FG: Welcome back to CC2! Reviewers, thank you very much for sending in your disclaimer applications so quickly. I thought it would take a few days, but I got ten reviews within around five-and-a-half hours! You shall all receive a lovely gift basket when Colin and I rule the world.

Colin: We're going to copy the Poketto Monsutaa Incident, except Rachel's going to make hypnotizing video games instead of malfunctioning, seizure-causing Pokemon episodes. Then, everyone will nominate me as King of the Universe Known to Man! Rachel's going to be Vice Ruler.

FG: (sweatdrop) He actually said this in real life. That, and he wants to make solar-powered flying cars, and publish a book about frog-like creatures…make up your mind, already!

Colin: I'll do all three! I can multitask!

FG: Sure you can, Colin. And I'm the second-cousin three times removed of Johnny Depp and Tetsuya Nomura's genetically-created transvestite child.

Colin: …really?

Everyone else: (stare blankly)

FG: Aaaaanyway, please welcome Chapter 22's disclaimer guest, skyvsearth, also known as Elisa.

Elisa: (blissfully watches a bird fly past) Huh? Oh. Sorry. Thanks for having me on your show!

FG: It's…not a show.

Elisa: It isn't? Oh. Well, then. Like FG said, my name is Elisa. I like reading, spacing out, and-

Donald: We can see that.

Elisa: (twitches) What was that, Duck?

Donald: We can see that you're spacey, you big palooka.

Elisa: DUCK MUST DIE! (throws little, silver kunai knives at Donald, who is pinned to the wall of Microsoft Word) Awright! Six points!

Sora: Points?

Elisa: Yeah, aren't we playing Foosball?

Everyone else: (sweatdrop)

FG: Why don't you just say the disclaimer now?

Elisa: The what?

FG: The thing where you say who I own.

Elisa: Oh, yeah! The only people that…um…

FG: It's FG.

Elisa: I knew that. The only people that FG owns are Emma, Dia, Jake, Robin, Bernie, Coeur/Hart, Miaow, Eclipse, Miru, the rest of the Nekoshus, the Nikushimi, Haiiro, Taylor, Lyze, Silke, Karson, Sadym, Alissa, Etoile, Lotte, Aurelie, and Darcy.

FG: Thank you. You can go now.

Elisa: Why?

FG: Because we kinda have a chapter to show here…

Elisa: Oh, yeah! Bye, peoples! Bye, Duck. (kicks Donald where his unmentionable place would be if he had one)

FG: Heh. Donald-bashing. Here's Chapter 22.

… … … … … … … … …

The Nikushimi stormed through the waterways, knocking the Nekoshus out of their way. Kirau and Atarashii were in the lead. "Are we almost to the royal area, Shii-chan?" Kirau asked. "Some of the warriors seem to be a little…antsy…"

Atarashii snorted. "Then give them some catnip or something." Her yellow eyes shimmered with sudden excitement. "Or we could give them this little boy here…"

Young Ka Gen was standing in front of the Nikushimi, holding a wooden bow. "You can't come in the royal area! The chief, the chieftainess, and the princess are still meeting with Fuyukai Kon'yaku!" He took out several sharp arrows, and some Nikushimi stepped back.

Kirau, however, stepped forward. "I'm not afraid of you, Gen. And we must see all three members of the royal family. Now." He clawed Ka Gen's bow, and it fell apart. "Do you still want to fight us, little boy?"

The Head Warrior stared blankly at the neatly-carved wood chips on the ground. "The chief will get rid of you!" Ka Gen announced fearfully, running away. "He would never fall to some losers like you guys!"

Atarashii smirked. "Nicely handled, Chief Ketsueki." She walked up to the royal area. "Oh, Kurosatos! Your loyal subjects are here to visit!"

Medea came into view. "I truly am sorry, but we are meeting with the future chief…hmm?" She looked nervously at the Nikushimi. "Who are you?"

"The future chief," Kirau replied calmly.

The chieftainess shivered, then called, "KEGAWA!"

