Up in the near stagnant current of air, a thick and heavy heat curling around its wingtips, a crow smelled rotting flesh.
It paused in its flight, sleek black feathers only dimly rustled by the wind, and tilted its smooth beak, struggling to catch the smell of meat once more. Beady eyes blinked as a filament of the scent drifted through the heavy current again. There. It was no scavenger's wistful illusion, nor the result of a strong wind dragging the taunting string of a meal through the weighed summer air. The currents were not strong enough for that, the crow knew, peering over the leafy green treetops and needle-slick pines of the forest below. He was hovering right above them, the oasis of shade and the faint smell of food directly under his beak. It was fresh, with only a twinge of decay. The food had to be nearby.
Adjusting its wings, the crow lazily dived towards the leaf enshrouded branches, extending its blunt talons. Thin and scaled legs meant for hopping and walking over ground held steady to the maple tree limb, one leaf flopping unsteadily. A few of the thrushes and songbirds nearby began to screech and chatter furiously, a hint of wary menace and primitive hate entering their lilting voices. Crow, they told each other, carrying their warnings, crow. Eater of flesh and nestlings, picker of the bones besides the vultures.
The crow calmly ignored the warnings chittered around him. He set about leaping lower in the tree, fluttering from one branch to another now and then when the distance was too far to cover with a mere hop. He was not a lookout, nor was he in a murder with his fellows at the time. The nestlings of the thrushes and songbirds had already fled the twig and string cups their parents had built in the trees. There was nothing more to eat, and as far as the crow was concerned, eyeing the ribbon of softly gurgling water passing through a gently raised bank on the forest floor, he was going to try and feed himself with something more than skimpy offspring. Besides the sound of quietly eddying water and unnerved birds, the crow could sense something else.
Fluttering down from a lower branch and walking the slow, measured strut of a scavenger along the gentle stream bank, the crow spotted the facedown dog in the water.
It lay partway submerged, legs tucked under its body as if it was lying and waiting for something, but only its ears were sticking out from under the water's surface. There was no movement, or at least as far as the crow could see. Curious and hungry, it slowly came closer, tilting its head to better look at the source of the stench. There was no decayed bones or flesh, yet a smell of the foulest and most enticing and repelling rot hung over the possible corpse. The crow gave a raspy caw, eagerly extending its opened beak and fluttering over to the body, perching on its ribs. Dinner.
With barely a peck of its tugging beak, the wall of flesh heaved and wriggled underneath the crow's feet. Cawing in alarm, it roughly tumbled from the dog's back, taking off after a stumble.
Rising from the shallow brook, water streaming down her face, Setsu stood again, giving a few brief coughs and licking the droplets from around her mouth. Her ears flicked, getting rid of the excess liquid and cleaning their edges. Ignoring the raucous caws of protest from the crow as it flew away, Setsu adjusted herself on her feet, slowly backing away from the stream. Her throat had long stopped its cracking burn, and chunks of flesh floated in her stomach. A deer corpse further back, not quite picked clean, had feed her and given her new energy. Fuel for her trip.
Setsu licked the corners of her mouth, finished with the short break. The body might have wavered earlier, but now the body was ready to continue; going to continue. Their body. Its body. Setsu began to suck in deep, shuddering breathes again, eyes taking on a sick glaze, some of the black ooze beginning to drip from her mouth again. Fangs stained with tinges of black streams softly jarred against each other, a few drops splattering on the ground.
Ohu… Ohu… Ohu… Setsu and the thing wheezed together, mechanically turning down the stream bed and beginning to trudge away, legs not quavering as much as before, but still shaking. The black tendrils that had rested from squeezing out and threading through her muscles and conscious began to reach forward again, searing a dead soul and old rotted body into hers, sewing their fates and wills together once more. The songbirds and sparrows began to cry out with new warnings, the crow now among them, peering down from a far up branch, hoarse voice in chorus with them.
The legs and senses quivered in excitement, Setsu gave a brief spasm, tired eyes widening and more sour drool dripping down in one slippery line. The familiar and ancient smell of old territory had reached their noses a long way back, reminding them of chasing deer and dogs and feasting on their bodies, sating their thirst and leaving thin ribbons of blood behind their muzzles in the current. Pain had arched through the belly– perhaps Setsu's belly, not the others', since it could feel nothing but rage– and it had made them seek out old territory water and the smell of meat to stifle the other hunger.
