Horohoro and Tamao ventured off west. At first, they both were silent, not because they were completely focused or because of any negative feelings. It was that Horohoro had never been alone with a girl except for his sister, who he would rather avoid at times. He simply didn't know how to act around girls. On the other hand, Tamao just didn't often talk much; she was just too shy at times.

At last Horohoro broke the silence, asking Tamao, "So why do you think that Yoh put us together? He's probably got some reason for this reasoning."

She shrugged her shoulders as a response, equally unsure about my reasoning for putting them together.

"Well, I don't know either. All in all, I don't mind traveling with someone like you. You're a really nice girl," he said in an attempt to compliment her.

Tamao still remained relatively quiet, blushing and saying only a small, "Thank you."

Unfortunately, Horohoro couldn't get much more out of Tamao for the rest of that day; she was just too quiet (in sharp contrast to the Horohoro I know). Soon the two stopped for the night, ready to set out again in the morning after a much needed sleep. Tamao really had a bad feeling about that night, and frankly I couldn't blame her; usually her predictions and feelings come out being correct.

After Horohoro had fallen asleep, a cold, menacing wind blew through their location. Coupled with the pure darkness of that night (without the moon visible in the sky), Tamao was completely frozen to her spot with fear. One could almost hear the lightning strike in the distance that only added to the terror of the night. Only one thing could make it worse: Steel.

From the relative silence, a voice called out to her, saying, "Tamao."

Gasping in fear, all she could muster was a shuddered, "Y-y-yes?" She then knew that Steel was the one who had come to her camp. He was somehow even scarier than my brother was.

He started, "Don't be afraid, my dear. It's only me."

She could not do a thing, simply stuck to her spot.

Somewhat cruelly, he told her, "I've come to bring you some good news, little girl."

Figuring it was best that she responded quickly, Tamao squeaked out, "W-wh-what is it?"

Calculatingly, he revealed to Tamao, "Your chance to fulfill your dream is at hand. Soon enough you will be able to do that. I know how precious Yoh is to you." It seemed as if he were making a serious threat.

Out of curiosity, fear, and courage, she asked, "What have you done?"

"Well, that's for me to know and for you to find out, isn't it?" he deviously taunted.

She again had no response, frozen.

Directing his malice towards her, he said, "I urge you to not interfere with my plans anymore, lest you want to forfeit your lives. I'll be in the place you least expect."

With that, the masked figure left Tamao in her state of shock. For the remainder of the night, all she could do was stare at the sky, eyes wide open, mumbling something to the extent of, "No, he couldn't have."

In the morning, Horohoro found Tamao in that same condition: still in a state of shock and mumbling that same phrase. He shook her to try and stop her from doing that, telling her, "Tamao, what's wrong here?"

After a few hours, Horohoro had managed to shake Tamao from the silence that caused her to shudder incessantly. After she realized what exactly was happening around her, she cried on Horohoro's shoulder.

Again, Horohoro asked for Tamao to explain what exactly had happened.

"I…I…he came last night," she finally managed to force out of her mouth with much effort.

"What happened? Who came last night?" Horohoro asked as a concerned friend, caring for Tamao's well-being.

"Steel came. He said he did something to Yoh, something terrible and awful, something he says I would want. I don't know what that might be, but I know that it can't be good. We've got to go and find Yoh."

The Ainu boy agreed and nodded his head. The two of them abruptly set out towards the direction that Anna and I had gone to in silence, only this time their silence was a determined silence to help the ones that they cared for so much, the people that mattered most. If something terrible had happened to me, they felt the entire mission was in jeopardy.