Hi everyone. Long time, no see, huh? I have no excuses. I'm not even going to try. Just enjoy. Not my absolute favorite chapter, but the next one is pretty close.

Oh, and Courage Of Awesome won the Fanart contest! Her character is awesome! He's going to get a cameo part here, and star in his own story later, when I've firmed up the plot a little bit more.

Shout out to Courage! She's, well, AWESOME! Please read her stories, she hasn't been getting the attention she deserves!

And a great big shout out to Link'sLily! My oldest and greatest friend! Oh my god, she's such a great person! And please, read her story According To Legend. Its seriously one of the best stories I've read in quite a while. It NEEDS more followers! Please, i'm being honest. READ IT! Sorry that I've been so quiet lately. I just hope I haven't damaged our friendship!

Chapter 25

Unwanted Reunion

"She's been gone a long time, I hope she hasn't gotten herself lost." He heard Remus mutter behind him. Kan shivered as a fierce gust of wind hit him, ripping at his cloak, tugging it away from his frame and exposing his body to the cold. His horse, a gray mare with darkened points on her muzzle and joints, whickered unsurely, hooves sliding in the snow. He honestly couldn't care less. Gea wasn't his concern. Sakura was.

Where had the child gone? Shortly before the storm had hit, the young girl had skittered off, chasing after a particular butterfly that had caught her interest. At the time, none of them had been worried. It had been quite sunny out, and after a long journey, they had all thought that the girl might benefit from fresh air and open space to stretch her legs. How wrong they had been. Where would she have gone? Did she have any idea of what to do in a snowstorm? Or had she floundered, unable to find her way.

He didn't want to think about the outcome. He had to remain hopeful.

But the morbid thoughts were clawing at his consciousness, empowered by his own suffering. The cold was slowly sapping his strength, both physical and mental. Upon every inch of exposed skin, the harsh wind had left invisible burns that stung. He could barely see, the frozen wind had rendered him almost blind. As his mare took a few shuddering steps forward, his mind was barraged with gruesome images. He could see her now. The tiny girl, her gray eyes wide with fear as the blizzard cracked into life.

He could see her as the snow quickly piled up around her. Why had they overlooked her? Why hadn't they noticed? Why, why why?! She was floundering, flailing in the snow, her thin frock providing no warmth as the frozen water swiftly boxed her in. He could hear her desperate cries as the snow soon closed just above her head, leaving her only a few inches wiggle room in any direction. She had nowhere to go. She had no strength to break free.

She was trapped.

"Mommy! Mommy!" he could hear her cry. "I'm here! Mommy I'm here!"

Her tiny feet slipped from beneath her. No strength left to stand. No more tears left to cry. No will left to live. Just numbness.

She was dying, right before his eyes, and he couldn't do anything about it.

"Remus," a familiar, rough female voice said behind him, bringing him back to harsh reality. He didn't even bother to turn. He knew who it was. There was a rustling of leathery garments, and when he turned his head slightly, he found that the woman had returned. She was seated atop his son's horses yet again. Her chest was heaving. "I couldn't find anything."

"Dad," Remus said hoarsely, urging his mare forward to stand alongside him. "We have to find shelter. We can't stay out here much longer."

He sighed. Remus was right.

Wordlessly, he gave his horse a soft kick, feeling the beast's muscles quiver as it started forward. His son's horse followed. He had no sense of direction in this blizzard. No idea of where he was, where shelter could be found, where his troupe was. He himself was floundering. Would his fate be the same that he feared had stricken Sakura? After all he had lived through, foreign kings after his head, entire cities bent on his punishment, murderous ex lovers, would this freak-storm be what finally forced the Great Kan to close his eyes for eternity? His own death didn't scare him as much as Remus' did, though. That was what truly crippled him. He had lived a good life, a reasonably long life, considering his line of work. He had satisfied himself, gotten to spend many an evening with friends, drinking and laughing at what the others had to say. He'd spent many a night with many a ladylove.

Remus had not. His life had been much more turbulent. He'd had a rough beginning, you could say. The last thing he wanted was for Remus to die now, when he still had so much life left to live. It was his job to protect him, even if Remus was an adult. Every parent would tell you the same.

However, he couldn't care less about Gea. She was no family of his.

