A/N: Thanks again for the reviews. Not getting much of them on this site so I am greatful for every one. ;) I hope the alerts are working correctly again. Also, no Clau, there will be no M in this. Very, very much T though. But not yet. :D

I've noticed that there is a need for more footnotes about medieval society and such. Don't get me wrong, I like getting reviews and comments asking questions 'cause it gives me an idea how others see the story and the setting. Also I like to write something that can actually teach people something other than about emotions and morals. This story was meant to have some form of criticism so it is not unimportant to know some things. Anyway, if you are not interested in it and are just here for a dose of shimayu I won't judge. You can skip the footnotes then. In case you wonder about why certain things are the way they are or like to argue, I am always ready for discussion.^^

Listened to Within Temptation and Florence + The Maschine to get some inspiration for this chapter. It worked.

7

Warmth. It was the first thing she noticed while her mind smoothly shifted into consciousness. With a sigh she pulled the blanket closer and was welcomed by an earthy and salty smell spiced with something foreign but soothing which made her feel secure. She wanted nothing more right now than to savor this state between slumber and waking and cuddled closer into the material. The blanket scratched against her skin sensually. For a second she wondered when they had changed the silk of her room's interior with coarse linen but scooted the thought aside to bathe a little bit longer in this comfort.

Savoring the warmth, Mayura held her eyes closed. Her heart beat strong and slow.

A brush of wind tickled her nose and she scrunched it. It was odd to feel the wind inside her room. Slowly her mind tripped over the idea that she wasn't in her room. Had she fallen asleep on the veranda perhaps? With half a mind locked in the savoring state, she focused more on her surroundings.

There was a loud rush in the background, resounding at a rhythmic pace. The ground beneath her felt cool against her skin, hugging her cheek. As her consciousness slowly returned to her she remembered the past events in a rush. Pictures of prisoners in small cells, her necklace with the splinter of the crystal leaving her hand, a wall of water dark and dangerous coming closer and swallowing her. A faceless soldier of Tsuchimikado reaching out a hand for her. Her upper body jerked upwards with a shocked gasp.

Something fell off from her and she looked down blinking in wonder. Her heart was still racing while she tried to contemplate what was going on. A brown coat was draped over her legs like a blanket. With furrowed eyebrows she touched it. Her hand grazed over the rough material as if it would tell her, what had happened. And then she realized that it was his coat. Her fingers buried themselves into the blanket. The rough texture scratched against the numerous wounds. Wounds of the past. Ignoring the pain, she held onto the piece of clothing and looked up. Her eyes were searching for him.

She spotted him, sitting at the fireplace, where embers were glowing among the last bits of wood that hadn't turned into aches and coal, piercing the burning remains with a bright stick.

Gulping, her drowsy mind swirled around one idea: He hadn't killed her. He would have had the chance to do so; but he didn't. Her gaze skipped to the coat again and Mayura bit her lip. Instead he gave her time to rest and had covered her with a makeshift blanket. Perhaps he didn't lie when he said, they needed to work together. Perhaps she should be more open to the idea of working together with him.

Again she looked over to his figure. He had not shown any sign that he'd noticed her waking up yet. Maybe he was giving her space for she did not think he could have missed it. Without his coat, she could see more of his shape and uniform. The sort of jacket he wore broadened his shoulders and made him look impressive. The hair looked unruly and glowed in a deep red, that was odd but interesting. Yesterday she hadn't let herself think about him, after he'd ruined their food. But she remembered her slight surprise when he'd been there at the fireplace with his hair dried and standing up high instead of hugging his head. He was admittedly handsome, yet not in the ideal way. The color of his eyes was too sharp like the sting of ice. The color of his hair too demanding. It was as if he had been painted with extremes, as if the Crystal had drained thousands of people from their color and had given it to him. It had to be the foreigner-thing, Mayura concluded, that was making him attractive. She didn't know, if he was considered handsome in his homeland, too. The aura coming from him was undeniable though.

Like the man wearing it, his uniform was burning with red. The colors of his jacket glared at her and it looked like blood was smeared over it where the colors of fire did not reach. Tsuchimikado – from afar it seemed to be a land of extremes. However, instead of fear the sight of the blazing colors evoked her interest now.

She had been afraid of him. The moment she'd recognized the colors of Tsuchimikado, she had been scared to loose her life. Most of her fear had been swallowed in her aggravation afterwards. He'd insulted her – constantly. One soldier from Tsuchimikado had the nerve to insult her more in the course of one day than she'd ever been insulted during her whole life.

