Chapter 11: Kyofu; Fear

The party of four trudged deeper into the forest and the first thing they noticed was the lack of sunlight penetrating through the thick forest growth overhead.

"Are you sure we are going in the right direction?" Sumire asked for the second time, unable to shake the unsettling feeling in her chest.

Natsume stopped and glared at the princes. He could tolerate some incompetency; he could tolerate insults, but what he could not tolerate was people doubting him.

"We are Sumire-hime. The animals have told me so." Ruka immediately spoke up, trying to ease the tension in the group.

Mikan rolled her eyes at the pointless banter. They were in the middle of the forest and the only people they could trust was the one holding the map and the other who could verify their position.

Walking further ahead, she took a deep breath to calm herself down when she smelt something different.

"Do you smell that?" Mikan voiced out.

The rest stopped glaring at each other and took a whiff of the air.

"Is that…" Sumire began.

"… what I think…" Ruka continued.

"It's Forget Me Nots" Natsume concluded.

"Isn't it rare for such a flower to grow here? The scent is so faint that you wouldn't even notice it unless you paid attention to it." Mikan commented.

"Hm.." The rest nodded.

"At least we're on the right direction." Natsume thought to himself and took the lead once again in the direction of the scent.

Koko rubbed his sore butt with both his hands once he got off his mount.

"Senpai, stop doing that. It looks wrong in so many ways." Yoichi chided while looking away disgustedly.

Koko continued to rub his sore behind but in a more exaggerated manner to annoy Yoichi.

Mihara glared at the two captains and Koko immediately stopped his antics.

"Spread out and search for clues! We are close behind them!" The older man barked out and the small troop scattered, looking around for clues to where the princesses were heading.

At the corner of his eyes, Yoichi caught a fox digging at the ground. Jerking his head in the direction of the animal, Koko's gaze trailed to the small brown fox and nodded his head. Using his foot to scare the animal away, Yoichi bent down to inspect the shallow grave the fox had dug.

"Bones of a small animal?" Koko asked telepathically.

Yoichi nodded.

"It must be less than three days for the animal to pick up the scent." Yoichi replied in his mind. Looking nearby for clues, he saw bits of charred wood sticking out from beneath the tree. Walking over to the debris he gently touched it and saw a translucent Ruka burying it. The burnt bits flaked off easily and judging by the humid weather, he concluded that they were a day's journey away from them.

"What did you find captains?" Mihara walked towards the duo.

Yoichi looked at Koko, "these are fresh," indicating to the shallow graves, "we presume they are a day's ride away."

"Good. No wonder commander Goshima recommended both your promotions at such a young age." Mihara complimented them and then pointed at a foot soldier to bring him a map.

Unrolling the map, he studied it with the two captains and suspected that they were heading deeper into the forest.

"Why are they going deeper into the forest?" Koko asked with a puzzled look on his face.

Mihara grinned, "don't you know the story boys? The one about how the world was created?"

"Yeah… the one about how the little girl calmed the elements and defeated darkness." Yoichi replied monotonously.

Once again, Mihara flashed a grin, "they're after the stones."

"Stones?" The young captain furrowed his brows again.

"The Alice stones of the four elements. The ones needed for the sword to become powerful and destroy darkness. Of course, those are just stories and no one knows where the bearers of the four elements have gone. However, General Kuonji wants his hands on that sword. It would legitimize his ascend to the throne if he has it."

Turning his attention away from the captains, Mihara began instructing his men.

"Get on your horses! We are a day's ride away from the princesses. At all costs, they must be captured today!"

Koko let out a groan.

"Great, now we know Kuonji's great plan and my ass isn't going to get any less sensitive from all this riding. You should have just lied to him Yoichi." Koko whined once Mihara was out of earshot.

Yoichi smacked Koko in the butt. "Suck it up senpai. We have orders to follow."

"Do you still smell it?" Natsume asked the rest.

He stopped and turned around only to be answered by their shaking heads. The group had just been walking deeper and deeper into the forest, not being able to pinpoint their exact location on the map, he decided to trust the princesses and allow them to follow the scent.

