Yeah! Chapter 7 is finally up! Sory it took so long

Sakura rushed forward after hearing Rormic cry out and was shocked to see a muscular, but light, man stand before her. Rormic was on his knees next to the man.

"It's him," Rormic breathed with awe in his eyes. "It's the Warrior Who Sees With Eyes Unclouded."

"You're the Warrior?" Sakura asked the man in a shocked voice.

The man simply nodded with a small smile on his face.

Sakura stared at the man for a few seconds more in shock than Rormic's awe. Time seemed to stand still as she watched him. She could not think of one thing to say… That is, until her eyes shifted to Rormic.

"You scared me to death!" Sakura practically yelled in a shrill voice. More gently, Sakura whispered in a small voice, "I thought that you were hurt."

Rormic smiled but had the grace to look down as a small apology. "Sakura, this is the person that we have traveled so far to see. He wants to blend the forest and the human worlds and create peace. He can help you save your father and the Weatherlocks." Rormic looked from the Warrior to Sakura and said in an almost-too-soft to hear voice, "The hard part is over."

"Only one part of your journey is over," the Warrior said quickly in a gentle voice. "You have both done well and traveled far but the journey is nowhere near over. I do not mean to sadden you but it would be unfair for me to say that things are nearly completed when I know that they are not."

"What more do we have to do?" Rormic asked in an already tired voice.

"Peace does not come overnight – the prejudices of both spirits and people took years to build to this point and they will take even longer to break down." The Warrior paused and looked past Rormic and Sakura.

The two of them turned to see what the Warrrior was looking at. It was the Wolf-Girl. She walked with an odd grace that was somewhere between the flow of a dancer and the stride of a confidant fighter. Both Rormic and Sakura were hypnotized by her. Their gazes broke from her when Ashitaka, the Warrior, continued to speak.

"A good warrior knows how to pick and choose his battles. No one can be everywhere at once and in traditional war, there is not really a problem because warriors fight other warriors. The problem is that our war is against an idea and ideas have no problem being everywhere at once." The Warrior paused as San came to his side. The two warriors, the Wolf Princess and the Exiled Prince, looked at the two of them, Rormic and Sakura, with eyes full of fierceness and determination. "We need you to help us by going to the palace."

Rormic's face visibly whitened at the idea and Sakura audibly gasped at the shock. Sakura has heard many people say that rage made their vision go red but in Sakura's state of shock, her vision went white. Everything looked like it was behind a sheen of white mist but every detail was still clear. Vision can turn white and foggy with sleep but Sakura's vision was white and sharp.

"My father is at the palace… I need to get him out," Sakura said the words without thinking.

Still, Ashitaka seemed to understand. "Saving your father and defeating men who will lead us to bloodshed go hand-in-hand. The Emperor Shanju wants only one thing: immortality. He will make any sacrifice and go to any ends to get it. The Emperor has no quams about sending a village full of people to their deaths so that he can get even one step closer to finding immortality."

"The Emperor was willing to send the whole earth into chaos on the chance that he could become immortal before." San snarled as she spoke in a voice in could truly be called a growl. "He sent Jigo and his warriors to kill the Great Forest Spirit because rumors said that the head of the Forest Spirit could grant immortality."

Rormic broke with details of the story with an enthusiasm that rivaled that of boy-crazed fan girls. "I know this story! The Warrior talks the people of Iron Town into working with the Clans of the Forest. Two different societies working together saved the world and it all started when you," Rormic paused to point at Ashitaka and take a breath.

Rormic's cheeks were bright red with excitement and he continued on with fast words that his tongue seemed to have trouble following. Sakura was glad to see that the shock had worn off the Elk Clan boy. Rormic was back to his old self. He continued, "It all started when you convinced to groups that hated each other to work together. If we can help everyone put aside their differences – even only for a day – than I want to do my best to help."

Sakura smiled and nodded at Rormic. She turned back to Ashitaka and the Wolf-Girl and spoke with all the passion of Rormic in a fraction of the words, "We're in… What do we have to do?"

"The Emperor and those closest to him seem to love war but there are a multitude of good people in the palace. I need the two of you to go into the palace, posing as servants and get information into and out of the palace. I need to know what the Emperor is planning and the peace-loving people in the palace need to know that a resistance exists."

San elaborated on Ashitaka's description by adding, "We have friends in the royal city who are bringing rumors of attacks. Some citizens of the royal city have come to join us and have said that they have seen the Emperor murdering his own people. If these rumors are true than we will have to kill him – waiting for him to come to us here in the forest will no longer be an option."