A/N: This is the first half of forest. This part was 40 pages in size 11 font on paper, so I decided to split in half. The disclaimer still stands from the beginning, so I won't bother saying it again! Please enjoy!

And so, the heroes set out on their heroic quest.

No-one knew of the dangers.

However, they could not do it alone…

Part Two- Forest I

"Here's a question for you." Yugi said, suddenly. They'd been riding for almost four hours that day now, over the fields and grass of Nrefder's country side. "How are we even supposed to find the Princess? We have no idea where she is…"

"I can check in the Ripples next time we reach a body of water." Ryou answered, quietly. He seemed quite shy. "I'll do my best."

"I'll help." Danielle said, equally shortly. Ryou glanced at her, and looked away. She did the same. Yugi and Jonouchi exchanged looks. Things were awkward between the two mages, and with good cause. For one thing, they were from different countries; and therefore from rival Academies. For another, it was unheard of for any purpose, even in huge great wars and battles, to have more than one Mage at a time. It was unnecessary. So, here, they were effectively treading on each other's toes. "I'm sure we'll be able to find out where she is soon, and then we can be on our way, Yu- Your Highness."

Seto, riding some way ahead of the others, couldn't help but catch a whisper of their conversation; as much as he tried to tune it out. He raised an eyebrow slightly, but didn't slow his pace. He intended to ignore the companions he'd been lumbered with as much as humanly possible.

"Wait a minute." Jonouchi was saying, irritated. "Why didn't you do that to begin with! We've been riding four hours today alone! You mean to tell me we have no idea where we're going!"

"I didn't have much chance." Danielle said defensively, in response to Jou's first question. "We left so fast… We can only hope he-" She jerked a finger at Seto's back. "Isn't just riding around hoping that we happen to bump into the Princess somewhere."

"It wouldn't surprise me." Ryou admitted. "They call him the Knight of the Silent Wind. You may have noticed he's not a normal knight. He has no land, no armour, no crest… He comes and goes as he pleases, seemingly with no plan or method. But, somehow, he always appears exactly where he needs to be. At least, that's the rumour."

"Silent Wind…?" Jou repeated, snorted. "Well, that's certainly a dumb name."

"…I think it kinda suits him." Yugi admitted. "After all, we have no idea where he's taking us or why…"

"And he's certainly silent…" Danielle muttered, nodding in agreement; referring to how Seto hadn't said a word since they'd started.

"If you're all quite finished talking about me…" Seto ground out, eventually, pausing his pace slightly until they drew level with him. "You can see where we're going."

He pointed ahead, to a wall of trees that had been looming ahead for sometime.

"We're not going around it?" Ryou demanded.

Seto looked at him scornfully. "And just why would we want to do a thing like that?"

"That's The Scar!" Jonouchi pointed out, slightly shrilly. "It's dangerous in there! There's… ghosts, or something…"

Seto smirked. "…Ghosts, hmm…?" He repeated to himself quietly, finding it amusing. "We'll see."

"Jou has a point." Danielle said, stubbornly, placing her horse as best she could in front of him- the horse still didn't want to cooperate- and stopped him from heading off again. "Whatever's lurking in that forest, we have no reason to meet it. Now, take us to the nearest body of water, and let us find where the Princess is!"

Seto raised an eyebrow. "That won't be necessary." He took his horse easily around her. "The Princess is right through there." He pointed back at The Scar. "In Noxell."

Yugi gasped, in spite of himself. "In Noxell…! But… How do you…?"

"Noxell. That's what I said." Seto answered, coolly, and began walking off again. "And I know… because the trees did."

Every question they asked was met with a silent smirk as he savoured their confusion over this statement. They certainly weren't eager to head into The Scar.

Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be much of a choice anymore.

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Pine needles squashing down underfoot, the sap releasing their characteristic sweet scent. She closed her eyes, drinking in it. She hadn't smelt it in so long… and yet, it was as familiar as if she smelt it every day. The wind whispered to the stems of grass as the newcomers drew ever closer, a sound as familiar to her as her own voice. Every movement, every alert to any one of her senses, took her back, a long way back, looking to the one place the ripples could not show her; the hazy horizon of her past… She had come from a village, standing on the edge of a wood… with her parents… her best friend…

Her name had been different back then. She couldn't remember it, but she had left home. She had begun as… she couldn't recall the name. It had changed when she'd been accepted at Noxell's academy, to make her sound more mysterious, further from the normal people. She couldn't remember the name of her village. All she had of her past was faces. Faces, and the feeling that the scenes around her were so familiar… A village, on the outskirts of a wood, just as they were now. The bracken that was being mercilessly crushed beneath her feet was thickening, beginning to crack instead of squash, and there were more trees then there had been out on the open, flat plains they'd travelled so far that day. This was just like where home used to be. More than just like. Before them stood ruins of buildings, shapeless grey silhouettes. Nothing moved. Neither did Danielle, stopping dead.

"What's wrong?" Yugi checked, turning round. The others had all stopped, even Seto. It wasn't unusual for Mages to be able to sense something dangerous before it occurred. "Is there something there?"

"I can't see anyone…" Jonouchi frowned, looking back and forth between the ruined village and Danielle.

"I can't sense anything, either." Ryou put in, frowning worriedly at his fellow Mage, who shook her head.

"Nothing's wrong. It's just… I think this was my home town." She finished, softly, still staring at the grey lumps. The more she looked, the more the memories seeped through the cracks of time. The one furthest to the left had been the stables, for all the village's horses, and next to that; the remains of the woodsman's house. The inn stood in shambles, one section of the roof stiff standing, but black and crumbling. Yet the sun still shone on it, just as it had done so long ago…

"Are you sure?" Yugi demanded, startled. "You're from Nrefder?"

"It looks that way…" She replied, surprised herself. She looked at his face, trying to see what he made of this. She hoped he wouldn't care…

"That doesn't make sense." Ryou muttered, confused. "If you're from here, you should have gone to the Academy here, not in Noxell!"

"I know." Danielle answered. Her life would have been so different. She would have known different people, worked in a different place… she would never have known Yugi. She wouldn't have come on this quest. Ryou was right- if she had been born here, she should have grown up here, should die here. It didn't make sense. But, she knew it. She saw not the ruins, but the shadows of the buildings they used to be. She had few memories from the time, but she knew it as well as she knew the Magic Academy of Noxell. This was where she'd come from. "I know! But… This is where I was born!"

Seto snorted. "It wouldn't surprise me. Child snatching is not an uncommon thing. Noxell has precious little talent, so they are more than willing to steal ours." He began riding towards the building, Danielle immediately following as Yugi decided to dispute Seto's statement. Trying to referee the argument, no-one noticed the black shadow within the grey, which stood and waited for them; just as she had been waiting for the last twelve years. She stood uncomfortably in the full light of the afternoon sun, not used to being so far from the darkness. Then, they were close enough. They saw her, and she had to speak.

"Seto!" She smiled. "You could have told us you were leaving, although, really, we should have guessed…" All eyes turned to Seto in amazement, but he merely grunted and jumped down from the horse. Dubiously, the others all did the same as she spoke quietly to Seto. Yugi only caught a few words.

"…travellers keeps increasing… war could… getting restless…"

Seto nodded to show he understood, and then flicked his head in Danielle's direction. "Look what I found."

"Who is she?" Yugi whispered to Danielle, who made no reply, but kept looking at the girl before them; who stared levelly back.

"Hi." She said, eventually. "…Welcome home."

"I…I know you…" Danielle whispered, stepping forward slightly to meet her.

"I should think you do." She replied, turning and beginning to walk into the village. Danielle immediately followed, and the others after her. "We grew up together, Danniru!"

"What…?"

She stopped, and turned around, looking at her quizzically. "You really don't remember, do you? You're useless."

"I…"

"You always were. And you always told tales on me to. Like when I lost that axe."

"Oh, man…" Danielle, or Danniru, breathed. "It is you! I remember! We were best friends!" As she spoke, more and more memories rushed back, and she knew this girl, knew everything about her, knew every game they played; and, finally, the name came back. "Jozan!"

