"Does a bird fall in a snare on the earth, when there is no trap for it? Does a snare spring up from the ground, when it has taken nothing?" – Amos 3:5

Iris was escorted back to Nashi's fortress in the mountains somewhat intact by Jin. She had sustained various injuries but apart from the one dealt by Mathieu, none were serious. As for her eye, she could still see out of it, but without the proper instruments they could not get her eyelid to heal up right and it maintained split even after it healed. She took it upon herself to wear a bandage over it as it was unusual and unsightly, and attempting to close her eyes could not keep out lights and movement as she slept. Part of her began to wish that her sight in the eye had been taken, for to her it felt as if she could no longer close her eyes to wait for unpleasant things to blow over, and that the ability to do so died with her mother. She was beginning to know what it was to be independent despite the women in the fortress that poured over her, admiring her long blonde hair and soft pale skin. She kept her mother's revolver under her pillow as she slept, and the guards around the castle thought nothing of it since the gun wasn't loaded.

It was by Jin's closeness to Nashi that Iris was allowed to stay at the fortress, but even after only a few weeks Nashi grew fond of her. She remained innocent to the many travesties that his men performed throughout the town. They distracted her by feeding her eager mind with the many things Nashi had learned through his travels; she proved to be a bright pupil and excelled at the Japanese that a few of the guards had taken up teaching her. She was also very quick on her feet and would disappear from the castle from time to time, to the displeasure of her handmaids. Some of the guards had a hard time pronouncing her name, and began to call her Setsuna in regards to how fast she would disappear. Her injury made martial arts and swordplay hard for her though; by refusing to remove her bandage, she greatly compromised her depth perception. Still, Jin thought, if she was to be leaving the castle as often as she was, she needed some way to defend herself. So secretly, Jin supplied her with paper targets and rubber ammunition. It took her a while, but eventually she learned to use her mother's revolver somewhat well.

As for Black, he had not managed to hold faith in his situation, and under the incarceration of Lady Jade, he began to play the part of a loyal dog. Mathieu had not returned from the mission at Camille's and was considered dead to the green city; Jade felt the need for a new personal attendant. Once she saw that Black's spirit was broken, she began to build him back up as a soldier. She did not tell him what had become of his father, but assumed that his months of silent and solitary storage made him cease to care. He put up with the random and undeserved beatings without so much as a single tear shed. He eventually stopped pounding his fists against the iron door of his cell. He stopped refusing his meals, and stopped the defiant looks when Jade would enter his cell. Eventually, he was let out of his cell; it was only for short periods of time at first but eventually she would let him into her personal study to read the various books she had scattered there, mostly her father's. He had taken to a very different lifestyle from the one that he had previously known, but the marvels of youth kept him strong even in his purposeless life.

A few years after the events at the house of Camille, Black was let out into the night on a recon mission to the mountains, with the target being a couple of guard outposts a few miles out from Nashi's fortress. The activity was meant to be a test of whether he could be trusted or not for more important missions. He was sent unarmed, with only a small amount of food and an obscure map that he had to figure out how to read by himself. This was meant to protect both him and the base of operations from exposure should he be discovered by Nashi's men.

Jade let him out of her car at the base of the mountain, saying nothing. After she drove away, he stood at the edge of the thick woods for a few minutes, marveling at the size of the great range that stretched beyond his view. The sun had only just set, but despite the lack of light, he had never seen these god-like structures as he did that evening. They were the only cage that had been able to hold the ambitions of Jade back from their full potential, and he respected and feared them for that. As he admired the mountains, the words of Walt Whitman and Robert Frost leaked back into his mind from Jade's study. He felt alive for the first time in years, and took off running full tilt into the woods, thinking to himself, "It is my turn to romp with the overdog." The stars that came out were his friends, and they had been acquainted many times through his reading. His blood coursed loudly through his temples as he jumped over fallen trees and rocks. He ran blindly but with direction, and the night was his alone. It occurred to him that those safe in the town below did not know what exactly they were missing, and he discarded the idea of looking at his map for fear that it would deter his euphoria. Any ties to the world that he knew were strictly forbidden in this sanctuary.

