"Your Highness a seagull has arrived with a scroll." the soldier said standing tall holding his spear in his hand. A tall skinny man, who was polishing his wonderful sword stopped his motion abruptly turning around, "Bring me to it.", the soldier bowed, turning around directing the King to its location from the King's quarters on the ship. Placing the sword in its sheath he followed the soldier moving swiftly across the ship. The ship rocked slightly due to the waves but the King had grown used to it. He had been sailing the seas for months now, his daughter sitting on the throne in his absence. Not only would he be able to look at his other colonies he would be able to give his daughter practice on running the kingdom.

As the King passed by the soldiers, ship mates and maids who were present on the way bowed; he was unlike his daughter who really didn't care about these formalities. On starboard, there was a place concentrated with soldiers. The soldier screamed an order to the others and they all stood in a two lines facing each other, creating a path for the King to access the bird, with a loud clank as they slammed the butts of the spears on to the deck. On the other end was the seagull carrying a scroll in its mouth. It seemed to be unfazed by the amount of people and noise. "Here your highness, is the bird."

As if the path was made for it, the bird him hopped down the path the soldiers had formed, dropped the scroll in front of the King and flew away. The scroll looked like it went through a lot, there was splotches of sea water on it making some parts soggy, some seaweed hanging around and torn in some places. It really didn't look like a scroll.

The soldier bent down to pick it up but was stopped by the King himself. He picked it up, cringing as he did so. It looked filthy but whatever the information was, it must have been for him, it had the royal symbol stamped on the outside, now smudged by the water. He opened it carefully, reading the slightly smudged handwriting line by line.

Never did he imagine that he would read such a news. Blood from his face rushed out, his eyes wide open with his mouth agape. He gulped, tears brimming in his eyes. "Captain," he hollered, storming up to the cockpit. "Yes sir."
"Turn back home immediately."
"But your highness we haven't reached-"
"This is a command captain." he snarled.

He needed to go back home, before it was to late.

The trees swayed to the gentle breeze of the nice hot day. The sky was blue as ever, little cotton like clouds dotting it, perfect to gaze at and guess what it looked like.

"Ah this feels so good." Chika stretched as she walked, enjoying the feel of the cold breeze hit her in her sweltering robes. Riko hummed in response. Though their robes weren't black, except for Yoshiko's because she insisted it to be that way, it had layers of lightweight yet durable armor to protect them. "I guess no matter how heavy armor is it is always hot inside." Riko said.

"How long do we have to go?" Chika whined trying to fan herself with her robes. "Chika chan we haven't even travelled for an hour and you're saying this. Don't you want to find You chan?"
"Of course I do but... its so hot." she groaned. "Why does the sun have to be so cruel?"
"C'mon Chika chan if we don't go faster we won't find their lair."

The quest required them to search for the lair of the bandits so that they could preform a strategical attack on it. Most of the land had been scored by them and Ruby's bird friend from the Forest of Birds- Pinkie, a robin whom Ruby could only understand due some reason(Riko hadn't paid much attention when the younger girl was explaining). There was suspicious activities going on in that forest like there were no attacks on any village by the bandits ever since You had been kidnapped. Maybe Mari thought it was connected (which was obvious) but something just didn't add up. Riko had no clue what but something felt off. It was not only because of Mari's odd behavior but also the soulmate mark on her back. It was fading. It freaked her out. How could it fade so quickly? It wasn't that long ago that You was captured and it had already begun fading.

She had immediately asked Yoshiko about the fading of her tattoo. This was for sure that these tattoos don't fade very easily as usually they are connected deeply in some way or the other. The truth had hit her hard. It made sense. They barely talked to each other unless Chika was there. The tattoos would fade according to how close they were and this meant that they were... it made sense but it hurt her already aching heart. If only she wasn't so awkward, maybe she'd still have a completely colored tattoo. It wasn't this that was odd but the nightmares that accompanied this. She didn't even want to think about them, as they only terrified her. They were so vivid and it scared her, especially what Hanamaru said grimly, "Sometimes the pain of your decolorizing tattoo gives you nightmares, depending on the pain. And sometimes they come true.", and that was something she didn't want at all cost. And it all connected to You in some or the other way. Like the muscular guy who they saw kidnapping You, who again in her dream was towering over her with a sword in his hand, murderous look and Riko had no clue how it ended. It scared her and that guy wasn't helping her.

