Tsuki's footsteps had slowed slightly as the giant horse trekked through the village, Rinoa had her staff in her right hand so that if she was unsure of her surroundings she could outstretch her arm and see if there was an element of scenery that would give her an implication of where they were. The horse soon learnt that its rider wasn't very capable of judging the positioning obstacles and so the horse had to out maneuver them by it's self. After sometime of meandering through the wooden shacks that constructed the village they came before the immense wooden gate that was the only way in or out of the Empire. Tsuki halted as Rinoa's tugged on his rains. A short, stout man emerged from a hut to the right of the gate; he was the one who checked passes and he relished his power over these people for it was he who would allowed them to continue in their journeys or cut them short.
"Bit late for a girl to be traveling don't ya think?" He questioned raising an eyebrow in suspicion. Rinoa continued to focus her useless eyes forwards, her head tilted slightly so that the large wicker hate obscured most of her face. The two guards that stood either end of the gate observed the two's conversation in interest.
"I thought this gate could be opened anytime, day or night." Rinoa commented.
"Aye, gotta pass?"
Rinoa slid her hand into her civilian clothing's pocket and retrieved the leather bound item; she held it out in the direction is voice came from, still looking ahead. She could hear the man turning the pages of the small booklet.
"Noriko Mimura says here you're a maid for Lady Heartilly. Now why would a maid be leaving the Qin Empire in the dead of the night?"
"I'm afraid it's an urgent family matter, my sister, Megumi has befallen ill with a terrible chest cold and I fear she won't be with us much longer… But by all means if you don't believe my story, call upon my mistress, yet I doubt she'd be pleased that this questioning has postponed my travels."
"I see, very well." He said, jotting down her name and pass number within a table on a piece of yellowed paper, this was so that they kept track of all people who entered and left the Empire. He handed her the pass and gestured for the guards to open the gate. "I wish you well on your travels." Commented the man. Rinoa thanked him and motioned for Tsuki to move yet again.
"It's beautiful day Rinoa! Still cold outside, but at least the sun's shining eh?" said Noriko as she drew back the blind as she did every other morning. The maid turned to see her mistress' bed empty. Frowning she entered the common room. "Rinoa?" there was no sign of her. This was very peculiar, Rinoa never got up before Noriko. Slightly concerned, she dashed over to the Almasy household to see if she had decided to visit them.
"Noriko? Must you pound upon my Lord and Lady's door so loudly!" Greeted the female attendant
"Yes! Is Rinoa within their household?"
"Lady Rinoa? No…why do you ask?" she questioned, a puzzled look present on her face.
"I-I can't find her in her quarters. I don't know where she is!" Noriko was now panic-stricken.
Within a few hours the entire citadel owned a crazed air to it. Servants were searching hi and low, the Empire's police had been informed and were scanning the village yet no one could find the young woman, it was as if she had evaporated into the cold thin air. It wasn't until Chief Kinto of the police presented the list of the gate's passes that something unusual was noticed.
"Call forth Noriko!" demanded the Emperor Jinn, who was yet again sat in his thrown. Within minutes after the order had been give Noriko came forth and bowed. "Noriko, you're Lady Rinoa's maid are you not?"
"Yes, Emperor Jinn."
"Well that's odd as it says here you left through the Qin Empire's gate last night." Jinn informed handing Noriko the document. Her eyes scanned the paper and blinked in disbelief
"I-I don't understand, what is this?"
"The Bamboo Barrier gate pass list. Did Rinoa know where you kept your pass?"
"Erm I guess so… I never thought she'd be capable of anything like this though!" exclaimed the maid, Jinn raised his hand and motioned for her to compose herself.
"Well she has her father's wit about her, she must haven known using her pass would have aroused suspicion and she wouldn't be granted to pass through the gate."
"So this was planned?"
"It appears so…"
With that a distant crashing sound could be heard and Seifer hurriedly entered the dismal hall.
"The Chief of police told me you had information on her whereabouts!" he said, too panicked to bow to Jinn.
"Please Seifer calm yourself. Yes, she's traveling through the Bamboo Barrier."
"H-How did that happen? She wasn't kidnapped then?"
"No, she used Noriko's citizen pass to proceed through the gate."
"Very well, I and a few of my men shall go after her and bring her back to the citadel."
"Wait. Before you go ahead and take action, you should perhaps consider why she fled." Suggested the Emperor. Seifer frowned, uncertain as to what he was implying. "Noriko mentioned earlier her reaction to the marriage." Noriko cast her gaze to the floor in shame.