And then for the Crystal's sake he'd ruined the food – how by the Crystal and the world beyond he did not know that you don't throw anything wet into fire was beyond her. Then he had possessed the nerve to ogle her in an impudent manner. She'd cursed him – inwardly. The bitter taste of the burned food had fed her desperation more than her stomach. Especially his shameless staring after this had made her feel uncomfortable, never having experienced something like this before. Anyone who would have dared to look at the princess of Narukami insolently would have risked to loose his head by a swift blow of one of her guard's swords. (1)

But –

But she wasn't the princess right now, not in this place. Even though she would prefer to hate him for his behavior, he couldn't have known she was a princess and that he would have been a dead man at another place in another time for his actions. As much as it frightened her, she had to lay her past self to rest for now. To the soldier from Tsuchimikado she was a lower class Narukami girl and she had to bite into the sour apple and needed to act like one.

Maybe she could trust him. He was from Tsuchimikado, yes. He was a soldier, yes. He was a stranger and she'd learned strangers aren't to be trusted, yes. But hadn't the point of her journey been to end the dispute between both nations? To make them lower their weapons and reconcile? To live in harmony? How could she expect her people to trust the others when she herself couldn't?

As if it was standing beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder, she recalled her idealistic self, the person she had been before she had set off on a journey. Her gaze dropped to the ground. A shadow hugged the uneven ground of sand, stretching towards the sea. She recalled her idealism, her thoughts about unity, equality and things that had a nice rang to the ear. It felt like a distant memory, like the picture of something she could only look at from the outside now. Nostalgia rushed through her. She had been different before her journey. She had been naive, yes. But she had believed in something that wasn't impossible. She had no idea back then that she couldn't achieve anything without a fight. Now she knew.

So wasn't it better to find a part of her own self on this island being trapped with somebody else? Did it matter where they came from? They both bled red, they both felt hunger and thirst and they both needed warmth to live through the night. They were equals here. She was no princess and he was no soldier. She was not from Narukami and he was not from Tsuchimikado, not as long as they were here, trapped on an island.

Rising a fist to her chest, her other hand held on the coat, which he had worn when they first met. Mayura bit her lip and set her eyes onto him again. This time she watched him with different eyes as if she had laid down chunk of glass through which she'd only seen a blurred version of the person in front of her.

And it was in that moment, when she looked past his uniform, past his deadly weapon and past his strange outer looks that she realized that she did not know his name. She had no idea whom she was glancing at.

Releasing a loud sigh, she got his attention. He raised his head and turned it towards her. His expression was the painting of indifference; his mouth rested into a scowl and his eyes bore an undefined look.

Mayura rose to her feet and folded up the coat. She walked towards him with their eyes set on each other. Her heart beat accelerated but she did not stray.

"Ano~," she said, feeling foolish about her behavior on the day before.

His expression did not shift. Focusing on his face she saw the hint of a risen eyebrow but otherwise she could not see any form of his emotion. He was hard to read. His eyes were guarded with their icy blue that made a chill crawl over her skin.

"Thank you for lending me your coat," she stretched out her arms, offering him to take back the piece of clothing.

"No need to thank me," he said and accepted her sign of truce.

"Also I wanted to apologize." Finally his expression was changing. His eyebrows rose and in the depth of his eyes something was born. A sparkle that made her swallow. She averted her eyes and folded her hands before she continued, "My behavior towards you was uncalled for. You were right. We are trapped on this island and if we want to survive, we have to work together. So I am sorry..."

"You can call me Shimon," he helped her out.

"Thank you, Shimon," his named rolled off her tongue easily and she bowed down in respect while she wondered about the tingling taste lingering on her tongue.

"You're welcome, Otomi-san," he replied after he took in an audible breath.

She was taken aback at the name. It took her a moment until she remembered that she'd given him her mother's birth name. She hoped, he did not notice her little slip. Confused she stuttered, "Call me Mayura."

He blinked at her.

"If I ought to call you by your first name, you ought to call me in kind," she said trying to give him a reasonable explanation.

He nodded quickly, "You are welcome, Mayura."

Her name in a slightly different accent rang in her ears, having never heard the vocals sounding so softly.

"Besides I need to offer you some gratitude, too," Shimon added, continuing the conversation for which she was grateful.

"Hm?" Now it was her time to rise her eyebrows.

"For saving me from touching the poisonous bush," he said with the most elusive hint of a smile.

"You're welcome, Shimon," she tried his name again. It was a nice name with a gentle sound and she decided she liked it. Testing their more amicable grounds, she wanted to light their situation with a joke. "It would have been a very unhonorable death."

"That it would," he agreed matter of factly.

An awkward smile formed on her face at his obvious lack of humor. She figured, that talking to him might not become the easiest task on this island but as long as it would keep her alive it was fine.


His hand throbbed where it was kissed by fire the day before. With every beat of his heart, the blistered skin ached. Opening his hand Shimon glanced at the palm presenting a red weal. It looked like he had held a burning sword. Yet, it had been his lack of experience that had marked him.

