Ok folks, the last couple of chapters have been pretty nasty, so you might (or might not) be relieved that we're back to T rated, or possibly even K+ rated material for this chapter. Thanks for all your reviews- it really gives me delight when I come home to a brimming inbox full of helpful and friendly comments.

Well, here we go, Chapter Eleven! Oh, and I probably should mention that this story should be about 20 chapters long. It's good to set a goal like that- you gotta have your limits!

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Yunsung effectively "packed" Talim up so he could continue his journey. He knocked her out again, as much as he hated himself for doing so, then he tied her up completely, around the ankles, body and arms, so he could pick her up and carry her on his back without her getting free. Of course, she was extremely heavy, along the with the bucket and backpack, but Yunsung could rest more freely now that he had stopped Tornado. Already, he felt as if part of his mission was over- no-one else was being killed, at least.

He had considered, with pain, killing Tornado. It would bring an end to all the problems quickly, and he would be able to go home and see his family. How he missed them. And Mina- he found himself missing her immensely.

But no. He would continue. Talim knew how to destroy Soul Edge when she set out, so there must be a way to destroy it. So he carried Tornado onwards, ignoring the suspicious looks of passers-by. He had to walk around every town to avoid questioning. After traveling for ages, he stopped and set up camp again as night was falling. He had reached nowhere, and he had no idea where he was going.

Tornado jerked out of her sleep. She stared around. "There are no people here."

"Nope." said Yunsung shortly.

"Hmm...I require sustenance."she said, licking her lips. Then, unexpectedly, she strained on the ropes again. Yunsung watched her dully. She gave up after one pull, "You are very good at this. I see my legs are tied as well."

"Of course."

"Of course." she repeated gutturally and in a more defeated voice.

Yunsung welcomed the silence which followed. It gave him time to think back, to his last proper conversation with Talim- had she given him any clues...?

oOoOoOo

"Good morning, Psycho!"

Talim groaned. "Yunsung, I told you yesterday, about fifteen million times, I'm sorry for acting like a psycho!" she took a deep, long-suffering breath, "So please stop calling me that!"

"But it's fun!" Yunsung said jovially, sitting down beside Talim in the arena, where she had been meditating. It was a clear, still day, a couple of small gray clouds floated across the sky, but there was not real threat of rain yet. The sun shone rather weakly at them. Talim groaned again, shaking her head, and closed her eyes, leaning her elbows on her tightly crossed knees.

"Aww!" Yunsung put his hand on her head and stroked her temple with his thumb. It was very soft to the touch. "Am I pushing your little Shaman patience?"

She gave a very deep sigh, and looked at the gravel which lined the arena, an tentative, sad frown forming on her lips. She ran her finger distractedly through the stones, thoughtful.

"What's the matter?" asked Yunsung, feeling like he had asked that too many times recently. Something seemed to be the matter with everyone but him. When Talim didn't answer to him, he, cautiously, shifted up beside her and put her arm around her shoulders. "Hmm?" he asked, trying to sound comforting. He was already getting an urge to gently push her soft head into his chest.

"Seeing you so happy is making it so much harder to say what I have to say." Talim said rapidly, in one breath. Yunsung allowed her some silence, so she could prepare herself to say what she wanted- he always hated it when someone kept talking when he was saying something important. She took another breath, and said, her voice a little croaky, "Y'know, how I said, I could wind-read?"

"Mm-hm?"

"Well, I listen to the wind and it tells me what to do." she said, her voice a little stronger, "It brought me here, and it's been telling me to stay here these past few days..."

"Right."

"And...now it's told me to move on," she said, looking at him nervously, waiting for a reaction. He only nodded thoughtfully, not looking at her, but waiting for more information, "And...so I have to go..."she trailed off, and her voice trembled and broke.

Yunsung nodded again- he wasn't sure what this meant to him. He would surely miss her, but there was still something which made this feel quite minor- that there was a deeper meaning to all of this. He asked her something, and his voice sounded much lower than usual: "Where are you going?"

