I don't own anything from Danball Senki/W/WARS.
Yoshimitsu Kaidou tapped his fingers impatiently on the armrest of the throne. It has been nearly two weeks since he sent his grandsons and their servants to investigate Aidara's presence in Misora Town. In fact, he regretted his decision because it was taking longer than he anticipated. With the arrival of Princess Yuno, he needs at least one of his grandsons around to be betrothed to her and secure the alliance with Odela.
"Your highness." Tougoro Kamiya, his most trusted adviser came up to him. "It is my pleasure to inform you that the weapons you asked for are right on schedule. They will be ready for testing by the end of the week."
"That is not good enough." Kaidou frowned. "Hasten the production. I want it done in two days time!"
"But sire..."
"That is an order." Kaidou snapped. He turned to a soldier at the door and ordered. "Get Sir Kamiya here!"
The soldier bowed and came back a few minutes later with the said knight.
"You called for me your majesty?" He said, bowing.
"Gather your men and go to Misora Town! Find my grandsons and bring them back." The king slammed his fist on the armrest. "They are taking too long! Tell them they will be replaced with someone more capable."
"As you wish your highness." Sir Kamiya bowed.
"And have your men torch the forest when you complete your task." Kaidou added after a second thought. "I have grown tired of waiting and it is time to flush Aidara out!"
"Jin, let's go." Muraku gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "There's nothing we could do now."
Jin quietly nodded and trailed behind him. Muraku sensed his brother's distress as they headed back to the camp. He paused and gave him a meaningful look. "You still love her." Jin did not say anything but Muraku continued, "I'm sorry I made you follow her just now. She must have felt betrayed that you were using her to get Aidara."
Jin halted in his steps and shook his head. "Maybe if I had just let her go last night, this would not have happened."
"But it would have eventually happened."
Jin spun around with a sharp glare. "What?"
"Hana was trying to warn us about grandfather. I also heard your conversation last night and I know that you refuse to listen to her." Muraku stared back.
"You have no right to eavesdrop on us." Jin snapped.
Muraku's control snapped and he yelled, "Yoshimitsu Kaidou was lying to us the whole time! He killed King Yamano and his family in cold blood!"
Jin recoiled and spun around. "He did that?" He asked in disbelief.
Muraku nodded sadly. "I overheard him talking about it with Gardyne. He said that he killed King Yamano and his wife eight years ago to get the throne. Hikari also said that her mother was murdered by him."
Jin refused to believe it. Despite everything Hana and Muraku told him, he could not fathom the fact that Kaidou is a killer and worse, a traitor to Aradia. Ever since he was adopted, he was told that his grandfather took the throne after the former king died of a disease.
He clenched his fist and turned to Muraku. "What are you going to do from here?"
"I don't know." Muraku admitted. "But I know that I certainly don't want to return to the palace."
Jin huffed and folded his arms. "Do what you want, but I cannot accept all of this. I'm going back. But don't worry, I won't tell grandfather of everything you told me."
Muraku looked conflicted and reluctant to leave without his brother but with Hana's final words in his mind, he made up his mind. "Fine, but I want to take my friends with me if they want to go with me."
Just as he expected, Mikhail, Vanessa and Kageto each had similar disbelieving looks at his proposal.
"Muraku...you want to run away..." Mikhail started but did not know how to finish.
"Because...you believe the king is a murderer." Vanessa finished hesitantly.
"Not because I believe. I know it is true." Muraku said firmly. "But I want to hear your opinion on this. Take note that I will not go back though, no matter what."
"I guess there's no dissuading you." Kageto sighed. "But I think this is a foolish idea."
"Well...as your personal bodyguard," Mikhail paused. "I agree with Kageto; but as your friend, I wherever you go, I'm going too."
Vanessa shook her head. "I personally don't understand what happened that made you decide on that but I'm with you."
Kageto looked at her in surprise. "What about your parents?"
"I don't want to leave them but if what Muraku says is right, then I'm not going to let him go through this alone." Vanessa admitted.
Kageto looked defeated. "I can't really talk you out of this but I don't want to be the one explaining our disappearance. I'm coming with you guys."
Muraku was stunned by their words for a while but eventually broke into a smile. "Thank you. I don't want Yuuya or Jessica to find out about this, so we leave now."
The trio nodded and quietly snuck away from the campsite and hoped on their horses which they saved from Bandit. Then, they galloped off to the west with no actual direction in mind.
"Where's Muraku?" Yuuya frowned when he realized that Muraku was taking a long time discussing some matters with his friends. He turned to Jin who had an impassive expression. "Jin?"
"He said that he does not want to go back to the palace."
"What?!" Yuuya and Jessica yelled in shock. "But why?"
"Personal reasons." Jin merely said. "I am not going to stop him in case you are wondering. He is old enough to make his own decisions."
"But..." Jessica opened her mouth to protest but Jin cut her off.
"We are moving in an hour so get ready."
Yuuya and Jessica exchanged looks. Something must had happened to drive Muraku away and made Jin depressed.
"We will go our own ways from here." Takuya told Ban when they reached the same gorge Hana jumped down. He had showed them a new route to get from Wecasta to Aradia's forest without needing to go through the gates and Ban made sure that Hiro memorized the route for emergencies.
Ban nodded and shook his hand. "Thank you for bringing us here. Give my thanks to the queen for her hospitality once again."
"Can you get back to your friends from here?"
"Yes." Ban nodded. "We will consider the queen's offer and probably head to Wecasta before winter."
Takuya nodded and spun his horse back to the direction he came from. "We will meet again soon."
As soon as Takuya was out of sight, Ban took a deep breath and guided his horse along the edge of the stream with Ran and Hiro behind him.
"Ban, do you really want to move to Wecasta?" Hiro asked after a while.
"We might be forced to." Ban shrugged. "Kaidou is already suspecting our base location which is why he sent Jin and Muraku to scout the place. It will not be long before he does something drastic. Before that happens, I don't want to be around for that."
Ran frowned sadly. "Do you think Kaidou would harm our friends if he finds out about us?"
"Yes." Ban nodded solemnly. "That is why we must not take the chance and expose ourselves just yet."
Hiro and Ran exchanged looks and rode on behind Ban. Not too long after that, Hiro spotted something along the shore of the stream. "Ban, what's that?"
Ban followed Hiro's gaze and frowned. "I don't know. But I'll go check it out. Stay here."
Ban got off his horse and carefully approached the thing Hiro spotted and gasped. The thing was none other than their friend, Hana!
Ban quickly dropped to her side and pressed two fingers on her wrist and as relief to find a plus but he realised that her condition was far from well. There were several long, deep cuts across her abdomen and back and her right arm was twisted in an awkward direction.
'Oh dear. Just what happened to you Hana?' Ban wondered and he gently picked her up and went back to his horse. Hiro and Ran were just as surprise as he was to see Hana.
"Hana!?" Ran gasped. "What happened to her?"
"I don't know." Ban got up on his horse and placed Hana in front of him. "But we need to get her to Ami now."
Ban snapped the reins and made his horse go faster. Ran and Hiro followed his suit to rush back to the base so that Hana can get medical attention from Ami.
