Hi everyone, I hope this chapter finds everyone in good health. I've been unbelievably busy and believe it or not but this story has been giving me a hard time lately. I'm glad to say that I've finally finished chapter 54 so I'm able to give ya'll this chapter. Please let me know if you find anything iffy about this chapter as I'm sick and unfortunately this is unbeta'd. If any of ya'll know someone who is willing to beta for me please lemme know or have them contact me.

Anyway, hope ya'll enjoy this chapter and leave a review for me at the end! I appreciate any comments - unless they're flames - and I try to keep any criticism in mind as I write.

(Note: Bold & Italic = modern demonic. Bold = ancient demonic. Bold & Underline = Pissed off Oretzi. Underline = wolf. Italics = demon talking in human language)

Chapter 53

Oretzi was seated by the window, her back pressed against the wall with a leg drawn up to her chest. She was fiddling with a kunai, swirling the knife around a finger as she glanced around at her teammates. Reo was seated by the door at her unspoken request - the two of them having silently agreed to keep up their guard while relying the history of the Southern Continent.

Tsukiko and Haruko were seated against the wall to her right, directly across from the two futons that consisted of the room's beds. While Tamashii and Hoshi were sitting to Oretzi's left - the Akino heiress working on a braid that one of her aunts had taught her while Tamashii was seemingly focused on the hanyou.

"To understand why the Southern Continent is an Akumanosu you must first understand the history of not just the South but the entire world," Oretzi started in a low even tone. "Much of it was told to me by the demons that I've known and befriended so bear with me if it is not anything remotely like the history you know," she continued.

She waited until she had nods from everyone in the room, Reo excluded, before telling going into what she knew.

"I'm not sure exactly how old this dimension is - nor of how long humanity has been on this world - but I do know that demons of all kind and species have been here since before the earliest days of mankind. They may have existed in forms that none could recognize but they've existed. This world is not the natural homes for many of the demons that have claimed these lands as theirs," Oretzi paused in her narrating, her hand grasping the kunai firmly as she turns it so that the blade would reflect the sunlight streaming in from the window. "There are some demons that exist only in this world and have little to no claim to lands that exist in other dimension. To my knowledge, the nine Bijuu Lords and their clans are some of the demons that existed first in this world before relocating to other dimensions as humanity grew stronger." She glanced around to see that her teammates seem to be holding back questions but made no motion for them to speak freely yet.

She knew the habits of her teammates and herself - she was fully aware that if she paused for them to ask their questions then they'll never touch onto everything they wanted to know.

"At some point in the history of humanity, someone found out that demons were vulnerable to holy water and energies and started to take advantage of this knowledge to establish safe zones for humans in the South. Originally, holy water existed in the North as well…" Oretzi frowns slightly. "However, holy water was scarce in the North… if any was found various clans would rush to claim the area surrounding the holy water - leading many wars being fought among the clans. Eventually the bloodshed just destroyed the natural energies and rendered the water as typical as any fresh water."

"The bloodshed led to the creation of… well, I want to call it a demon but it doesn't come close to describing it," Oretzi mutters, swirling the kunai again. "It was a being that existed solely to destroy humanity - the Alpha and Prima all thought that it had been created by the earth to take revenge against those who were destroying her in their stupidity." Oretzi saw Reo shudder from where she was sitting - the motion barely noticeable if one wasn't looking for it. "This was just before the rise of shinobi - if what the pack told me is true - and the lay of the Northern Continent was changed due to the struggle to contain the being. Humans and Demons alike fought against the being and the result was… Many of the demons native to this dimension was wiped out and some outright abandoned this world when it looked like things were going to end."

"Something changed though," Oretzi muttered thoughtfully. "It was around this time the Bijuu Lords rose to… the status they have now. Before then, no one knew of them. I'm not even sure of how long they've been around," she admits drily, "but they've been responsible for maintaining the balance and… well, as you can imagine that… thing was disrupting everything with everything fighting for their very survival."

"In the end the being was destroyed and the nine Bijuu Lords were now renown across the lands - renown and feared," Oretzi comments lightly. "I don't know when it became a habit of humans to seal away the Bijuu Lords but before long some of the Lords were gone - sealed away and used as weapons…" She shakes her head, "We're not here for a history on the Bijuu Lords," she muttered as she considered how to get to the main point.