When he had woken up, the sun was rising in the sky and he'd been very cold. Without his coat even the fire had not been able to shield him from the coldness. Glancing over to the sleeping form that was covered with his coat, he had been glad to find out that the girl from Narukami had not attacked him while he was sleeping. She looked to be resting with much more comfort and so he had decided to let her regain her strength a while longer at the sight of her soft expression.

The fire had dimmed down and he'd thought about gathering more firewood but decided differently. If they needed this much wood to keep a fire through the night, they couldn't afford to keep it running at day. But chopping wood was impossible, too. They had no tool for that.

And so he had made plans on how they most likely would survive until they either found a way to get off this island or to be found by the search parties which where likely turning each stone on Tsuchimikado around at the moment. At some point they would set their sight offshore, when they realized their prince was nowhere to be found on Tsuchimikado.

During planning on their tasks, Shimon's mind had drifted off to the girl sleeping peacefully a few feet away. She was odd. She looked like an underclass maid but acted and spoke like a noble. Something was off about her. She was clearly hiding something despite the stolen dagger and that was a dangerous thing.

And then there was also something familiar about her. Like he should have known her.

He was playing with a stick in the dying fire, when he'd heard her sigh.

Forcing her out of his head, he had continued to shovel the burning parts of the fire closer together.

When he'd heard her sigh again, he had turned around and watched her rise, before folding his coat neatly in her hands. It was a bewitching sight and he stared at her without understanding why. She'd looked like a princess and not like a simple girl. Her movements were graceful despite the restriction of her yukata, her expression awe-inspiring despite having risen from sleep just a moment ago.

He had watched her coming closer, his gaze fixed to her like in a spell. Was she able to use witchcraft like some people were said to be?

Anyway, this morning he'd learned that she was nice actually.

Until a few moments ago they had discussed the plans he'd thought about and she'd been logically and strategically adding to what he had planned. The result was them agreeing on collecting and stocking up firewood at the border of the forest, more shielded from rain. Moreover they agreed on a strategy to provide for food and start building a raft when they had time.

It had been almost surprising on how well they actually harmonized in discussing a strategy. Yet, that had not been the most surprising thing this morning.

He had been slightly surprised, when she'd thanked him for giving her his coat but even more, when she'd apologized to him. In kind he had told her his name while he carefully placed the folded piece of clothing in front of him which was soaked in her body warmth. And that was when the most astounding thing happened: The sound of his name rolling off of her tongue in a gentle tone was a hundred times more surprising than their harmony or her gratitude and apology; or rather the flutter it caused beneath his lungs was. It had taken him a moment and a steadying breath to catch himself after having heard her say his name in the slightly different accent, the foreign slur of vocals he had grown used to thanks to Seigen-dono. Without thinking about it, he'd called her Otomi-san in respect and had received the offer to call her by her birth name in return.

Now as he sat on the ground beside her and watched her bend over a unfastened scroll, he wondered when the Narukami girl had turned into Otomi-san to him and why it been so easy to accept calling her by her first name.

After they had devised a plan for securing their survival, he had mumbled, that he'd wished to know, where they were. He'd been staring off into the bright sky, free off clouds, remembering the storm that had nearly swallowed him yesterday, when all of a sudden she had pulled out her scroll.

His gaze shifted from her form down to the scroll and he noticed now what she was looking at. A map. He could make out the wide and broad form of Tsuchimikado and recognized the centered posture of the Crystal Island and the large sea in-between. Why Mayura was in possession of a map he had no idea, especially a map that showed both nations, but he leaned closer now, wanting to have at least an idea of his whereabouts to calm down this inner worry. One more information, one less insecurity.

She turned to him and said with a finger gently grazing the ink on the paper, "I remember the ship having crossed at least one other island to the north but I could not tell, whether it was Crystal Island or another isle."

He felt the heat of her breath. Startled he leaned away, to get more space in between them. His skin tingled where her breath had caressed it. Shimon cleared his throat and turned more of his back towards her. Reaching out a hand he tapped a finger on the map, onto the point he had stared at earlier: The sea in between Tsuchimikado and Crystal Island as well as the southern vacant ones. "I was hit by the storm while being on sea. I don't think the current could have swept me so far as to round either Crystal Island or the great one to its south, which must mean –"

"Which must mean we are on the isle in the south-west of Crystal Island!"

Her excitement got to him. The happiness of her exclamation inspiring him to release a sigh of relief while he eyed her over his shoulder. Not having known where on their sphere they were, must have been as unnerving to her as it had been to him. Getting lost was one thing, having no means of how to find a way back home was another.