"Yup." She resumed her walking. "Fancy forgetting me."

"I didn't." Danielle promised. "I… I didn't have another friend like you after I left."

"Friend?" Jozan echoed, turning around once again. "It's been twelve years since then. We were kids then. Twelve years… We've grown up in that time! That's a long time for people to change in!" She smiled, but it faded. "What I mean is…It's been a long time, Danniru. Too long to remember…" She concluded, finally. "Now, please… don't move."

And, all around them, armed people sprang from the bushes that were running rampant through the rubble. The prisoners raised their arms slowly above their heads.

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The water squelched out of the tattered rag in the most disgusting fashion. The stagnant water reeked, running over her chapped hands and wrists, once so delicate and so clean, but she didn't see it. While her arms silently maintained the impossible battle on the grimy floorboards, Anzu's mind was far away. Since she had been brought here, besides the meeting with Prysen and a short conversation with Jin, presumably a fellow prisoner, she had lived in a silent world. Speaking was forbidden. She didn't know how many people here were servants, or prisoners, or slaves, but, in her time here, she had established a few things. She was in some sort of complex. There was a small house, where she and a few other women were set to work. She was sure they were all political prisoners just like she was, important enough for Prysen to want to keep an eye on. She wasn't sure, as speaking was forbidden. She had not yet been allowed out of the house, and, had she been, she would have been ashamed of the thin, filthy cotton that formed her only clothes. She often wondered if her face mirrored those around her; with hair that was dirty, stringy and matted; with eyes devoid of hope, so that even the bluest had turned china blue, as though they weren't seeing at all. She knew that across the other side was a factory; what they made, she didn't know. All she saw was a procession of men, women and children being forced from a barn, where they presumably tried to sleep, into a factory; where, for twelve hours, sounds of tools would come; before they were dragged back to the barn, silent from fear and exhaustion. The blackened faces of the factory that never slept were even worse than those inside the house. Anzu never met their eyes. For one thing, it could be disastrous is she was caught dithering by a window. For another, she couldn't stand it.

She had to do something. She couldn't let this continue. Judging by Prysen's accent, she was in Noxell. That meant these poor people were from Noxell- it wasn't her responsibility, but it didn't matter. She would make it her responsibility. She would do something; and 'something' didn't mean mopping floors that would never be clean. Her chance came some hours later, as it neared sunset. That was when Prysen called for her.

He never called any of the girls by their name. That would give away who they were. Instead, they all had whistle blasts to answer to, as though they were dogs. Anzu hated the sound of the two long, shrill blasts and one short that meant he wanted her. She hated even more the fact that she answered. But she did, leaving the wet rag idle where it was, and hurrying up towards the door at the east end of the corridor that the sound had come from. Prysen had proved already he wasn't afraid to kill her. She would let him, if it wasn't for the threat he had made. If she caused trouble, he said he would kill her and everyone else in this establishment. It was easy enough for him to get new slaves. She believed him.

This man was not afraid to kill her.

When she entered the room, another woman, about in her mid twenties, hurried out. With a jolt, Anzu realised she knew this woman. It was a distant cousin of hers, that her father had been particularly fond of. Anzu had only met her once or twice, but from what she could gather, the family owned a large portion of land down on the coast, rich in coal. She wondered what Prysen wanted with it.

"Look at me, not her." He commanded. Anzu begrudgingly turned to look at him, not waiting for permission to sit down. The mats were so old and so badly frayed that the straw was beginning to come loose and scratch against her bear knees. She didn't show the discomfort. After just a few days, she was used to discomfort.

Anzu knew that she had to show that she wasn't afraid of him. Now, death wasn't very high on the list of things she wanted to do, in fact, it was very high up on her moral code to avoid. However, she wanted to help these people, and she would. It was time for courage, for her body language and speech to change from that of a normal almost-eighteen year old to a Princess. She didn't wait for him to speak first, wanting to assert as much control on the situation as possible.

"You keep people here against their will." She stated, calmly. "You force them into slavery. I want to know…"

"Why I do it?" Prysen smirked.

"No." Anzu answered, firmly. "What you would have me do to free them."

Prysen's smirk fell for a minute. He hadn't been expecting this. He'd thought that, by now, her spirit would have been broken like all the others. But it wasn't a problem. In fact, it made things all the more interesting.

"I have no intention of freeing them, no matter what you do." He shrugged lazily. "Some are just nobodies. There's nowhere for them to go, no-one to notice their gone- no-one but other nobodies, that is. Here they serve a greater purpose."

"And what 'purpose' is that?" Anzu demanded.

"My purpose." He grinned, before moving on as though the interruption had never come. "Others are being kept here for some kind of… reward, just like yourself."

"Money?"

"No." Prysen's smile grew wider. "War."

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Danielle stared around dubiously at all the weapons that glared back. Nearby were swords and short daggers, and on the few remaining rooves, bowstrings were pulled taut, supporting arrows that did not waver. With her hands above her head, it would be rather hard to make a shield spell; part of the requirement was that you draw it out with your arms. She could just say the command and hope… She brought the words up into her mouth, the spell building, but she held it there, ready to spit it out if need be. If Ryou was doing the same thing, between them they would have a decent chance that it would cover them…

Looking at the people behind the offensive items, she saw their faces. Most were young; few were older than her, anyway. But they didn't seem to be in any doubt whatsoever about what they were doing. To her surprise, she realised she recognised a few. But it was a drop in the ocean. There were few, precious few people from the rapidly returning memories of a childhood she'd tried to block out.

"What is this?" Seto snarled, the only one without his hands up. "What are you playing at! You seem to forget- they're with me!"

"You seem to forget you're not in charge." Jozan replied, surveying the group instead of looking at Seto. "We don't know what you've been doing. We don't know what you're trying to bring in. There is only one thing in that forest you want to protect, Seto, and we all know perfectly well it isn't us."

Seto fell silent.

"We're not here for a fight." Yugi put in, seeing that someone else was going to have to do something. We just want to come through the forest."

"And why would you want to do a thing like that?" Jozan demanded, although she was smiling. "Don't you know about the… ghosts?"
Her companions laughed.

"We don't care!" Yugi exclaimed, fiercely. "We need to save the Princess Anzu!"

"Do you, now…?"

Seto rolled his eyes. "I can't take any more melodrama…" He complained to himself.

"…You'd better come in." Jozan said, eventually, ignoring Seto's drab comment. "Hand over your weapons please, gentleman. It's alright!" She assured Jonouchi, who hand had suddenly been transferred to an iron-like grip on his sword. "You'll get it back when you leave the forest."

"What have you got to do with the forest?" Jonouchi growled, making no move to disarm. Again, the people laughed- but the weapons didn't so much as wobble.

"We are the Ghosts of the Scar." Jozan told him happily. "And the few survivors of Li'anon. And I am telling you to hand over your weapons. You to, Danniru!"

"Didn't I say I didn't want any more melodramatics…?" Seto grumbled as Yugi handed his sword over, Joey begrudgingly following suite.

"This is a nice sword." Jozan said admiringly of Yugi's. The hilt was of a sturdy emerald green, carved into two neat slopes, almost like flower petals, on either side. From the hilt protruded a silver blade, an emerald line running it's length. "But I wonder if it has ever seen a battle…?"

"No." Yugi admitted, quietly.

"Don't worry." Jozan told him, handing the two swords over to people waiting to receive them. "If you're going to save the Princess, it will."

"What do you know?" Yugi demanded, sounding vaguely threatening.

"…Enough." She said, eventually. Then she pointed at Seto. "And I swear, if you moan about melodrama once more…" She turned the point into a gesture, indicating for those surrounding them to disarm. As they did so, Danielle swallowed the shield spell in relief. It meant she would be able to talk again. Which was good, because she had plenty of questions to ask.