"After the war against the being the demon population in the North was decimated by the fighting - the South was mostly untouched considering the lack of fighting among the humans there." Oretzi looked at her teammates. "Due to the demons either dying in the fight or abandoning this dimension the shinobi clans had a chance to rise in power without being preyed upon by most of the demons - leading to most of the North being settled by humans… While the South's demon population remained intact with humans relying solely on holy water and other relics to ward off demons and eke out a living in the South…" She grips the knife in a reverse grip. "So the humans in the South were forced to rely on the holy water - I don't even know how ninjutsu hasn't traveled south yet but that's how it is."

"So… An Akumanosu is… basically what the old world looks like?" Hoshi asked tentatively.

"Roughly," Oretzi agreed lightly. "An Akumanosu is… dangerous in comparison to the North - Demons have been rarely spotted there due to the strength and numbers of humans. Whereas there's a large gap of power between the humans and demons here."

"Speaking of power," Tamashii starts, "What are the chances of us having to fight demons?"

"Fighting or surviving?" Oretzi asks, "Cause if you want to fight a demon then I can only hope that it's just one demon and not the whole family." She points the kunai at the Hyuuga boy. "I honestly don't know if any of you would be capable of taking on a D-rank demon by yourself."

"Oretzi, we're Chunins!" the boy protests.

"So? We're talking about demons - their strength is at least twenty times stronger than average humans and it only goes up with each successive rank," the hanyou huffed at the boy. "I have no idea of how strong of a demon I can fight," she continued before he could get a word in, "The last time I truly fought a demon was when I was still living with the Lunar Wolves. None of us except for the twins know how it is to fight a proper demon…"

"You're saying we need to play it safe," Haruko concluded.

"We should always play it safe," Tsukiko adds in, "With humans and demons alike. To do otherwise is to risk getting killed."

"But we are shinobi-nins," the hanyou injects. "Risk is part of our lives - it's what we do."

"Guys," Hoshi interrupts, "Instead of debating of what we should or shouldn't do as shinobi-nins, let's talk about how we're going to manage any encounters with demons."

"She's right," Tamashii agreed. "Out of all of us the twins are probably the only ones that have any idea of what we should do…"

"Hey!" Oretzi protests.

"Except you," Tamashii amends with what seemed like an eye roll. It's always hard to tell with his kekkei genkai.

"Mm… depending on the type of demons we come across," Haruko was muttering, capturing Tamashii and Oretzi's attentions before they could get into a bit of squabble. "Tamashii, Tsukiko and I all can use Raiton. Hoshi is the only one here can use Fuuton. Oretzi and I can use Katon. Tsukiko and Oretzi can use Suiton."

"Don't forget about Oretzi's ability to use Mokuton," Hoshi pipes up. "It's an incredibly rare affinity," she adds in, "It might come in handy one day."

"Other than her trying to be a plant breeder?" Tsukiko asked drily, referring to the experiments the hanyou had been doing in the private yard of her clan's compound.

"Shhhh," the hanyou pointed a finger at the younger half of the twins, "No need to be so negative!"

"Oretzi, you're cross breeding plants," Tamashii comments, "No matter how you look at that it'd always be a little odd."

"I'm just experimenting!" the girl protests, a smile appearing on her lips despite her protests.

"Anyway!" Haruko interrupts before they could get started on that. "With us being able to use elemental jutsu we might be able to cover some of the possible weaknesses demons can have."

"Oh you mean like using their elemental weaknesses?" Oretzi injects.

"Hai. It's not a perfect plan but it can give us an edge if we're careful and coordinate with each other," the young teenager comments.

"It's probably a good thing that Anko-sensei has been having us practice collaborating with each other," the hanyou comments as she stretched her arms.

"Not to mention that we have our preferences in fights," Tsukiko adds, referring to the fact that the original members of Team 13 tend to fight much more effectively when it's just the three of them. Just like how her twin and her tend to work better side by side. And of course there's the partnership between Oretzi and Tsuki.

Meshing the two groups into one is still a bit tricky at times but they knew it wasn't impossible. There was moments when they would be able to work together in perfect harmony.

Oretzi has always been the charge in sort - her speed and flash often causing her enemies to freeze or react to her first. Even if Tamashii was seconds behind her - ready to capitalize on any openings created by the hanyou. And Tsuki, of course, would always be right there with Oretzi, either in her wolf form or using the Inuzuka family jutsu to fight alongside with the hanyou.

Hoshi, Tsukiko, and Haruko all favored their weapons so they usually hung back and dealt with anyone who managed to get past the frontal assault. Haruko's weight required a lot of space so she rarely stayed close with either group, moving with a fluidity that implied that she was the one with the Suiton affinity - but her passion with her weapon is what set her apart from her twin's grace.