Now, the old scent was returning of ground once owned by their curved sickle claws, and which had been stolen by the mass of howling, barking, mutts and humans that had no right to it; the scar-faced man with the shotgun in his hatred weathered hands, the silver furred akita who bore scars of another's claws across his head, the stinking red and bridle-striped pelt that had ripped free their other eye and blinded them once and for all. Hatred and excitement trembled and rippled through their body, Setsu gurgling and snarling, fur standing upright. There were close, so close, to what they wanted, to where they would fight once more–
Setsu and her wayward soul continued to trudge down the side of the stream bank, sanity in tatters.
XXXX
The grasshopper silently perched on the blade of grass, nibbling away at the filaments and putting them away into its gnawing mouth. Mina could see its antennae twitching and little clawed arms helping to shove the green leaf in. She decided it looked like Wing.
The little pup resisted the quiet urge to roll over in the fresh patch of grass she was sitting in and roll around, to scratch her back and be able to feel all of the tickly leaves pressing up against her fur. It would have made her feel a little less nervous about being there. Mina dismissed the thought, shaking her head slightly and scratching the back of her ear. Rolling over was not a good idea right now, especially since she was kind of trying to hide.
No, not hiding, Mina thought, frowning slightly and lowering her ears in the patch of grass she was crouched in. Hiding was what Wing did whenever mom caught him doing something he wasn't supposed to, and when Kuro heard a stray noise or two outside the den and fled to the very back, hunkering down. She was just being discreet, that was all, the pup thought, remembering Mrs. Reika using that word. Mina picked a grass strand from her paw, fleaing her leg with a careful clip of her sharp teeth. She kept her head from bobbing up and down too swiftly, the grass remaining still and more natural. The swaying green curtain curled and bent around her. Mina blinked as one of the blades ticked her eye, and the quiet and lazy talking around her went on without pause.
Despite the fact that she was well-covered by the patch of grass, and that she knew none of the lazy and relaxed adults in the distance wouldn't do anything if they heard or found her, Mina couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Her mother had nuzzled her ear earlier, quietly giving her bath with little to no admonitions, and then hadn't taken her out on the hunting trip she'd said she would earlier. Instead, Mayu had brought back a few squirrels with Bat– far more subdued than usual– and fed all of them with an odd, shallow cheer.
While Mina had been eating, Mayu had nosed the back of her head and said she wanted to talk to her about something later. Mina had crunched down the rest of the squirrel leg, ignoring the squealing Kuro nearby as Wing pounced on him, both of them tugging and growling for a ragged scrap of tail.
'Alright, mom,' she'd said, just a little surprised, though not too much. Mom was always having talks with her that she didn't with Wing or Kuro. Mom was always training her and going hunting with her when Wing and Kuro were still chasing tufts of fur or dandelion puffs around the leaves. Mina found herself being… different. In a way.
It wasn't the way Mrs. Cross said she was different, either.
Mina twitched, resisting the urge to flea the back of her leg. Mrs. Cross would be here soon. They had talked yesterday– talked about a bunch of different things; like how to catch prey, how things got caught in stringy ears, and the way Wing and Kuro could be funny or just plain dumb. Mina found that she liked the old Saluki a lot, and her warmth was only increased by the fact that she was the same species Mayu was. It gave a tone of familiarity to everything, and with more soft and open moments than her mother normally showed.
She and Mrs. Cross had got along so well, Mina thought, that they'd agreed to met each other here after yesterday. The pup burrowed her nose into the ground, thinking she saw a bug skittering underneath a leaf. Mrs. Cross wasn't here yet. Mina had come a bit earlier than she'd asked her to, excited and nervous. She'd liked Mr. GB, and Kin and Tama's parents, but Mina had never spoken to anyone as old as Mrs. Cross before. It was much different than anything else she'd ever done.
Not that she told her mother or father. Only Mina knew she was here in the grass patch to meet someone, and not just to get away from Wing and Kuro for a while. Bat and Mayu trusted her enough to let her go out on her own around the camp, unlike the irresponsible Wing or shy and docile Kuro.
Lost in her thoughts, Mina didn't realize that soft, rustling footsteps were coming closer by the minute. When she caught a glimpse of white and fur and tangled stringy ears, she barely realized what was happening before a slender muzzle poked into the grass, barely an inch away.
"Mina, are you in there?"