"Riko chan," Riko came out from the depths of her mind back to the real world. "Huh? What?"
"I've been calling you for sometime ya know?"
"Really?"
"Yup."

"I've got the best idea!" Chika almost squealed in delight, almost jumping up and down. "What about this, if we find the lair of the bandits and if You chan's there we could use a crate of mikans to distract the bandits and we could release You chan and go back home."
"Chika chan not everyone likes mikan."
"I know, but the ones who like it would eat it and the ones who hate it would run away in fear." Chika claimed with a proud smile. It was a childish yet dumb idea. "Chika chan I don't think that would work."
"Aww... I really thought it would."
"Maybe not as much as you mikan catapult."
"So let's go with the mikan catapult."
"No Chika chan we're not!"
"Aww..."

Chika had been working on some ideas for saving You some being absolutely ridiculously childish and somehow involved mikans all the time. Some were kind of funny, some were innovative but easily defeatable but some just made Riko want to bang her head on the stone walls of the castle and die wondering why she knew Chika. Yet it made Riko feel guilty for being useless. All Riko did was be depressed, play some instruments to lessen her agony of the nightmares haunting her in the day and to lessen the guilt not being able to save You, practicing combining instruments specifically the viola and the piano with her powers and be depressed once again.

"Hey Riko chan is that an arrow?" Chika squinted, pointing at a tree in the distance. Riko took a closet look and yes, Chika was right. Riko shook her head at Chika in approval. They had to be on their toes now.

Chika pulled out a tiny disc, about the size of a coin, from beneath her robes and threw it into the air. With a click, the compact disc had enlarged into a sharp spear, ready for battle. Chika caught it, expertly, looking around her for any sign if a bandit. It was a technology that Nozomi had borrowed from a friend.

Meanwhile Riko pulled out a tiny viola from her robes about the size of her palm and with a pluck of its tiny string it grew into a normal viola except this was armed and it was designed to not go out of tune nor break very easily. This would be the perfect chance to test her skills with this new way of using her powers.

"Wait, is it a bandit arrow?" Riko asked after looking around the surroundings along with Chika for sometime like idiots trying to look cool. "Uh, I don't know."
"Ugh."
"Hey even you don't know!"

Carefully they made their to the tree hoping it won't explode, because there was a chance that it could be those explosive arrows. Luckily they weren't as they didn't explode when Riko's "flower arm" touched it but by the design on the arrow- green and sky blue stripes towards the tail of the arrow did indicate that it was indeed the arrow of a bandit.

"They were here." Chika said steadying her spear. "Maybe we should go a bit farther." Riko said, Chika agreeing to the idea. Carefully, watching their surroundings intently, they ventured ahead. Any moment a bandit could attack them; they could feel a presence in the area.

Whoosh. Riko froze cold in her tracks, terrified. She held the viola tighter and almost began playing. Her heartbeat became erratic as she saw what had passed right in between the two. It was a regal double edged dagger. A sharp blade that seemed to cut through an inch of the bark of the tree it hit, attached to a fine hilt that seemed to be worn out due to repeated usage and topped off with a golden guard that sparkled in the sunlight which had a shiny green gemstone in the shape of a dolphin embedded in it.

Gulping thickly, she turned around. She could hear her heart in her ears beating loudly like a drum. Behind them stood the thrower, standing casually as if nothing happened, her hands behind her head. She was wearing the normal attire for a bandit- brown lightweight armor with green and sky blue stripes on the shoulders, their faces hidden with a black bandanna tightly tied onto their faces, only revealing their eyes and the top of their heads.

"Ah, its you again. Long time no see." the bandit sneered. 'Wait we've seen her before?' Riko thought, shifting in her place preparing herself. "Seems like your princess sent you again."
"Of course she did. You bandits have been causing trouble to everyone." Chika told her. The bandit let out a howling laughter, "Wait, give me a moment," she said between laughs, the other two looking at her confused. "Us, causing trouble. Wow, that sounds more of a joke the princess would make." she laughed again, "Are you sure about that, knight? Cause I think we are doing the right thing."