He looked at her thoroughly while she smiled brightly at the map. She was odd. And he still could not shake off the feeling that she was someone he knew but could not remember. Regardless, he realized, that he did know nothing about her. If she was proud and witty, he should not disrespect it. Maybe she was somebody else beneath the clothes of a lower class maiden. Maybe she was a person who was too clever for the class she was born in and that was the reason why, he'd found her, stranded on the same isle he was. Either way, he had no reason to misbehave towards her or to act as if he was higher of class or be presumptuous in any way. On this island he was no prince. He was just a shipwrecked warrior.

Feeling much more comfortable he said, "Now that we have covered, where we are we should make preparations. Maybe we could scout the island first. I wonder, if we can find something else to eat except fish." He rose to his feet and waited for her to pack away the map.

With delicate fingers she rolled up the scroll, obviously thinking about his question. He stretched his hand towards her to help her get onto her feet. While she reached for it with a small smile, she asked, "How about mushrooms?"

Her suggestion buzzed in his ears, when she grabbed the hand he held out for her. He could not tell, if it was pleasure or pain that crawled over his skin. Confused he asked, "Mushrooms?"

"Oh, they are food –" she started explaining.

"I know," he interrupted and pressed the palm of his hand against his Jin-Baori to make the tingling sensation go away. "I just don't know how to find them. They are rare on Tsuchimikado." He murmured staring at his hand. What had been that reaction right now? Was it the aftermath of the fire or had it been because of her touch?

"Is the climate very dry in Tsuchimikado?"

His gaze rose again. Seeing she'd leaned her head slightly to the side, Shimon shrugged. "I don't know. Compared to here, maybe."

"Hm, I've read most mushrooms grow on the ground or on trees shielded from the sun in forests. Some of them are poisonous, too but I think I can remember which are eatable."

He blinked at her. She was extraordinarily knowledgeable. It did not matter where she'd learned to read but that she was able to and that she knew many things that would help them survive was amazing. Next to her he felt rather useless, which irked him. It was a false sense of pride, yet he could not help but want to show her, he could be of use, too and so he said, "We should search for some while scouting the isle."

And so they walked further along the beach to the north where the shadows from the trees fell onto the sand. It looked like it rounded most of the isle with the forest towering in its middle, spread over a hill to the north-east.

"Would you mind, if we went to the lake on our scouting tour? I'd like to wash up a bit," Mayura said strolling a few feet behind him.

"Sure," he agreed. He could use a bit of washing himself, too. His clothes had been washed by the sea but it was still uncommon for him to wear the same clothes a few days in a row. So it would be nice at least to clean his face with fresh water.

They finally reached an end of the isle that was neither beach nor forest. At the northern end they needed to climb up a stoney hill. Behind them lay the beach, to their right the forest and in front of them were high cliffs towering over the sea hitting its waves against the cliffs.

The most welcomed sight lay across. From this point he could see the objective of his journey: Crystal Island. He could roughly see the outskirts of the big island stretching over the horizon with it's massive cliffs on guard but it was there almost within reach.

As quickly as it came to his mind, he'd discarded the idea of swimming. There was a very low chance he could make it that far and a bigger one to have his life claimed by the sea in the end. His gaze rose to the sky above, while a white bird passed over their heads screaming. Shimon wished he could fly. He'd cross the distance in no time.

"How long do you think will we be on this isle?" Mayura's voice broke him out of his day dream.

He though about this. How long would it take to build a raft? Days? Weeks? Months? But certainly not as long as someone to find them here. "Before we'd built a raft... It might take a while with both of us having neither tools nor knowledge on how to build one. However, I am sure that someone will find us first."

"They'd better not find a soldier from Tsuchimikado though," she replied.

Irritated he frowned not understanding, what she was implying at first. He'd heard the strange term from Seigen-dono before but why would his warriors bother? Then he realized, what she meant but it did not help to smooth down the confusion. Turning around he looked at her. "Why would people from Narukami come here?"

He watched Mayura blink and fidget with her fingers. Her eyes drifted to the left before they settled on his again. "I-I just thought that we don't know, where they might come from and that it is easier for me to act as if I was from Tsuchimikado, whereas you wouldn't be able to disguise your identity."

He could not help but smile at the double sliced irony. He would certainly not be able to pretend to be someone else, if they came here looking for Prince Ikaruga Shimon of House Tsuchimikado. "I suppose I won't," he replied before continuing, "Nevertheless I am sure if people would come here, they will be from Tsuchimikado."

She looked at him big eyed, mouth slightly agape, a mask of pure confusion and totally different from her graceful demeanor earlier. Guessing he should stay away from remarks about Tsuchimikado to keep his true identity hidden, he walked past her. "We should continue scouting. There is no way to say how long the island stretches into the east."

They walked in silence into the forest at a passage where the trees stood less dense. She took the lead looking for mushrooms while he observed their surroundings. His gaze passed the trunks of trees, bushes, foliage and moss. It would be easy to collect firewood together. Between bushes and grass the ground was covered with old twigs and sticks that had been torn off by the wind and animals. It won't help them forever but it was a good start, if both of them gathered and stocked up a high amount of it.

