moving quietly and calmly. She knelt beside the strange girl and watched her. She gently moved her fingers through the dirt and withdrew with a strange pill-shaped bug on her finger.

Setsuna smiled and held her hand out. Hinoka reached out and let the little bug crawl onto her hand. She watched the bug crawl around for a moment before Setsuna reached out and poked it. It curled up into a ball and Hinoka's eyes widened.

"Whoa! Cool!" Hinoka tilted her hand and watched the bug roll off her hand and back to the ground.

"I find them hunting for stones. I like to play with them in the morning." Setsuna sat back and dug through the dirt gently, plucking a stone from the dirt and picking up a small rolly poly, watching it curl up into a ball before putting it down. Then she picked up the stone again and stared at it for a few moments, before loading it into her slingshot and aiming it at a water fowl that had landed on the lake.

"Are you going to try and hit it?" Hinoka whispered. She chuckled and shook her head. "There's no w-"

Hinoka was cut off when the stone was shot from the sling. It whizzed past the leaves and Hinoka heard a sharp pop at it landed right in front of the bird.

"I didn't want to hit it," Setsuna said as the bird took flight. "That would be mean. But I could've..."

Hinoka blinked in amazement, then took Setsuna's hand. "Come with me," she ordered curtly before pulling the girl to her feet and dragging her back towards the castle.

"Ow! Ok...where are we going?"

"The range. I wanna see what you can do."

"I'm nothing special…" Setsuna muttered with a shrug.

"I think you are," Hinoka said. She tugged Setsuna through a gate into the training ground. Thankfully it was quiet, the men were out doing other things. She pulled Setsuna in front of a target and pointed at it. "Try to hit it in the center."

"That's easy," Setsuna said. She took aim, let loose, and lodged a rock right in the bullseye.

Hinoka's eyes widened and she smiled. "Impressive! Amazing! Move back to the wall and try again," she instructed as she went to pry out the rock. She looked back at Setsuna and smiled. "Please? This is so cool."

"Really?" Setsuna smiled back. "Okay then. Stand back..."

She took aim a bit more carefully than last time and let fly again. And sure enough, she hit the bullseye in the same spot.

Hinoka jumped and shouted in excitement. "Setsuna that's amazing! You have such good aim!"

Her celebration was interrupted by clapping. Hinoka and Setsuna turned and found an older blue haired warrior standing by the barracks. She walked up to the range and smiled. "Hello there. Who do you have here, Lady Hinoka?"

Hinoka took a careful breath. "H-her name is Setsuna, Reina...she's my new friend."

"Setsuna…" Reina paused and mulled over the name, then she looked at the small girl. "Who taught you to shoot, dear?"

"Nobody," Setsuna said with a slight smile. "I taught myself."

Reina's eyes widened and she knelt down. "You have impressive skill, little one. Have you ever tried a bow? I think you'd have a natural eye for it. You could put your natural skill into fighting for your country."

"I don't wanna fight," Setsuna said plainly.

Reina frowned and sighed softly. "You want to protect your family, right?"

"Papa is perfectly safe inside the castle walls."

Hinoka darted up and smiled at Setsuna. "She's offering to train you, Setsuna. We could spend more time together."

Setsuna blinked a few times, then her eyes lit up. "Really? I think I'd like that."

Hinoka smiled and flashed a thumbs up. "Great! I can't wait to see what you can do!"