Ano Shuugaku No Tenbun
"The Learning of Destiny"
We once again join our heroes, who just happen to be lost thanks to E- chan's good sense of direction.
"This is just great, E-chan. We're lost."
"Well...maybe we could ask for directions."
"And how are we supposed to do that when we're lost in a forest?"
Evan decided to join in the argument, for he too was getting tired of being stuck in this forest.
"Yeah, maybe a friendly tree can point out the way."
"Ha, ha. That was SO funny Evan." E-chan paused. "Hey, isn't it if you're lost, you should stay where you are until you're found?"
Meg-chan was really starting to get frustrated.
"And who's supposed to find us!"
"Okay, okay."
Just then there was a low growling sound from behind them. They all looked at one another.
"Evan, please tell me that was your stomach."
"I'm afraid not, E-chan. But I'm starting to wish it was."
The three of them huddled close together. The growling continued, and then a branch snapped.
"Evan?"
"Evan shook his head no. Finally, they got the courage and turned around to face whatever was making the noise.
After they did, they wished they hadn't, for they were face to face with a striped tiger. The tiger roared as our heroes fled for their lives.
"Nice kitty!"
"Don't eat us!"
"Yeah, eat them!"
"Evan!"
Soon, a town can be seen in the distance.
"Look! A town in the distance!"
"Wasn't that already stated?"
"Oh! Be quiet."
Our heroes manage to make it into the town. The tiger stops at the edge of the forest, turns, and walks away.
1.1.1 Back in the Real World
"Okay. I'm officially freaked out now."
"Hey kid, they're closin' down the school. You should be headin' home."
"Thanks."
Justin stands with the book in hand.
'I can't just leave this book here. Not when my best friend in stuck inside.'
Justin leaves the school and jumps on the next bus for home. As he sits on the bus he opens up the book and begins to read.
1.1.1.1 Back in the Book
"Man, am I glad that tiger is gone."
The group begins to explore the town around them. As they walk, tall towers come into view. Meg-chan and E-chan begin to get excited.
"Meg-chan, look, it's a palace!"
"Yeah! Let's head that way. We can check out the cute princes."
E-chan and Meg-chan's eyes turn into big hearts. Evan wasn't too happy about what Meg-chan said (in other words, he's jealous. lol).
So our heroes head toward the palace. As they approach the palace, it looks even more grand up close. There was massive gardens, elegant fountains and glistening jewels on the front gates.
They walk up to the front gates. Two guards quickly block their way.
"Halt. You may not enter the emperor's palace."
Meg-chan was disappointed and turned to leave, but E-chan wasn't giving up so easily.
"And why not?"
"You not have the emperor's permission."
"How dare you say that. I just happen to be here to meet with the emperor on foreign affairs."
The guards look at each other.
"The emperor never said anything about you coming."
"There must be some mix-up then. Now, I'm going in."
E-chan pushes the two guards out of the way and again heads towards the front gates. The two guards grab her.
"We will not allow you to hurt the emperor. Now leave!"
"And what if we refuse?"
The guards pull out their swords and hold the points up to her neck. E-chan let's out a small yelp. Evan grabs her wrist.
"Run!"
He pulls E-chan beside him. With his other hand he grabs Meg-chan's arm and together they all run from the two palace guards. The guards follow.
Up ahead there is a figure pointing around a corner. Evan gets the hint and makes a sharp turn around the corner and into an open door. The girls follow. The figure quickly shuts the door as the guards turn the corner.
"They went that way."
The figure points off into the distance. The guards run into the direction the figure pointed out.
Our heroes crack open the door and stick their heads out. Evan was the first to speak.
"Are they gone?"
The figure nodded. Evan swings open the door and comes out. Meg-chan and E-chan follow.
"Who are you?"
The figure smiles.
1.1.1.2 Back in the Real World
Justin closes the book as the bus comes to a stop. He gets off the bus and heads up to his house. He opens the door to the house and sees his older sister in the room.
'Great, she's back from college.'
"Little brother!"
She runs up to him and throws her arms around him.
"Hi, Erika."
"What ya got there, Justin?"
She points to the book in Justin's hand.
"Oh, nothing."