Gesturing at them to follow, Jozan lead them off, plunging deeper into the forest. The ruined buildings changed into thicker and thicker foliage until it almost seemed to blot out the sun, yet she didn't falter. Danielle couldn't help but wonder just what had happened to them in the last twelve years. Luckily, Jozan seemed more than willing to answer their questions, almost without being prompted.

"Just who, exactly, are you?" Jonouchi demanded.

"I told you. We are the inhabitants of the Scar. And some of us came from Li'anon, before all... this happened." She flicked her head back in the direction they'd come.

"What happened to it…?" Danielle asked, quietly. "Tell us."

"Don't encourage her!" Seto put in, but Jozan ignored him and his following comments on theatrics.

"You happened." She answered, simply. "Maybe you can't recall… Li'anon sat on the edge of the woods, it always has. We made a living off it. Off the wood, the fruit and the berries, the fertile land… And being guides through it, from Nrefder to Noxell and the other way. The years of peace, when we were growing up, were our most successful. But there was always the constant threat. If war erupted again, we were on the frontline. We'd almost certainly be consumed- our food going to the troops, our homes seized for soldiers, our belongings pawned for money, our men forced to fight… And then you turned five. You were able to see in the Ripples- and you saw wings! Everyone was so excited… it was a sign of good luck! We were sure that if the authorities saw that we had someone with such talent in our little village, they'd leave us alone. Only, of course, it didn't turn out that way."

"The Academy…" Danielle muttered. Her old friend nodded.

"What we hadn't known was that all children with the 'gift' got taken away for training. And, as it turned out, the government was just as worried about war as we were. They claimed every single child with a glimpse of power for themselves. Except you. Men came; they burned our homes to the ground, they killed dozens, and then they took you and disappeared into the Scar."

"That's awful!" Yugi enthused, looking at Danielle to see how she was taking this. Her face, however, was an expressionless mask.

"It was just a competition, they were trying to ensure Nrefder did not have more magic on their side than Noxell did. You just happened to be the easiest child to grab." She paused, to let her digest this a little. "The handful of us that survived ended up living in an abandoned army barrack here, in the Scar. So you see…" She turned to look at them. "It would be a disaster for us if war broke out again. Our homes, our livelihoods, would be destroyed, again."

"Then there are more people depending on me getting engaged to Anzu, huh…?" Yugi whispered, miserably. Jozan looked at him curiously, but didn't comment on his tone of voice.

"The Princess is in Noxell. As soon as the word gets out, Nrefder's citizens will demand that Noxell is attacked; to get her back, for revenge." Seto said suddenly, monotonously. "Noxell will count this as an unprovoked attack. Someone is trying to stir up a war."

"Who would do something like that!" Jonouchi demanded, appalled.

"Someone who would profit from it." Ryou answered, breaking his usual silence. "And there are a great many who could do that."

"Right." Jozan nodded. "So, you're aware that you're not just out to rescue a friend. You're out to prevent the events of the past repeating themselves."

"There's just one thing I don't understand." Ryou stared at the back of her head, but she didn't turn around. "You."

"Me?" Jozan answered, innocently.

"You were waiting for us." Jonouchi continued, cottoning on. "How did you know we were coming?"

She shrugged. "I had a hunch… And a little help."

"A 'hunch'…" Danielle repeated. Then she gasped. "Jo, do you-!"

"Read ripples? Sorta…" Jozan laughed, enjoying being mysterious.

"But then, why didn't you-!"

"Tell anyone?" Jozan completed. "Because what I heard was this very conversation. I knew because of this that the village would burn, that you would be taken away; and that you had to be, because otherwise you wouldn't come back and I wouldn't be saying this."

"Melodramatic and a paradox." Seto muttered. "You're really out-doing yourself today, Jozan…"

"But…" Danielle said, slowly. "You could have told them what was going to happen! You could have stopped it!"

Ryou coughed. "I think it's as she said. If she had, she wouldn't have seen that speech in the ripples. She knew not to tell anyone about her powers. If she had, the same thing would have happened to her that did to you." He paused, and turned towards Jozan. "Power is something we're born with, not something we choose." He looked down at the floor. "The thing is, as much as we pretend, we don't understand. We don't know the consequences. But you knew that." He looked up at her, smiling slightly. "You see it to."

"No." She smiled back. "I hear it." Suddenly, she ducked between two trees, and they were all amazed to find that here the trees were a little thinner, and within them was a whole community.

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Her tongue was out in concentration, a splash of red on a rounded face. It slurped back in, replaced by teeth as Jozan chewed her lip, trying to pick the perfect stone from the rocky ground around the edge of the lake. She felt very grown up- before she was five, she had never been allowed to play by the edge of the lake. At last, she found the perfect stone. It had white markings whirled inside the grey that looked like a smiley face. She'd quite like to have kept it, but her mom had told her this was very important. She picked the smiling rock up and ran down to the water's edge, and, sticking her tongue out in concentration, lobbed it as far as she could.

The ripples spread toward her, and, not taking her tongue back in, she stared hard at them, looking for a picture. If she saw something, her mom said, she had to promise to tell them straight away. It was very important.

As hard as she looked, all she could see was the water complaining about having a rock thrown at it. It seemed to be talking to, because she could hear faint whispers. She had always believed in the fairies that were supposed to live in lakes, and she looked at the remaining ripples suspiciously, wondering if it was them talking to her…

"But then, why didn't you-!"

"Tell anyone? Because what I heard was this very conversation. I knew because of this that the village would burn, that you would be taken away; and that you had to be, Danniru, because otherwise you wouldn't come back and I wouldn't be saying this."

"Melodramatic and a paradox. You're really out-doing yourself today, Jozan…"

"But…You could have told them what was going to happen! You could have stopped it!"

"I think it's as she said. If she had, she wouldn't have seen that speech in the ripples. She knew not to tell anyone about her powers. If she had, the same thing would have happened to her that did to you…"

They fell silent, and wondering what it all meant, she waded back to the shore, holding up the hem of her clothes so it wouldn't get wet.

"Well?" The mayor demanded, just as he did of everyone. "What did you see?"

"Nothing." Jozan answered, truthfully. "I just-"

'She knew not to tell anyone about her powers', that's what the man in the lake had said.

"I just saw the water complaining." She said, unable to stop herself from smiling. It was kind of fun to have a secret…

The villagers began to dissipate, seeming disappointed. But Danniru, a few months younger, pulled away from her parents and ran over.

"It's okay." She said. "My mom says hardly anyone sees anything in ripples."

"Yeah." Jozan agreed. She looked at her friend, suddenly worried. The lake had told her Danniru was going to be taken away… she hoped it was wrong. Danniru was quite good fun, really. "Let's play a game!"

"Like what?" Danniru asked.

Jozan thought hard. "A princess, captured by a dragon!"

"Can I be the princess! Please?" Danniru begged.

"Okay." Jozan said, graciously. "And I'll be the knight, coming to kill the dragon and save you! And this is my sword!" She declared, grabbing a stick off the floor, and demonstrating exactly how she would kill the dragon.

"Who's going to be the dragon?"

"Amnis can." Jozan decided. "She's my sister, but she's alright…" She bellowed for the toddler, who came over to them. "Wanna be a dragon?"

"Rawwrr!" Amnis said, obligingly. Immediately, the other two got into role, and the game continued for many hours, getting more and more boisterous, until, eventually, Jozan's mom came to find her two daughters.

"Jozan!" She said, sharply. "Stop poking your sister with that stick!"