Having so many people with conflicting styles on one team is atypical but for the last month they've been training together, learning to cover each other's gaps.

Tamashii's fighting style often called on him to be up close and personal - dealing out as much damage as he can while not relying on his family's kekkei genkai. With the Byakugan no one can actually get sneak up on him unless they can move at a speed much faster than his reflexes. To date only Oretzi has been able to bypass his reflexes and score a hit - with the weight seals deactivated. It was still up in the air on whether or not she can slip in when hindered by the weights.

Hoshi's fighting style is mostly consisted of the various imprints - as a result of some of the imprints she became the weapon specialist. Mainly preferring to use a katana if possible. With Oretzi's inter-dimensional pocket seals, Hoshi could switch between weapons if needed. Occasionally though it takes her some time to switch weapons due to the fact that she has to shove the weapon in her hands into the pocket before withdrawing the desired weapon. The time delay often meant that she had to retreat from the immediate fighting or call out to her teammates to give them a heads up and occasionally get some protection from them. Despite her skills with weaponry her skills with taijutsu, on the other hand, wasn't precisely the best. She can handle herself in a brawl if she has to but if she was pitted with a specialist like Tamashii or even Oretzi then it's likely she'd be overwhelmed by them.

Tamashii and Oretzi are profoundly aware of each place a person can be struck to cause them to go down quickly. Tamashii, however, is more strength than agility or speed. Whereas Oretzi has the strength but tends to want to wear down her opponents, dodging out of the way to minimize the damage she gets. Tsuki was similar to her partner - matching her speed and strength, as well as mastering some of the Inuzuka clan's jutsu.

"I'm thinking that no matter what happens we should not allow ourselves to get separated from each other," Hoshi comments.

"But we should at least plan for the possibilities of us being separated," Haruko argued.

"Enough," Oretzi declared with a frustrated sigh. "The thing is that we cannot truly plan anything - if we get separated then we need to make our ways to the last known town we were headed to prior to the separation."

"If we get separated at all then the chances of us actually knowing which way to go is slim," Tamashii argued. "The only ones among us, gathered here in this room, wouldn't get lost is Reo and you, Oretzi. Everyone else is too unfamiliar with the area."

"He does have a point," Reo rumbled, speaking up for the first time since the conversation started. "They are more likely to blunder their way into hostile territories in the event of separation."

"What do you suggest we do then, Reo?" Oretzi huffed. "I don't see any other alternatives. They can't stay in one place and hope that Tsuki or I can track them down - especially if they're being chased by demons."

"My suggestion is not to go West. With the war brewing there you are only asking for trouble."

Hoshi reached for the map that had been left on the table she opens it and smoothes it flat, laying a few kunais down along the corner to get them to cooperate. "Going back north, to the port where we arrived, is that an option?" the Akino Heiress asked.

"If it was, I would have preferred it," Oretzi sighed. "The likelihood of us running into demons is reduced if we go that way. But our client has already vetoed that, remember?"

"Right…"

Tsukiko leaned forward and traced the area to the east of their current location. "What's over here?"

"Oni no Kuni, Jakkaru no Kuni, Anaguma no Kuni, Inoshishi no Kuni, Hyō no Kuni," Oretzi rattled off from the top of her head. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

"Wow…" the group muttered in union.

"Damned if we do, damned if we don't," Tamashii muttered very quietly, getting halfhearted agreements from his teammates.

As much as the West was unappealing the East was just as unappealing - topped off by the fact that there was no easy way back to the Northern continent unless they somehow convince their client to take a ship with them - something they highly doubted he would swing for.

~Kazama~

Oretzi was the only one up by the time their sensei returned to the hotel room, the rest having fallen asleep at some point, their plans resting heavily upon their shoulders.

"Anko-sensei," she greeted the jonin who nodded slightly in acknowledgement. "When are we leaving?"

"In the morning gaki," Anko answered as she joined the hanyou at the window. A glance up towards the dark skies revealed that it is still too early for the full moon, but it didn't escape her notice that the hanyou was just as anxious as when the moon is full and the transformation was seconds away from occurring. "How are you holding up?"

"As well as anyone," the hanyou answered simply, resting her head on her knee. "I don't think I can stand being here much longer than we have to be," she continued, acknowledging the sensation of something crawling over her skin. "Something big seems to be on the edge of breaking out here…"

"Is it like what happened the morning of the rebels attacking the palace?" the jonin asked, drawing a comparison.