"He turns and tries to run up the stairs to his room, but his efforts fail. Erika overpowers him and pulls the book from his hands.
"I'll bet this is from your girlfriend."
"No! Now give it back!"
Justin tries to reach for the book, but Erika holds him back. She starts scanning the pages.
"Justin...what is this?"
"Let me explain."
1.1.1.3 Back in the Book
"My name is Kochou." She smiles at the newcomers. "And who are you? And why do you have such funny clothes?"
"I'm Evan."
"I'm Megan."
"And I'm Rachel, but call me E-chan. And what do you mean by 'our funny clothes'? You're the one with weird clothes."
Kochou examines her outfit. She has on a turtleneck shirt with long sleeves that cover her hands. The shirt is cut short exposing her stomach. She has on a long skirt that has high slits on each side. Her outfit is olive green. (Also note: her hair is in a high ponytail with a green hair tie. She also has pink hair.)
"Take a look around."
E-chan looked around and noticed their clothes didn't exactly fit in with everyone else's.
"I see your point."
"So where are you from, to have such funny clothes?"
"We're from America."
An American flag waves in the background as E-chan's eyes begin to water. (Sorry, just trying to be patriotic.)
"America? Never heard of it." She thought for a moment. "Oh, my god!"
Kochou pushes everyone inside her house.
"Hey! What do you think you are doing?"
Kochou quickly shuts the door.
"Are you the Priestess?"
She runs up to E-chan and gets down on her knees. She puts E-chan's hands in her own. E-chan gets a very confused look on her face.
"What...what are you talking about?"
Kochou gasped. "You mean...you don't know?"
"Am I supposed to?"
"There's a legend that a young girl from another world would come and collect the seven warriors and summon Suzaku."
"As far as I know, I'm not a Priestess, or whatever you called it."
"Oh..."
Kochou's smile vanished.
"I'm sorry. It doesn't mean anything. Forget I said anything."
"Kochou..."
Kochou gets up and walks to the other side of the room. She pours herself a glass of water.
"Kochou...what exactly does a Priestess do?"
"Kochou's eyes light up. She runs back to the group and sits next to
E-chan. She begins to explain everything.
1.1.1.4 Back in the Real World
Erika sits on the floor in shock.
"I can't believe there are really people in this book. And Evan is one of them."
"I know. I couldn't believe it at first either."
"Justin, do you think we should tell someone?"
"I don't know. It's not like anyone would believe us anyway."
Erika thought for a moment.
"I know someone. Her name is Kelly. She knows about stuff like this."
"Where does she live?"
"She lives pretty far. It would take a while to drive there. And I don't think mom would appreciate us being gone so long."
"But we have to. We have to get Evan and all them out of this book. Please!"
Justin looks at Erika with big puppy dog eyes.
"Oh...please stop."
"Please."
"Fine...okay, we'll go in the morning."
"Yes! I'll go pack now."
Justin runs up the stairs into his room. 'Ha, ha. The puppy dog eyes work every time.' He begins to pack.
1.1.1.5 Back in the Book
Our heroes, now informed about the Priestess issue, are heading towards the palace once again. Kochou is leading the way, They approach the front gates and two different guards come around the corner.
"Halt. Aren't you the kids that tried to break in here before?"
The group gets nervous. Kochou steps up for them.
"This girl just happens to be the Priestess of Suzaku."
E-chan steps up.
"Yes. And I demand to see the emperor."
"Of coarse Priestess."
They bow and allow E-chan and the others to pass. Meg-chan stops short.
"Excuse me, but what happened to the other guards at this post.?"
"They are still looking for you."
A sweat drop forms on Meg-chan's head. She quickly runs to catch up with the others.
They are lead to the throne room, where an old man is sitting on the throne. He greets them.
"So, you are the Priestess of Suzaku?"
"I am."
"Come closer."
E-chan walks up close to the emperor. He is an old, but kindly looking man. He seems very wise. The emperor claps his hands .
"Quickly, get a bed ready for the Priestess and her friends. Hurry now!"
Soon they are lead to a huge room. The servant opens the door to show a large room with three beds. The servant turns toward the young girls.
"This is the ladies room. I hope you like it."
The girls enter the room and get ready for bed.
"Please come this way."