Kegawa, Chikara, and Kon'yaku rushed over. "Are you coming to pay your respects to me?" Kon'yaku asked in a pompous yet nasally voice. "If so, please leave your gifts and praise by the entrance."

Chikara stared. "K-k-kaze?" She started to reach out for her friend, but quickly retracted her hand. "Wh-what h-h-happened?"

"My name is Kirau," the Nikushimi corrected her. "And this…" He gestured to himself. "…is the present."

"What's going on here?" she cried.

Atarashii crossed her bony arms. "Chief Ketsueki has come to take his rightful throne, and marry you. Such an honor is wasted on such a simple girl…"

The princess glared at Atarashii. "Who are you calling simple, you…wait, did you say MARRY?" She turned back to Kirau. "What's she talking about?"

"My Okaasan wanted me to overthrow Kegawa and become chief of the Nekoshus."

"Oh, yeah? Then why isn't she heading this little 'operation', huh?"

Kirau gave her a half-lidded look. "Because I killed her."

"What? WHY?"

"Because she made me kill my Otousan."

Chikara just stared. "I have no idea what's happening, but I know that you've become sick, Kaze. Very sick."

Kon'yaku looked back and forth between Kirau and Chikara. "May I speak to you privately, Chikara?" Before Chikara could say anything, her fiancé dragged her to another section in the area, past the shocked chief and chieftainess, past the Nikushimi, far enough so they were out of earshot. "Are you actually willing to let some poor momma's boy take MY throne?"

"I'd rather have him than you," Chikara spat. "And it's not YOUR throne! I'm an heir by lineage; you're just a moron I got betrothed to!"

"I'd rather be a moron than dead meat!" Kon'yaku took stalked back towards where Kirau was with an evil gleam in his eyes.

Chikara lifted her leg up, tripping Kon'yaku. "If you don't cut that out, you'll be both!" she informed him.

Kon'yaku scrambled to his feet. "Don't tell me you actually like him!"

"He's my best friend, and he has been for eight years! He's just…changed…"

With a heavy sigh, Kon'yaku threw up his arms. "He killed his parents, he looks like a skeleton, he wants to overthrow Chief Kurosato, and you think he's JUST CHANGED?"

"It's his mother's fault!" Chikara insisted.

"His mother's dead! He doesn't have to follow what she said! He's acting on his own!"

The princess shook her head. "No, he has darkness in him! If we can just get rid of it, he'll be back to normal!"

Kon'yaku glared. "And then what? Then you'll have a sappy reunion, shove me to the side, say your vows, and rule happily ever after?"

"Kon'ya-"

"I need to be the chief! I need that power! If I have to marry you to get that power, then fine! Whatever it takes! And I'm not giving that power up to your homicidal childhood lover!"

Chikara glared back. "Childhood lover?" she echoed angrily. "He's not my-"

"Don't lie to me! I have eyes! I know what's going on between you and that murderer! Well, you know what? You're mine now!"

Kirau's voice came from around the corner. "Chikara-chan? Are you done talking to Kon'yaku yet?"

Kon'yaku grinned maniacally, then put his hands on Chikara's shoulders. "What are you doing?"

"Showing that slummer that I mean business!"

The Nikushimi looked around. "Chikara-chan? Kon'yaku?" He paused. "Chi…" His voice trailed off.

"Mmmph!" Kon'yaku pressed his lips against Chikara's, who looked both furious and scared. She kicked him where the sun doesn't shine, then jerked away. "Kaze!" she called.

Kirau was practically petrified. Suddenly, Atarashii came up next to him. "What's with all the yelling?" she lamented. "Did I miss something?" With a vengeful look aimed at Chikara, he grabbed Atarashii and kissed her. Atarashii's twitched as Kirau stepped back. "Yeah, I definitely missed something…"

"Come on, Shii-chan…forget about overthrowing the Kurosatos. Let's just make our own tribe. Just the Nikushimi." He stalked off, leading Atarashii by the hand.

Kon'yaku cleared his throat. "I suppose this means I'm the official chief!" he said smugly to himself.

Chikara stared. "You rat…look what you did!" Kon'yaku just buffed his nails on his leather vest. "LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" she ordered, shoving his face to look at the departing Nikushimi. "YOU JUST MADE MY BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WORLD HATE ME!"