"Um..."Her voice had gotten quiet and a little shaky, "G-Germany..."

Yunsung blinked and sat up. Talim braced herself instantly and started to speak very fast again.

"Yunsung, I know it's very far away but I'm going on a very important-"

"Shush!" he hushed her, "It's not that! It's just that...well...I was planning on going to Germany too..." It was to him an incredible stroke of luck, and she appeared to be feeling the same way.

"You were?" she goggled at him, her eyes getting very wide and shiny, looking astonished.

"Yeah...I was thinking...of trying to get the Sword of Salvation..."

"...oh my..." Talim whispered, putting her hand to her mouth in shock, and staring at him, pupils quivering. Then she quickly and unexpectedly pulled around and in front of him and grabbed hold of both his shoulders, so they were facing each other;Yunsung's arm across her shoulders fell limply. She said very seriously, "Yunsung, the sword you speak of is a very evil sword! A sword which corrupts it's holder and forces them to..."

But she fell silent at the look on Yunsung's face. His almond eyes were boring right into her, and she seemed to have realized that he'd had this conversation before.

"Wh...Why..?" Talim asked, shaking her head.

"I don't wanna talk about it." Yunsung said, shrugging her hands off his shoulders, unpleasant memories he'd rather forget piling up in his head once more, "I've had my own friends say that stuff to me, and I lost them. But they didn't stop me. I don't think you can do it either."

"I understand." she said, nodding silently. They said nothing for a few seconds. There had been no mega-argument which Yunsung would have expected to arise. He asked, "Then...Talim, what happens to me and you?"

"I don't know..."she said, shrugging her shoulders helplessly, her hands held together and on her lap.

Yunsung's mind started searching for some way, somehow they could maintain their friendship, some kind of loophole, something that would make them remain with each other. They could go to Germany together, but with different plans in mind? It wouldn't seem likely that they would get along- more so that they would keep bugging each other about their arguments for and against The Sword of Salvation. It was likely that Talim would be one of those people who wanted to destroy it.

"Yunsung..." Talim said tentatively, "I may have a sort of...plan."

He looked up at her, "Fire away." he said lowly. He didn't have any ideas, after all.

"What if we split up here...one of us go by sea and another by land. Then we meet up at Oster...O-ser...wherever the sword is and...wait..." she said this sheepishly, "for each other, and when the other gets there...we...um..."

"Fight for it?"Yunsung asked.

"Yeah!"she said, forcing a smile. "I'll beat you though."

"Of course."he said, rolling his eyes, "But I can train you up, just in case."

"I'll train you up, so you can have at least a small chance." decided Talim, folding her arms, and suddenly looking very happy, as if that had gone a lot better than it could have went.

"Right, when do you have to leave?"

"Tomorrow would be best." she replied, smiling in spite of it.

"Ok, I'll teach you a few moves." he began, "We can have a couple of practices and..."

"Don't forget spiritual strength, that's important too! I'll teach you how to let the wind aid you in battle!"

"I can teach you a couple of things about how to take blows..."

"I can teach you how to read your opponents next move..."

And so the 'great teaching' began. Yunsung couldn't help laughing when Talim tried a karate kick- she had never done a kick so high in a different direction before, and was used to keeping her body straight, so she fell right over. And she was rolling on the ground with pain when they played, "Punch me, punch you."- a favorite strength training game of Yunsung's. But then there was several instances where Yunsung fell flat on his face- Talim could duck and dodge every blow he tried to hit her with. This led to him calling her 'half-pint', upon which she left him flat on his back and helpless again, and tickled him to death before freeing him. And he chased Talim half-way around the arena when she tried to teach him how to pirouette- she just couldn't stop giggling. Eventually though, a portion of their exhaustive roster of moves were mastered by each.

When the night came they returned to the inn for some well-deserved shut-eye before their journey began. But it appeared that neither of them could sleep, because Yunsung sensed Talim sneaking into his room, and planting something wet on his cheek.