The servant motions to Evan to follow. Not too far from the girls room is Evan's room. Evan opens the door and steps inside.
The room is small and cramped, and is just an average room.
"Hey, how come my room isn't as nice as the girls?"
"Because, you aren't a girl."
The servant leaves before Evan could say anything else.
"This isn't cool."
1.1.1.6 Real World
Clunk.
"Ouch! I hit my toe!"
"Shh...Justin, be quiet."
Erika looked out the window. It was still dark outside. She then glanced at the clock. It read 5:00 am. Erika sighed.
"I don't even get up this early for school."
"Erika, I'm ready."
"All right. Just let me finish this note to mom."
Erika scribbled on a piece of paper.
"Let's go."
Justin and Erika both jump into the car. They begin the long drive to Kelly's.
1.1.1.7 Book
E-chan eyes flutter open. She looks around the room and notices
Meg-chan and Kohou are gone. E-chan gets out of bed and walks to a mirror hanging on the wall. She does her best to fix herself up. She quickly braids her hair. She puts the hair ties on the end of the braids and reaches for her hair ribbons. She pulls out the first ribbon, then reaches for the second one, but realizes its not there. Meg-chan walks in.
"Hurry, E-chan. They are serving breakfast now."
"Okay."
E-chan gets up and walks to the dining hall with Meg-chan. They take their seats at the table.
"I just want to thank you for becoming our Priestess. You could do many good things for this country."
"It's really no problem, emperor. I'm glad to help."
"Thank you again. When will you be leaving to begin your search?"
"Muy srch?"
"Excuse me?"
E-chan swallows.
"My search? Search for what?"
"Why the seven warrior of Suzaku."
"Oh...I don't know...I guess tomorrow is fine."
The emperor leans back against his chair.
"Good. The sooner the better."
The emperor then notices only one ribbon in E-chan's hair.
"What happened to your other ribbon Priestess?"
"Oh, I almost forgot. I guess I lost it. I remember having it at school. I guess I left it there. But it's okay."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Yo, Meg-chan, can you believe this. One day I'm just an average girl and now I'm a Priestess. Everyone bows down to ME. Isn't it cool!"
"Yeah, E-chan. It's just great."
Meg-chan didn't seem too happy for E-chan. But E-chan didn't pay any attention. Kochou walked into the room.
"Kochou. What exactly are the seven warriors the emperor was talking about?"
"Well, it's someone like me."
Kochou turned around and pulled her shirt over her head. There was a weird sign located in the center of her back. It began to glow read. Suddenly long, elegant butterfly wings grew from the symbol on her back.
"See. Every Suzaku warrior has a symbol on their body that stands for something. Mine means 'Butterfly'."
E-chan and Meg-chan's eyes grow wide.
"Can you really fly?"
Kochou nodded her head. Her wings disappeared and she put her shirt back on. She turned back around. She yawned.
"Let's go to bed. We have a big day ahead of us."
All three girls get into bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meg-chan sat up in bed. She looked at E-chan, the Kochou. When she was sure they were asleep, she slowly crept out of bed toward the door. She slowly turned the knob and ran.
When she neared Evan's door, she tripped. As she did she let out a small yelp. She laid there a moment, and when she was sure it was clear, she got up and began walking.
As she passed van's door, a hand reached ot and covered her mouth. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. Then another comes out and pulls her into the shadows. She tries to escape but the other person overpowers her. Tears stream down her face.
"Shh...it's okay."
She stops crying as soon as she hears the voice. She throws her arms around the figure holding her.
"Evan...you scared me."
She holds him for another minute, then realizes something, "Evan, what did you think you were doing!"
"I'm sorry. I could tell you were running away, and I wanted to talk to you, but I didn't want anyone to hear or see us."
"Don't you ever do that again!"
She lets go of him. His smile fades.
"Why are you running away?"
Meg-chan settles herself on the grass. She takes a deep breath.
"Well, it's like this. It's because I want to become a Priestess, like
E-chan. All the cool things happen to her. And I want something too. I'm tired of being a goodie-goodie. I need some adventure. So I'm going to go get me some."
"Well, at least let me go with you. To protect you, I mean."
Meg-chan nodded. Evan got up and helped Meg-chan up. Together, they quietly made their way through the shadows.