Due to the foliage above he had not noticed the sudden change in the weather. Thick, heavy clouds obscured the moon with their swollen masses and prepared to drench him at any moment, and he did not realize this until it was too late. The clouds above were wrung out over him by some silent force and he soon became drenched. Around midnight, he found shelter in a natural cave and pulled out his map, only to find that it had been ruined by the rain. He sighed and took a nibble of his soggy bread as he watched the torrent outside the cave. The sound of the rain almost put him to sleep, but as he was about to drift off, he heard faint noises coming from the shrub surrounding his post. He quickly grabbed a sharp rock from the ground and retreated further into the darkness of the cave. The noises became more pronounced with each passing second, and the rain faded to a trickle until after what seemed like ages, a feminine figure stumbled out of the bushes and fell flat on her face. Black had been focusing intently on the sound, and at this spectacle he fell onto his back in surprise, dropping the rock and sending a loud crash echoing into and back out of the cave. The woman tried to pull herself together, but by the time she pulled her revolver out, Black was already on the ground in front of the cave with his hands on the ground, trying to sign to her that he himself was unarmed. Despite the humiliating position and his right cheek in the mud, Black was enthralled by his unlikely subduer. He glanced from her sandaled feet to her hips and received quite the kick in the head for it. Moments later however, the girl shrank to her knees grasping her ankle and hissing every curse she knew. Black seized the opportunity to take her revolver at that point, of which he discovered the chamber to be empty anyway, and tossed it into the brush.

"H-hey!" she yelled in protest, attempting to grab at Black's shirt as he threw the gun. He put a cold finger to her lips and grabbed her aggressive hand to help her to her feet.

"I'm not going to try to hurt you," he stated with a bit of a smirk. "You seem to be doing that well enough yourself anyway."

She angrily withdrew her hand from his grasp. "You shut your damn mouth…" she trailed off as she attempted to get to her feet on her own. Failing after a few tries, and with Black standing over her smirking, she eventually gave up. Turning her gaze away from him with a look of defeat, she offered her hand to him again.

"…Let's get you out of this cold and take a look at that ankle. The rain could pick back up at any minute." With that, Black helped her limp to the cave and sat her down near the entrance. He plopped down next to her and opened up his backpack to take out the rest of his small meal and offering it all to her. She refused at first, but a split second later grabbed it from his hand and began to eat somewhat noisily. "Who are you, and why are you all the way out here?" he questioned, but did not get a response until she had finished her small feast.

"I'm… Setsuna. It's not my real name, but..." She seemed a little embarrassed. "Hey, you know it's not polite to ask someone's name without introducing yourself first!" She then smirked and waited for a piteous response.

Black rose to his feet, tipped his hat, and outstretched his arms. With extravagance, he announced: "I am the great Overdog! The heavenly beast! With a star in one eye, I leap to the east!" He jumped across the mouth of the cave and got on all fours, barking like a dog and laughing. Never had he felt so open to the world.

Setsuna began laughing, too. "That sounds like a nursery rhyme!" She seemed happier and a little more at ease.

"It's from a poem by Robert Frost," Black smiled with tears from the laughter forming at the corners of his eyes.

They both laughed for a while together and forgot that anything existed outside of that cave. Black kept up his charades, playing everything from an adamant general to an aged maid. The rain came and went a few times more, and eventually the stars came back out. The two began to grow weary and felt that they could not laugh anymore without killing themselves in the process. Setsuna tried to get up to leave, but Black put his hand on her thigh.

"Your leg is still bad, and the leaves and rocks outside are slippery… I can't let you leave." He looked her in her good eye. Suddenly, she understood the irony of his introduction; one of his eyes was white and blind as if a star had touched it, the other was blue like the night sky. He gave her a soft smile that made her blush. "Your eye is like mine, isn't it?" He stroked her long hair with pure admiration. She drew back and started to fall but Black caught her around the torso and pulled her close. He was guided by a power that wasn't his, stronger than even his dreams.