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Danielle stared up through the darkness at the texture of the roof. Despite the fact she was lying on what was, effectively, the floor; she was perfectly comfortable. It was her mind that was unable to sleep, still trying to digest all this new information. The men had come to the village just to find her. Every time she closed her eyes, the memories reasserted themselves, the scent of burning wood lingering at her nostrils, flames dancing at the back of her eyes. The survivors, the handful there were, had been forced to flee into the Scar right there and then, not worried as other villages were with ghosts. They had been back since to bury bodies, to salvage what they could; but, for the most part, they'd been forced into hiding, lest they be found again. It was no wonder Jozan had hid her powers. She might have been okay- after all, it only takes the tiniest hint of magic to be able to hear as she did, and, as Jozan herself admitted, she had never again heard anything of the future, or of the past, or another world. She could do no spells or charms. All she could do, in fact, was develop unnaturally good hearing. She claimed that when she was near ripples, she could hear the heart beats of those around her. Danniru may have been sceptical about this- even when Jozan was a child, she'd had a penchant for tall tales- but then she had jokingly whispered that she had heard how her heartbeat happened to quicken around a certain member of the party…

Danielle quickly changed her train of thought. That afternoon, Jozan had shown them round the village- Seto having long since disappeared somewhere into the trees- and it was a fairly poor excuse for one. The few remaining adults lived on the ground, in camouflaged shelters that had formed a home for a battalion during the long years of war. They were old, cramped, and many were springing leaks; but they were home for these people. They had been cheerfully decorated, painted, with flowers growing around them, and signs christening them 'Forest Heart' or, her favourite, 'Dunfightin'. The more agile members of the small village were dotted about in little homes up in the trees- lower branches had been stretched and tied together to form a floor, higher branches painstakingly bent down tied onto them to form walls, and a domed roof. They were even smaller. Yet, just like the old barracks, for the survivors of Li'anon, and all those who had joined them since, they were home. Altogether, about twenty people were inhabiting the Scar. A pitifully small number. For such a small number, Nrefder's government were unwilling to help. In fact, they wanted to ignore the problem as much as possible- Li'anon was just a small, unimportant village on the very edge of the kingdom. They simply couldn't afford, when constantly worried that war would break out again, to spend money rebuilding it. The survivors could easily find other villages to fit into.

However, the villagers were not so willing. "Li'anon," Jozan had told them fiercely. "Was not just a place! It's a spirit, a unity! It had survived all the years of war on the front line, all the years of being ignored; and just because most of it's citizens had died didn't mean Li'anon was dead. It's still alive and kicking, right here, in the Scar- where it's been left alone… um, for the most part."

"Jozan…" Danielle whispered into the darkness. "Are you awake?"

"Call me Jo." She replied, after a moment's pause. "Everyone does."

"Jo, then." She amended. "…We've been separated for twelve years."

Silence, and then "Yes."

"And we haven't spoken in all that time…"

Jozan sighed. "Fine. But let's go outside. Amnis doesn't like to be woken up. She gets really grumpy…" She stood, and with the ease of practice, got easily to the heavy cloth that formed the only door, before scrambling onto the roof of the hut. Slightly daunted, Danielle mimicked the movement, but, to her relief, the network of branches made it reasonably easy. It was a good job to, as they were a good distance off the ground, the climb up the trunk manovered with precarious stairs made from cropped branches. To her surprise, Jozan wasn't content with the roof. For a moment, Danielle couldn't see her at all. Than, she spotted the girl scrambling up the thick branches of an empty tree next door. The hut inhabited by Jozan and her sister was the last one, furthest from the river that ran through the Scar. When too close to the river, the constant movement of the water would cause every single sound within several miles to be amplified, and it would keep her awake at night. Danielle slowly shuffled her way across the roof of the tree house, and wondered how, exactly, she was supposed to get to the next tree.

"Jo…?" She called, uncertainly.

"It's alright!" Jozan answered, already several metres up the trunk of the next tree. "Just jump!"

"Alright…" Danielle said, uncertainly. There was no way she could make it to the next trunk. Not a chance. But she had to do it, if she was going to prove that she still trusted this girl. She jumped.

As she'd predicted, she hadn't been able to reach the trunk. However, what she hadn't been able to see was a branch, several feet down. She fell heavily onto it, and desperately began shimming towards the trunk. She did not want to fall. Eventually, after some painstaking climbing, she met Jozan on a sturdy branch towards the top of the tree. She went and sat next to her, looking out on an endless sea of trees.

"What did you want to talk about?" Jozan asked, shortly.

"Um… everything, I guess." Danielle shrugged. "Like… After they took me… What happened to you?"

Jozan snorted. "My best friend was gone, my family was dead, I was five years old. What do you think I did?"

"Amnis is alive…" Danielle tried. Jozan nodded.

"Two years old and orphaned." She stated. "It was so hard… Ms Opy looked after us… Remember her?"
"Vaguely…" Danielle answered, remembering the old widow who had been like a grandmother to all the children of the village. "But… she was so old…"

Another nod. "She died when I was nine. Since then, it's just been me and 'Nis."

"But… That's terrible!" Danielle said, appalled.

"Worse to be dead." Jozan shrugged. "Was that all you wanted to know?"

"I…" Danielle stammered, surprised at the abrupt end. "No, it's not!" She realised, suddenly. "How did you know we were coming? And how did you know the Princess had been kidnapped? It's supposed to be a secret!"

"When I was washing for lunch, an hour or so before you arrived, the water was disturbed and I heard you approaching." She said, matter-of-factly. "As for the Princess, I got a letter from a very reliable source. And they came through the Scar on the Eastern side."

"That's all the way on the other side of the forest!"

"Nothing comes through this forest without a friend of mine knowing about it."

"Who?"
"You'll meet her in the morning. Anything else?" Jozan asked, impatiently.

"Yes…" Danielle said, slowly. "We're childhood friends. Why the weapons? Why don't you trust me?"

Jozan stood up before replying. "Danniru…" She said, in frustration. "Twelve years is too long! A friendship that goes twelve years without renewal is dead! Too much has changed, we've changed too much- I don't know you! I know someone who used to be you. I don't trust anyone I don't know. We are not friends."

She left Danniru alone to mull this over, returning to her home. Guilt had been plaguing her the entire time, and still was. But it was true. It had been too long. Too long… She wished, more than anything, that they could just pick up from where they left off. But she was no longer able to see the world through a child's eyes. This wasn't the world she'd lived in the first five years of her life. Danniru needed to realise that.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Jonouchi was sleeping, but not very well. He was dreaming; a dream of his past, and that was never a good sign. He woke up, sitting up and holding his head. With one arm, he reached down, and fumbled around his neck until he managed to take a reassuring grip on the key that always hung there.

I will go back… He promised himself. I will go back for what's mine. I won't be afraid.

The way his heart was pounding seemed to disagree. Then he noticed something that made it stop altogether. Slowly, he felt inside his boot for the dagger he kept concealed there for occasions such as this, when his sword was unavailable.

Yugi was gone, and Jonouchi was trained not to let that pass.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

"Seto! Seto! Come on… Wakey wakey!"

Seto sat up, finding himself in the small tree house he used while in the forest, about five minutes away from the rest. Close enough to be able to get to the village when he had to. Far enough to have some privacy.

Except, of course, when people came visiting in the middle of the night. He turned towards the door, to see her sitting there, smile still visible in the gloom.

"I look for you all afternoon," he said, wryly. "And you come to see me in the middle of the night."

"I know, I know!" She said, holding up her hands in protest. "I'm sorry. It's been a really busy day, what with-"

"You're bleeding." Seto interrupted, straightening up and nodding at the line of red across one of her palms.

"I know…" She sighed, moving further in. She rubbed her forehead worriedly, leaving a red streak across it. "Woodcutters. One glanced me…"

"Is everyone alright?" Seto demanded, suddenly completely alert now. She nodded.

"For now…" She whispered. "I don't think the ghosts are going to work much longer, Seto…"

"It's alright." He muttered back. "I'm going to rescue the Princess. She'll have to do me a favour- I'll stop this, I promise. It'll be alright."

She laughed without really finding anything funny. "With that determination, we can't fail…" She sighed again. "No, we just can'tfail in general… I'm scared, Seto."

"I know." He whispered. "I'll sort it out. You'll be fine. Just trust me."

"You know I do." She smiled. "I don't know why you do this for us, Seto."

"Hmmph. I do it for you, no-one else." He snorted. "Because there's no-one else worth doing it for."

"Seto…"

"Now, go away. Let me sleep."

"Charming."

"You need to sleep to." He ordered. "Tomorrow's going to be an… interesting day."