"The Learning of Destiny"
We once again join our heroes, who just happen to be lost thanks to E- chan's good sense of direction.
"This is just great, E-chan. We're lost."
"Well...maybe we could ask for directions."
"And how are we supposed to do that when we're lost in a forest?"
Evan decided to join in the argument, for he too was getting tired of being stuck in this forest.
"Yeah, maybe a friendly tree can point out the way."
"Ha, ha. That was SO funny Evan." E-chan paused. "Hey, isn't it if you're lost, you should stay where you are until you're found?"
Meg-chan was really starting to get frustrated.
"And who's supposed to find us!"
"Okay, okay."
Just then there was a low growling sound from behind them. They all looked at one another.
"Evan, please tell me that was your stomach."
"I'm afraid not, E-chan. But I'm starting to wish it was."
The three of them huddled close together. The growling continued, and then a branch snapped.
"Evan?"
"Evan shook his head no. Finally, they got the courage and turned around to face whatever was making the noise.
After they did, they wished they hadn't, for they were face to face with a striped tiger. The tiger roared as our heroes fled for their lives.
"Nice kitty!"
"Don't eat us!"
"Yeah, eat them!"
"Evan!"
Soon, a town can be seen in the distance.
"Look! A town in the distance!"
"Wasn't that already stated?"
"Oh! Be quiet."
Our heroes manage to make it into the town. The tiger stops at the edge of the forest, turns, and walks away.
1.1.1 Back in the Real World
"Okay. I'm officially freaked out now."
"Hey kid, they're closin' down the school. You should be headin' home."
"Thanks."
Justin stands with the book in hand.
'I can't just leave this book here. Not when my best friend in stuck inside.'
Justin leaves the school and jumps on the next bus for home. As he sits on the bus he opens up the book and begins to read.
1.1.1.1 Back in the Book
"Man, am I glad that tiger is gone."
The group begins to explore the town around them. As they walk, tall towers come into view. Meg-chan and E-chan begin to get excited.
"Meg-chan, look, it's a palace!"
"Yeah! Let's head that way. We can check out the cute princes."
E-chan and Meg-chan's eyes turn into big hearts. Evan wasn't too happy about what Meg-chan said (in other words, he's jealous. lol).
So our heroes head toward the palace. As they approach the palace, it looks even more grand up close. There was massive gardens, elegant fountains and glistening jewels on the front gates.
They walk up to the front gates. Two guards quickly block their way.
"Halt. You may not enter the emperor's palace."
Meg-chan was disappointed and turned to leave, but E-chan wasn't giving up so easily.
"And why not?"
"You not have the emperor's permission."
"How dare you say that. I just happen to be here to meet with the emperor on foreign affairs."
The guards look at each other.
"The emperor never said anything about you coming."
"There must be some mix-up then. Now, I'm going in."
E-chan pushes the two guards out of the way and again heads towards the front gates. The two guards grab her.
"We will not allow you to hurt the emperor. Now leave!"
"And what if we refuse?"
The guards pull out their swords and hold the points up to her neck. E-chan let's out a small yelp. Evan grabs her wrist.
"Run!"
He pulls E-chan beside him. With his other hand he grabs Meg-chan's arm and together they all run from the two palace guards. The guards follow.
Up ahead there is a figure pointing around a corner. Evan gets the hint and makes a sharp turn around the corner and into an open door. The girls follow. The figure quickly shuts the door as the guards turn the corner.
"They went that way."
The figure points off into the distance. The guards run into the direction the figure pointed out.
Our heroes crack open the door and stick their heads out. Evan was the first to speak.
"Are they gone?"
The figure nodded. Evan swings open the door and comes out. Meg-chan and E-chan follow.
"Who are you?"
The figure smiles.
1.1.1.2 Back in the Real World
Justin closes the book as the bus comes to a stop. He gets off the bus and heads up to his house. He opens the door to the house and sees his older sister in the room.
'Great, she's back from college.'
"Little brother!"
She runs up to him and throws her arms around him.
"Hi, Erika."
"What ya got there, Justin?"
She points to the book in Justin's hand.
"Oh, nothing."
"He turns and tries to run up the stairs to his room, but his efforts fail. Erika overpowers him and pulls the book from his hands.