"Look how well that turned out to be." He grew agitated with himself.

Mikan and Sumire immediately dumped the bags they were carrying on their backs and sat down. Easing the laces on their boots, they saw the blisters reformed at their toes and heels.

"We'd better get those blisters some treatment." Ruka murmured while digging into this own backpack for medication.

Natsume got up from the ground and walked a short distance. Seeing the plant that he wanted, he pulled it by its roots and gave it to the two princesses.

"This plant, remember it." He shoved it into Mikan's and Sumire's faces. "It has healing properties for cuts, bruises and blisters. Crush its leaves and rub the paste on the affected part."

Nodding in thanks, Mikan and Sumire split the small plant into two and started to crush their leaves. Obtaining the pulp, they spread it thinly on the affected areas and allowed it to dry.

Looking up at the sky, Sumire shielded her eyes from the little sunlight permeating through the leaves. Lying down on the soft grass, she closed her eyes and allowed the heat to slowly seep into her skin.

"How long has it been since I've felt such tranquility? 2 weeks? A month? When did this all begin?" Sumire thought to herself as the wind gently blew and the shadow of the leaves danced on her closed eyelids. "When did I start living in fear? When did I expect myself to be constantly on the move?"

Through her closed eyes, the flickering between light and darkness comforted her. Then slowly opening her eyes, she looked at the leaves and everything that was jumbled up in her mind clicked.

"Mikan, is it me, or are the leaves strange?" Sumire spoke while her eyes darted from one leaf to the next.

Mikan who was lying next to her looked at the leaves of the tree above their heads.

"I'm not sure I'm seeing what you're seeing." Mikan replied.

Sumire raised a tired arm and pointed, "don't you see? The leaves, or rather the veins of the leaves, they're only darker in certain areas."

Her head turned to the side to check if her sister was understanding what she was saying.

"Ruka, Natsume-san, lie down and see!" Sumire exclaimed.

The two boys lay down on the grass and observed the leaves.

"Look, all the darker veins are going in one direction. If we came from there," Sumire pointed in the direction which they came from, "We need to go in that direction." Sumire then pointed to the North.

Natsume sat up, "Good observation. Let's get going. We should find the place by nightfall if the both of you keep your eyes peeled."

The rest sat up and picked up their backpacks. Lacing up their boots, they set out in the direction of the darkened veins.

"They were just here." Koko sent his thoughts straight to Yoichi.

Yoichi's head whipped around and stared at the dirty brown-haired senior in disbelief. "How are we moving so fast?"

"It's not us, they're slowing down. Perhaps they're getting lost? No one knows of the true location of the other kingdoms. Scratch that, no one knows if they actually exist." Koko replied.

"Captains, report!" Major Mihara shouted at them from across the platoon.

Koko stared at the green paste smeared on top of the smooth rock. Using his finger, he picked up a bit of the paste and rubbed it in between his thumb and forefinger.

"They've been here. About an hour ago going by the consistency of this paste." Koko reported.

"Keep your eyes peeled men! They're around here, somewhere! If any of you capture the princesses, you are not to harm them and bring them straight to me!" Mihara instructed.

Koko brought the emerald green paste closer to his face for inspection. Giving it a quick whiff, his eyebrows shot up at its distinctive smell.

"What's the paste?" Yoichi asked while leading both his and Koko's horses by the reigns.

Shoving his fingers under Yoichi's nose, Yoichi immediately picked up the smell and pushed his senior's hand away.

"Ugh, that's foul!" Yoichi commented and started taking deep breaths of fresh air in order to flush out the foul-smelling plant paste.

Koko immediately started laughing. "This is a medicinal plant. It smells foul but it's healing properties are out of this world. Look." he then rubbed some on a bruise he attained while riding. The bruise started to discolour and return to his original skin colour.

"Woah. Yup." Koko grinned brightly at the amazed younger boy. "This'll teach you to appreciate mother nature."

Yoichi waved his hand in the air but his head immediately whipped in the direction leading deeper into the forest.

Koko, too looked in the same direction and the hairs at the back of his neck stood up.

"You feel that?" Koko murmured.