"Oh, that's right!" She clapped her hands happily, smearing the other hand with congealing blood. "I get to meet our guests tomorrow! I'm so excited!"

Seto snorted. "Don't be. They're all idiots."

"If you don't like them, I almost certainly will." She teased. "Don't forget, you guys are the hopes for Nrefder and Noxell right now. And for all of us in the Scar."

"Thanks. Now I'm depressed."

She laughed, gave a quick wave, and then left without further ado.

"Get that hand seen to!" Seto called after her, but she had already melted into the trees. He lay back down, settling his body and mind back down in preparation for sleep. Tomorrow really was going to be interesting. He wondered what they'd make of her. Sometimes, he wasn't even sure what to make of her himself.

But she was the only thing he ever smiled about.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

"Danielle? Or is it Danniru now?"

Danielle jumped slightly at the voice, looking frantically all around her for the source.

"Down here!"

She peered down through the branches, and just managed to spot Yugi, standing on the forest floor, craning his neck as he peered up at her. He grabbed hold of the trunk and began climbing, doing it easily. He'd had a lot of practise as a child.

"Danielle will do." She sighed, as he came and sat next to her, where Jozan had previously been sitting.

"How long have you been out here?" Yugi asked, concerned. It was cool out in the night air, the trees blocking out all but the tiniest bit of moon light. You certainly couldn't see the stars. She shrugged. "Okay… Then, why are you out here?"

"I'm just thinking. What about you?"

"The same."

They sat in silence for a few minutes.

"This is so screwed up!" Danielle blurted out, suddenly. "Why do people have to go through so much, and with nothing to gain from it!"

"That's just the way it turns out sometimes." Yugi answered. "It's a fairly screwed up place. That's why we're out trying to make it a little better."

"But…" She whispered. "We weren't even at war anymore… We weren't even at war, and they still trashed my home, and caused all… this."

"It shouldn't have happened." He agreed. "All we can do is make sure it doesn't happen again- we have to find Anzu."

"I just hope we can…"

"We can. Trust me."

"You know I do."

"Yo!" Jonouchi yelled from the bottom of the tree. "What are you two doing up there in the middle of the night! It's too dark for a view! And it's cold! And why sit up there anyway? Why not sit down here! It's so much easier-"

"Would you shut up!" Jozan's grumpy voice echoed from inside the hut in the neighbouring tree. "Some of us actually are trying to sleep…"

With that, the forest fell into silence, as though in a dreamless sleep.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

By the time Danielle awoke, finding herself in a room lit dimly green thanks to the pigments in the leaves, the small hamlet was already a flurry of activity, Jozan and Amnis nowhere to be seen. Hurriedly, hoping she wasn't the last one awake and cursing the late night, she straightened up and headed outside.

The door to the tree house was not so much a door as a hole in the wall, barred with no wood or stone, but merely a rough, quite stiff material. On their tour the previous day, she had seen it being made with twigs picked from the ground and carefully separated into thin fibres, painstakingly sewn into large sheets. It was not the only things these twigs were used to make. Jozan, and many of the others, were in possession of a bow, and the ammunition for it. Danielle was sure this wasn't the only weapon they could create from their surroundings. They'd been forced to survive the less friendly creatures in the Scar, and the less scrupulous people that they so often guided through it. Outside the door was a small platform, and it was here that Danielle stood, looking down on the bustle below from her worryingly precarious position. The twenty or so inhabitants were hard at work, doing something she could not perceive from here, exchanging greeting, banter and jokes as they did. Standing or sitting around the roots at the bottom of the tree, she spotted Yugi, along with Jonouchi and Ryou, and began the dizzying decent to the forest floor. She had yet to catch sight of Seto, Amnis, Jozan, or, indeed, the person Jozan had told her she would meet.

"Good morning!" Ryou greeted her cheerfully, as though he always slept in a tree. The others echoed the sentiment less enthusiastically but with no less warmth.

"Morning." She replied, looking around with curiosity at the people darting in and out of the trees, or converging in a large group around the old barracks. "…What's going on?" She asked.

"That's what we were trying to figure out." Jonouchi snorted. "And we can't."

"So we thought we'd wait to be told what to do." Yugi shrugged. "It was Seto who knew about this place, and he's nowhere to be found…"

"No great loss." Jonouchi muttered, making no effort to conceal his opinion of Seto. As far as he was concerned, a knight should be completely loyal to those he served, brave, fearless, strong, and courageous. Ryou had already told them Seto's motives were unreadable, and he snuck to and fro like a coward. Nor had he, as of yet, proved that he had the skills the rumours said he did. Jonouchi didn't trust him, and made sure everyone knew of his misgivings. He was not the only one to hold this low opinion, as Jozan made only too clear when she arrived.

"Good morning campers!" She declared, striding over from the mass of people in the centre of their patchwork village. She had been smiling, but it now she frowned. "I see Seto's not with you. He always disappears when there's work to be done! Lazy bum!" She snorted before throwing her hands to the sky- or the roof-like canopy of leaves- and crying in despair. "He never holds still! The man has no roots! He's like water- flows where he likes, never holds still, and impossible to catch!" She sighed noisily, lowering her arms which had been gesturing wildly, as the others blinked and Jonouchi resisted the impulse to nod in agreement at the outburst. "Now, then! Who wants to help find firewood?"

"Breakfast?" Jonouchi guessed, looking at the small pile of twigs already assembled by the gaggle of people around it. Jozan laughed.

"Lunch!" She informed him. "It's already after midday!"

"How can you tell?" Danielle asked, glancing up. She couldn't see a trace of the sky through the thick foliage, and the entire forest was lit by a green twilight, filtering through the leaves.

"This is as light as it gets." Jozan replied, seemingly having forgotten the words she had spoken so harshly the previous night. "Anyways, come on- no-one gets fed around here without working for it, and if we don't hurry, they won't give us any!"

"Hate to point this out…" Jonouchi said, lazily. "But Yugi's a prince. And I'm his knight."

"So? Your arms still work, don't they?"

"I don't mind!" Yugi protested, but no-one paid him any heed. He reddened, embarrassed at the fuss.

"You can't seriously expect the Prince of Noxell to go foraging!" Danielle was hissing in quiet horror at Jozan.

"Why not?" She asked, genuinely confused.

"Well… He's a Prince!"

"So? This isn't Noxell. This isn't even Nrefder. This is No-Man's Land, and no man rules it. We're all equals here, remember that." She turned back to the main group with her carefree smile back in place. Danielle wondered how two faced she really was. "Right then! What we want is whatever's flammable and comes off the floor. Yu, why don't you take Danniru and Ryou with you, and Jou can come with me and Amnis?"

Danielle knew that she should have been more concerned about how familiarly Jozan addressed Yugi and even Jonouchi, and perhaps within the stiff formality of any other place she would have pulled her up on it, but it did indeed seem as if society's rules had faded away along with the light. In a way, it felt…freeing. What did concern her was the groups. Jozan had said they were not friends, but did she really hate her so much that their old friendship meant nothing to her? Could she be blaming her for what happened to Li'anon? Probably, yes. As Jozan had said, they had grown up apart, and, in the process, grown apart from each other.

They were not friends. They had not been friends for twelve years.

"Amnis? You mean your sister?" Jonouchi was asking, bewildered. "Where is she?"

"I'm right here." Amnis declared, jumping easily down from the tree behind him and scaring him senseless. "Hello everyone!" She paused, looking quizzically at the knight. "What's up with him?"

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

After they had contributed to the wood along with everyone else, the pile had grown far more sizeable and a group had set about cooking. That seemed to be the way things worked in this 'village'. Instead of small family groups, they all lived and worked together, harvesting crops that had been planted with no real organisation and so grew randomly between the trees, below the strange huts and around the small metal bunkers, surviving on the nutrients in the fertile soil; and collecting the limited variety of nuts and berries the forest offered. They had even less as they only collected what had already fallen from the trees- although this rule didn't seem to apply to bushes- and some of the fruit went bad on the ground. As such, the dinner presented to them was a semi-solid grey-brown mush; that tasted far better than it looked. They dug in with enthusiasm, talking idly- although, inside, they were anxious to get back to rescuing Anzu. However, whenever they breached the subject, Jozan would only say that she supposed they had better wait for Seto, and sigh in impatience and irritation.