"It is a bit," she agreed readily enough. She looks at her sensei, noticing that she seemed to have come to a realization.

"Gaki… do you think you can sense the extreme negative emotions people can feel?"

"… I don't know?" Oretzi answered. "Why?"

"Your eyes are red again," she commented, looking at the glinting red orbs, a vivid shade of red that she has forever associated with the hanyou's wolf form. "And you're awake, wide awake actually." She arched an eyebrow at the girl - normally the girl would be passed out on a bed somewhere at this time of night - especially if she wasn't expected to take a midnight shift. "Why aren't you asleep like the others?"

"I tried but…" she answered truthfully, "The others and I were… talking about the Southern Continent… I was telling them about the histories and the danger we are all in."

Anko looked at her carefully before she reached over to ruffle the girl's hair, ignoring her protests. "Do I need to know?"

"Probably."

"Are you going to tell me?"

"I have a choice?" Anko smirked at the hanyou, getting a long sigh from her. "I didn't think so." With a sigh she started to fill in her sensei about what she missed while discussing things with their client - distractedly wondering where her wolf partner had disappeared to this time.

"Why is it that you never tell me these things before we leave Konoha?" Anko sighed, looking and sounding very exasperated by her student.

"Gomen," the hanyou whined lowly.

Anko looks at the hanyou and decided that she'll address the information flow at later time. "What did everyone agree on?"

"We sorta didn't," Oretzi mutters, "it's hard to plan for anything when most of us haven't fought demons before."

"That is a good point," Anko agreed, she wasn't quite sure how well she'd be able to handle a demon herself - having never really encountered any in her entire time as a shinobi. "What's your opinion on the matter?"

"I think that if we encounter any demons we should run," the hanyou answered simply.

"What about the demons from that first night?"

"We had holy water helping out - most if not all demons are unable to tolerate anything with holy energies," Oretzi yawned as she rubbed her eyes. "But in a pure fight with no holy waters or energies, against a demon that can actually fight back, I'm not so sure about our chances of survival."

"Do we have any holy water in case we have an encounter?"

"Holy water and ofuda talismans. Those are the only things we can actually transport without bringing someone along who has the 'power' to purify things."

Anko looks skeptical about that. "Purify?"

"I heard from someone that there's a group of priests who are capable of purifying demons - essentially harming them - without the aid of holy water or ofudas."

"That's… odd."

"Yup. I get the impression that they really wouldn't be friendly to hanyous so I'm not exactly willing to go hunt down one and see proof of this ability of theirs."

"Agreed," Anko muttered, thinking. "Do you believe that the holy water and ofudas are enough for our purposes?"

"If we restocked at every town we stop in I don't see why it wouldn't be," Oretzi responds, covering her mouth as she yawned.

"And if we don't?"

"Then I don't know," she answered. "All of this is very experimental for me," the hanyou muttered. "Normally, any demons that posed a threat to me was dealt with by the Lunar Wolves. But we can't go to the Lunar Wolves for protection - not while we have Tsuki - and at the same time we're headed in the opposite direction."

"Would they actually help us or would they turn us away because we're humans?"

"I… don't really know," the hanyou yawned. "I don't think I ever seen them interact with humans before - and I sorta remember Moon-Chaser being standoffish towards people while in Konoha."

"So there's a possibility of us getting a poor reception if we went to the Lunar Wolves?"

"Hai."

"I think we should focus on completing the mission in that case - if we encounter a demon along the way then we'll have to adjust our plans on the fly. I don't see what other option we have," Anko finally declared before looking at Reo's sleeping form. "Do you think your friend will help?"

"I've asked him before and he said that he has no intention of letting me out of his sight now that he's found me again."

"Do you believe he will follow us to Konoha?"

"I'm not sure, he doesn't give me the impression that he's eager to explore the human society. He finds them too weird I think."

Anko arched an eyebrow at the hanyou's words - it hasn't escaped her attention that occasionally the hanyou switched between identifying with humans or demons. But with Oretzi's dual heritages she couldn't exactly call her out on it, as far as the purple haired woman knew Oretzi may never be able to identify with a group due to her heritages. Maybe one day she'll find a group of hanyous in a similar walk of life but until then she doubted that Oretzi would ever be able to be herself in either groups.

"Do you think he's trustworthy?"

"I have to believe so."

"… Alright gaki," Anko shook her head as she stood up. "Go get some rest, remember that we're leaving in the morning."