"Oh, forget about him. You have me now," he told her, raising his eyebrows suggestively. "I'm much better than that-"

"SCREW YOU!" Filled with rage, the princess did something she had never done before. Chikara took out two battle-axes, presents she had received from Kirau the previous year. She brought down both axes on Kon'yaku's head, slicing him into three pieces. "Serves you right," she murmured, breathing heavily.

… … …

"So, Kirau and Atarashii got married. Kegawa and Medea were sorry that Kon'yaku was so horrible, so they let Chikara pick a new husband. She married a Nekoshu named Zen Torikae, and they had a son. True to her word, Chikara named him Daijikaze, for the friend she had lost," Axel told Emma. "Did you like the story?"

Emma groaned loudly. "No, I didn't! That part was sad! Tell me the next part of it!"

Axel gave her a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Emma… but there IS no next part."

"It ends like that?" she asked incredulously. "Chikara and Kirau never got back together?"

"Never. But if it helps, I can tell you anything else you want to know."

Emma nodded. "All right. Can you tell me how the war between the tribes started?"

Axel shrugged. "Yeah, I can do that."

… … …

Little Daijikaze was given the last name 'Kurosato', instead of 'Torikae'. Kegawa was old and sick around that time, and his dying wish was that his grandson kept the family name, instead of Zen's last name. His wish was fulfilled.

Daijikaze married a girl named Shizuka Josei when he was twenty years old. They had two sons and a daughter; Shin-nen, the older son, Kobito, the daughter, and Ihan, the younger son.

Two years later, Kirau and Atarashii's daughter, Osoroshii, got married. Nobody knows what her husband's name was, though; she accused him of cheating on her while she was pregnant, and killed him before her daughter, Itsumo, was born.

Shin-nen got married when he was twenty-five, to Natsumi Kunisaki. Meanwhile, Itsumo also got married…and killed HER husband, too. After these incidents, as well as the memory of the greedy Takuramu, Nikushimi chieftainesses always had more power than the chiefs, even if the chiefs were still alive. Shin-nen and Natsumi had two children, Hisae and Mamoru. Itsumo had a daughter named Satsujinsha.

Itsumo decided to take up her great-grandmother's dream of controlling the Nekoshus as well as the Nikushimi. But instead of using Satsujinsha to do it, she led the operation herself. She burst into the Nekoshus' area of the waterways. "Where is the chief?" she called. "I must see him."

"I hope you realize that this can be considered as trespassing," Shin-nen murmured, walking out of the royal area. He was followed by Kobito and Ihan. "What do you want, Chieftainess Ketsueki?"

Kobito swung a small mace around. "She probably wants to pick a fight with us." The Head Warrior and her brothers advanced on Itsumo. "Is that it?"

Itsumo feigned innocence, a trait she had undoubtedly picked up from the stories of her idol Takuramu. "Maybe, maybe not…it's fairly difficult for one to make up one's mind when a midget is brandishing a pointy ball in one's face," she sneered.

"Midget?" Kobito hissed.

"Calm down," Ihan begged, lightly pushing his sister back. He faced Itsumo again. "The 'pointy ball' issue has been resolved. Now make up your mind."

The chieftainess grinned toothily. "I suppose I AM here to pick a fight with you after all! You see, I am here to continue what my beloved great-grandmother and my grandfather have started. I am here to overthrow you."

Shin-nen laughed in disbelief. "All by yourself? Why, your grandfather brought an army of Nikushimi!"

Itsumo clicked her tongue disapprovingly. "Grandfather Kirau didn't need that army. He murdered my great-grandparents within seconds. They were back-up. He could have gone on a killing spree, all by himself, and so can I."

Ihan quickly balled his hands into fists, making the decorative glass shards and fangs on his wrist ties clang together. "Put your gil where your mouth is, Chieftainess," he taunted.

Kobito raised her mace again. "That stupid Kirau couldn't beat the Kurosatos, and neither can you!"