"I'll bet this is from your girlfriend."
"No! Now give it back!"
Justin tries to reach for the book, but Erika holds him back. She starts scanning the pages.
"Justin...what is this?"
"Let me explain."
1.1.1.3 Back in the Book
"My name is Kochou." She smiles at the newcomers. "And who are you? And why do you have such funny clothes?"
"I'm Evan."
"I'm Megan."
"And I'm Rachel, but call me E-chan. And what do you mean by 'our funny clothes'? You're the one with weird clothes."
Kochou examines her outfit. She has on a turtleneck shirt with long sleeves that cover her hands. The shirt is cut short exposing her stomach. She has on a long skirt that has high slits on each side. Her outfit is olive green. (Also note: her hair is in a high ponytail with a green hair tie. She also has pink hair.)
"Take a look around."
E-chan looked around and noticed their clothes didn't exactly fit in with everyone else's.
"I see your point."
"So where are you from, to have such funny clothes?"
"We're from America."
An American flag waves in the background as E-chan's eyes begin to water. (Sorry, just trying to be patriotic.)
"America? Never heard of it." She thought for a moment. "Oh, my god!"
Kochou pushes everyone inside her house.
"Hey! What do you think you are doing?"
Kochou quickly shuts the door.
"Are you the Priestess?"
She runs up to E-chan and gets down on her knees. She puts E-chan's hands in her own. E-chan gets a very confused look on her face.
"What...what are you talking about?"
Kochou gasped. "You mean...you don't know?"
"Am I supposed to?"
"There's a legend that a young girl from another world would come and collect the seven warriors and summon Suzaku."
"As far as I know, I'm not a Priestess, or whatever you called it."
"Oh..."
Kochou's smile vanished.
"I'm sorry. It doesn't mean anything. Forget I said anything."
"Kochou..."
Kochou gets up and walks to the other side of the room. She pours herself a glass of water.
"Kochou...what exactly does a Priestess do?"
"Kochou's eyes light up. She runs back to the group and sits next to
E-chan. She begins to explain everything.
1.1.1.4 Back in the Real World
Erika sits on the floor in shock.
"I can't believe there are really people in this book. And Evan is one of them."
"I know. I couldn't believe it at first either."
"Justin, do you think we should tell someone?"
"I don't know. It's not like anyone would believe us anyway."
Erika thought for a moment.
"I know someone. Her name is Kelly. She knows about stuff like this."
"Where does she live?"
"She lives pretty far. It would take a while to drive there. And I don't think mom would appreciate us being gone so long."
"But we have to. We have to get Evan and all them out of this book. Please!"
Justin looks at Erika with big puppy dog eyes.
"Oh...please stop."
"Please."
"Fine...okay, we'll go in the morning."
"Yes! I'll go pack now."
Justin runs up the stairs into his room. 'Ha, ha. The puppy dog eyes work every time.' He begins to pack.
1.1.1.5 Back in the Book
Our heroes, now informed about the Priestess issue, are heading towards the palace once again. Kochou is leading the way, They approach the front gates and two different guards come around the corner.
"Halt. Aren't you the kids that tried to break in here before?"
The group gets nervous. Kochou steps up for them.
"This girl just happens to be the Priestess of Suzaku."
E-chan steps up.
"Yes. And I demand to see the emperor."
"Of coarse Priestess."
They bow and allow E-chan and the others to pass. Meg-chan stops short.
"Excuse me, but what happened to the other guards at this post.?"
"They are still looking for you."
A sweat drop forms on Meg-chan's head. She quickly runs to catch up with the others.
They are lead to the throne room, where an old man is sitting on the throne. He greets them.
"So, you are the Priestess of Suzaku?"
"I am."
"Come closer."
E-chan walks up close to the emperor. He is an old, but kindly looking man. He seems very wise. The emperor claps his hands .
"Quickly, get a bed ready for the Priestess and her friends. Hurry now!"
Soon they are lead to a huge room. The servant opens the door to show a large room with three beds. The servant turns toward the young girls.
"This is the ladies room. I hope you like it."
The girls enter the room and get ready for bed.
"Please come this way."
