Seiya spent a good deal of time staring at Yaten's clothed back. The pale haired girl had not said a word to her since calling her "shameless". Seiya thought it was an unfair term; of course she wasn't ashamed of her body, but she didn't go around flaunting it as Yaten was implying. Seiya tried to stop herself from thinking too deeply into it. Yaten was probably still shaken from having her foot stuck. Come to think of it, she hadn't mentioned it since they had made it to safety.
"How's your foot feeling?" she asked, disrupting the silence.
"It's fine," Yaten answered shortly and Seiya immediately knew she was lying.
"I could take a look at it. There was a med kit in my bag—"
"I said it's okay." Seiya paused with her hand halfway towards the kit and withdrew it.
"Can I ask you a question?" Seiya ventured cautiously. When Yaten didn't answer, she took the lack of objection as permission to go ahead. "Back when it started raining, you seemed, well…petrified. What were you so afraid of?"
Seiya had almost given up on getting an answer when Yaten said, "When I lived on Kavaar, I saw water like that only once. I was eleven, and I had gone with some friends to find this so-called 'secret lake'. My friend thought she knew where it was but she was wrong. We ended up getting lost in the tunnels. For hours we searched until our stomachs grew impatient with hunger. We were ready to give up, when we caught the sound of whispered voices. We rounded a corner and there it was—a gleaming pool of silver at the base of a desolate cavern. A group of people surrounded it, staring at it as if in a trance. We joined them, stepping up to the edge and peering into it. The surface was so still that I could see myself reflected in it. I was so transfixed, I didn't—" She choked on her words as the memory overtook her. After a long struggle with her emotions she continued.
"I wasn't listening to what was going on around me. Before I knew what was happening, the other people were yelling and shoving each other. I was pushed and fell forward into the lake. It wasn't deep but I was stunned by it. I'd never been immersed in water before. Everywhere there was chaos, people trampling one another, trying to escape from the confined space. I tried to protect myself by covering my head with my arms. I stayed like that until the crowd had passed. It was only then that I found out what they were running from."
Seiya had been listening to the story intently. Following a dramatic pause she pressed, "What was it?"
"Not what—who. A band of smugglers had found the place. The water was their prize—I was only a bonus."
Seiya shifted, eyes boring into the back of Yaten's silver head. "You?" she asked.
Yaten seemed to sense the other girl's attention on her. She turned her head toward Seiya, the firelight casting a warm glow on her features and catching a glint in her haunted eyes.
"The leader, Morg, grabbed me out of the water and pressed a gun to my throat. He told me if I resisted he wouldn't hesitate to kill me. Afterwards I wished I had. I wished it had ended there. He stole me from that place and kept me as his slave. I never saw my family or friends again."
Seiya's mouth hung agape at the conclusion of the story. She was horrified at what the girl had just revealed to her. Unconsciously she shook her head, unable to comprehend or accept what she was being told.
"You don't believe me?" Yaten asked quietly.
She felt herself caught in a defining moment. For reasons unknown to her, Yaten had finally decided to open up about her past. If Seiya wasn't careful with her words, Yaten would surely shut down again. Formulating the response in her head, Seiya answered sincerely, "Of course I believe you. I just didn't know slavery still existed in this system."
Relief passed through Yaten's eyes before they settled again. She began fiddling with the zipper on her pack. "The government would have you believe that. If no one knows about slavery then who's going to fight it?" she asked rhetorically.
Something about the girl's story was troubling Seiya. "Yaten, how did you get free?"
Yaten's hand ceased its idle motion and she hesitated before answering. "My master died on one of his smuggling raids so I was turned over to the authorities."
Seiya sensed it wasn't the whole truth but wasn't in a position to extract more information. She decided to let it go and change the subject. "The wind doesn't sound like it's relenting any. There's no telling how long it'll be before a rescue party can make it out this far."
Yaten appeared to ignore her. She was staring in the opposite direction, toward the back of the cave. Seiya was about to get her attention when the girl suddenly rose to her feet.
"Hey, where are you going?" Seiya asked as she began to walk away.
"Stay there. I just wanna check something out." She disappeared into the void of darkness at the far end of the cave. Seiya listened for her footsteps but they were soon too faint to detect. She passed the minutes staring at the dying flames. When she was almost convinced that Yaten wasn't returning, the silver haired girl emerged from the darkness and came running towards her.
"What is it?" Seiya asked, fearing the worst. Yaten reached for her pack.
"Come on, I think I found a way out."
Taiki sat on the floor pressed against the large glass doors at the north-eastern entrance, her head leaning against the wall. The cold penetrated the glass and chilled her skin. Her eyes wandered over the expanse of forest, the greenhouse sitting off to one side. She'd been staring at the same scenery for the last six hours, her hope slowly draining away.
She glanced up as the Headmistress appeared next to her, carrying a tray belonging to the mess hall. Kakyuu lowered herself to the ground and set the tray in front of her. Taiki noticed it was holding two meals. Against her will, her stomach growled loudly in the empty hall as the rich smells wafted up into her nostrils.
"If you're going to sit here all night, you might as well have some dinner," Kakyuu suggested casually, starting on a biscuit covered in butter and jam. Taiki was starving but felt that by accepting the food, she would have to let go of some of her resentment towards the Headmistress and she wasn't willing to do that yet.
"This tea is delicious," the woman said, sipping it as she spoke. Taiki withheld a response. Using the 'silent treatment' was a childhood tactic but Taiki didn't care if she was being immature at the moment.
Kakyuu set down her cups and switched tactics. "If you have a problem with me you should come right out and say—"
"You're too young for him!" The words spilled out before Taiki could stop them. It was true; the young Headmistress was only twenty-five years old, and Taiki's father was more than ten years her senior. Taiki watched her warily, awaiting the repercussions of her outburst.
Kakyuu only smiled faintly, her eyes shining with warmth and sadness. "When you love someone, it defies all boundaries. Age, gender, culture…"
"Criminal record," Taiki added cynically. The comment earned her a sharp glance from Kakyuu. "It's not like Seiya even really likes her. She's just used to everyone fawning over her, and now this girl comes along who isn't interested and she sees her as a challenge, a conquest. Once she gets what she wants she won't even care about her anymore." She knew she was being unfair but she was feeling inexplicably bitter towards her friend.
"Sounds like jealously to me."
"I'm not jealous of that—" She couldn't think of a term vulgar enough to describe Yaten Shita. Crossing her arms over her chest, she sunk back against the wall, wearing an uncharacteristic pout.
Kakyuu reached out a soft hand and set it on the girl's leg. "Listen, I didn't come here to argue with you. I care about you, Taiki. You're the daughter of the man I love. Please, for his sake, let's try to get along." Withdrawing her hand, she left Taiki to contemplate her words and sort through the mess of emotions that were occupying the student's heart.