Shin-nen took out a pair of daggers. "You could never dream of being as powerful as us!" He hesitantly lowered them for a moment. "I don't wish to go to war with your people, Chieftainess Ketsueki. I'm sure we can write a treaty…sort things out…honestly, I'd much rather talk than fight."

"And I'd rather fight than talk, Chief Kurosato." Itsumo flexed her claws. "I came to do battle, and I mean to do battle, even if I have to slaughter a few innocents along the way."

Ihan also lowered his hands. "Chieftainess, you can't fight Shin-nen. If you want to get Kobito and me, that's fine, but don't fight Shin-nen. He's a father! You have to understand that depriving two little children of their father is-"

"Don't lecture me. I was deprived of a father, myself. I deprived my Satsujinsha of a father as well. We don't need men telling us what to do," Itsumo retorted silkily.

Kobito rolled her eyes. "Yes, but Shin-nen's twins are not Ketsuekis. They can't simply separate themselves from others just like that!" She snapped for emphasis. "Unlike you mangy half-demons."

Shin-nen held his daggers up again. "It's no use reasoning with her. We'll just have to fight."

The royal siblings and the Nikushimi chieftainess fought. The battle ended fairly quickly, but nobody won. Itsumo breathed heavily at the finish. "You are strong…all three of you. But you are no match for me. I shall return."

And every day, for the next month, Itsumo came back and attacked. One the last day, she brought ten-year-old Satsujinsha. "You three against me is an even battle. We are exactly on the same level. But with my daughter, I have an advantage."

"Then I'll fight too!" a child-like voice rang out. Mamoru, only a bit older than Satsujinsha, ran to join his father, his aunt, and his uncle. "I've been training real hard!" he told Shin-nen. "Hisae has been too, but she's a chicken."

"I am NOT!" a girl's voice called from inside the royal area.

Shrugging it off, Mamoru took out a sack with a bow inside it, along with many arrows. "Ka Gen gave me his old weapons, from when he was the Head Warrior. I want to put them to good use!"

"Mamoru…please go back to your mother and sister. You are too young to be involved."

The prince just screwed up his face in determination, then fired a red-tipped arrow at Satsujinsha's arm. She clamped onto where she had been hit, yowling. "That's no ordinary arrow! What did you just do to me?"

Mamoru looked proud. "It was a Flame Arrow. It's powered with Flame Shards. This is a Frost Arrow!" Grinning, he shot a blue-tipped arrow just centimeters below the first arrow.

Satsujinsha's yellow eyes shone evilly. "You fool! Never mess with me!" She lunged forward and slashed Mamoru's face. Some blood leaked out of the cuts. "You should have listened to daddy dearest! This will become a war! Now that you've been involved, you have to follow through with it!" The princess laughed maniacally. "And mark my words, Mamoru, you will DIE!"

"I'll do whatever I can to protect my family and my people, even at the cost of my own safety," Mamoru replied calmly.

The Kurosatos gathered all of their warriors, as did the Ketsuekis. The little family feud had become an all-out war, as Shin-nen and Satsujinsha had predicted.

… … …

Axel yawned loudly. "So, that's how the war between the Nekoshus and the Nikushimi was started. Wanna know anything else?"

Emma thought for a while. "Well, Eclipse is the Nekoshu chief, right? Before he left, anyway."

"Yeah."

"How come Mamoru isn't the chief? If my mental timeline is correct, then he's Coeur and Eclipse's dad!"

Axel nodded. "That's right. So, you want to know what happened to Mamoru?" Emma nodded back. "Okay. But I have to tell you, like the other stories, this has a sad ending."

"Just tell it to me," Emma begged.

… … …

Eleven years after the war started, the fighting had slowed considerably, but the violent raids still occurred. Mamoru had gotten married to a woman named Unagi Giseisha, Hisae married a man named Kenka Yōchina, and Satsujinsha…you guessed it, she killed her husband while she was pregnant.

The children were born at surprisingly different times. Mamoru's daughter was born the year after he got married. His son was born ten years later. Hisae and Satsujinsha had their children five years later, with Satsujinsha's son born the week before Hisae's daughter. But the most surprising thing was that these two were born on Kirau's birthday, and on Chikara's birthday. In fact, people claimed that they shared many traits with their ancestors.