The servant motions to Evan to follow. Not too far from the girls room is Evan's room. Evan opens the door and steps inside.
The room is small and cramped, and is just an average room.
"Hey, how come my room isn't as nice as the girls?"
"Because, you aren't a girl."
The servant leaves before Evan could say anything else.
"This isn't cool."
1.1.1.6 Real World
Clunk.
"Ouch! I hit my toe!"
"Shh...Justin, be quiet."
Erika looked out the window. It was still dark outside. She then glanced at the clock. It read 5:00 am. Erika sighed.
"I don't even get up this early for school."
"Erika, I'm ready."
"All right. Just let me finish this note to mom."
Erika scribbled on a piece of paper.
"Let's go."
Justin and Erika both jump into the car. They begin the long drive to Kelly's.
1.1.1.7 Book
E-chan eyes flutter open. She looks around the room and notices
Meg-chan and Kohou are gone. E-chan gets out of bed and walks to a mirror hanging on the wall. She does her best to fix herself up. She quickly braids her hair. She puts the hair ties on the end of the braids and reaches for her hair ribbons. She pulls out the first ribbon, then reaches for the second one, but realizes its not there. Meg-chan walks in.
"Hurry, E-chan. They are serving breakfast now."
"Okay."
E-chan gets up and walks to the dining hall with Meg-chan. They take their seats at the table.
"I just want to thank you for becoming our Priestess. You could do many good things for this country."
"It's really no problem, emperor. I'm glad to help."
"Thank you again. When will you be leaving to begin your search?"
"Muy srch?"
"Excuse me?"
E-chan swallows.
"My search? Search for what?"
"Why the seven warrior of Suzaku."
"Oh...I don't know...I guess tomorrow is fine."
The emperor leans back against his chair.
"Good. The sooner the better."
The emperor then notices only one ribbon in E-chan's hair.
"What happened to your other ribbon Priestess?"
"Oh, I almost forgot. I guess I lost it. I remember having it at school. I guess I left it there. But it's okay."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Yo, Meg-chan, can you believe this. One day I'm just an average girl and now I'm a Priestess. Everyone bows down to ME. Isn't it cool!"
"Yeah, E-chan. It's just great."
Meg-chan didn't seem too happy for E-chan. But E-chan didn't pay any attention. Kochou walked into the room.
"Kochou. What exactly are the seven warriors the emperor was talking about?"
"Well, it's someone like me."
Kochou turned around and pulled her shirt over her head. There was a weird sign located in the center of her back. It began to glow read. Suddenly long, elegant butterfly wings grew from the symbol on her back.
"See. Every Suzaku warrior has a symbol on their body that stands for something. Mine means 'Butterfly'."
E-chan and Meg-chan's eyes grow wide.
"Can you really fly?"
Kochou nodded her head. Her wings disappeared and she put her shirt back on. She turned back around. She yawned.
"Let's go to bed. We have a big day ahead of us."
All three girls get into bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meg-chan sat up in bed. She looked at E-chan, the Kochou. When she was sure they were asleep, she slowly crept out of bed toward the door. She slowly turned the knob and ran.
When she neared Evan's door, she tripped. As she did she let out a small yelp. She laid there a moment, and when she was sure it was clear, she got up and began walking.
As she passed van's door, a hand reached ot and covered her mouth. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. Then another comes out and pulls her into the shadows. She tries to escape but the other person overpowers her. Tears stream down her face.
"Shh...it's okay."
She stops crying as soon as she hears the voice. She throws her arms around the figure holding her.
"Evan...you scared me."
She holds him for another minute, then realizes something, "Evan, what did you think you were doing!"
"I'm sorry. I could tell you were running away, and I wanted to talk to you, but I didn't want anyone to hear or see us."
"Don't you ever do that again!"
She lets go of him. His smile fades.
"Why are you running away?"
Meg-chan settles herself on the grass. She takes a deep breath.
"Well, it's like this. It's because I want to become a Priestess, like
E-chan. All the cool things happen to her. And I want something too. I'm tired of being a goodie-goodie. I need some adventure. So I'm going to go get me some."
"Well, at least let me go with you. To protect you, I mean."
Meg-chan nodded. Evan got up and helped Meg-chan up. Together, they quietly made their way through the shadows.