Ken awoke with a start, scanning his surroundings. He noticed he was not in Tartarus, or even close to it. He realized he was in a forest, about 5 in the morning he would guess. He didn't hear that girls voice anymore, nor did he hear
the sounds of battle. He scanned the ground, looking for his friends. He noticed Koromaru sprawled out on the forest floor, but there were no other signs of anyone else. There was a trail of blood nearby, and Ken suddenly remembered Yukari being very
injured in the battle with Nyx. He had a suspicion of if he followed that blood trail, he would find Yukari. He shook Kormaru, who woke almost immediately, bolting straight up. He then did the same thing Ken did when he woke up, and found the
blood trail. He sniffed it for a bit. "Arph! Arph!" He barked, and bolted on the trail of blood. Ken tried his best to keep up, but he was out of stamina. His legs refused to run as fast as he previously had, his body growing more and more gelatin-like.
He sank to his knees, alone again. Always alone, he realized. Alone when his mother died, alone when Shinji died, and alone now. Even in SEES, he didn't feel as if he had any true friends. The only one who kept him company late at night was Koro.
He has always been by Kens side since joining SEES. He broke down, a tear streaming down his face. He didn't get much time to grieve, however, as the sound of horses grew closer and closer. Ken knew he had to get away, but his legs wouldn't take him
any farther. Ken saw the horses approach the corner, a man in dark clothing with blonde hair leading them.
"There are no forests in Inaba like this." Yukiko thought aloud. Even in some of the other places that Yu and Yosuke took her and Chie to didn't have a forest like this like Okina. She walked at a slow pace through the forest.
She didn't really have an idea of what she was looking for. Probably her friends. She just wanted someone else by her side, she didn't really care who. Even Teddie with his constant bear puns would be a welcome sound. She wandered through the forest
as she wondered where exactly she was. "Yukiko-sempai?" A feminine voice said quietly. Yukiko looked over to where it came from to discover Rise hiding in a nearby bush. "Rise-chan!" She exclaimed as she ran towards Rise. The two girls embraced each
other, a few tears streaming down each of their faces. They were just happy to know their friends came with them. Rise eyed Yukiko puzzled. "Is Yu-sempai or anyone else with you?" Yukiko shook her head, and Rise pouted. "I'm going to have to talk
to Yu-sempai about this later..." Yukiko, on the other hand got up just as fast as she sat down. "Come on Rise-chan. Lets go find them." The two girls walked until they saw stones in the shape of something man-made. They looked at each other, excited
and ran towards it.