Blinking in surprise, Mina held back a little yelp, staring down the end of Cross's nose. She hastily composed herself, only to get her foot caught in a loop of weeds, and came tumbling out the side of the grass patch. Cross moved back to keep the little pup from rolling over her footpaws, Mina embarrassedly clambering to her feet and shaking her fur off. The bees buzzing around them seemed to be laughing.
"Yes, Mrs. Cross, I'm here," Mina said, fur still fluffed and part of her face burning.
Cross gave a quiet chuckle at her obvious attempt to rebound into dignity, pup immediately trying to hold herself in a prideful and elegant manner. She didn't notice the blade of grass stuck in her ear, and if she did, she was playing it off coolly. A true mixture of her father and mother, alright. That prideful posture had to come from somewhere.
"I see," Cross said, amusement dancing in her eyes, but she said nothing about the grass. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting long," she apologized, Mina relaxing and looking up at her with an eager expression. "I had to go on a hunting trip with my family."
"Your family? You have pups?" Mina asked, instantly and unabashedly curious. Suddenly realizing that she both and looked and sounded like Wing, right down to the clueless and personal-space-disregarding lean forward, Mina hastily pulled herself back, clearing her throat and straightening up. "I mean, do you have pups, Mrs. Cross?" she said again, far more prim.
Cross flicked her ears back, tail sweeping underneath her leg. She kept her face composed, pretending to mull over the subject or watch the birds fluttering from tree to tree overhead. 'Family'… why had she slipped up and even mentioned the word? It had come out before she could stop it or pull her guard up; speaking to Mina was as natural and casual as spring air– completely unlike talking to her mother. Mayu, Bat, Mina's siblings… from the corner of her skyward turned eyes, Cross could see the pup getting slightly impatient at the delay, but still keeping it repressed. Damn, it truly did seem that all her female pups got her impatience.
Cross remembered a whining, frightened female as she stood in the middle of the river, floodwaters plunging around her cringing and whimpering body. 'George, help me! I can't get out!' The cries had echoed over the river, an unscarred Saluki panicking and desperately trying to find a place to leap in after her. 'Hang on, Miney! I'm coming!' If only she'd have waited for the river to go down before trying to swim across.
There was a soft cough next to her, and Cross was snapped out of her reverie, seeing Mina awkwardly clearing her throat nearby. When she realized that Cross was looking at her, the pup blinked before swiftly standing up in apology, coming closer.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Cross, I just got pollen up my nose; I didn't want to disturb you–" Mina quickly amended, startled that she'd broken the old dog from her distant expression and clouded eyes. It was never good when adults went into that state. Her mother and father had both done it a few times– quiet and ominously silent– and whenever the pups brought it up or spoke loudly, they snapped out of it, like something had been holding them silent and bound to a thing they couldn't see. Both Bat and Mayu denied it ever happened when questioned about it. Then they always changed the subject to things like treats, Mina thought, and no one pursued the subject further.
"It's fine," Cross said, cutting off her apology. Mina quieted after a few more stuttered words, licking her nose and settling back down on her haunches. "And it's Cross. Not 'Mrs. Cross.' Alright?"
Mina blinked in surprise. "I– what? Are you sure, Mrs.–"
"I'm sure," Cross said firmly. Mina might've been family, but she wasn't going to overstep any bounds. She'd considered on impulse to ask her to call her 'Grandma Cross', then immediately reconsidered. Mina wouldn't be calling her anything above this familiarity until the link that tied them together as family was revived and no longer dead to her. She couldn't rub impudent salt in freshly reopened wounds.
"Alright… Cross," Mina said, the name tasting odd on her tongue without a respectful prefix. She'd never spoken to an adult like this before. "So," Mina continued, shaking the oddity off, "what do you wanna talk about?"
"Well," Cross said, speaking up over the background chatter of other nearby soldiers and the sounds of spring, "you did ask me about my family."
"Yeah, I did! But I'm sorry; if you don't want to talk about it it's fine–" Mina quickly added, not wanting to trigger another one of the distant remembrances in the old Saluki. "If you do, though–"
"My God, you're a sassy pup filled with apologies," Cross laughed, appreciating the contradiction. Mina gave a sheepish grin, but soon couldn't help but fully smile at the old dog's rough joviality. It reminded her a lot of mom whenever she was in a good mood.