"Anyone want a cup of tea?" One of the chefs called over to their small group, sitting as they had earlier, around the roots of Jozan's tree. They answered in the definite positive- particularly the weary travellers that hadn't drank since the previous day.

"Good- then you can go and get us some twigs! The fire's going out, and we can't boil the water!"

"What!" Amnis groaned, outraged. "We brought twice as much as anyone else already! That's forced labour!"
"Yeah!" Jozan agreed. "I haven't even finished eating my…" she trailed off, noticing at last that her bowl of mush had gone. She located it a second later. Seto had finally arrived while they'd been distracted and seemed to have every attention of eating some food himself. "Hey! I was eating that!"

"No, you were ignoring it. I'm eating it." Seto corrected, calmly. There had been nothing left in the pot when he'd arrived, and he was too hungry to miss another meal. Jozan glared at him, but he took a large, defiant mouthful, determined to prove there was no way she was getting the remainder of her food back.

Danielle watched the exchange as Jozan started to get threatening without laughter. Although his attitude and tone of voice remained the same, she had never expected Seto to... behave, almost socialise, in such a way. It reminded her of a brother and sister, or two old friends, almost. She wondered if, for whatever reason, Seto was more relaxed here in the forest just as she was more relaxed away from Noxell Castle…

Jonouchi, meanwhile, was on his high horse. He hadn't traipsed through the trees and almost been poisoned by an evil little frog that lurked in its perplexing labyrinth for no reason. He had been earning his food with honour. And here was this supposed 'knight' acting, once again, with complete disregard for those around him! "Hey." He said, steely. "Don't you think you should collect some wood before you eat that?"

"He shouldn't be eating it at all!" Jozan protested.

It fell on deaf ears.

Glaring at Jonouchi, Seto strode over to the waning fire and carelessly dropped a single, small twig onto it.

"Great. A twig." One of the cooks said sarcastically. "What help is that going to be!"

Eventually, however, the tea was made; and it wasn't quite like what any of the guests had expected. The woody, smoky taste was a far cry from the herbal teas drank in Noxell and the taste of the leaves brewed in Nrefder. In actual fact, it tasted an awful lot like the fire smelt.

"I don't suppose…" Ryou said weakly, having taken a sip and trying to keep his expression polite. "That this tea is made from those twigs to, is it?"

"Yup!" Amnis answered, swallowing some down. "Ground up into powder and boiled. Delicious!"

"Perhaps… it's an acquired taste." Ryou tried, putting the cup down.

"I love it." Jozan agreed with Amnis, before raising her rough wooden beaker high into the air. "But we must have a toast! To-"

"Seto!" a man, aged in his early twenties interrupted, running over to them. He looked dirty and footsore, evidentially having just returned from guiding travellers through the forest. He spied Jozan's tea, still held aloft, and snatched it gratefully. "Thanks, just what I need…" He mumbled, downing it. "Anyway, Seto- just got back, and I met Az on the way. She said she'd be here in about twenty minutes."

Seto nodded. "How was the trip?"

"Excellent! We took the South road and the only danger we bumped into was a Rock Toad! Yet, he was so impressed, he paid the full fee- and a generous tip! It was never like this in the old days!" He grinned, and then excused himself to go and find some food. Seto handed him what remained of Jozan's bowl.

"Here. I don't want it." He stated, and stood to leave.

"There's no point even trying, is there?" Jozan sighed, mournfully tipping her reclaimed cup upside down. Not a single drop remained. "I can't even make anymore unless I go and get more twigs, and by then the water will be cold…"

"Why not just get them from here?" Jonouchi asked, standing up and trying to pull some branches from the tree for her. "If I had my sword-"

"No!" Jozan and Amnis screamed at him. He paused.

"It's okay, it has plenty…" He assured them, bewildered; only to suddenly find Seto very, very close to his face.

"Never threaten these trees." Seto said, quietly, dangerously. "Or you'll answer to me."

"Fine." Jonouchi growled, not backing away. "But know this. As soon as I have my sword, you- hey!"

Seto was already stalking away, ignoring the threat.

Danielle remained silent, as she had for the entirety of the meal. She didn't want to comment on this place until she understood it. And that, she felt, might take a little bit longer then she had thought, and a little bit longer than she had.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Despite the apparent business and bustle of the small community, once the meal was finished and cleared away, there was actually very little to be done. There was no news of travellers awaiting guides, and none of the crops growing slapdash around them were in season. They had been watered that morning, and there was really nothing else to be done. Danielle couldn't help but wonder what they did all day- and when they were going to get down to business.

"I don't like this." She confided to Yugi. "Why aren't we making a move? It almost seems as though we're prisoners here!"

He nodded. "I see your point, but what else can we do? There's no way we'll find our way out without these guys."

"But what are they waiting for? This 'Az' person?"

"I guess so. Until she shows up, though, we'll have to-"

"Whatcha talking about?" Amnis asked curiously, dropping from the branches behind them, evidently untroubled by the height. She had grown up in the trees and traversed them as easily as she did solid ground. She also did this very quietly, scaring her hapless victims to death as a result. "Jozan sent me to find you." She offered in explanation. "Az is here."

Yugi and Danielle exchanged looks. Here, at last, was the person they'd been waiting for. There had to be a reason for this anticipated visit. Just who was this Az? What wisdom, what power, did she have that would cause a society that claimed to all be equals defer to her?

Az wasn't anything like they had envisioned. In actuality, she looked no different to anyone else haunting the forest. Still, appearances could be deceptive- even Seto had joined the others to have chance to consult with her.

"Here they are!" Jozan said as they arrived. "Allow me to introduce Danniru, our fellow Ghost of Li'anon and Royal Mage of Noxell; and Yugi, the Prince. Guys! This is Az!"

"He's shorter then I imagined." Az commented, squinting at Yugi. "It's so good to finally meet you!" She continued, smiling at Danielle. "Jozan told me-" She trailed off, although no-one but she and Danielle saw the looks the girl in question was shooting at her. "That you want to go and rescue Anzu." She finished the sentence almost seamlessly. Danielle wondered what the original ending was going to be.

Yugi nodded, oblivious to the exchange. "That's right. Can you help us?"

"Maybe…" Az considered, head tilted to the side. "That all depends on what help you need. I can give you some information."

"Do you know where she is?" Jonouchi demanded, immediately. "Do you know who took her?"

"Not exactly." Az plopped down and sat in the soil, everyone else following suit, arranging themselves in a little circle. "But nothing and no-one comes through this forest without my friends and I knowing about it."

"Oh?" Jonouchi said, cynically. "Then who's in the forest right now?"

"Us, the Ghosts, some woodcutters…"

"What?" Seto snapped, while Jozan and Amnis tensed up. Danielle again wondered what they were missing. Once again, it seemed she had more questions then answers.

"Relax. They were dealt with before I came here. They're leaving. Anyway," She continued easily. "A couple of days ago, some men passed through here. They didn't have a guide, which surprised me, so, naturally, I came here."

"At which point," Jozan interrupted "I went down to the river and I could hear them to."

"We sent a guide out to offer their services-" Az continued.

"Me!" Amnis declared happily. "But they declined."

"Wonder why?" Jonouchi muttered.

"Don't you get it?" Az leant forward. "No-one but us and the Ghosts get through here without a guide- and even they only stick to four set paths. It's death to try. No-one declines."

"But they did…" Danielle muttered. She couldn't understand how they could have said no- she got lost just in this little area around the barracks!

"That's not the worst of it." Jozan frowned. "They actually made it through! And, a few days later, returned- carrying a woman."

No-one was surprised at this particular revelation. However, they did begin to exchange worried looks. These men, not of the Ghosts, knew the forest. Just who were they…?

