Michiru Kaioh Michiru@tellmeimcute.com
Rating: PG
http://smcollection.www.50Megs.com/index.html

I hope everyone is enjoying this as much as I enjoy writting it!
Any comments, suggestions, flames, rants, are always welcome. Though
the last 2 will be given the respect they deserve. (read: they will
be used for virtual kitty-litter.)


Standard disclaimers apply. I do not own any rights to Sailor Moon or
any of the characters therein. I am merely borrowing them for a little
while. Now, on to the story!


Windswept Waters
Part 8: On The Right Track

She woke just as the sun was setting. Sitting up, she streched,
then started brushing the dirt and leaves from her clothing. Sleeping
on the ground was a new experience for her. Complete with sticks and
stones digging into her body in strange and interesting places.
As she started to leave her shelter, the bag fell to the ground.
Picking it up, she looked in curiously, wondering what the old servent
could have given her. Inside were 2 loaves of bread and half of a
medium-sized cheese. *Bless you!* Michiru broke off a small piece of
bread as well as a portion of cheese. She tied the bag to her belt,
and proceeded to eat her food as she walked along the road. As on the
prior night, there were no settled areas that she could see. However,
that did not mean it was quiet and peaceful. All around her were the
sounds of night creatures. Owls and bats hunting for their dinners,
wolves calling to their pack-mates, mice running around in the brush.
It was unnerving at first, but she soon tuned it out. Conscious
only of putting one foot in front of the other. As the night progressed,
she realized she was leaving the wilderness behind her. A small villiage
was just ahead.
She waited until dawn, then walked straight in as though she had a
right to be there. To her surprise, no one paid her any attention. She
was quickly glad of this, and made her way to the town square.
Upon reaching it, she walked up to an old peddler woman who looked
like the kind to have her nose in everyone's business but her own.
"Excuse me ma'am. But I was wondering if you could tell me if a
tall blonde man came through here recently? He would have been wearing
a black outfit with silver piping."
"Aye, I could tell ye lass. But what would ye trade for the knowledge?"
"I--I have nothing to trade. I did not know it was needed."
The woman laughed, more of a cackle really, and leaned close enough
Michiru could smell her breath. It reeked of onions and rotting teeth.
She tried to hold her own breath unobtrusively as she listened.
"Shall we trade knowledge then? I tell ye what ye wisht to know, and
ye tell me why ye wisht to know it and where ye come from."
"I suppose that is a fair trade..."
The woman nodded and leaned back, much to Michiru's relief. "Aye, I
seen a man like that, no more'n 2 days ago. Travelin fast e' was, said e'
was goin 'ome to 'is father. An 'e mentioned a girl 'e was comin back
for. Were it you lassie?"
Michiru blushed and nodded. "Yes, that would be me. Could you tell
me which way he went?"
"'E were goin out the west gate. Farthern that, I canna tell ye."
"Thank you, you have been most helpful. As for where I come from,
that does not matter anymore. I can not go back there, nor do I wish
to."
"An the young lad? Is 'e yer lover then?"
Her cheeks flooding with color, Michiru only nods.
The woman cackles again and waves her away. "Ye best be on yer way
lassie. Ye 'as to catch up wit 'im an 'e 'as a good start on ye!"

Her spirits rose as she started on the road out of town. Haruka
had been this way, only two days before! While the length of her lead
daunted Michiru, she knew if she kept following the trail, she would
meet up with her eventually. Either on the way there, or on Haruka's
way back.
But one thing bothered her. Haruka's father was still alive? She
had told a lie then. But why would she lie to her? They kept no secrets
from each other, or so Michiru had thought up to now. So what could
have made Haruka choose to hide this from her? Was her father a drunk?
Did he beat his daughter? Or was he insane perhaps?
She shook her head, this train of thought was getting her no where,
and she still had miles to go. She squared her shoulders and set off
straight into the still-rising sun.