* means it's in Nihon-ja

Ryuu walked into Saya's cell. He was armed with a club, and she knew what he wanted, but no matter how hard he tried he would never get a word out of her about Araluen's defenses or the ranger corps. She sat there in silence; she didn't even look up at him. He walked around her, tapping his club on his hand, so you could hear the sound easily.

*"You humiliated me, betrayed me, and even mocked me by joining those gaijin. Why? Why did you do that to your people?"* He smacked her hard in the face.

She looked up at him,* "It was by fate, not by my choosing brother. I never wanted to hurt you or any of our people, but that is where my road took me."*

He looked down at her and the seriousness in her eyes, but he didn't want to hear that. He hit her again, this time it was twice. He lifted her head up.

*"Why don't I go say hi to your friends? I'm sure they'll be happy to share the pain with you."* He left before she could say anything.

Then two men walked in. They looked at as if they had already won the war against Araluen. They untied her and picked her up out of the chair and hooked each of her hands to the ceiling, so that they were away from her body. Then, they began their interrogation. They asked a question, she looked up at them, and stared not saying a word. They then punched her in the stomach. They asked it again, she still said nothing. They punched her twice, and then asked another. Again, she said nothing. They did this for an hour, each question only lasted a minute. Saya endured through each punch, kick, and insult they threw at her, and she endured. When her captors were worn out, they unhooked her from the ceiling, and hooked her to the wall and left. She lay on the ground in pain, she won this battle, but the war for her survival had only just begun.

In other holding cell, Halt and Will had talked to each other, trying to keep the other from thinking of the worst things that could be happening to Saya. She's just a kid, hasn't even been a ranger for a year and is already dealing with being a hostage. Halt thought as he sat there next to Will. He didn't want to say anything that would worry Will, or even hint at it. Just then, Ryuu entered their cell with an angry look on his face. Will looked up at him.

"I see your people are hard to negotiate with." Ryuu said as he walked around them, his eyes following their every move. "Let's take a test." A nefarious smirk appeared on his face. "Let us see who can break first under interrogation, the apprentice…or the masters?"

"What did you do to Saya?" Will asked looking him straight in the eyes.

"She and I had a conversation. It was brief though, she didn't feel like talking. I need to see you two are the same; I left her with some of my friends, just to make sure I was keeping my promise to her."

Will and Halt were furious. Will started threatening him, while Halt could feel his anger rise within him. Ryuu punched Will in the face and told him to shut up, then looked over at Halt to see if he was going to do anything about it. Halt looked up at him rage burning inside of him, as he looked up and stared at him. Will looked at his former teacher and saw the look that anyone who wants to live, doesn't want. In his eyes, Halt said, "If you did anything to her, when I get these chains off of me, I will end you in the most painful way possible."

Just then, two men came in, both were wearing masks. Ryuu looked at the two men in the room and nodded at them. They then unhooked their chains and drug them to the side of the room and hooked their arms to ceiling, just as they did with Saya. The interrogation lasted just as long with no answers given. When the two finally left them, Halt put a hand on Will's shoulder.

"She'll live. She lasted through the Gathering, she can last through this." Halt said trying, in his way, to keep Will positive.

Will just looked at his mentor and he knew what he was trying to do. "Halt, I know she will make it. I just…I just don't know if we will."

Halt nodded and tried to sit up but the pain was too great. Halt the laid on the ground. "Just do me a favor."

Will nodded.

"Pray, if they do kill us they will do it quickly," Halt started to grin, "and they would give us coffee before we leave."

Will smiled as they both let their tiredness consume them.