"Kan, we're going to freeze. Are you honestly going to risk all of our lives just for the sake of a little girl?" Gea said to him, emotionlessly. Her voice rang with disdain.

He didn't have the patience. He couldn't stand it any longer. He couldn't hold back.

"Well what do you bloody suggest we do then?! How can you be so heartless? I can't see my hand in front of my face, how do you suppose I'm going to find shelter?! What do you think I am, a freaking fairy?!" he barked. Remus jolted in his saddle. Gea only lowered her eyebrows, never breaking eye contact. "Hmm? If you're so much better of a leader than I, then I implore you! Lead the way!"

His voice was sharp, and words sharper still. Most days, he would have shuddered at what he had just said. But not today. He had met his breaking point.

"Gladly." Was all that the woman said. He watched with narrowed, sneering eyes as she slipped from Remus' horse, and trekked off into the snow. Remus gave him but a sheepish shrug before urging the black horse to follow her. She never once turned as they walked. Occasionally, she'd stop to allow them both time to catch up, but never gave them a glance. Only once did she look as though she'd lost her sense of direction. It lasted but a moment, before she was off again. It may have been only a moment, but he had relished in it, nonetheless. Honestly, he almost wanted her to fail. He wanted shelter, of course, but her attitude when she found it would be unbearable.

When she stopped abruptly, as if frozen, it startled the both of them.

He swore that he heard her mutter a curse word.

"Gea?" Remus called from atop his horse. The storm had actually slowed slightly, allowing them the ability to see farther than they'd previously been capable. The could see a mountainside not more than a mile ahead. Carved into the hillside, was the mouth of a cave.

"Praise to the goddesses-! You actually found shelter!"

But she made no move. She was still frozen in her steps, staring at the ground ahead.

If he looked carefully, he thought he could see a mass of some sort. His interests had been piqued. He moved his mare closer, till he was but a few feet behind her. A bloody scene laid before her. The snow had been dyed sickly red. In the midst, the body of a man was sprawled, facedown in the freezing ice.

"Whoa…" He heard Remus rasp. Gea turned a harsh, almost frightened gaze on him as he dismounted and came up beside her. Why did she look almost defensive? Why wouldn't she want him to investigate?

"He's obviously dead." She muttered to him nonchalantly, stepping through the bloodied snow and proceeding toward the mountainside. He wasn't convinced. He leant beside the unconscious man, picking up one of his bruised, battered, calloused hands by the wrist and pressing tightly. It took a few seconds, but then there was a faint flutter, a fragile beat. This man was alive, albeit barely.

Grabbing him by the shoulder, Kan flipped the man onto his back. He now found where the blood was coming from. Two ghastly gashes, obviously at the hand of a knife, had been ripped into his left side and thigh. His skin was almost as white as the snow, and his lips and fingers were blue. Even beneath the light cotton of his shirt, he could see that the man was thin, malnourished, and underfed. His golden hair was greasy, and matted with dirt, as if he hadn't bathed in a month.

"Holy mother of din-!" He rasped in astonishment. When he had first caught a glimpse of this man's pitiful figure, he had, for a brief moment, thought that he looked familiar. Now he knew that he had been right. He did know this man.

"What is it, dad?" Remus asked, still not dismounting from his horse. He watched with some hesitation as Kan lifted the man by his shoulder and slung him over his own mare's back, caring not of the blood the quickly stained his skin.

"I found him! After all these years! I found him!" He said almost joyfully. He took the mare by the reins and broke toward the mountainside in a sprint. "I finally found Link!"

When he opened his eyes, his entire body was aflame with pain. For a moment, he had thought he was dead. The ceiling above him was dark and unforgiving. Only the warmth of a fire nearby had brought him around. Then again, maybe he was in hell.

He grunted, his side practically screaming in protest when he pulled himself, shaking, into a semi-upright position. He was leant against a rock, nothing between him and the hard, uncomfortable floor of what looked to be another cave. It couldn't be the same one. He couldn't see the exit, couldn't feel the bitter wind biting at him.

He, however, hadn't noticed the others in the cave with him, seated beside the fire. Link gasped in fright when one of them spoke. "Well, will you look at that? The moron is awake."