Looking over to Mayura, he saw her pressed against a tree, trying to reach out for mushrooms that were growing in the shadow of it like she said. Shimon walked over to her and reached for them from behind, being a head higher than her. Startled she jumped away.

He tore off a mushroom and held it out for her. A red hue formed on her face and she mumbled her thanks before taking off her coat and spreading it in front of her. Understanding the cue he placed the mushroom inside the hollow between her arms and started to harvest the rest of the mushrooms.

After picking the last of them he looked at her while she folded up her coat into a bag. Rays of the sun broke through the leaves above like beams, framing her form. It was now that he noticed he had not seen her without her coat yet. What had been hidden beneath the coat could not be made invisible by her dark blue yukata now. Round hips, a slim waist and ample breasts met his gaze, which he quickly tore away.

His stomach clenched. He had not meant to do something this indiscreet and he had no idea where this kind of interest suddenly came from. He'd never – looked at a woman like that.

If she'd noticed his gaze, she did not say anything.

Feeling guilty, he followed her through the forest and scolded himself or his lecherous eyes.

Thanks to the slope he could tell that they were nearing the place where the stream was. Time and time she would stop to gather more mushrooms.

When all of a sudden something rustled in the bushes next to Mayura. Instinctively his hand grabbed the handle of his katana.

With a yelp she jumped backwards and walked into his chest. Her coat dropped to the ground. Like a wave the mushrooms tumbled out of the cloth and onto the ground.

Shimon rounded her and stood in front of her like a shield.

Time seemed to stop while they both looked intensely at the rustling bush. Finally something broke through the deep green leaves.

Something small, making a bleeping sound. It was some kind of rodent. A brownish gray rat or something with a bushy tail. (2) Quickly it ran off into the other direction.

From in front of him he heard a deep sigh.

"You are scared easily," Shimon commented and bend down to collect the mushrooms that had fallen out of her coat.

She did the same going onto her knees and chattered, "Do you gave any idea what animals live in this area? From what I read there are colorful animals shaped like ropes which slide over the ground and snap at you with deadly poison and cats as big as horses with sharp teeth and strong yaws. Close to Tsuchimikado there are said to live monstrous creatures, bodies long as boats, their skin hard as stone and their mouth almost as long as their tail and big enough to swallow a child at once." (3)

"Sounds like fairy-tales and myths," he said after she'd finished. Looking up he saw her glare and he quickly added, "Although I heard about those long monsters, too. But they are said to live in the moorlands in the west of Tsuchimikado."

She stopped searching for the mushrooms and leaned back on her heels. "People say the closer to the Crystal you live the more potent the fruits you bear. Who knows what we might detect?"

He did the same thing, shifting his weight by putting a knee on the ground, facing her fully. "My people have a similar saying. Nothing grows out of the Crystal's reach and the closer the more ripe your gains."

"And don't you believe them?"

Somehow he remembered walking by a conversation when he was younger; the old drunken Commander had bragged to Shimon's father, how he had been able to impregnate his wife faster the more often he'd returned from Crystal Island. The memory was as disturbing as the experience and made heat rise to Shimon's cheek. It was a good thing the old man had retired soon, clearing the way for a much more potent candidate who would not brag about impregnating anyone, not only because it was impossible for her. Then he thought about Sayo and how the Crystal's power was slowly tormenting her body and stealing more of her strength day by day. This probably wouldn't happen, if she would live farther away from the Crystal, where its reach was much more softer.

Sucking in a deep breath through his nose, his eyes skipped to the sea blue ones of Mayura and he'd noticed he had yet to reply. "I do."

She mustered him. Her felt her gaze traveling over his face like the touch of a feather. Breaking their contact, she leaned forward again and started to collect more mushrooms. "Are all Tsuchimikado people as dry and serious as you?"

"I don't think so," Shimon said in all honesty. His siblings had often remarked this and therefore tried to get beneath his skin, to make him go out of himself but there wasn't much that could aggravate him.

Mayura's reply was a smile and not a face of disapproval which he'd had reckoned with.

With uplifted spirits he got back to work and started to collect more mushrooms.

Suddenly Mayura released a high pitched sound, trapped between a yelp and a scream. With wide opened eyes she stared at the ground, pressing a fist to her chest. Tensed he followed her gaze to find a white, polished thing glaring back at him from beneath a bush, a white pipe with a round, bulbous head. It took him a blink of an eye to realize that it was a bone. His heart beat accelerated. Surely this was the remains of an animal having been killed by another animal. Yet, he couldn't help tensing up even more as he'd pushed away the bush to examine the object closer.

Whatever this had belonged to, it was no small animal.

