Kyuuzou continuously walked forward, Heihachi having to physically stop him for them to rest. Heihachi was nervous around both of them, neither being particularly talkative. So,he filled the silence with relevant questions, drawing conversations out of a soon-understanding Kanbei. Kyuuzou, however, remained impassive, paying little to no attention to those around him, always looking in the direction they were headed.

Kanbei had been wondering something for a while. When Heihachi was blissfully asleep, Kyuuzou and Kanbei sat in silence, Kyuuzou sitting calmly, his swords resting against his shoulder, Kanbei watching him.

"You said you don't know who you are, yet you respond to Kyuuzou."

"..."

Kanbei was more than patient enough to wait him out, since they were resting and Kanbei would not leave Heihachi behind.

"Because that is what people call me."

"But you don't know if that's you real name?"

Another deep silence fell, and Kanbei thought as Kyuuzou avoided answering.

'Why would he not remember his own name? To have a name is to have a sense of self, of...'

"I don't," cut in Kyuuzou's soft answer, burning with concealed anger at the questions being asked.

Kanbei looked up at Kyuuzou, and saw again the searching in his eyes, even as the rest of him remained impassive and cold.

"What are you looking for?"

"..."

Kanbei was used to losing physical battles, but never battles for information.

"Something I lost."

Kanbei waited for an explination

Kyuuzou's answer as he stood and walked out of the cave they had been resting in caught Kanbei a little off-guard, but it all made sense, considering Heihachi's comments.

Heihachi's eyes were opened just a small bit, and he looked at the stone wall as he heard Kanbei try to find a comfortable way to sleep. He sighed inwardly, and closed his eyes again, apprehensive of what the next day would bring.

Kyuuzou started out the next day as soon as there was even a sliver of sun on the horizon. Kanbei had had uneasy sleep, so he was awake, and as soon as the two showed any signs of leaving without him, Heihachi was groggily on his feet, eating and walking simultaneously. The three all walked in silence; Kyuuzou, silent and focused; Kanbei, contemplative; and Heihachi, just plain tired. They moved quickly, the landscape changing from woodland to desert to mountains beneath their feet. To an exhausted Heihachi, it felt as if they were walking for years; in reality, it took them only a week to cover the distance.

Since that first night, Heihachi knew there had been more halting, convoluted conversations between Kanbei and Kyuuzou, but he didn't know their content, and, really, didn't want to.

Kyuuzou stopped completely, making Heihachi nearly walk into him. He was staring up the side of a mountain and Heihachi heard the sound of machines, and smelled smoke.

"Here?"

"Yes."

"How many entrances are there?" asked Kanbei.

Kyuuzou shrugged. "The front."

Heihachi looked at Kanbei, alarmed, hoping that he would have at least an idea; Heihachi had been inside such a factory before, but the exits and entrances were different for all of them.

They had no choice but to follow the silent warrior, who was entirely intent upon his task, and not on those who were with him. Kanbei followed, after a pause, and Heihachi did as well, not wanting to be caught alone and in the open.

Kyuuzou met no resistance when he opened the doors, for no one really came in the main entrance; most who went in were workers, who entered through back doors,or Nobuseri, who entered through various gates. He walked down the corridors, the anger that he had held in check now palpable even to those without a samurai's training. A few of the soldiers recognized him, barely, but balked at his presence, and then at the two apparently battle-worthy samurai that flanked him. His pace slowly picked up, but he stopped in front of the door that would lead him to the man that had been the focus of his hate for many days.

Slowly,with an assassin's soft touch, he opened the door.

The man's back was to him--very, very stupid layout. He made no sound as he walked, and the first time that Take was aware of Kyuuzou's presence was at the feel of razor-sharp steel resting lightly against his throat from behind. He tensed, but when he heard a voice purr in his ear, all the blood seemed to drain out of his body.

"Where is it?"

"I-I-I..." He took a large swallow; unwise against a steel blade, but managed to salvage some courage.

"Who are you?" He demanded.

"Funny you should ask that," he head another voice say from the door, a diminutive red-head and a hardened samurai blocking the only exit.

"He doesn't seem to know who he is."

The older man's voice was harsh and demanding, with undertones of possessiveness and protectiveness.

"Where is it?" that cold, cold, voice commanded of him. He felt the steel briefly removed, simply to whirl his chair around before he came into contact with eyes that made him want to pee himself.

'Poets and novelists speak of soulless eyes. Oh, they don't know the reality...'

He understood, finally, what he had created. And he didn't like it one bit.

'Give it back to me,' he heard that voice, it's hate multiplied tenfold, echo in his mind.

"I...I remember every Nobuseri I create! There are none that have your soul!"

"Then you will find it for him."

Take had not noticed when the older samurai had approached, but now faced with the ire of two very, very powerful samurai, he began to buckle under the pressure.

Meanwhile, while the two were focusing on getting information, Heihachi was happily exploring the machines that the office had control over. It took him as long to find the mechanism as it took for Kyuuzou and Kanbei to break any resistance by Take.

Heihachi smiled pleasantly at the shivering, snivelling man, who was not comforted by Heihachi's attempt at assuaging his fear. With Take in the lead, the three made their way to a chamber that Kyuuzou remembered well, but with no fondness.