"As for my family…" Cross said, turning her head to look at a flowering bush nearby. Pale pink flowers with spread open petals lined the clumps of green, soft splashes against the dark and glossy color. Though none of the dogs could appreciate the warm shades from their greyscale eyes, there were beautiful shades of grey, numbers exploding in the spring. Bees and wasps traipsed from one bud to another, crawling over the soft surface. Cross watched one descend into the belly of the flower.
"I have a mate and two sons," Cross said, Mina listening attentively, though the pup was also watching the bees move about with a childish fascination. "However, both of them are grown up—not quite as young as you."
Mina went through the rough calculations in her head, looking at Cross's greying fur and the faded spots underneath her eyes. "So you mean they're around the same age as my mom and dad? Just a little younger?" she asked.
Cross had to keep from sucking in a sharp breath of air. The pup was sharp—and quite fast about, too. The Saluki still kept her composition, watching the pollen laden bee skip to another flower. "Yes," she said. "Close to it." The bee buzzed away from the bush, heading off into the forest. "I used to have another pup, too."
Damnit, Cross, what are you doing? she asked herself.
"Really?" Mina said, tilting her head to the side. She'd noticed the 'used' instead of 'did.' Instead of giving off warning signals like it should've, it merely made her more curious. In one retrospect, she and Wing were quite alike.
"Oh, yes," Cross said, speaking slowly and carefully watching her words. "They were my first pup. I loved them half to death. But… things happened… and I had to leave them behind somewhere. It was a very bad thing, Mina, and I messed up. I made them very, very angry. They haven't spoken to me since."
"I—what?" Mina said, shocked by Cross's words. The pup leapt to her feet, fur bristling slightly. "But they can't do that; that's stupid! You can't just stop talking to someone forever because you get mad at them; if my mom did that, she'd talk to no one in the world!"
Cross felt something ripping in her belly at the pure irony in Mina's words, and the fierce look on the little pup's face as she stared up her, furious with the transgressions of the yet unnamed pup. She had a feeling that if she'd told her about Miney, the pup would have damn well sat down and grieved. For all the polite addresses and careful words, she basically wore her emotions like a collar, there for all to see.
"It's not that easy to judge," Cross said, watching the stubborn pup's brief blast of fury simmer down. "I didn't just make them angry– I hurt them. Adults… we do ridiculous things, Mina. Horrible things."
"Grown-ups don't make mistakes," Mina blurted out.
Cross raised an eyebrow at her. "Adults do make mistakes; much bigger and crueler ones than pups do," she shot back. "But because we're adults, it's supposed to be our job to control how much of those horrible things we do. And when I hurt them… they weren't an adult. I made a very selfish decision and mistake," Cross said, getting quieter, Mina feeling a little shiver at the tone in her voice. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what the thing had been. "I burned them when they were young, and the wound never healed, even when they grew up. And when they did, they were already an adult, and making the same mistakes we all do."
Mina was silent for a moment, hesitating as she tried to find what she wanted to say. "But… it doesn't… seem like adults make mistakes. They don't admit it, and it's not like pups, where you have to say sorry and everyone giggles because they know you messed up."
"Adults are silent about a lot of things, Mina," Cross said, giving her head a little shake to rid her ears of a fly buzzing around them, "both good and bad. We're used to not having to say anything about it– and sometimes, we just can't."
"Huh," Mina said, the pup looking away from Cross and back towards the trees. A soft spring zephyr moved the limbs, a leaf falling and slowly tumbling through the flower perfume heavy air.
Mina was going to say something else when she smelled the stench of rotting flesh.
XXXX
A strong stench hit Cross's nose. Old as she was, age hadn't dampened her sense of smell. She knew what rotting flesh smelt like. As a former hunting dog, she had smelt it many a time. The image of the body remained inside her. The flesh barely hanging off the bone, decomposed with flies and maggots making their home within their fleshy confine. The smell was growing closer, which was disturbing. Smells such as that shouldn't get closer, not when they were already dead. Only movement would make something grow closer.
A shrill scream from Mina alerted Cross. Before she knew it, her granddaughter was hugging against her leg. Instinctively, Cross's maternal instincts told put her in a protective stance. Her face leered forward in a growl, facing down whatever threatened them. Cross had expected something big, perhaps a bear. For some reason she felt that particular feeling she felt whenever a bear was near her. She had lived long enough to know when she encountered a bear.