Pushing away the leaves surrounding it, he uncovered a loosened a pile of earth. Holding his breath, he reached out for the bone striking out towards him. His fingers closed around the cold and surprisingly porous thing and he pulled it out of the earth. Beside him he heard a gasp and he whipped his head to the side looking at Mayura who looked into his direction with horror but without looking at him. He glanced at the thing in his hand again. It was longer than he'd expected. The half that had been covered with earth was blackened. He wondered which animal had such long bones. When he noticed something else being naked to the sight in the ground now. A black socket of an eye staring back at him and rotten teeth fixed into a grin.

Shocked he dropped the bone.

A skull.

A human skull.

This had been a human.

Mayura gasped again. This time the sound broken with a whimper. She stuttered, "That's..."

"Yeah," he said, trying to control his breathing and to concentrate on the possibilities. Why was a human skeleton buried on this island? How did the person die? How did they get buried?

Clearing his throat he tried for an explanation, "Maybe the person died of starvation."

"Then why are they buried?"

"It could have been an animal?"

They both looked at each other, restless and terrified. There was no clear explanation for what might have happened and they both knew.

Shimon swallowed hard. His eyes shifted onto the skull again. What would he uncover, if he dug deeper? He wasn't sure, he wanted to find out. But if there was a sign for anything dangerous on this isle, he'd like to know. Determined he leaned towards the pile of earth and started shoveling it away with his bare hands.

What he did uncover made a shill run down his spine as he had found a second skull buried beneath the other, also blackened. Someone gagged. He wasn't sure if it was himself or Mayura and continued to stare at the two skulls in the ground.

This he really did not expect.

Taking a few deep breaths he leaned forward and examined the second skull. It was similar to the other in terms of size. The black looked more like stains though and it on the right temple of the skull stuck a black crust. Gathering his courage Shimon reached out and touched it. It broke apart at the point where he touched it. Black dust was on his finger tip above the cover of earth.

Soot.

They had been burned.

No animal was able to make fire.

Drifting his gaze towards Mayura he saw her looking at him with a mix of fear and expectation. Her eyes were like mirrors reflecting a pool of emotions, widened and brightened like a sea waiting for the next storm to come.

When he was sure to trust his voice, Shimon told her, "Somebody burned them."


Mayura did not know what she'd expected of life. When she was young, she had made up stories about her future, coloring the painting brushed with the strokes of words with Rokuro lending her a hand. She had been sure to never leave the estate, to live there for the rest of her life, to be wedded some day to a man her father would chose with her and her mother's consent. The last three days had been anything but her original prospects.

Yet, she had not stopped and thought about her life so far when she'd left the estate, when she'd freed prisoners and crossed the sea. It had not been expected but not utterly shocking. Now she thought she'd found something she never would have expected, not in her wildest dreams to partake in her life: Seeing the remains of a human body being burned to charcoal. Very few people thought death to be a prominent part in life. But it was and Mayura had learned it in a frightening way while gathering the mushrooms she'd dropped and being friendly with her companion.

After she'd recovered from the shock and they agreed to bury the remains again, they'd left the grave with the different forms of prayers of their nations, different in words but not meaning, and went their way. They had not spoken much to each other for the rest of the day. Except for necessary questions and statements they chose silence over talking and had worked on their chores, keeping them busy until the evening.

It would be almost funny how this silence between them was disturbing her, if it weren't for today's discovery. She'd finally come around to open up to him and found she even liked it, when death forced its way into her life.

Who had burned those bodies? Did they kill them? Was somebody else on this island?

The bones of the dead weren't the only they had found. When they were able to tear their frightened eyes away from the gruesome discovery, they'd noticed the carving on the trunk above the grave. Mayura had seen them first. It was in her periphery as she tore her gaze away from the skulls staring back at her. When she raised her eyes she saw them, marks on the tree that were deeply carved into its bark. Three rectangular with sharp edges at the upper and lower end overlaying each other, the biggest one in the middle, pointing upwards and the other two facing away.

She'd never seen a symbol like this before. Neither had Shimon. At least he told her so when she pointed him to it. And she'd believed him. There was no reason for him to lie. He'd been as shocked as her at their finding.

What had happened on this isle? The unknown drifting in and out of her like smoke, filling her at every breath, darkening what laid inside. It was weighing on her heart and mind. Who had those people been? How had they lived? Had they been happy? Was she going to end the same way? Would she die on this island?

While Shimon grilled the mushrooms on a stone next to the fire at the moment, Mayura sat aside, having a hard time to move. Hugging her legs, resting her head between above knees, she waited for the day to be over. She did not care what he'd might think. She was scared and tired, so endlessly tired she wanted to sleep. She wanted to sleep until everything was fine again, like waking from a nightmare, discarding it as something without importance and pick up her life where she had left it off. It was too much, having been stepped on, insulted, send off to die and now facing – facing something unspeakable. It was too much.