"Hai." Oretzi gets up and crawls into one of the futons set up in the room, barely bothering with her clothes as she made herself comfortable.

Anko watched her for a moment before she made herself comfortable by the door - ready in case of an emergency in the client's room.

But with Tsuki resting in front of the client's room and a group of somewhat experienced shinobi in the room across the hall she doubted that too much trouble could occur in the span of a few hours.

~Kazama~

Oretzi narrowed her eyes at the client, her sole visible tail partially lowered compared to its usual relaxed state. Her eyes darting around as she took in what she was seeing. Her ears turning partially back as she made a face, her lips pressed into a thin line as she refrained from doing/saying something.

There was something about Kano Shinji that was setting her on edge, she wasn't sure about the whys but it was there, causing an underlying tension in her back as she tried to adopt a relaxed posture.

Anko was a bit distracted with their client so she hadn't had a chance to notice the hanyou's behavior but Tamashii and Hoshi, almost fluent in the language of Oretzi's body, could tell that something was bothering her.

It probably helped that Tsuki was practically mirroring the look in her wolf form - the body language actually giving her a slightly aggressive look with her eyes being narrowed and her body being tensed.

Except Hoshi has actually seen Tsuki when she was being aggressive towards someone and knew that the ears tended to point forward and there was usually teeth being bared as well. And Tamashii will never forget when Oretzi had him pinned down and was snarling in his face - that was just not something one forget even if they wished.

Tsukiko and Haruko - on the other hand - were still getting used to Oretzi and Tsuki's body languages but they could see, from the looks in Tamashii and Hoshi's eyes, that something was wrong.

In the end, due to the actions of a few, the whole group was set on edge trying to figure out what to do and why they were feeling this way.

By the time Anko came to realize that something was going on with her team the four teenagers were already masking their expressions and thoughts on what just happened. Meanwhile Oretzi and Tsuki were still expressing their anxiety about the situation they were going into.

Tsuki was mostly feeling the byproduct of being close to Oretzi in her current state of mind. But it didn't change the fact that there was something bothering her - she just didn't know what.

Oretzi only had the vaguest impression about what was bothering her - and it was mostly due to the fact that there was something about Kano Shinji, their client, that made her uneasy. She didn't know if it was because he seemed to have an untrustworthy face or if it was just something he carried about himself that made her instantly not like him.

She didn't really want to entertain the thought that maybe she was being distrustful because she was somewhat reminded of their first escort mission.

"Are you ready?" Anko asked her team, eyeing each one of them as she tried to figure out why they weren't meeting her eyes anymore.

"Hai," her nieces nodded their heads in union while the original members of Team 13 were quiet, looking very grim as if they were facing their executioner.

"Lively bunch," Kano commented, eyeing her students. "Hope they are as competent as you've led me to believe."

"You'll make it to Konoha," Anko answered shortly, not liking the tone he had used with the chunins.

She wondered to herself if this particular mission had been such a good idea after all, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong in the course of the mission and they were still far from being done. She was beginning to think that escort missions where the team's bad luck or something.

That or she did too good of a job training them to be assassins like they are supposed to be.

Oretzi runs a hand through her hair, her features distorting briefly until it looked like she was in her human form, the hood of her jacket coming up to cast shadows onto her face, better obscuring her now human features.

"Everyone get into position," Anko instructs after making sure that the hanyou was done with her henges. She wasn't sure why she had chosen to go with her human appearance for the henge but she decided that she'd ask her about it when they were away from their client long enough to have a conversation without a fear of being overheard.

Without a word Oretzi and Tsuki took the lead. The twins taking the middle with Hoshi while Tamashii took the rear with Anko, leaving the responsibility of protecting the client and his wagon of supplies to the twins and Hoshi.

So they took the long and slow road - the two horses pulling the wagon working hard to meet the demands of the wagon driver. The client riding in style in his own personal carriage.

It was enough to make Oretzi wonder why he went and hired the shinobi-nins when he could've just gone for a ton of bodyguards for the same amount they're charging him for this one mission. It was a curious thing for the hanyou but then again she wasn't exactly paid to think about the motives of their clients. The only time she actually bother to think about the clients' motives is when there's something bothering her about them.

Then again there was that whole thing with the demon hunter - she didn't exactly take their clients for word after that, learning that not everyone is to be trusted. Even if she did retain some of her naïve trust in people.

~Kazama~

Oretzi frowns as she studied the scene in front of her, perched at the edge of the cliff - a simple shove from tumbling over the edge and down the cliff side. She had known there was a war brewing to the west but she didn't expect it to be this bad - or that it would already be underway by the time they arrive.

