As Sakura reached the edge of the village with her sheep Tomoyo called out.

"You found them!" she laughed as she took the sheep from under her arms, "I knew I could count on you, Sakura-chan."

Sakura walked right by her friend and immediately found her brother. He was with Kaho and his daughter by the main living quarters. When he saw the distress on her face, Toya went straight to her. Sakura was out of breath from shock from what she had seen. She looked up to her brother with her emerald eyes.

"Sakura, what happened?" Toya asked grabbing her sister's shoulders.

"Men," she gasped.

"What about them," Toya asked with a raised amount of concern.

"Men here! From the West!" she hissed loud enough for him to hear.

Toya grabbed his sister and daughter and brought them into the building, Kaho followed closely behind.

"What is going on, Toya?" Kaho asked as they made their way to the place where Fujioka was.

"Take Mira and get into our living quarters, don't come out until I say so." Toya still had a grip on Sakura and pulled her into the room. Fujioka raised his head from his work and smiled to his children. His smile faded when he saw the distress in their eyes.

"What happened? What's wrong?" he asked rising from his chair.

"Sakura saw men from the West on our lands," Toya said with his hand still around Sakura's shoulder.

"Is this true?" Fujioka asked his daughter as he walked up to them.

"Yes," she said looking down. Her expression had changed completely. She was no longer distressed. She was becoming angry. Her mind was racing. How did they get here, what was their plan? What did these men want?

"Sakura, were they evil men? Did they mean any harm?" Fujioka asked his daughter trying to get her attention again.

"I—I don't know," Sakura's mind replayed the events of how she met them and what she had heard. "They were talking about the war and the devastation it caused. And then when they got to their camp, they found two of our sheep. They planned to eat them but one, a seer like me, he told them that the sheep will lead them to us! Father!" Sakura's eyes grew wide, "They are after us! They want to take us out completely!"

Fujioka placed a calming hand on his daughter's shoulder, "I will not let them get that far, my dear."

Sakura blinked back her tears of fear, she may have been a strong warrior, but she was also fragile. She knew that if this threat was to be taken care of, all her feelings of fear would have to be ignored and suppressed. For now.

"Toya, we must warn the people that they are not to leave the village. If we are found, they may not hesitate to kill us. No one leaves this village until we know what they want. I want only the best and the most skilled hunters going out into the wasteland. Hopefully we will be able to find what they want. Let us only hope and pray that they mean no harm."

Toya nodded to his father and turned to leave, he stopped to look at his sister one last time before leaving the room. He knew that she would not stay in one place for every long. She was determined to find out what was going on even if it killed her.

And that is what he feared the most.

As the weeks went on, there was no major interaction between the two groups of people. The men from the west did not find the villagers, and the hunters were unable to find out anything from the men. There was an eerie stillness in the air. The animals remained hidden and the people remained underground. Sakura was growing restless.

The villagers all agreed that it would be a matter of time before the men found the irrigation lines they had from the sea to their village. This fact made Sakura even more restless. She decided that she was going to act upon it.

Fai was getting bored. He was stuck watching the men go in circles trying to find the place the animals came from. He was torn between doing his job and keeping the quiet people at peace. He would wake up, stare at the dusty sky until food was served, then he would have to listen to the men complain about how they could have two perfectly good sheep getting ready to produce more livestock for food. Then the groups would go out and try to find food or people. At sundown the men would come back with nothing, complain about the food, and go to sleep. Fai watched, he always watched. He told the men that there was a life force in the general area. That is why the men never left their campsite.

Fai was starting to lose interest in the same broken scenery. Perhaps a hunt to find a water source would be entertaining. He didn't want to bring any other people with him if he did happen to find it, but he still wanted out of the camp. One day he decided to act upon it.

Fai wandered down toward the coast. He could see the remains of many ports from his place on a ledge of a warehouse. He decided to enjoy the view for a moment. His concentration was shaken when he heard the sound of running water behind him. He turned to find nothing behind him at all. He got up from his place and began walking down toward the coast. His feet sank into the mud as he made his way across the coast. He knew he was being watched.

Sakura kept her eyes on the seer as he walked down the beach. She was growing uneasy as he neared the water source. She followed as closely as she could without making her presence known too much to the man. She knew he knew she was watching him. Her arrow sat on the string of her bow as she leapt from one ledge to another. When he reached the water source she pulled the string back.

Fai ran his hand along the side of a large wall. It was not obvious that it had been moved. But there were tool marks on the base of the wall deep in the mud. Fai found a foothold and climbed to the top of the structure. He knew he was now a sitting duck on top of a giant trap. He ran to the edge of the wall and jumped down into the ocean. He felt the current pull him under the surface and down into the large hole dug beneath the structure. Using his magic he pulled himself up to the top of the water. He made his way to the edge of the wall and began to pull himself up and into the mud. The water and mud mixture splashed into his eyes suddenly and he felt something pull him up and out of the mud.

Fai wiped the mud clear from his eyes and looked up. He saw the same dusty sky above his head. He turned to see the ruins of the docks watching him. He looked up to the wall in hopes of finding his rescuer. Nothing was there. Fai got up onto his feet and walked to the dry land. He had found the water for the village. He had been saved by the very person who was ready to kill him. He glanced once more at the wall only to hear a thud on the ground in front of him. He looked down at his feet to find an arrow right between his feet.

Whoever this rescuer was, they were willing to let him live by choice, not chance. Fai smiled and picked up the arrow. He walked toward the source of the life force he sensed, but not close enough to cause alarm.

"Thank you for saving me," he said placing the arrow on a ledge, "but if I am caught with this, you will be found out." He took one last glance in the person's direction before turning to leave. "I owe you one, strange hero."

Sakura wiped the mud off her boots before reaching out to grab her arrow. After sheathing it again she glanced out to the seer. There was something so familiar about him. Sakura found herself reaching out to him without even thinking.

"Maybe, they are here to help us." Sakura whispered as she climbed back up the ruins to her village. As she neared her village she overheard two men talking. She did not recognize the voices. She climbed up to view the men.

"Do you think the people will put up a fight?"

"They might not even exist."

"But if they do, will they fight us?"

"Of course they will. That's why we came prepared."

One of the men grabbed the rifle at his side and chuckled.

"We just want to know why and how they survived, if they survived at all."

"And if they did?"

"We will take whatever it is that made them survive and maybe even make our nation stronger!"

"I thought we were here to help them?"

The first man hit the other on the side of the head, "You idiot. That is what we will tell them to get them to let us in. Then when we have their power in our grip," he hit his fist with his other hand, "they're gone."

"Why?"

"Because that is what the Lords want! Idiot!"

Sakura wasted no time. She ran as fast as she could back to the village to give them the news.