Mamoru was a little tired of all the Japanese names in the Nekoshu tribe. After all, they weren't Japanese, were they? He named his children after words they reminded him of…Hart and Eclipse. Hisae didn't agree with this view, so she named her daughter Saezuri. Satsujinsha named her son Gaunt.

When Hart was eighteen, Eclipse was eight, and Saezuri and Gaunt were three, Satsujinsha's prediction was in the process of coming true. One day, just before dawn, Mamoru got out of his makeshift bed, put on a cloak, and headed for Nikushimi territory. He had barely gotten out of the royal area when he heard rustling behind him. "Who's there?" he hissed, instinctively taking out his bow and arrows. Then, he quickly put them away with an embarrassed look.

Hart and Eclipse were standing in the main section of the area. "Where are you going?" Hart asked, flinching a little at her father's weapon. "And why are you up so early?"

"Why are YOU up so early?" Mamoru replied.

"Because we heard you get up," Eclipse explained reasonably. He fiddled with the tassels on his dark leather vest, an eerie contrast to his pale face. "You're not going to fight the Chieftainess again, are you, Daddy?"

Mamoru kneeled down and ruffled his son's hair. "I'm sorry, Eclipse…but I have to. I promised I would protect the Nekoshu tribe."

Trying to grin, Hart thumped her little brother on the back. "Don't worry, Dad can take care of himself. He's been fighting Satsujinsha since he was just a little older than you!"

Eclipse also forced himself to smile a little. "I guess you're right…good luck, Daddy." He clamped onto Mamoru's arm in an odd hug.

Hart copied suit and also gave him a hug. "Yeah, show no mercy to those creeps," she cheered.

Mamoru laughed and stood back up. "Thank you. I'll most likely be back around lunch, so I won't be gone for too long. Until then…" He saluted his children, then marched out the door, chanting, "Hut! Hut! Hut! Hut! Hut!" Hart and Eclipse just chuckled, going back to their respective sections.

… … …

"It's already noon…" Unagi murmured apprehensively, standing outside the royal area. She glanced back at her children, who were eating some unrecognizable type of fish off of two stone plates. "Your father said he would be back for lunch! What's taking him so long?"

Eclipse shrugged, trying to shove his mouthful of the fish down his esophagus with a wooden fork. "Mmmph-mmmph-mmmph-MMMPH-mmmph!" he suggested to his mother.

Hart shook her head. "Eclipse, next time you have something valuable to contribute, don't try to choke yourself with a pound of chinmi-tsuru," she advised, prodding her own heap of shimmering gold fish.

Unagi smiled gently. "Hart, be nice to your brother."

"Um…" Eclipse made another series of grunts. "…I think he wants us to go to the Nikushimi area," Hart attempted to translate, then gained a morbidly insane look. "And we can see the carnage Dad's probably causing!"

Eclipse's eyes widened and he spat out the chinmi-tsuru. "No! No! That's not what I said!"

Unfortunately, it was impossible to stop Hart once she got an idea in her head…especially when it pertained to violence. "When we get there, Satsujinsha will probably be a bloody pulp, begging for mercy!"

"Please call her Chieftainess Ketsueki, dear, she deserves respect too," Unagi implored, though it was obvious that she wanted to laugh.

"But she doesn't deserve Dad's kindness! So he'll shoot a round of those elemental arrows into Satsujinsha's head, finishing her off!" Hart put one foot on top of the table, and one fist in the air. "And Dad will strike a fearless victory pose, just like this! He'll be remembered throughout history as Chief Mamoru Kurosato the Great! No, the Awesome! No, the Super-Awesome! NO!" she thundered, putting her other foot on the table and waving two fists in the air. "CHIEF KUROSATO…THE OMNIPOWERFUL!"

Eclipse, as quiet and normally nonviolent as he was, giggled at his older sister's speech. "You're really weird," he commented.

Unagi grasped both Eclipse and Hart's hands. "Well, let's go see how your father's doing, shall we?"