"Yeah. It's a strange kind of power. We better find the princesses before Mihara's men do. I don't think they'll be so forgiving." The silver haired boy mounted his horse and rode off in the direction of the power surge.

Mikan and Sumire each took turns identifying the darkened veins on the leaves and at last the trail came to a dead end.

"It stopped." Sumire whispered, not wanting to believe that their trail stopped cold so sudden.

"What do you mean stopped? Are you looking carefully?" Natsume was on the edge. He didn't know how, but he could feel the army closing in on them. Catching them on unfamiliar territory was something he did not like one bit.

"It just ends here. None of the leaves show any more signs. We should see some kind of throne according to the story when the path stops. But… there's nothing here." Mikan backed her sister up.

Ruka looked around for any animals so that he could obtain their bearings, however, none were in sight. The forest was silent and the only noise heard was that of the rustling of leaves and a nearby river.

"We should take a short break. I hear the sound of flowing water. It could be a river nearby. We could stop there to refill out water bags."

Clutching his crossbow, Natsume had no argument to that. Without water and them wandering around aimlessly, they could be putting themselves in a worser position. He nodded his head in agreement and motioned Ruka to examine the map with him.

Mikan immediately grabbed the four water bags and took her sister's hand. "Erm…" Mikan meekly spoke up, "could we… take a quick bath as well? We feel filthy from trudging through the forest and I don't think it's wise to present ourselves like this to the Terra element."

Natsume's head turned slowly from the old parchment to the elder princess.

"Does she not know that we're being tracked down? Come on, don't be so harsh, she did say a quick bath. When do women ever bathe 'quickly'? Maybe she will." Natsume was debating in his mind.

Scanning the forest for any sound or sight that might indicate that the army was closing in on them, he did not find any and allowed the two princesses.

"Make it quick. Every moment we spend not moving, the army catches up." Natsume warned before turning back to the map.

Looking at each other, Mikan and Sumire smiled and ran off in the direction of the river.

They didn't have to travel very far and the sight of clean flowing water greeted them. Sumire immediately saw a plant near the riverbank and started digging.

"Here, these roots produce soap. We could use it to lather ourselves." Sumire handed her sister two small thin roots.

"How'd you…" Mikan began.

"Ruka. He's really knowledgeable about plants." Sumire cut her off and began stripping off the dirty tunic she had over her head.

Plunging into the cool water, Sumire never felt so refreshed in such a long time. Her long dark green hair spread out in the water as she floated face up, allowing her skin to soak in the coolness of the water. Standing back up, she pounded the root with a smaller stone and began lathering herself with the soap.

Mikan removed her shoes and clothes but did not start taking a bath. Instead, she cleaned out all the stains on their tunics which could be removed before proceeding to help Sumire clean out her clothes. Satisfied with their much-improved cleanliness, she hung them up to dry before slowly walking into the deeper end of the river.

At first a little chilly, Mikan was glad to feel the grim and dirt wash off her body. She looked over to see her sister and saw that she was enjoying the water as much as she was. Rubbing hard on her skin with the soap Sumire had pounded earlier, she smiled at the paleness which emerged under all the mud and grim on her body.

Climbing up onto a larger rock, Mikan squeezed out the water from her hair and allowed the sun to warm her skin slightly. Sumire stood up in the river and got down to washing out the dirt in her own hair. Taking a generous amount of the white paste, she slapped it on her head and massaged it. Having longer hair than her sister, she obviously had more knots and spent most of her time working through it while humming.

Finally able to run her fingers through her long hair, she dunked back into the river to remove any traces of soap. When she surfaced, she noted her sister putting on their almost dry clothes.

"Sumire, we've got to hurry. I think Ruka and Natsume-san will worry." Mikan urged her sister as she buttoned up the blouse which she wore under her tunic.

Climbing up onto the rock which Mikan was sitting at, she sat there and wringed her hair. "I will, after my body gets a little drier."

Mikan picked up the water bags and started filling them up. While uncapping the last bottle, both she and Sumire heard a loud 'crack'.

Someone was in the forest, and very near them.