This was no bear however.
Before Cross stood not a bear, but a dog. A female, barely out of her teens. The stench hung off her like a sickening aura. The canine's body limped and hung, its legs barely supporting its weight, despite the petite frame. Within the creature's eyes, nothing but pure bloodlust shone in its yellow eyes. The yellow appeared unnatural.
"Who is it Mrs. Cross?" Mina fearfully asked. So afraid was she that she lapsed back into the 'Mrs' prefix.
Cross ignored it. There wasn't any time for lack of formailities.
"Mina, stay behind me!" Cross ordered.
Mina listened well and got behind the elder dog.
"Just stay put and when I say run, run!"
Before Mina could ask, Cross leapt forward.
"Cross!"
Mina's words fell upon deaf ears as the old bitch bore her fangs upon her enemy. The rage she felt was one that had long been tempered, back when Mayu first made introductions. She had hid that anger after that, letting it lie low, partially out of guilt and frustration. The two dogs hit head on, biting and snarling as the two females fought. Like with her sense of smell, Cross's fighting skills hadn't been lessened. A splash of blood hit her eye, her's or the other's? She didn't know. The pain she felt made it almost impossible to know. Her stamina managed to keep up, even with her aged body, although she knew it wouldn't last forever. At some point, she would have to give and when she did...she wouldn't think about that. All she cared about was protecting Mina.
Poor Mina, at the corner of her eye, she could see the poor pup shivering in terror. She mentally kicked herself for telling her to stay put.
She should have told her to run from the get go.
Then she felt it, that familiar aura. She had felt it since the fight had began. It couldn't be, she told herself. But the more she fought, the stronger the scent got.
Cross couldn't place a paw on it.
"Is it?"
The young female snarled and leapt forward biting into Cross's side. Cross let out a cry as the teeth dug into her flesh. This only served to spur on Mina's fear.
"Mina, run!" Cross commanded.
Mina didn't dally upon her elder's request, she sped out of there as fast as her legs could carry her. But she wouldn't just run away.
Cross pushed the younger but stronger dog off. As the youngster regained her footing, An aura appeared over her momentarily. For a moment Cross caught a glance of it before it disappeared completely.
"Akakabuto?"
The demon bear grinned within his host body. He remembered every dog he had come across, and Cross was the one that had gotten away. He would make sure to finish the job this time.
XXX
"HELP!" Mina's cries echoed throughout the forest. "Someone! Anyone!" Tears began to stream down her face as she continued to shout her little throat out. Mrs. Cross was still back there, and she couldn't just leave here there, she needed help.
"Hey! Is anyone there?"
She couldn't see anyone. Not a single sign of fur was around. The Ohu soldiers from earlier in the day had left making sure there was no chance of anyone coming for help. Mina wouldn't give up however, not when Mrs. Cross was counting on her.
"Mina?"
A young voice reached Mina's ears. A familiar tone she had first heard when they first came to Ohu. The color blue hit Mina's eyes.
"You're Mayu's daughter right?" The voice asked again.
Mina looked up and noticed a teenage Akita standing before her.
"Mr. Weed!" Mina cried happily. Then she noticed something else; or rather someone else.
Standing next to Weed was a labrador, yellow furred and about the same age as Weed. Mina took a look at him and for some reason couldn't take her eyes off of him.
"Uh Weed? Why is she staring at me?" Mel asked.
Hearing that, Mina turned away bashfully.
"Mina is there something wrong?" Weed asked.
Mina suddenly remembered, forgetting her previous embarrassment. "It's Cross! We were talking and then this dog just came and attacked her! She's really strong and Mrs Cross told me to run so I didandthenIranintoyoubutshe'sbackthereandshe'sinrealtroubleand-"
"Mina!" Weed shouted.
Mina shut herself up noticing she had started to blend her words together. "Mrs. Cross...is...in...trouble." She stated slowly.
Those words were enough.
XXXX
Cross didn't know how long she could hold on. The impossible had happened and currently she was fighting with someone whom she had thought dead. It must have been a trick upon her mind. Akakabuto was dead, but she could feel him coming off this dog. She could feel wounds opening up and blood streaming down. It wasn't anything she couldn't handle, but there were limits to how the body could hold out.
"B-B-Ben." She muttered.
Oh how she wanted her mate by her side right now. The strange canine was toying with her at this point. It was as if she was prolonging the pain.