… … …

The three Kurosatos stood by the battlefield in shock. "What were you saying about that victory pose, Hart?" Eclipse asked hoarsely.

Hart turned her face away, then glanced furtively back at the scene. "It's like a train wreck…you don't want to look, but you can't stop yourself…"

"Mamoru…" Unagi whispered.

The Nekoshu chief was lying on the ground, dirty, torn, and bruised. Satsujinsha, however, looked as prim and clean as someone with rotting limbs could ever hope to look. She bared her fangs at him. "Do you give up yet, you fool?"

Mamoru coughed, his whole body shuddering. He laid his head back down, then mumbled, "Over…my cold…lifeless…body."

Satsujinsha sharpened her claws on a rock slab jutting out of the wall. "That can be arranged," she purred.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Unagi ran out, throwing her arms around her husband's neck. She glared at the Nikushimi chieftainess. "You can't do this! He's-"

"I know, I know, he's a father. I've heard this speech before…this fool's aunt and uncle gave it to my mother on the day I met him," Satsujinsha hissed ruefully, kicking Mamoru's bleeding cheek, narrowly missing Unagi. "You know, it would benefit me greatly if you moved."

Unagi tightened her grip. "No! I'm staying with Mamoru, even if you have to…" she gulped.

Satsujinsha smirked. "Kill you?" she filled in. "That's fine with me."

"STAY AWAY FROM HER!" Hart ordered.

"MOMMY!" Eclipse cried helplessly.

Mamoru tried to push Unagi away. "It's not worth it…go…" Unagi held him even tighter. "Children…" he breathed weakly. "…go get Kenka and Hisae, all right?"

Hart nodded nervously. "We'll go as fast as we can!" She picked her bawling younger brother up, then ran off.

… … …

"UNCLE KENKA!" Hart bellowed. "AUNT HISAE!" Nobody answered. Desperate for help, she went to far as so call, "SAEZURI!"

Saezuri waddled into view, the spinning image of a younger Chikara. "Mommy and Daddy left," she told her cousins.

Hart breathed a sigh of exasperation as she dropped Eclipse. "Where did they go?"

"Fish!" she chirped.

Tears streamed down Eclipse's face. "We'll never find them in time!"

"Yes, we will!" Hart insisted. She turned back to Saezuri. "Which fishing hole did they go to?"

Saezuri thought for a moment. "I don't know," she admitted.

Hart pulled at her hair. "UGH!" She tried to regain her composure. "What color fishies are your Mommy and Daddy getting, Saezuri?" she asked patronizingly.

Saezuri thought again, then announced, "Blue fishies!"

"Thank you!" Hart gave her little cousin a quick hug, then told Eclipse, "Uncle Kenka and Aunt Hisae are at the hole with the kiri-tsuru! That's around the corner!"

… … …

Hart, Eclipse, Kenka, and Hisae ran towards the Nikushimi area. "We have to hurry!" Hisae panted. "I'm not going to let my brother be killed by that bratty chieftainess!"

"Mom's probably in trouble too," Hart added nervously. Eclipse nodded in agreement, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

Kenka stopped in his tracks. "We're too late!" he roared. The Nekoshus surveyed the depressing area. Eclipse was bawling again, and some tears leaked from Hart and Hisae's eyes. "Satsujinsha! She…she…!"

Mamoru and Unagi lay on the stone ground, bleeding. Hart walked over and lightly touched her parents' faces. "She killed them," she whispered. "They're really dead."

Hisae dabbed at her eyes with one hand and held Eclipse with the other. "On the bright side…" she sniffled. "…Chieftainess Ketsueki didn't rip them to shreds." She reached out for her dead brother's hand. "We can bury them, at least. We can give them a proper funeral."

Kenka tapped his wife's shoulder. "Wait…if the chief and chieftainess are dead…doesn't that make little Eclipse here the new chief?"

Hart and Eclipse's eyes widened. "I don't want to take Daddy's place!" Eclipse sobbed. "Can't you do it? Or why can't Hart do it?"

"Because you're Mamoru and Unagi's only son. Age doesn't matter," Hisae gently explained. "But I suppose we should talk with the others to work something out."

