You're…" Chiyo began, scooting back a bit. "How'd you find…. I mean, thanks-"

"How'd I find you?" the pink haired archer asked she folded her arms, resting the tip of her crossbow on her shoulder. She placed her other arm on her hip and turned her blindfolded eyes towards Chiyo. "Mira said you went into the cave and we followed you to make sure you didn't get killed." Sukuraji flashed a small grin at the novice, but only for a moment.

The archer then began to remove her blindfold. Though, she didn't give Chiyo a chance to see her eyes since she immediately replaced the blindfold with a pair of dark sunglasses. "Let's go," she said quietly, putting a hand on Chiyo's shoulder, she noted it smelled of poison from.

They walked in silence for a while, until finally she couldn't wait any longer to ask. "How'd you do that?"

This seemed to catch her off guard, "Do what-?"

"That whole grab, pull, kill save thing!" Chiyo punched the air, "It was so cool!"

Sukuraji chuckled, "It takes practice. I honestly didn't think I'd make it in time."

The girl nodded, "But how'd ja find me with that blindfold on?" She wondered if this was an offensive question also, she thought it sounded like a compliment.

"I listened to your breathing, estimated how far you were away and then went for it. I actually thought you were farther forward than that, which is why you got jolted around so much." Sukuraji pointed out to her, "It's no big deal anyways." She waved it off.

Chiyo wanted to kiss the ground outside of the cave. She was almost knocked to the ground by the same merchant she met earlier. "Oooooh! Thank Heavens your okay!" she kept spinning Chiyo around again and again. "Your not hurt are you?" she put her writ on her forehead, as if checking her temperature.

"I'm fine." Chiyo said, feeling dizzy from being spinned around so much. "Aren't you?"

"That merchant you met earlier? Yup, I'm Mira by the way Mira Akimichi." She then turned towards Sukuraji, "And you've already met Miss Toya." Mira said, Chiyo turned to look at Sukuraji. She was leaned against the outside of the cave, crossbow tucked in between her arm and chest. She picked her hand up to wave without saying a word.

"You Novies should know better than to just go into he cave like that, and all alone without a party!" she leaned down to be eye to eye with Chiyo, "Your not one of those suicidal types are you?" her eyes sparkling with something like sympathy.

Chiyo merely shot her a glare for an answer, "Well how am I supposed to gain levels without taking on something bigger than a poring?" she crossed her arms over her chest.

"But still!" she went on, "You need to have a more experienced person around incase you get in trouble!" Mira waved her arms in frustration. She then got this evil look on her face, like she knew something I didn't.

"Oh! Sukurajiiiiiiiiiiii!" Mira said in a sing songy voice. The archer gave her a low grumble, which meant 'what?' in Sukuraji language.

"Remember how you owe me for those potions?" Mira smiled.

Sukuraji grimaced, paused, dug in her pocket for something, and then tossed it at me. "Congratulations kid. Your officially a member of Valiant." She said in a low voice.

Looking back on it this is the part of my story where it was the beginning of the end for Sukuraji. She gave me a small broach; two wings with a golden chain holding them together formed a small 'V'. It meant that I was under her protection now, as a member of her party. We had each other's backs, as friends and as comrades. It also meant that she made a silent vow to protect me even at the cost of her own life.

"Valiant?" Chiyo asked after hours of silence.

"It's our party name, until we get a guild." The archer replied, firing another arrows at her target. It missed the bulls eye by less than half an inch.

"Oh." She mumbled, poking the fire with a small stick, "What's a-"

"A small group of people who organize for protection and to hone their skills." She said plainly, dropping to her knees to sit down. "Safety in numbers."

Chiyo looked at her feet, sitting down also Indian style. Mira had run off to get some water. She couldn't wait till the merchant got back, talking to Sukuraji was like trying to talk about videogames to an Amish person. Without Mira around there wasn't much conversation.

Yet, strangely, Chiyo admired Sukuraji. Not just for saving her but… it was strange, because she didn't know exactly why she admired the archer the way she did. Her thoughts were interrupted as Mira returned.

"Sukuuuuuuu! I'm baaaaaaaack!" she cried cheerfully from a few meters away. Sukuraji shuddered.

The water in the bucket sloshed back and forth, occasionally spilled. Mira jumped to a stop in front of the girls and their small campfire. Water spilled out of the bucket, drenching the archer and putting out their fire.

Sukuraji didn't smile or frown her face was emotionless. Yet she gave off an anger that was a mixture of annoyance and frustration. She stood up, giving off a fake, trembling smile. "I'll get more water," she growled through gritted teeth, picking up her crossbow.

Mira handed her the now half full bucket and they both watched as she disappeared into the darkness. Chiyo sighed as she began removing the soggy sticks and replaced them with fresh, dry kindling. Mira helped, remaining silent; every so often she glanced down the path, which Sukuraji had taken, then returned to her work.

"You really like Miss Sukuraji, don't you miss Mira?" Chiyo broke the silence, she had many questions prepared.

"Very much so," Mira leaned backwards and gave a sad smile, "She's my best friend."

"Why doesn't she talk a lot? It can tell she's got a lot on her mind…" the novice gave Mira a strange look, "And why do you seem so sad whenever I bring up Sukuraji?"

The merchant sighed, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear as she re lit the fire, the soft light made her face glow, "She was very kind person… really." The girl paused, "She still is, but… she changed." Mira could see Chiyo wanted her to explain.

"About ten months ago Sukuraji was engaged."

"Engaged?" Chiyo asked, Mira raised a hand and she quieted down.

"Yes, she was engaged to a Knight, back then she was so happy and full of life. She sang to herself while training, played with the village children, and everyone loved her so much." Mira looked to the ground with another sad smile, "But… then he disappeared. Just got up and left."

"Her fiancé…?" Chiyo breathed, Mira nodded slowly.

"We found him weeks later, he fell off a cliff and luck would have it he landed on a sharp rock, broke his spinal cord and his neck."

"Wasn't he wearing his armor?"

The merchant shook her head, "After that Sukuraji became quiet and reserved. She only talked as much as necessary. Attempted suicide twice." She trailed off at her last sentence, "She slowly got better, but after that… she changed for good-"

"Ahem…"

Both heads snapped to attention, the archer crossed her arms over he chest, looking very unhappy. "Here's your water." She dropped it on the ground, walking towards the shadows and laying down on her side.

Mira looked on the verge of tears, like she'd just committed some horrible crime. Chiyo didn't probe any longer and remained silent through dinner. Mira laid down a few yards from Sukuraji and Chiyo was told to lay between them incase they were ambushed.

It was a rough night; she couldn't stop thinking about Sukuraji. What happened to Sukuraji that made her so reserved after her fiancé's death? Why was she so mad about Mira talking about it? Why was Mira so sad for getting caught?

A/N: Hey all, thanks for the reviews, makes me so happy (watery eyes) my Ragnarok isn't working right so some of my data is a bit off right now. I'm working on getting it fixed though. Not much else to say except for thanks so much!

P.S. Sukuraji is actually one of my characters on Loki, hehe

So now that I've squeezed some info out of Mira, Sukuraji is cold-shouldering us. Great. Now that I'm a member of Valiant I'm beginning to see the darker side of Rune Migard, kinda makes me wish I wasn't a novice. Speaking of which I've still got to get a class! Yahhh! So much to do! And who's this thief that shows up? Next chapter, Bravery comes from Morroc! Chiyo over and out!