"Cross!"
Cross's heart sprang up with hope as she heard an all too familiar voice called to her. The feral bitch atop Cross didn't know or seem to care about the voice. She cared the moment something hard and brown tackled her to the ground.
"Cross!"
"Mom!"
The second voice that called to her wasn't the same as the first, but the second one was closely familiar.
"Mom are you alright?" Another brown shape nudged at her.
Cross looked up to see a pair of concerned eyes. "Ken? George?"
A shape as white as her strode up and nudged her, helping her up as her legs shook from weakness; weakness that age only fueled to hinder her.
"Mom don't move." George spoke with concern.
Cross looked on to see a sight that sent her heart a flutter. Ben had his jaws clamped against the neck of the strange female. Gin and Jerome joined in, taking her on all sides.
"Dad be careful!" Gin called.
"Kick her ass Dad!" Ken joined in.
The three experienced soldiers, (well Jerome being not being exactly an Ohu veteran), fought well against the strange dog. Ben's blindness didn't hinder him at all; not when his mate was in danger. Memories of his youth flashed back as he took his opponent down. Cross and Gin were no strangers to Ben's strength, neither were Ken and George. They had been told of their father's strength, and seen examples during that incident with the wolves. It made them proud to be his sons.
The female growled, pushing off her attackers. Her eyes were ablaze with a feral light as she whirled her head around, facing down her attackers.
"Who are you!" Gin spoke with command best befitting the former leader of Ohu.
The dog said nothing, merely growled. It was then at that moment, they felt something, something evil and strong. Jerome felt it first, Gin and Ben were the first to feel it, the dark aura. It radiated to Jerome and although he didn't know what it was, he had a guess.
"It can't be." Ben muttered.
Gin stared long and hard at the female. Weed could see his father was vaguely perturbed, disturbed even. But why was the female the cause? In her wounded state, Cross, had an inkling to whom they were facing.
"Even in death his hatred is strong." The old canine muttered.
Gin attempted to deny it; something like this couldn't happen. But he put aside that notion.
"Akakabuto?" Gin spoke with shock and fear.
Upon the mention of his name, Akakabuto's host growled, as did the demon bear nestled within.
Ohu...KILL!
Ohu...DIE!
Just as the demon bear possessed dog was about to strike, there was a lurch. The dog's head jerked backward bobbing up and down like a turkey.
Killl
No! Let me go!
Die Ohu...revenge!
I...said...let...me...GO!
The last word was spoken aloud. A mixture between a growl and a feminine voice. But still, it sounded all the more beastly. The dog's body began to convulse and shake. Her head went back and forth as it attempted to wrest free from the control the bear had upon her body. A chocking sound garbled within her throat and her mouth began to foam. The power of this bond was great; though some bonds could be broken. Cracking noises and burst skin wracked the body. Setsu could bear the hatred of the demon bear for only so long. Raising her head, she let out a roar before collapsing to the ground.
Everyone stood silent for a moment, uncertain of whether the canine was still alive. After a few moment's of no movement, they had their answer.
"She's dead." Said Jerome.
Setsu's corpse was now a mess, her body torn in places showing exposed muscle and bone. Life was devoid in her eyes.
"Cross!" Ben leapt to his mate's side. "Are you okay?"
Cross smiled. "Yes Ben I'll be fine." The two lovers nuzzled one another, not afraid to show their love for each other.
"I suppose Akakabuto remembered me as the one who got away." Cross guessed as she felt the way the possessed dog stared at her.
"Wait. You mean that dog was Akakabuto?" Ken said in disbelief.
"Possessed by him, dumbass," George quipped.
Ken shot his brother a growl but paid it no mind afterwards.
Confusing as this was, they had survived and won. Why this transpired and to whom the other dog was remained a mystery. One thing was overlooked however. Two shapes had been watching the whole ordeal from the distance. Almost overlooked that is. Weed had noticed the pair slip away just in the instant they had decided to part, and he kept their shapes etched in his mind.
"What about Mina? Did you see her, is she safe?" Cross immediately asked with concern.
They didn't have to ask whom Mina was; they had their guess.
"We had Kagetora send her home," Gin answered.
Cross sighed with both relief and disappointment. She was relieved that Mina was safe, her dear sweet little Mina; but she was disappointed that she didn't have a chance to talk with her young granddaughter further. There were still questions about her two grandsons that she had.