"Where are we going to live?" Hart asked fearfully.

Hisae tried to smile, despite the fact she was kneeling by her twin brother and sister-in-law's corpses. "Don't worry. Mamoru said that if anything like this ever happened, like he anticipated it would, that we would gain custody of you two." Eclipse looked confused. "That means you'll be living with us for a while…hopefully, you'll move to the royal area later."

"Hey!" Hart put a finger on her chin. "If Eclipse is the chief, what am I?"

"What do you want to be?" Kenka asked.

Hart regained the maniacal look she had worn in the royal area's dining section that day. "The Head Warrior!" she announced. "I want to be the Head Warrior!"

Eclipse smiled a little bit. "You'd be good at that," he murmured.

Kenka and Hisae looked at each other, then nodded. "You would," Hisae agreed. "We're going to break the news to the other Nekoshus. Hart, would you please drop off Eclipse and Saezuri to the Kami's area? We need to go to the meeting, and I bet you'd like to come too, but Eclipse and Saezuri would probably prefer being with Miru."

Hart saluted her aunt. "As my first mission as Head Warrior, I shall guide future Chief Eclipse Kurosato and future Head Mage Saezuri Yōchina safely to their destination!" She took Eclipse's tiny hand and led him back to the Yōchina's area to get Saezuri.

… … …

Axel stretched a little. "Eclipse was later named as the new chief, and Hart was named the new Head Warrior."

"Is Saezuri the Head Mage now?" Emma asked. "And why didn't you mention Gaunt at all during the story?"

"No, Saezuri's still in training. She's only ten years old at the moment. And Gaunt…well, Satsujinsha didn't like him very much. When the Nikushimi evacuated Hollow Bastion when it was messed up by Ansem…he was left behind."

Emma gasped. "Is Gaunt dead?"

Axel shook his head. "No, he's very much alive. He was evacuated by Haiiro, by request of the current Head Warrior, Sakana Ryoushi. She thought he was adorable, and wanted to save him, despite the fact he was a Nikushimi prince. He had been abandoned, and she felt sorry for him. Besides, he's half-Nekoshu."

"He is? How could he be half-Nekoshu if he was Satsujinsha's son?"

For some reason, Axel started laughing hysterically. "It's a long story, so I'll shorten it. Let's just say that Satsujinsha got sort of…drunk." Emma started laughing too. "Naturally, she was pretty mad when she woke up with some Nekoshu. So, she killed him. When Gaunt was born, she was even more upset. He had tiny fangs, the size of a chihuahua's. His eye bags were barely visible, but still there. And his eyes, instead of being dull and yellow, were shiny and light brown. Satsujinsha was disgusted. She wanted to get rid of him, but his physical and emotional resemblance to Kirau made her keep him. When the time came that they had to leave, Satsujinsha tricked little Gaunt into staying behind. She had hoped that the Nekoshus would kill him, but they pitied him, and made him one of them."

Emma bit her lip. "Poor kid…I wonder how he turned out…wait!" She suddenly grinned. "In Kingdom Hearts II, we'll be going back to Hollow Bastion! Maybe we'll see him!"

Axel shrugged. "I don't know. If you're done being sad, though, I was going to raid the lobby for a laptop. We can look through those sites that pretty much spoil all of Kingdom Hearts II, and figure out what's supposed to happen in Hollow Bastion," the red-head offered.

Emma nodded and stood up. "Let's go."

… … … … … … … … …

FG: That was Chapter 22! Now that the Nekoshu/Nikushimi portion of this story is over, we can get to the last series of flashbacks; Silke's past!

Elisa: WHOO! Who's Silke again?

FG: The blonde chick with the sword.

Elisa: I think I remember her now…

FG: Anyway, I guarantee that Silke's past won't be as dull and generally optimistic as Lyze's past, as short as Sadym and Karson's past, or as violent and dramatic as the Kurosato family's past.

Elisa: I can't wait to read it!

Donald: Shut up.

Elisa: (kicks Donald again) You shut up, Duck!

FG: Heh. More Donald-bashing. FG out, yo.