Koko and Yoichi urged their horse deeper into the forest but seeing how the animals refuse to budge, they had no choice but to dismount and go on foot for their search.

Securing the reigns around a tree branch, they began walking in the direction of the river.

They both agreed that the likeliest place to find the group was near a water source. Having travelled so far, they did not come across any water bodies and would need to refill their water bags as well. Moving closer to the sound of water, they heard someone humming.

Looking at each other, they careful placed their footing so as not to make a sound. Peeking through the coverage of leaves, they saw what they wanted to see, well not exactly.

"There's Mikan-hime." Yoichi pointed out, however his senior was staring with eyes as wide as saucers. "Senpai?" Moving his gaze to follow Koko's, Yoichi was greeted with the white skin of Sumire-hime.

Immediately flushing a deep red, Yoichi raised his left hand and brought it down hard on Koko's head.

Not expecting the hit, Koko stared at Sumire's unclothed body in amazement.

"Did she really have such white skin under all that layers of clothes? Her hair down softens her image so much more. Could she turn a little so I could look at the fro-" Koko's thoughts were rudely interrupted by a hard blow to the head. He stumbled forward and his foot landed on a very inviting twig.

CRACK!

Koko managed to stop himself from tumbling out from behind the bush, preventing both of them from exposed. However, Koko did turned around to glare vehemently at Yoichi.

"Thanks" He mouthed while slowly retreating.

Quickly looking to see the two princesses, he let out a frustrated sigh.

Hissing angrily at his junior "see what you did?! Now they're moving. I could have seen more of- I mean- I could have gone out slowly and took them by surprise."

"No need for that, we'll just go out now." Yoichi suggested but panic immediately rose in his chest.

"Have you searched in that area yet?" Mihara's voice rang out through the forest from a distance. "What are you waiting for? Hurry up!"

"Not much of a choice. Hurry!" Koko tugged Yoichi's uniform and they entered the princesses' line of vision.

Sumire had just pulled the tunic over her head before the two soldiers stumbled out of the forest and stood before them. Slipping her foot into her boots, she quickly began tightening the laces.

"Run Sumire!" Mikan shouted as she slung the water bags over her head.

Not sparing another second trying to process what was happening, Sumire bolted off. Both she and Mikan did their best to avoid the low branches and high roots of the trees in their path. Hearing the two soldiers closing in on them, they knew that they would be captured soon.

The weeks travelling on the road did strengthen their legs, however, Mikan's additional trainings were giving her a larger advantage. She had the stamina and the power to run, but her sister dwindled behind.

"Just run Mikan! It's better than both of us being caught together!" Sumire shouted as she pushed her feet hard against the soft ground.

To no avail, no matter how hard Sumire pumped her legs, she was caught. Feeling a strong arm round her waist, she was tugged backwards and with gravity against them, both she and her captor slammed hard into a tree.

"Senpai! I'll get Mikan-hime!" The other soldier ran off after her sister.

Struggling to get up continue running, the arm around Sumire's waist tightened its hold on her.

"Ouch…" The man she was crushing moved behind her. Using his free arm, he raised it and Sumire shut her eyes, expecting the blow to her face. Not feeling what she was expecting after a while, her ears picked up the rustling of hair and she dared to sneak a peek. The soldier was just rubbing his head.

Sumire scanned her captive up and down, despite him holding on tightly to her. He looked like he was around her age, had brown hair like her sister's, but his was more of a dirty brown and it stuck out in all angles. His hazelnut eyes shone brightly, defining his face nicely as she saw a strong jawline. More importantly, she could feel his muscular arms despite his overall body not looking very strong.

"What the heck am I doing?! You're in the hands of the enemy, literally." Sumire began struggling from his grasp again.

"Woah woah… I'm not going to bite." The man chuckled as she fought against his one arm.

"Let me go!" Sumire spat.

"No can do, you're going to get caught either way. But getting caught by me is much better than Mihara." Koko told her while pulling out a pair of handcuffs.

Sumire's body froze in its place. The name brought chills to her, she knew that name, Mihara, one of the most ruthless commanders in the army. His deeds were well-known and despite her father trying to stop him, he continued, nonetheless.

