It's been days since Esmeralda and the others left the town. They've been running and running and hadn't eaten for days. Right now they were resting in a cave on a snowy weather.
"I'm so hungry." Toboe said.
"You could say that again." Hige said.
"How long has it been we've gone off without food?"
"I'd say about three days."
"We've gone for that long?"
"Yeah, we have."
"I wonder how long we can go without food?"
"Probably another three days."
"Would you guys shut up? It's only been three stupid days." Tsume said.
"Tsume, stop it. It's not their fault. We hadn't eaten anything since we've left the city." Esmeralda said.
"If you hold the moonlight to your mouth then you won't be that hungry. You should be able to last longer. I've traveled on it for a month." Kiba said.
"Did you say a whole month?!" Hige exclaimed.
"Yeah."
"He's right. I've done that before and I went without eating for about two months." Esmeralda said it as if it wasn't a big deal.
"Two months?"
"How can you do?" Toboe asked.
"Because I was one of the lucky ones as my old man said. Before any of you asked, I rather not talk about him right now." Esmeralda said before she turned her head to the side.
"The snow will soon fade away and when it foes, the moon will come out." Kiba said.
"Or we can just eat ourselves in order." Tsume said while Esmeralda turned her head towards him.
"First to go will be the weakest kid and then the fat one."
"Why did you leave out Kiba and Esmeralda?" Toboe asked.
"This guy is just plain inedible and Esmeralda is a lot stronger than she looks." Tsume said.
"I know you guys are hungry, but I don't think you guys should fight. It's not the right time." Esmeralda said before Hige left the cave. Esmeralda thinks Hige smelled something cause of the smile he had on his face.
All of them followed Hige to a mountain with a dead deer in front of them. "I wonder where it came from?" Toboe wondered.
"You're going to eat that?" Tsume asked.
"And you're not?" Hige said before everyone took a bite out of the dead deer except for Esmeralda and Tsume.
"This is pretty good but it's harder than a hamburger though. Come on, Tsume, Esmeralda, have some. We still have a long way to go." Toboe said.
"Long way? Where exactly would that be? Paradise? Or where the flower scent is?" Tsume asked.
"Tsume..." Esmeralda mumbled.
"I wonder what paradise looks like." Toboe wondered.
"It's place full of flowers and food! There are also some beautiful babes like Esmeralda here." Hige said. Esmeralda cleared her throat.
"Really?" Toboe asked with excitement in his eyes.
"Yeah, it would be nice if it was that is." Hige sighed.
"Thought so." Esmeralda said.
"Paradise is nothing but a mere rumor. We don't know if it exists. It's probably just somebody's dream." Tsume said.
"Then why did you come along?"
"We won't know until we find it." Toboe said.
"Paradise would be a good place for a new home better than that city of humans." Esmeralda said.
"How far are you three going to trust this guy?" Tsume asked.
"I trust him, Tsume." Esmeralda said.
"How far are you willing to go, following this guy to a place that doesn't exist?" Tsume snapped at Esmeralda.
"So what if paradise doesn't exist, I still trust Kiba."
"I can't take this anymore. Do whatever you want. I'm leaving." Tsume walked away.
"And just where are you planning to go Tsume?" Esmeralda asked.
"I'll go look for hell or something."
"Do as you wish." Kiba said.
"Kiba." Esmeralda looked at Kiba.
"Your 'rules won't work with us."
"People like you who think they've seen everything piss me off!" Tsume shouted.
"Tsume..." Esmeralda stared at Tsume now.
"But Tsume...we've finally became friends." Toboe said.
"Go play house on your own." Tsume said while walking away.
"Jeez, he's the most immature out of all of us." Hige said.
"But I like Tsume." Toboe mumbled. Esmeralda looked at Toboe before walking away.
"Esmeralda, where are you going?"
"I don't know about you guys but I'm going after him."
"Are you sure?" She stopped and looked back. "Yeah. Don't worry Toboe, I'll be back with Tsume and that's a promise."
"Ok then..." Toboe said with a smile.
"See you guys in a while." Esmeralda ran after Tsume.
After a minute or so, Esmeralda finally caught up to him. "Tsume! Wait up!" Tsume stopped and turned around.
"What do you want?"
"Tsume, why are you so angry? Come back with us."
"Just shut up."
"Tsume, you know as well as I do that splitting up is dangerous."
"We've been separated before."
"But Tsume..."
"Shut up and don't follow me!" Tsume ran off.
"Why is he always stubborn I'll never know?" Esmeralda mumbled to herself before running after him.
However this time, he had disappeared. She tried to call out his name but she got no response. Soon enough, she stepped on something weird. She looked down to see that it was a bullet she stepped on. 'Where am I anyways? I've been so caught up to find Tsume that I don't even know where I am.' She thought while looking around an abandon town.
The town was all torn up and had a weird smell. Esmeralda continued to call his name but still got no response. "If he's not responding, then he must be hiding." She said before calling his name one more time. She heard a response and it wasn't Tsume. She heard gunshots and it was heading towards her. She tried to move away, but she was pushed by someone.