"People have gone missing, towns have been burnt to ashes and supplies have been running out, not just in this kingdom but many others." Riko said with a tinge of pain in her voice. "Do you know why that is being done?" the bandit asked, her eyes curiously looking at them. Chika lowered her spear, as realization hit her, "No but it's wrong. All of it." Chika held her spear tighter now, lifting it up in a fighting stance. Riko agreed to every word. "Where is You chan!?", she bellowed.

"What happened to- I mean- we don't have this You chan." Riko could have sworn the was a some sort of concern on her face before reverting back to the cold look she had on her face. "Where is You chan, you sneaky-" Riko was interrupted, "Like I just said there is no You chan with us."

"We're not going to leave without her."
"Well too bad you might have to, you're standing on bandit territory."
"This is not the territory of the bandits it's a part of Uranohoshi."
"Let's see about that." the bandit threw a wave of daggers at them, waved her arm diagonally, creating wave of water over her, that fell in making her disappear. Chika dodged them albeit skillfully, some did graze her, spinning her spear like the blades of a fan, the dagger bouncing off of it. Chika remained almost unscathed unlike Riko who seemed to struggle. She played a piece of music but it's intensity was a not enough to match the power of the daggers. The petals only made most of the daggers scrape her each one burning. Riko felt so much pain but she was going to get You, even if she's just to normal to help. "Where did she go?" they looked around them searching for the blue haired bandit.

Whoosh. Another dagger had flown past them from behind, this time almost impaling Chika. "Yikes." Chika spun her spear and both of them turned around.

It was a mistake they committed. Chika shrieked and before Riko could digest what had happened Chika had been kicked into a tree with such a force she heard a sickening crack. "Chika chan!" she yelled and darted to Chika. This time two daggers were thrown at her but she stopped and turned to the bandit who was standing in front of her, a few yards away twirling her dagger. She could see Chika trying to get up onto her feet but was immediately pushed down onto the ground, painfully hard by a gush of water from the bandit's free hand. She pointed the dagger to her then to herself, "This is between me and you."

Riko played the viola, petals rising beside her now flying at high speeds at the bandit. Riko knew they were deadly unlike before when she used her crossbow, they weren't soft and delicate they were now as sharp as needles, only in this case enough to kill you. They were the petals of a red anemone, a symbol of death.

But Riko wished she had enough skill or experience or maybe if her powers weren't so normal and stupid. The bandit dodged each one skillfully, not one even grazing her. "My turn." she charged towards Riko, at full speed. Riko tried to create a flower tornado or flower hand to pick her up and throw her away but the bandit was quick on her feet and muscular too.

The bandit had dropped her daggers and before Riko could react she was punched in the gut. Air was thrown out of her lungs, struggling to breathe. The viola dropped from her hands and hit the grassy ground. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she stumbled back to be again punched in the gut, throwing her back even farther. Punch after punch, Riko stumbled back, at one point blood flower from her mouth and her body bruised from each power packed punch, till she fell on the ground, nearly about to faint from pain and fatigue. Her eyes were barely open at this point.

The bandit hovered above her. She placed a foot on Riko's chest and kneeled down so that her lips were by her ear. Riko winced, not even able to make a sound from the aching of her body in more than one way. The bandit placed the cold blade of a dagger she pulled out on Riko's bruised cheek, the only thing that made her not fall unconscious. "Listen to me knight. You're just a weakling with powers so ordinary, I can just kill within an instant if I wanted to." Riko felt the remains of her self-confidence crumble. "Let me tell you something, not every thing is what it seems. You might not get it now but you will. And this, tell your princess that time's up. There's no use in trying."

The bandit made a cut with a dagger on Riko's cheek making her squirm as blood flowed from the wound along with many others all over her body. The bandit removed her foot and walked away as if there wasn't a fight here.

Riko was emotionally, mentally and physically drained. If what she said was right, where was You? Who could have taken her? Those dreams did they have anything to do with this? She didn't know. Why was she You's soulmate? She was a person who couldn't even make a mark in her life.
At this point she wanted to sleep and forget everything that just happened. She closed her eyes and drifted into the land of torturous nightmares once again.

A/N:
Yeah I know I haven't updated in a month. Things have been rough for me in irl so I really couldn't focus on this, or for that matter anything really. I hope this chapter was good enough for that month break. I actually split this chapter into two for convenience and this is the fist part of it(duh). See ya later...