If this was life outside of the walls of her home, she did not want it. She'd rather go home and live her life trapped inside but secure from the outside. She'd hug her mother when there was nobody around to frown upon this sign of affection. She would watch her best friend train to become a soldier swinging his bokken (4) in the middle of the courtyard while barking about becoming the greatest soldier. She would read a book, leaning against the trunk of a tree while breathing in the cold, humid air of her homeland.

Her arm shook as she slung it tighter around her legs, replacing comfort with pressure to make sure she won't fall apart.

She heard the crunch of sand next to her and positioned her head on her legs differently to see what happened. Shimon bend over the steaming mushrooms. Pushing a few of them onto a big leaf with the help of another. When he walked over to her, she turned her head away and did not move until he left her side again.

He'd put down her food without talking to her, giving her space. She was thankful for this gesture and figured he deserved much more gratitude than she's showed him so far.

Not feeling hungry at all she picked up a mushroom and plopped it into her mouth, chewing on it from one side to another. She watched him serve himself his own share of the meal now and sitting down a few feet from the fire and a few feet from her. He was a silent and calm guy. Not talking much if not asked. It was as weird as it was comforting. The only other boy around his age she knew was Rokuro and that was one loud and bashful personality. She'd hated, if he tried to cheer her up.

Gulping down the mushroom she picked another. Slowly her hunger returned to her and soon she finished her portion, feeling sated and much more calmer.

Rising to her feet, she fed the leaf to the fire and sighed. It was no use to sulk. (5) It would not help her survive and it would not help her country or her people. Today's discovery was just another evidence for something being very wrong in this world. She watched the flames devour the leaf in a few beats of the heart until nothing was left.

She jumped when a hand reached for the fire and gave it another leaf to consume. Shimon stood next to her. Only one feet away. She had to tilt her head to look up at him.

"I know you've stolen my dagger," he said all of a sudden.

There was no hint of accusation in his voice. Nevertheless a gasp forced its way through her throat, only to be forced back by a lump; she had to swallow.

"You can trust me. I won't hurt you," he continued.

She wanted to believe him. She did already. A part of her believed. A part of her trusted him. Trusted in a part of him. The boy beneath the armor who had lend her his coat. Who devised with her plans and scouted the isle. Who had made her smile and jump. Who caused jitters in her belly when he had stood behind her to reach out for the mushrooms and who'd made a shiver of pleasure rush up her spine when their hands connected. But there was the other part, the obvious one shrieking in red as he had not put on his coat all day and she felt like she needed to finally talk about it, to overcome and leave it behind, "You are a soldier from Tsuchimikado."

Folding her hands in front of her she watched him stand next to her a hand stemmed into his hip and staring into the fire. She watched its reflection mirroring in his eyes. Flames were dancing in the those icy globes. "I serve my country," he stated.

She took in a deep breath through her nose. It was time to finally set things straight. With a bit of reluctance and fear clouding her voice she drawled, "Your duty is to kill people from Narukami. So why not me?"

He turned around. His eyes looked soft now as if the flames had melted the ice in them. She thought, she needed to correct herself. His eyes weren't the color of ice but of a clear sky, shining with vigor and kindness. Something stirred within her beneath her stomach, like the wheel of a water mill was set off to nourish unfamiliar emotions, plunging into the depth of the water. Her sight drifted from his eyes over his face, irritated at her sudden reaction. His deep voice sounded much more softer, than it did before, when he said, "I don't want to kill Narukami people."

From all the things he could have replied, this was the most surprising one. Bewildered Mayura shook her head. "Then why did you become a soldier in the first place?"

"People don't chose as what they are born as and what is expected from them. Yet, they can choose how they follow the path laid out for them," Shimon said.

Mayura considered the meaning behind his words and looked back into the dance of the flames, fighting against the wind and gaining strength. Suddenly she thought about her role as a princess. All her life she was raised as one and acted like one because it was what she had been supposed to do. There was only one time she chose not to go the usual way as princess and that led her here. The moment she chose not to do what she ought to do and marry a stranger. If she hadn't, she wouldn't be here. She wouldn't have met this boy. She wouldn't have been hurt and almost killed either. She wouldn't have set eyes on the remains of the dead. Was it possible, she made the wrong decision back then? She was far from her goal to persuade the lord of Tsuchimikado in canceling the arrangement. But then again, she hadn't come this far to give up.

A princess does not bow, she thought and found some sort of comfort in it. She would get to Tsuchimikado. One way or the other. Perhaps Shimon could help her. If they weren't found by her people first – and he likely killed – he could accompany her to Tsuchimikado. Maybe even into the city and to the palace. There was a chance this journey was not a total disaster after all.