Securing the cuffs around her wrist, Koko noted that she had gone still and silent. He read her thoughts and smirked.

"I see, so you know Mihara. Well, aren't you glad you got me? Don't worry, I won't let him do anything to you. But orders are orders, he would like to see your face." Koko tried comforting her while leading her back to his horse.

Sumire was powerless under this seemingly weak man. She was dragged against her will towards the horse.

"Please let me go… please…" Sumire began begging.

Koko turned to look at a pitiful Sumire. He had no choice. His hands were bound as well. As much as he and Yoichi tried to buy them time, he could not just let her go just like that. He shook his head sadly and placed his hands on her waist, hoisting her up onto his horse.

"What about your partner?" Sumire tried stalling.

"He'll find his way back. He's younger than me by the way, but he's much more levelheaded." Koko mounted his horse and urged it back to their temporary camp, a distance away.

Trapped between his two arms, Sumire began struggling again.

"I'd advise you not to do that. If you get thrown off and injured, my head would be on the chopping block next to yours." Koko joked.

But Sumire didn't seem to take that joke very well. "I'm going to be executed?!"

Seeing the fear flash in her eyes, Koko was puzzled as to why she was expressing that emotion when he just ensured that he would keep her safe.

Oh.

"I was just joking about the chopping block."

Sumire's expression relaxed.

"But I wasn't joking about me getting punished. Please don't make my life any more difficult." Koko pleaded.

Somehow Sumire felt comfortable with him. She still had fear within her, but at the same time, some form of comfort. She felt that she could trust him.

"Since it's going to be sometime back to our camp, let's get to know each other." Koko chirped happily.

"Are you always this chirpy?" Sumire replied in an annoyed tone.

Koko nervously scratched his face. "Eh heh heh, yeah. Is that a bad thing?"

"For a captain, I wonder how your men take you seriously." Sumire rolled her eyes. "Really, how can he be so carefree amidst all this chaos."

Koko was taken aback; he didn't expect a princess to know his rank. "I'm surprised you know I'm a captain."

"What kind of princess would I be if I can't tell the ranks of my subordinates?"

"Touche. I'm Koko Yome. Turning 19 this year. Captain in the army." Koko beamed down and the grumpy princess.

"You know who I am. There's no need for introductions." Sumire murmured.

"Where's the fun in that? Come one~!"

Sumire sighed loudly, "Sumire Yukihira. Turning 17 this year. Princess of Nuru. Happy?"

"Very." Koko beamed.

The rocking of the horse filled the silence which ensued until Koko jerked the reigns of the horse to a stop. In front of him stood a group of 4 bandits. Cocking one eyebrow up, he looked at them with curiosity.

"Get off your horse and hand over your goods." One of the bandits demanded.

"Step aside. I'm on official business and you are in no position to command me." Koko's voice strongly resonated in the quiet forest.

The bandit turned to his comrades and they started mocking Koko. Reaching behind for the small key, he slowly brought his hand forward to unlock the cuffs on Sumire's wrist.

"What…?" Sumire whispered.

"Shh… I knew they were following the army for some time. These bandits just want some food and money. Wherever the army goes, there's bound to be a trail of crumbs for them." Koko explained eying the group which was still laughing.

"Then why…?" Sumire began.

"In case things turn ugly. I'd rather you safe than dead." Koko whispered close to her ear and turned to key, releasing the cuffs.

"Official business he says… HA! Boy, just give us your goods and we'll be on our way." The leader spoke to Koko.

"I have a few shillings and nothing else. You know how poorly the army pays us." Koko tried persuading them.

The group then eyed Sumire hungrily, "what about the girl then? Give her up."

"They didn't know the face of their own princess?"

Sumire noted how Koko's grip tightened on the reigns..

"Sorry, she's not part of the deal. Besides, didn't your mother teach you to treat women with respect?"

The man spat on the ground and his eyes gleamed with menace. "We don't need a lecture from one of you army scum. You were the ones that took away our homes, our food, our freedom and made us resort to these methods." The men then proceeded to circle the horse with their makeshift weapons of clubs and farming tools.