"So you're saying she ran away because of me?" He questioned quietly, casting his gaze from the elderly emperor to the young maid. "Well then if this is my fault let me fix it!"
"Wait! If you are the cause of this do you really think she'd come back willingly in your company?" He asked, witnessing the saddened expression taking form on the commander's face. "I think it would be wise if we sent someone more familiar to her."
"Who are you suggesting, Emperor?"
"Squall Leonhart, the two were friends throughout childhood, he shouldn't pose any emotional threat to her, and she'll be more likely to listen to him." Seifer clenched his fists angered that they would rather send him instead of her future husband to retrieve Rinoa.
"As you wish Emperor Jinn. I will inform Leonhart of his duties" and with that he bow courteously and quickly exited the hall. Noriko watched him, sympathy for the young commander setting upon her, he wasn't an indecent man he just wasn't what her mistress had wanted…
Squall was stood in the same pergola the two had sheltered under a matter of weeks ago mentally cursing himself, he should have questioned her further as to what she was doing wonder around at that time of night. He had guessed the reason she'd left, it was because of him, Rinoa never was one who had been keen on arranged marriages, he should have known this was how she would of reacted. Nonetheless he was slightly relieved that Rinoa was displaying the signs that proved she was still the intelligent, gifted daughter of General Caraway he recalled of all those years ago and hadn't merely metamorphosed into an aristocratic woman. He exhaled loudly. At least the wedding would be off he mentally scoffed, fleeing from such a matter would cause Lord and Lady Almasy to disown their future daughter-in-law and no doubt Seifer had got the message too.
"Leonhart" barked the familiar, demanding tone of voice of the Commander. Squall slowly turned to see the other man stood a small distance away.
"What is it?" he questioned, the annoyance of being disturbed from his thoughts present in his voice.
"Chief Kinto knows of Rinoa's whereabouts, she's traveling through the Bamboo Barrier, I've already sent some men after her but by the command of the Emperor you are to go too."
"You are not going after her?" He questioned carefully studying Seifer's face for any emotion.
"No…that is why you must bring her back. Don't bother returning here without her, understood?"
Squall nodded.
Rinoa had continued along the large dirt track that ran through the great barrier, this was created so that carts would easily shift throughout the hazardous forest, as even though Qin had distanced itself from its neighboring empires it still practiced in importing and exporting goods. She pulled on the horse's leather rains, causing Tsuki to pause in his walking. It wouldn't be wise to maintain trekking along this track any further, no doubt the inhabitants of the citadel were aware of her disappearance and be searching for her. She would be far more difficult to find in the midst of the bamboo and probably could easily lose any followers in the vast area. She tugged on the left rain and motioned for Tsuki to continue walking, the horse began to enter the fringe of the Bamboo Barrier. This was harder to maneuver about in than the village had, Rinoa constantly relied on her staff to sense for any angling canes of bamboo that she could unexpectedly bump into, as Tsuki could only approximately judge the room and this didn't include his rider. It was hard to tell exactly what time of day it was as the thick forest canopy blocked out any warm rays of sunlight. The ground was still frozen and the horse had to take precaution with each step incase his hoof couldn't successfully grip the ground, quite a few times Rinoa felt him falter and he would cease in his movements, she would offer reassuring noses and gently pat him on the neck before motioning him to continue.
She persistently strained her ears to search for the thunderous sound of horses hooves beating against the ground, but it never came the only things that were audible to her were clatter of her horse's own hooves on the icy dirt, the rustle of the bamboo leaves as the winter winds brushed against them and the soft steady beating of her own heart.
Squall yanked on his horse's rains and it came to an abrupt halt, terrifying the gate attendant stood before him.
"I'm Squall Leonhart, a solider of Qin's army, I've bee sent after the young woman you allowed to pass through this gate last night." He informed bitterly to the dumpy man "Here, my pass."
"I can't apologize enough for my stupidity sir, I had no idea it was Lady Heartilly herself!"
"…Whatever just hurry up already." The solider sighed impatiently.
"Here you go sir, a number of Qin's soldiers and police men have already passed through searching for her." He informed handing Squall his pass.
"I'm aware of that." He replied quietly, Sending out too many men would draw negative attention towards the search, the attention of the rebel forces, if they were aware that a upper-class woman like Rinoa was traveling solo, they'd begin scouring the land for her too.