"There wasn't a thing we could do!" Jozan said, angry at the fact itself. "For one thing, by the time Az got to us, there was no way to catch up with them. Seto had already ridden out to the palace shortly after they'd come through the first time. We couldn't go after people just on the pretence they looked suspicious- we'd make no money that way! But now the Princess is gone, our entire livelihood is at risk! What do you think would happen to us if the army wanted their barracks back?" She sighed noisily, as she seemed to be in the habit of doing. "We've got to-"

Az suddenly gasped in pain, jolting forward.

"What is it?" Seto rose urgently to his knees. She straightened up slightly, hand over her stomach that was now bleeding across it's entire length. There were noises of horror from the onlookers.

"I…"

"It's those woodcutters again." Jozan said, grimly. "It's gotta be."

Az nodded, one hand on the tree for support, the other still on her stomach. Apparently, she was still able to function despite the mysterious wound. "…about a quarter of a mile west."

Seto stood without further hesitation, long running strides taking him out of view in a second. Amnis was half way up a tree, Jozan, and, somehow, Az, already on their feet; and, as one body, they began to move out after Seto.

"What's-" Danielle began, alarmed.

"Wait here!" Jozan barked sharply, and then they faded into the undergrowth.

"Ever get the feeling you've missed something?" Jonouchi asked, sighing.

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Perhaps the others had no intention of waiting, but they couldn't help that now. The four ran along, three on the ground and one in the tree tops, pounding through bush and bracken alike, urgent and frightened all at once. Following her sister's lead, Jozan scrambled up a trunk, taking to the canopy. She wasn't as fast or as agile as her sister, but at least up here she had a better vantage point.

"I see them!" She yelled. "Seto, a little left!"

"I think they're gonna-" Amnis began in horror, and, right on que, Az fell to her knees, clutching her abdomen, in too much pain even to cry.

"Az!" Seto shouted, half turning, but before he reached her, a woman hurried from the shadow of the trees and gone to her. "Kaho… Will she be alright?"

"Not if you don't stop them!" She pointed out. "Go, go!"

They needed no further prompting, and the three crashed off again.

"What if…" Jozan gasped, hurling herself through the air and to the next tree. "We don't make it in time?"

"That's not an option." Seto said, flatly. Then, instantly, they were upon the men, readying the axe for another swing at the tree before them. They turned and saw Seto. He looked angry, but not overly threatening. After all, this man was all alone in the middle of nowhere.

"What do you think you're doing?" Seto asked, silkily.

"We're taking this tree." The braver of the two stated.

"You've already been told to leave." Seto snarled. "I suggest you do."

"We tried to." The man smirked. "But we got lost. So we figured- why go empty handed? After all, no-one owns this land! It's ripe for the taking!"

"I know some…people who would disagree."

Before they could even think of a response, let alone give one, they found themselves under attack. From the left, arrows swept past them, embedding deep into the ground on the right. From the right came shuriken, deadly throwing stars, remaining standing as though alive in the ground on the left.

"What the!"

"Where'd they come from!"

"They came from the trees." Seto informed them calmly. "The Ghosts of Li'anon do not appreciate having their second home destroyed. Go now, or you may not be able to."

The men hastened to comply, Amnis following unseen and unheard above them to make sure they actually went this time. Jozan hopped down from a tree to the left, and went to pull her arrows from the ground.

"Your aim is getting worse." Seto criticised. "You used to get it at their feet."

"I was firing three at once! And my eyes aren't brilliant! Besides, what about your story? You could at least-"

The argument stopped dead in it's tracks as Kaho entered, supporting Az and placing her gently at the bottom of the scarred tree.

"It's alright…" Az assured them, weakly. "The bleeding's stopping already…"

"What she needs is sleep." Kaho frowned, not really believing her friend's words. Proving the point, Az's eyes sagged shut even as she half-listened to the conversation.

"We're losing control of this forest." Jozan worried quietly. "First people are finding their way through without us, and now we have to attack them to get them to stop cutting down trees! The second we don't get to one in time, someone-"

"That won't happen." Seto said firmly, turning back the way they'd come. "Let's go and work out the next stage- the sooner the Princess is rescued, the sooner something's done."

"What if she doesn't listen…?" Az whispered quietly. Seto crouched down in front of her, looking at her, half-asleep in the trees roots, head just reaching the fresh, weeping wound on the trunk.

"…She'll listen." He grunted.

"Next question, then." Jozan bit her lip. "How are we going to explain this? Or rather, avoid explaining it?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something." Seto shrugged. He had no intention whatsoever of doing itself. "You're good at wriggling out of things."

Jozan sighed deeply. "I think I'll take that as a compliment, as it's the nearest to one I'm ever going to get from you…"

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

"Sorry about that!" Jozan said cheerily, rejoining the group and trying not to let the relief that they had waited after all show on her face. "We just had some stuff to clear up- Az is finishing off, but we'll see her tomorrow. We won't see Amnis for a while, I suspect- she's guiding some people out." Finally pausing for breath, she plopped to the ground and began absent mindedly cleaning mud from the head of one of her omnipresent arrows.

"What are you not telling us…?" Jonouchi asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"The most common insect in the Scar is the pentapide."

Jonouchi blinked. "What?"

"A little beetle. Five legs." Jozan explained, indicating the size with her fingers. "A very silly number of legs, if you ask me, but…"

"What's that got to do with anything!" Danielle demanded.

"Well, he asked what I wasn't telling you."

"I don't think-"

"Can we get on with this?" Seto sighed in impatience, apparently ignorant of the fact they'd spent half the day waiting for him. "We know Anzu is in Noxell. Or, we hope she's in Noxell. Az said the men had provisions for a long journey, so they could be even further. What we don't know is her exact location- that's what we need to find out."

"Thank you Captain Obvious." Jozan rolled her eyes. "You have once again saved the world from ignorance. A better question would be- What do we have to work with?"

"Magic." Danielle answered immediately. "And a lot of it. There are plants everywhere- put them together and give me half a minute, and… the impossible becomes a lot smaller."

"Well… I don't have any expertise in plants…" Ryou added, hesitantly. "But I'm told I'm rather good with charms and such. What really interests me, though, is artefacts- spells weaved into everyday objects."

"Forget that!" Jonouchi dismissed, grinning. "Hand me a sword and I can cut through anything!"

Seto snorted. "Wow, that's as useful as Jozan's Ripple-induced dog hearing."

"Hey!" The two insulted chorused.

"All I've really got…" Yugi said, slowly. "Is my position. I am the Prince after all- perhaps that'll help us?" He fingered the Puzzle around his neck as he spoke. "Oh, and this thing apparently has some sort of ancient protection spell on it…I don't know if that's true."

"It is!" Ryou said hurriedly, Danielle nodding in agreement. "I can feel it."

"Awesome!" Jozan smiled. "So we have seven very different people off to save the Princess!"

"Seven…?" Seto asked, in a tone that heavily suggested she recounted.

"Amnis and I are coming." She said in a tone to match his. "If war breaks out again, this forest is the frontline. I can't let that happen! We have to come, to make sure you don't screw up! Besides…" She smirked. "Just try to get through Noxell without us!"

Seto frowned, knowing what she was thinking of. "No. No. Not again. Never again."

Jozan sighed as she always did. "You know it's the best way for a large group to travel without people getting suspicious. And the best way to get gossip- aka, the best way to find out where Anz is!"

Seto closed his eyes in resignation. "…Fine." He said, reluctantly.

"What are we doing?" Danielle asked, warily. It had been a long, confusing day and what she really needed was a straight answer.

"We're just putting on a bit of a show." Jozan said, smiling innocently. "You know how I love melodrama…"

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By the time she lay down to sleep that night, Danielle was exhausted. She'd had hard days before, of course; sometimes spells were in demand twenty or thirty times a day, and she'd be casting magic from non-stop from dawn to dusk- and sometimes well into the night on top. Although she hadn't cast any magic at all that day, her body was stiff, sore and bruised. Jozan's brilliant idea had turned out to be that they posed as a travelling circus.