There were three people here with him. The one who had spoken, one of two men, had stood, revealing his staggering height. He had a terrible sneer on his face.

"Been a long time, Linky," he said mockingly, his hands tucked into the pockets of his thick, knee-length leather jacket. His honey-brown eyes were narrow from his sneer, only partially visable from beyond bangs of dark auburn hair. Inwardly, he gave a fierce groan. Did the goddesses have something against him? How, of all the millions of people in the world, had he found this one. How had he found Remus?

He was definitely in hell.

"Nice tats, by the way. Where'd you get 'em?" Remus asked him, almost insultingly, moving over to where two horses stood, tethered to a large root protruding from the cave wall. From the saddlebag of the black one, he pulled a thick book. He brandished it in the air for the other man to see.

"Care?"

The other man shook his head with a shrug. He was older, with dark black hair despite his age, wearing a thick black shirt and pants, the cuffs rolled up with his elbows. Around his neck, a blue bandana was tied, matching the color of the sash around his waist. At least he welcomed the company of this one a touch more than Remus. Kan had once been a good friend to him. That is, when they had both been much younger.

"Its none of your business." He said shortly, turning his head from the man. He didn't want to be here. He didn't even know where he was. And for the first time in many years, he felt the almost nauseating ache of homesickness. A depressing, terribly lonely ache in the pit of his heart. A deep longing to be around those who actually cared for him. Not those who wanted to use him.

The third one was a woman, much shorter than her companions, with limp black hair that hung in front of her dull silver eyes, the hue of melted iron. Her clothes were meager considering the weather. A thin, almost see-through nightgown with lace hems along the top off her breasts. And a thick leather coat, a few shades darker brown that that which Remus wore. It could have been considered fitting, if the sleeves had not been ripped off, leaving her arms completely bare.

He had not the foggiest clue who she was.

He remained silent as Remus sat beside the woman, and after opening the book, began idly ripping pages from it, crumpling each into a ball and tossing it into the dying flames. With each page, the fire seemed almost to leap up to grab the paper, like a dog eager for a scrap of food.

Occasionally, he caught Kan looking at him, directly at the black tattoos that were permanently etched into his skin. He had a somber look on his face, as if he knew what it symbolized. A sick disregard for human life and freedoms. That was what meant to him. A battle scar that could never be healed.

He sat in silence. He had no interest in speaking with them. Fidgeting to find a more comfortable position, he was met with the unexpected sensation of tight cloth against his body, and found that his side and thigh had both been bandaged over his clothes. And then he remembered.

He remembered the cruel battering he'd received. The Mountain Demon was no joke, no wives tale told to keep their children in bed after dark. He'd been severely outmatched. His already abused and weakened body had stood no chance against him. This demon was unlike any he had faced.

The demon had charged with ferocity akin to the bull it mastered, eyes unseen and body moving with strength and grace. He'd been damaged beyond what he could withstand in minutes. He couldn't even remember the moment that the knives had found his unprotected flesh. It had all been a blur of charging demon and fluttering leather fabric.

His saving grace had been that something, somewhere, drew the beastly man's ire away. Only moments after he had fallen to the snow, unable to hold out any longer, the beast had given him a last glance before bounding off into the white surroundings, leaving him to die, be it by wound or cold.

What could have drawn the beast away? Had it sensed the three now sitting across from him?

Looking at them now, as Remus tossed the last few pitiful pages of the book into the flame, he found that the woman seated between him and his father was giving him a distasteful look. Her shoulders were slumped, chin raised and head tipped to one side in defiance.

Why she was glaring at him so was anyone's guess, he supposed.

When the last of the pages had been consumed by the flame, the empty husk of the book was tossed in as well, Remus rising once again to his feet.

"I'm gonna go check the entrance." He said casually, both hands tucked into his pockets. The woman rose with him.

"I'll come with you."

He and Kan watched as the left, disappearing beyond a curve in the dark, natural stone walls.

"So Link, how's life been treatin' you?"

I can't apologize enough to all of you for the long wait. I think I've actually been a little depressed lately, so doing anything that requires enthusiasm has taken a lot of unnecessary effort.

I thank you all for sticking with me. And yes, this part gets better, I wasn't hyping it just to make myself feel better. It starts slow, that's all.

Thank you.