She couldn't really tell but she thought the demons fighting in the war were mostly the Oni tribes - whatever the humans in the area had done must have really messed up quite bad to get the various tribes to cooperate against a common enemy without actually fighting each other.

"What are those?" Hoshi asked quietly, trying to look at the large blob like things she could see off in the distance. She couldn't quite make out the details but it looked like there was skirmish happening right in front of them.

"… Onis."

Hoshi looked sharply at the hanyou. "I thought we just passed through Oni no Kuni? What are they doing here?"

"The Oni that is known by the entire world used to live in Oni no Kuni, they've been roaming the South since. Ever since those days they've been divided into tribes and - most commonly - fighting each other." It did explain a bit why a youngling had been caught and tortured to death by humans.

She didn't think the Oni tribes would be so concerned with the security of their younglings, believing that their scraps teaches them to be better fighters. What surprised her was the severity of the Oni's reactions to the deed. She had to wonder if the Oni tortured had been vital to whatever tribe it hailed from. If that was the case would that meant that it was important enough for the tribe to call in the other tribes? In that case then it was likely not good at all for the wellbeing of humans and demons alike.

The Onis had been a formidable foe when they were united - weakened as they were in their wars with each other - and did not think that having another rise of an Oni kingdom was good for anyone involved. She didn't think it was good at all…

"Do you think we can go around them?" Hoshi asked, studying the activity down below.

"I kinda doubt it," the hanyou answered truthfully. "From what I can tell it seems like all of the eleven tribes have united against the human settlers here." She narrows her eyes. "Black…white," she mutters as she located two of the eleven. "Red… orange… silver," she continued as she searched the skirmish. "That's only five of the eleven."

"Why are you so sure there's eleven down there?"

"I don't know… it's a gut feeling, I think. Why would only four rally to the call of a tribe and not all eleven?"

"Allies?"

"No, history states that all eleven tribes did not discriminate -," she starts to say before she pauses, thinking. "Wait… the Gold…" she muttered.

"What?"

"The Gold Oni tribes has never been involved in a war," she muttered slowly, thinking about her previous thoughts, starting to connect the dots. "What if they were royalties or were in the last rise of the Oni Kingdom?" she continued. "Maybe they were nearly wiped out in the fall? That would explain why they never got involved in the war… and if they weren't involved then that would mean that the other ten would hold nothing against them unless they were hated just by principle."

"You're not making much sense."

Oretzi looks at her teammate. "Let's just say… if it was a Gold Oni that was killed by humans… then we might be facing the next rise of the Oni kingdom in the South."

"I take it that's bad?"

"I think the last time they rose was before the days of the thing creation and ravaging of the North."

"Uh…"

"It was many generations ago," Oretzi hurried before the shorter girl could ask. She didn't know enough about the Oni tribes to even safely speculate about this but she had this feeling that the Oni tribes banding together under one flag would be disastrous for everyone. "I don't even know what took down the kingdom the last time they were running things."

"Well…" Hoshi started hesitantly, "They look like they're really… violent. Maybe they won't unite like you think?"

"I don't know," she muttered, "I don't really know much about the Oni other than the stories the Alpha used to tell me at bedtime. Even then those stories are a bit hazy."

"You were five," the Akino heiress remarks, "I'd be really shocked if you could remember every little thing from when you were five." She looks at the mayhem down below. "Either way, what should we do?

"Is going around even an option?"

Oretzi looks at the other girl, thinking. "We should tell the others. Maybe Reo can give us more information about what's happening," she decides after a moment and started to pull away from the cliff side.

"And if he can't?"

"Well… we either go back the way we came or we get more information."

"Why do I get the impression that I'm not going to like your method of 'getting more information'," Hoshi grumbles.

"If you have suggestions I'm open to them," the hanyou grumbles, pausing at the edge of the forest to look at the shorter girl.

Hoshi doesn't respond after a moment, leading Oretzi to sigh. "I hope we can come up with something," the hanyou mumbles before they disappear into the trees again, leaving no traces of their passage.

~Kazama~

Translation:

1) Oni no Kuni - Demon Country

2) Jakkaru no Kuni - Jackal Country

3) Anaguma no Kuni - Badger Country

4) Inoshishi no Kuni - Boar Country

5) Hyō no Kuni - Leopard Country

If ya'll are unsure about anything I wrote (Japanese or otherwise) please lemme know and I'll add a translation. Ja ne!