It wasn't a bad idea, by all accounts. The bands of travellers, exchanging bed and board for entertainment weren't uncommon. It would be a lot easier to get gossip and rumours if they appeared to be harmless clowns, and wouldn't alert people to the fact that something was going on. If anyone knew where Anzu was, it would be a busy-body with their nose in everything. They even had everything needed for the disguise tucked away from a previous, disastrous experience that no-one seemed to want to talk about. In fact, there only really seemed to be one flaw.

They had almost no time at all to learn the skills that took real performers a life time to master.

And so, in comparison to the laziness of earlier that day, they were suddenly rushing about at a speed to rival the five-legged pentapide, which was surprisingly nippy. There was a huge volume to be learnt, in a space of time no where near big enough for it. Anzu had already been missing for several days, and time was a blessing they no longer enjoyed. And it was not just new skills they had to learn. In order to pass as a family-run circus, they had to be at least somewhat alike. Now, Jozan and Amnis could obviously appear to be related, and even Seto, to his chagrin, shared their somewhat forest-y looks. The others merely had to pretend to be those that travelled with them- but there were new manners of etiquette and culture to be learnt- if they were to be a group they had to behave like one; they couldn't have her, Yugi and Jou following the customs of Noxell, Jozan and Amnis of the Scar, Ryou of Nrefder and Seto doing whatever the heck he wanted. It was decided that, while travelling in Noxell, that was the behaviour they should adopt. Admittedly, this hadn't been too hard for Danielle, who merely had to realise the differences between Palace life and that of travellers; in comparison to those from outside Noxell, who had to learn everything from accents to colloquialisms. However, it wasn't just circus skills and manners.

She and Ryou had to learn how to fight.

As Mages, combat had hardly been a priority. In fact, their position was really only one step up from any lowly tool- they were there to do whatever needed to be done but couldn't be done without magic. That was the full extent of their job. Until that day, she hadn't touched a sword, let alone a bow, in her life. It worried her that Seto seemed to be expecting so much trouble on this trip- after all, wasn't part of the circus façade intended so that this as-of-yet unknown enemy wouldn't see them coming?- but, she supposed, in order to rescue the Princess from someone who (they thought) wanted war, it would fall to violence eventually. She sighed deeply, wondering how she'd managed to miss the way the world was; wondering what else the Palace had shielded her from. Jozan had been outside those walls, out in the cold of open reality- perhaps that was the key to their differences. She wondered if anyone had ever really been able to trust Jozan and, indeed, if she had ever been able to trust anyone herself. What had twelve years done…?

It had been Jozan, along with some other Ghosts, who had taught them about combat. She remembered her being severely accident-prone, with all the coordination of a one legged horse; tripping over several times a day, mostly over her own feet. She'd always had cuts or scrapes of some description. All traces of that clumsiness was gone now, erased by years of training and the trials of surviving in a forest. She had taught them how to make good use of a bow, and had rather impressed them with her speed and accuracy at shooting- although, when Seto came past, he merely gave some derogatory comment about her tendency to shoot left-handed. For a moment, Danielle had been worried he was going to see her first attempt, but, to her relief, he left. As it turned out, once she'd got the hang of the strange, offensive contraption, she'd been somewhat of a natural. Jozan had complimented her, and, for a moment, it felt like they were friends after all. However, then it was Ryou's turn, and he 'couldn't hit a single enemy if there was an army of thousands in front of him, comprised entirely of blind, unarmed, five year old girls with one arm each'; according to Jozan, anyway.

They'd given up on archery after that.

Swords, or rather sticks found on the ground, had been fun- apart from the Ghost training them being ruthless and a perfectionist. Every move they thought they'd learnt needed to be repeated again and again, faster and faster, until he was satisfied; and they were black and blue, crumpled from exhaustion. However, they had to drag themselves to their feet, because it had been time to learn how to use a staff.

Danielle had assumed this would be the easiest, as she was already used to using a staff, but she was wrong. This was an entirely new use for a staff, unlike any she'd ever even considered before. Despite threatening the member of the Royal Guard with it, her staff was not all that necessary to her magic. The relationship they shared was like that between a beautiful singer and backing music- perhaps the song sounded a little better with it, but the melody could stand perfectly well alone. Likewise, her staff merely assisted her magic- or rather, the red gem did, focusing and honing the spell to it's proper location. Ryou, like all Mages, had this gem set in his staff to, although the design of the head was different. It had fewer curves and was a lot more angular than Danielle's, the centrepiece sitting inside a sharp 'U' shape, two small spikes bending down at the sides.

Needless to say, neither of them had ever used their staffs to clout someone over the head, which seemed to be their general function in combat.

Apparently, it was very easy to knock people out that way.

Regardless of the surprise, Danielle had risen to the occasion, and, in the end, she and Ryou had been in agreement that sparing with staffs was, by far, their favourite form- the staffs felt far more natural to them then swords or bows, and they hadn't been able to shake the feeling of power and grace that the staff had given them.

Danielle wondered vaguely what had happened to her over the last twelve years. Her childhood, and Jozan's, and Amnis', had burnt with the hopes and dreams and pride of Li'anon.

They'd collapsed into bed after that, having long since missed the evening meal, but Danielle's mind was restless, somersaulting around the day's events. She tried to calm it down, tried to concentrate on the task at hand- how to use the magic she had offensively, should it come to a fight; and, more prominently, how she could use it to perform the conjuring tricks with the circus and make it look like sleight of hand. They didn't want to cause a stir. Her mind was being rather disobedient- it kept returning to, again and again, why Seto thought all this was necessary- for she was certain it was his idea- and, what, exactly, was going on in the Scar and with Az that they seemed so anxious to keep from them.

"What are you up to, Jozan…?" She muttered into the darkness, just wanting to relieve the oppressive silence that trailed in the wake of darkness and sleep.

"I can't sleep."

Danielle jolted in surprise, having been unprepared for a response, and became aware that Jozan was pushing her way out of the tree house. Silently, she struggled to her feet and followed, vowing that she would get some answers that night. Navigating her way to the forest floor with care in the darkness, she finally completed her descent and turned to find a heavy wooden staff bearing down on her. It was all she could do to raise an arm to protect her face and prepare for the impact.

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"Seto…?"

"I'm not asleep." He answered, sitting up and peering through the gloom.

"Can I come in?"

He nodded mutely, knowing Az had night vision good enough to see the gesture, They sat in silence for a while, seeking comfort from the other's presence and gaining none.

"The tree." Az said eventually. "They nearly killed it. The wood around the edge of the cut is dead. It'll rot… and, over time, it'll spread to the rest… and then… it'll eventually wither away. Do you… understand?"

Seto said nothing, did nothing, for a long time. Then he said, gruffly. "I'll still go."

"But by the time you get back, I'll…"

"I know."
She sighed, and then shook her head, wavy, red-brown hair hitting her face, coated in a sad smile. "I'm proud of you. And I have something for you."

She opened her hand, but Seto couldn't see in the darkness what it was. But he saw as she lifted it to her lips and kissed it softly. Then she laid it on the floor and slid it over towards him.

"Remember." She stated softly, and disappeared quickly back into the night. Seto stared after her for a long moment, and then reached out for the item she had left him. It glistened slightly, wet from dew, or her tears, or his. It was a leaf, recently pulled from a tree. It was still green.

He made some sort of noise. He wasn't sure if it was a laugh or a cough, a sigh or a sob, but it seemed to sum up his feelings.

Some way away, Az leant her head against the Scar in the trunk, feeling the sap, the life, running from it. It was finally over. Silently, she cried into the silence of an eternal darkness.

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A/N: Az, for anyone who cares, is a character I use in some of my other fics- Namely, Amusing For Inspiration, Wherever you Go, and It's My Move. Well is in WyG to. Um… Yeah. Just thought you might be interested. To be honest, I shall be surprised if anyone is still reading! If you are, thank you!