He woke up quickly and looked to his side. There, he saw Sango, snoring away like a trumpet, announcing a king's arrival.
"Quiet at first, but wait after a few hours," Yugo thought.
Dawn broke out its first few rays of light, and somewhere far off, a humming bird sang praise to welcome the day. Yugo winced as sunrays blazed into his eyes. Then, he remembered his dream. Who was that squirrel? Who was the mouse that he was supposed to seek out?
Yugo's thoughts were cut short as Sango awakened.
"Had no sleep, my pupil?" He asked. "You must try to sleep. Even the greatest of warriors require rest."
Yugo was growing impatient.
"Why can we not search for Baro now, Sango? I need to kill him now!" He retorted.
"You are obviously not ready, Yugo." Sango replied. "You must wait until you have completed your training."
Yugo opened his mouth to retort again, but stopped. He was reminded of the dream once again.
"Sango, I had a dream. A squirrel appeared. He looked exactly like me, but he was slightly taller," Yugo told Sango.
He then told Sango the poem, which, for some reason, was burned into his mind, and he was able to remember every word the squirrel told him. Sango went deep into thought, and there was a long silence before he spoke.
"The first three lines of the poem obviously mean that this squirrel, whoever he is, knows that you are seeking out Baro, and intend to kill him," Sango said. "He then goes on to tell you what I have told you over and over. He knows that you are not ready to fight Baro, and he wants you to finish your training with me. But, the next lines really stump me. Apparently, you must find a mouse that had his love reach death, whatever that means. This mouse founded a peaceful house, and these next lines really surprise me. You must help this mouse by dying."
These words hung on to Yugo. He had to die? Of course, that's what the last line means. "Draw your final breath." Yugo had to die.
"No," Yugo thought. "I will not die. I will not die until I have found and slain Baro."
"So, who cares what this squirrel thinks. I'm not going to die until I know that Baro is dead. Then I can die peacefully," Yugo said.
"Yugo, this is exactly what the squirrel means," Sango replied. "You are not ready. You are too hasty, and haste only causes trouble. I think you should heed the squirrel's message. You should not be afraid of death. You should be able to face it. It only means that you go on to a more peaceful, with no vermin, world."
"I am not scared of death," Yugo thought. "I am only scared of dieing when I know that Baro lives on."
"Do not let this message bring you down, Yugo. I promise, you shall not die, at least not until your training is complete," Sango reassured a nervous-looking Yugo.
So the two squirrels broke camp. Sango traveled only with his haversack full of rations. He had no weapons, only his bare paws. Yugo, however, carried a scimitar, his grandfather's scimitar. It was passed down to his father, but when his father was killed, Yugo took it, and vowed upon it, that he would slay Baro with that same scimitar.
Then it hit him, the squirrel in his dream, his father, they were the one and the same.
"Sango, the squirrel in my dream, it was my father," Yugo said.
Sango stopped and turned back. He faced Yugo.
"Are you sure?" he asked.
"Yes, I am positive. It was my father," Yugo replied.
Then, Sango did something that Yugo did not in the least bit expect. Sango began to laugh.
"Ha ha ha, do you see now, Yugo? Your father wishes you to finish your training with me," Sango said. "Will you heed his message now?"
"Yes," Yugo replied.
"Good. Now, draw out your scimitar," Sango said.
Yugo drew his scimitar, gripping it tightly with both paws.
"Now strike me," Sango said.