When she rose her eyes again, she saw Shimon looking at her. Instead of talking, Shimon waited patiently for her to say something. As their eyes met, she felt for the first time that they were on common grounds. Whatever his story was, his eyes mirrored the things she felt. The silence between them was not uncomfortable as it should be at this point of their acquaintance.

It was strange indeed. The revelation made her breath caught in her chest, her mouth slightly opened. She did not want to dwell on this and asked him instead. "So if you don't want to kill people from Narukami, have you always refused the commands? Have you ever slain one of my people?"

He seemed to ponder on the question. Very deep in thought. It was obvious what it meant. He had taken a life, maybe even more than one. Her chest felt heavy all of a sudden. The weight of disappointment made her shoulders sack and her eyes drop. She had no idea why she felt so strongly about this.

She nibbled on her lip, when all of a sudden, he startled her out of her thoughts, "No, I haven't killed anyone. I was trained in swordsmanship but not to deal lethal blows. My mentor believed, there always is an alternative. You can win a battle without ending your opponent's life."

She smiled and instantly thought about her father. She imagined his tired eyes and his scowl as he lectured a soldier who swung his sword without a focus. As a small girl she had walked into speech during a training unit and she'd looked at her father in awe until her mother ushered her back into the house. Mayura chuckled at the fond memory. "Sounds like someone I know."

When the image of her father faded, the image of Shimon reached her mind. There was something misty in his eyes as if clouds of remembrance rolled over their sight. It was yet another thing they had in common. And she'd understood that despite their differences it was another thing that made them human, another thing distinguishing the breathing from the unbreathing. They wore memories like clothes. Layer by layer they were covered in them to define who they were. The deepest, most secret layers being the closest to the heart.

In silence and calm they stood at the fire, they'd need to tend to soon again. The only noise was the crackle of the fire and the waves of the ocean washing ashore.

"You can keep the dagger," Shimon uttered after a while.

Mayura licked her lips, unsure, if she deserved his trust. Guilt ached her heart. She shouldn't have taken it, the dagger that is. She wasn't sure, if she could make use of it anyway. It was stupid for so many reasons. "I couldn't defend myself," she confessed, being honest to him and herself. The idea of getting attacked crossed her mind and she rose a shaking fist to her chest because of the danger feeling much more real since their horrendous experience. The shaking of her form transferred to her voice making it quiver when she elaborated, "Not from you, not from anyone else. Not with or without the dagger."

He looked at her – unblinkingly. Turning his body towards hers, his eyes bore into hers, his confidence reaching out for her. One corner of his lips slightly lifted as he promised, "Don't worry. I will do it for you, if someone attacks us."

Although it was not sensible, she believed him. She had no idea why but she did believe him. She felt relieved at the idea that this stranger, this soldier who should not care about her life, would fight for her. Grateful she murmured, "Thank you, Shimon."

"And just for the record. I hold no grudge against Narukami or its people. Far from it. It's more the other way around," he said with his voice drifting off at the end, silencing whatever explanation would have followed.

Confused she blinked her eyes. "What do you mean?"

He turned his back towards her and headed into the direction of the forest where they'd stocked up a pile on firewood earlier. With a glance over his shoulder he told her, "We better get to rest. We should use as much sunlight as we can."


(1) Because of some surprised reactions at Mayura's outburst I guessed I need to explore this for a bit. 1. Female honor is a very fragile thing. Shimon already scratched on her honor when he undressed in front of her. 2. Even nowadays staring is considered to be rude in Japanese culture. Staring at a noble woman is offensive. That's why I thought it would fit the medieval like setting to make this a big insult. Also the bigger the obstacles for two people to overcome the deeper the romance.

(2) And so it begins. First round of guessing what animal made a mention in the story. In this case they saw a squirrel. Were you able to guess right?

(3) The first animal is a snake, the second a tiger, the third one an alligator or crocodile (whatever suits you, it's not that important to this story.) It is not easy to find out if these animals lived in Japan at medieval times. Right now I am very sure snakes and tigers exist/existed there. But I don't think there are any crocodiles/alligators. But let's pretend in Crystal world they are there cause it has its own climate system as well. It's fantasy and there will be more fantasy elements soon, I promise.

(4) Bokken – Wooden training sword.

(5) Mayura and Shimon are used to be served so bringing someone food and "cleaning your plate" shows activity, especially since they don't think about it. They both take matters into their own hands now.

A/N: Fun Fact: When I wrote this chapter I knew the mushrooms and the grave would make an appearance but they weren't part of one scene. Sometimes all you need is a squirrel to make the story telling flow on its own. :P

Sorry if you feel that there is a lack of action. But I need them to fall in love so I can make them suffer – errr... I mean, give them new adventures. Luckily I canceled Mayura's feelings for Rokuro out of the story. They are BIG a nuisance in the original story and if it was part of this one, getting Shimon and Mayura together would be like making ice catch fire.