Thinking that he had entered the blind spot of Koko, one of the men rushed forward to attack him.

"Hold on." Koko whispered and the horse reared, kicking the attacker squarely in the chest. The man flew backwards and was knocked unconscious. Taking advantage of the confusion, the horse then stood on his back legs and kicked down the man standing in front. The other two men rushed to their comrades' aid and Koko helped Sumire down.

"Run. Run back to your companions and don't stop." Koko instructed calmly. As he said this, the other two men held their weapons high above their head and charged for Koko. Seeing this from the corner of his eyes, he pushed Sumire towards the forest which they had come from.

Drawing his sword with lightning speed, he blocked both attacks with the scabbard of his sword. Pushing them back with all his might, they stumbled backwards but quickly regained their footing.

"Stop fighting please. I don't want to hurt you." Koko urged them with his arms at held out at his side.

"It's too late for that." The leader angrily commented, and he charged for Koko again.

"You never learn your lesson." Koko sighed while shifting his body slightly to the left to avoid being hit.

The man hacked away dangerously while his companion tried to get a hit on Koko's legs, however Koko was conserving his energy and soon, both bandits grew fatigued and sluggish. Using this opening, he simultaneously smacked the base of their necks with the scabbard of his sword and they were knocked unconscious.

Attaching the scabbard back to his waist, he looked around to see his handiwork, but to his horror, there were only three unconscious bodies.

"Shoots!"

Then he heard a piercing scream.

Sumire stumbled into the forest once Koko shoved her hard. Managing to catch her footing, she turned around to see him trying to fend off two attackers.

"RUN RUN!" Her brain screamed at her and she picked up her feet to run.

Roughly remembering her way here, she ran as fast as her legs could carry her and when she reached close to the river, Sumire stopped to catch her breath.

The blood rushing through her ears were deafening and she could feel her heart ramming against her ribcage. Trying to breathe in as deep as she can, she was suddenly grabbed from behind and she let out a piercing scream.

"Gotcha', no point in runnin' now missy." The man huskily spoke to her. One hand over her mouth to prevent her from screaming anymore and one hand round her waist, Sumire knew she was trapped with this man.

Not wanting to be caught, she did the only thing she knew, stomping down hard on his feet and pushing back as far as she could. This caused the man to groan in pain and hit his head against the large tree behind.

Immediately letting her go so that he could clutch his throbbing head, Sumire ran off again.

"Stupid stupid! Why did I stop?!"

Then, she saw the clearing at which Ruka and Natsume were last at. She couldn't be more relieved but upon reaching the open grounds, she did not see any of them.

"Mikan? Ruka?! Natsume-san?!" She started to scream but was only answered by the rustling of leaves.

"They couldn't have left without me right? They couldn't, could they?"

Hearing the large snapping of a twig, she whirled around but could not see anyone coming.

"Come out and fight me!" Sumire shouted, while quickly removing the wakizashi from within her tunic.

Unsheathing it, she pointed it at any source of sound.

Then she was grabbed from the back again and she struggled against the perpetrator vigorously.

"Get off me! Let me go!" She screamed.

The man who was chasing her emerged from the forest and this caused her to be even more frightened.

"If he's in front of me, then who's grabbing me? His companion?!"

The man seeing that his 'goods' was being touched by someone else, threw his weapon as hard as he could but before it could hit its target, it flew in another direction by an arrow.

"Arrow?"

Frustrated that his attack was not going to plan, he rushed forward but an arrow landed squarely between his eyes.

"Sumire-hime, calm down." Natsume told the green haired princess.

Sumire stopped struggling and turned round to see Natsume's crimson eyes looking at her.

Sumire was confused, because the only one proficient enough with a bow and arrow was Natsume yet here he was behind her.

Jumping down from one of the trees, a man dressed in a flimsy green tunic appeared in front of her, holding his bow in his hand.

"Hime… I'm a servant of the Terra element and pleased to make your acquaintance. I would continue this introduction but you are in danger and we need to get you to safety, please follow me quickly." The man then took off and Sumire was pulled along by Natsume.