She stammered "N-no… Mine was injured in an accident, but I can still see out of it…" Black reached for the bandage and she smacked his hand away. He immediately lifted her chin with a finger and kissed her on the lips. Setsuna resisted for only an instant, but found herself kissing back. She longed for his apparent freedom, this feeling he had so suddenly stuffed into her heart when only hours ago she was perfectly content with her existence.

By the time their lips parted, both were blushing, but it was not out of embarrassment in either case. They embraced each other again, and Setsuna felt something falling on her damp clothes. She turned to see that Black was crying and smiling at the same time, the tears silently rolled down his cheeks and fell from his chin without so much as a sob. She kissed the tears off of his cheek and started to nip his earlobe. "S-Setsuna-" He squeaked out.

"Tell me your name," she insisted earnestly and continued toying with his ear.

"I'm sorry," he gulped. "It's Black… It was impolite of me not to tell you sooner…" He became aware of a tight discomfort in his pants. He slipped a hand down to adjust his slacks. She removed her sandals and eased his still wet coat off of his shoulders.

"You'll catch a cold if you stay in that, Black…" She seemed genuinely concerned but her face was still flushed. She then began to fumble awkwardly with the buttons on his shirt.

"The same holds true for you," he tried to steady his own hands unzipping her dress. Eventually they were both stripped nude and their faces glowed a bright red. A cool breeze blew over the opening to the cave, with drafts rolling in intermittently. Both began to shiver, and clung to each other for warmth and affection. They kissed a few more times, and unexpectedly Black scooped her up and carried further into the cave where the air was stale and moist. Once he found a suitable place, he set her down and joined her on the ground, kissing her the entire way down. He started at her lips and worked his way down the valley of her breasts to her stomach. His hand pursued the space between her smooth thighs; she was trembling but he was steady and focused. He wanted to learn every inch of her skin with his touch. He nuzzled her breasts as his hand explored her secrets, and deep down he felt that anything he tried to bite or lick would be consumed by his lust.

He was gentle with her, and eventually his wandering finger found a warm, wet crevice. Stroking it slowly, the arms wrapped around him brought his body against hers once more. She closed her legs around him and kissed him while she reached for his manhood. Black was beginning to feel hot, Setsuna's touch made him throb in a way that made him sensitive to the point of paralysis. She guided him to her loins and drew her hand away, never breaking his gaze that she held. He supported himself over her with his arms and eased himself into her slowly. Her arms wrapped around him tightly as he felt a gentle pop from his tip. She was almost to the point of breaking his neck and tears were streaming down her face as she winced.

"W-what? Did I do something wrong?" Black whispered frantically.

"You don't know what this is?" Black shook his head softly, confused. "It means you're the first… the first to be like this with me." She kissed him a few times to reassure him.

Black felt both nervous and excited at the same time. It seemed that he had hurt her, but for some reason she was happy about it. Without rushing himself, he returned to the task at hand and started to slip himself the rest of the way into her. When they were fully joined, she gazed up at him and he felt a rush like he had many times in his dreams only millions of times stronger. This is life, he thought as he got caught up in this woman he barely knew. This is what has been kept from me all of these years… I wonder if she feels this way, too. He was now keeping up a steady pace; Setsuna left little noises in his ear that seemed to put him in a trance. She began moving with him, and their pace escalated until they were moaning each other's name as if it were something they never wanted to forget. Black's body tensed up as he sunk himself into her one more time, into her clinging arms. They both came out of it yelling as they were actively trying to solicit the attention of the mountain itself, proud of their work and full of life as they were.

After those last few moments of strain, Black collapsed onto the ground next to Setsuna and smiled at her wearily. She immediately cuddled against his sticky body and kissed his chest. They talked until the last of their energy was gone, and dawn had still not yet creased the horizon with its fingers by the time they slept.

Author's note:

The lemon is in! And I'm finishing this at 4 AM! I originally planned their intimate moment to be a chapter or two later but they said NO. I swear, sometimes I feel like they're moving on their own accord!

Enjoy!

R.P

PS. I do not own the quotes or references that I used in this chapter. References are as follow:

The HOLY BIBLE, the book of Amos

Robert Frost- "Canis Major" lines 1-4, with reference to lines 11 and 12

I like quotes :D