The two guards moved to a pulley system and heaved hard on the thick rope, this caused the oversized plank of wood that barricaded the gate shut to slowly lift, once it was held vertically, they placed a piece of wood in the pulley system to wedge the rope into place and prevent it from moving. They then dragged the vast gate open. Squall jabbed his heels into his horse's sides and it took off with incredible speed.
After countless hours of weaving through the bamboo canes, Rinoa halted her horse, she was in the heart of the forest and so now would be an ideal time to rest for a while. She was tired due to the lack of sleep and guessed it was mid afternoon as it had turned slightly colder, she could sleep for a few hours and begin traveling again by nightfall. Securely knotting Tsuki's rains around a thin cane of bamboo she then gently patted the horse; he flared his nostrils and nay softly at the attention. Rinoa rummage through the saddlebags until she found what she was searching for, a thick cotton blanket; she draped it around her shoulders and seated herself, leaning against another bamboo cane. Her heavy eyelids closed and she drifted off into slumber.
Squall raced along the dirt track, jabbing his horse in it sides again, instructing it to move more rapidly it complied, and its pace increased. The impact of its hooves on the soft dirt cause it to upturn and create a perfect indentation of the metal shoes that was fixated to its hooves. It was essentially a race against time; the large group of soldiers and police wouldn't go unnoticed for long. He glanced down at the track to see if there were any indication that her horse had traveled along this path, yet due to the others that took off before him, their hoof imprints littered the mud and he couldn't distinguish which tracks were Tsuki's. The path through the great Bamboo Barrier lead to it's neighboring village, Zuo, maybe she had traveled there so she could lose herself in the midst of the civilians, as the gate attendant had informed them that she was dressed in civilian clothing which would make her hard to differentiate for the soldiers that had been sent after her. Yet Zuo was a sizeable day's travel. Squall sharply jabbed his heels into the horse's sides yet again to encourage it to increase its speed.
Her sightless eyes fluttered open when she noticed something strange, her blanket felt damp. She then heard the patter of raindrops falling from the bamboo's foliage; she was fortunate Sho had supplied her with the wicker hat to shield her from the rain otherwise the droplets of water would have awoken her earlier. At least this rain would have hopefully softened up the frozen ground and make it easier for Tsuki to travel on. She rose from her resting place; it was night, the night air always felt different, colder, and its breeze carried neither distant sounds nor smells. She slowly advanced towards her horse with the aid of her staff. Tsuki's coat was layered with a mist of water droplets, the horse shook himself to try and rid them, it was evident he didn't like the rain. Rinoa mounted him and once again they resumed their roaming.
Finally emerging from the innards of the great Bamboo Barrier, Rinoa was greeted by a harsh winter's breeze. They must have been in a widely open area, as she couldn't hear it whirl against any obstacles. Contended with her progress she smiled and light kicked her heels into the Tsuki's sides allowing him to advance into a less tedious pace than he had been subjected to over their journey. The animal, grateful for the increase in rapidity, burst into a steady gallop at its rider's willing. After a lengthy time of racing through the dampen pasture of the field, Rinoa felt a change in the air; it was the subtle change of dawn, the scent of dew and the slight shift in temperature. Fatigue was yet again cloaking its time absorbing form around her, she would have to find shelter and rest soon. As the hunt for shelter drew on something caught her now inadequate attention span, the gruff bark of a voice from behind her,
"Halt!" it bellowed. No, it couldn't be! How could Qin's soldiers be on her tale already? Rinoa had though she would have covered a substantial amount of distance before the citadel had sent the military bounding after her. Her concentration to her need of sleep had distracted her from fully surveying her surrounds like she had done throughout the Bamboo Barrier. She mentally cursed at herself for being so foolish.
"I said Halt!" came the voice again, yet it wasn't that of neither Squall's nor Seifer's, her pursuer was gaining on her, she wasn't going to give up and be caught now, not after all the planning and effort she put into free herself from that place! She sharply jabbed her heels into Tsuki's sides and the horse took of at great speed. Tsuki was built for this kind of endurance yet the traveling was taking its toll on the stallion and so he wouldn't be able to stay at this pace for much longer…
Author's Note: Just a quick message to inform you that future updates may slow as unfortunately its that time again! Due to the upcoming exam's for my A levels I'm afraid I will have to start devoting all of my time to my Art exam over the next few weeks. My apologies! Yet I will try and update as soon as possible!