She turned around and saw Tsume. 'He pushed me...to save me...' Esmeralda thought with her eyes widen when she saw that he got shot on the leg. "Tsume!"
"I'm fine run!" They ran to get away from the thing that shot Tsume. Esmeralda looked at his leg and he was bleeding a lot.
"Tsume, are you alright?"
"Don't get close!"
They reached to the end of the road and they knew that they have to jump down. It was a pretty high jump but Esmeralda was confidante that she'll make it. The machine that shot Tsume was right behind them. The machine started to shoot them but missed them. Tsume grabbed Esmeralda's hand and jumped down.
For a brief second, when Tsume grabbed her hand, Esmeralda felt weird and different. 'What am I thinking? Now's not a good time to think of stuff like this.' She thought.
The machine started to shoot at them again before they ran for cover. "Is that thing still there?" Esmeralda asked.
"Yeah. Stay quiet." Soon the machine was gone for now and Tsume was in pain.
Esmeralda gasped."Tsume...your leg."
"Don't worry about that. Damn, it stinks so much in here."
"It reeks of dead bodies and metal."
A few minutes later, they got up and started walking. 'What is this feeling I have towards Tsume? Whatever, I should just shrug it off.' Esmeralda thought to herself.
"Run."
"Huh? Why?"
"Cause we're being followed by the thing again."
"I see."
They ran as fast as they can. There was a small icy bridge and from the looks of it, it doesn't seen safe but it's the only way to get across. When they were half way across the bridge. The machine shot a harpoon and it hit the bridge. The bridge broke and Tsume and Esmeralda fell to the bottom of the cliff. Esmeralda managed to stay still when she reached to the bottom but when she looked around for Tsume, he was knocked out. She heard the machine moving, so she took Tsume to hide. She looked around for a hiding spot and spotted a cave. She quickly grabbed Tsume and ran to the cave.
"I don't think the machine will find us here." Esmeralda said as she gently lay Tsume down. "All I can do is hope that he isn't dead." She looked at his wound and it looked serious. Esmeralda tried to stop the bleeding by licking it.
When she was done, she pulled out a piece of cloth from her pocket and wrapped it around his leg. 'I hope he's alright.'
She looked at the scar on his chest. 'I wonder how Tsume got that scar. Could it be the same thing happened to him as it did to me?' She thought while gently brushing the scar that was hiding in her hair. Her scar went from the bottom of her eyebrow to the top of her cheek. She moved her hand from her scar to Tsume's scar, but Tsume caught her hand before she can touch it.
"Don't touch me." Tsume said.
"I'm sorry..."
"Where's the machine?"
"I'm not sure. I think we lost it somehow."
Tsume just went back to lying down and turned around. "So Tsume, mind telling me how did you get that scar on your chest?" But he just ignored and turned around. 'I guess that wasn't a good question to ask.'
"I think Kiba and Hige are worrying about us." Esmeralda said.
"I don't trust anyone and so I don't give my trust to anyone either. That's the most convenient way to live."
"I trust you Tsume." After she said that, Tsume turned away from her.
Suddenly, they heard the machine coming. "We need to leave now."
"But Tsume your leg...you're overexerting...you'll die."
"If that's the case then use me as bait."
"Tsume, don't be an idiot...I'll be the bait, giving you time to run away."
"Don't!"
"Tsume...trust me." Esmeralda left the cave first to distract the machine. But the machine went after Tsume soon enough.
"This is bad." Esmeralda said while trying to go back but got hit by some ice. She managed to block them and the next thing she saw the machine in front of Tsume. She ran towards Tsume to save him.
The machine was about to shoot him but Kiba came and attacked the machine. Esmeralda ran towards Tsume to see if he was alright.
"Tsume!" Esmeralda shouted.
"I'm alright."
"Hey Tsume! Esmeralda! This way!" Hige called out.
Esmeralda grabbed Tsume to help him walk and followed Hige. "Esmeralda! Tsume! Are you guys alright?" Toboe asked.
"Yea, we're okay." Esmeralda said.
"Tsume, your leg." Toboe noticed the cloth on Tsume's leg.
"It's nothing." Tsume said.
Kiba came back from attacking the machine. "Are you alright?" Hige asked.
"Yeah, there's nothing to worry about." Kiba replied.
"For a second, I thought you two wouldn't come back." Toboe said.
"Toboe, I told you that I would come back to you guys with Tsume with me. I never break my promises." Esmeralda said to him.
"I never ask for this. For what reason did you have to go that far? It better not be because we're friends." Tsume said.
"It was simply instincts." Kiba said.
Tsume go up and walked away. Esmeralda came by him to help him. Kiba, Toboe, and Hige followed them. And now, they are continuing on their journey to paradise. 'I wonder what's going to happen once we get to paradise.' Esmeralda thought to herself.