Author's note: Still on night watch, 'nother extra chapter.

Chapter 11: Learning

Kirin had been right—Hyoujin's fighting style was compatible with her innate talents.

She had expected his to be like the earth demon she'd fought in the city—Yurasu, she remembered, hearing his snake demon companion's words hissing in her ear again.

Hyoujin, however, was completely different. In fact, her first impression of him as an air demon wasn't entirely unfounded. He couldn't control the wind, but he moved like it. He was acrobatic, twisting and jumping and turning in midair. Hina kept expecting him to drop the charade and take off and fly.

He didn't use the earthquake and ground-raising techniques that had nearly killed her. Rather, he formed his element into weapons, shields, and tools—rather like she could.

"I usually go for knives, or a sword, and something else close-range. You might prefer something long range—arrows, maybe?—but still, let's start by seeing you make a knife."

Hina silently raised her hand, palm up, and concentrated on forming a reasonably-sized chunk of ice in her hand. It wasn't hard, so she was a little surprised when Hyoujin made a sound of appreciation.

"Must be nice to be able to form your element from nothing."

"You mean you can't?"

He shook his head. "Nope. Though my element's almost always all around, so I don't have much to complain about. Not like Shizuku—she has to have water."

He saw her looking at him and waved her on. "Sorry, don't let me distract you."

Hina returned her attention to her ice. Forming the basic shape of a knife wasn't hard, but forming the bladed edge was surprisingly difficult. The sharp points she'd used before were just that: points. Trying to stretch the sharpness of a point out into an extra dimension was far more difficult than she would have expected.

They worked on blades for a while, and she showed him the shield she'd used. He gave her some pointers on how to make it more efficient, and she was able to show him some of the things she'd learned about making a hard medium spiral out into curves that were deceptively gentle-looking. For whatever reason, curves were much easier for her to form than hard lines.

They also worked on building walls and barriers, which was a different kind of challenge. They didn't require any special skill to produce, but maintaining and expanding them was draining.

After training for most of the afternoon, Hina felt her energy drained at least as low as her physical strength had been earlier. She tried to form another ice knife, but before she could even get the basic shape down, it shattered in her hands.

She doubled over, resting her hands on her knees. It was all she could do not to fall over then and there.

"Are you all right?" asked Hyoujin.

She didn't answer. How could she?

"I had no idea you were so tired," he said, sympathetically.

Hina discovered that she didn't much like that tone of voice directed at her.

Why was she so weak? Among the ice maidens, she had had been one of the strongest, not that anyone had tested herself against her, and she had certainly been the most independent. Now she felt like she couldn't do anything up to the standards of her new…what were they, exactly? For that matter, what had the ice maidens been to her?

"Do you need help getting back to camp?"

"No," said Hina, more shortly than she'd intended. She straightened up, doing her best to hide her exhaustion.

If nothing else, she could at least walk back to camp unassisted.

She did make back to camp, but only just.

She made it to the outer circle of the campfire before abruptly deciding enough was enough and abruptly sitting down. It wasn't falling, because she was in control of her decent. The fact that she was still kind of in the middle of nowhere had nothing to do with it.

"You sure you're all right?" said Hyoujin.

"I'll be fine."

"Good." He collapsed on the ground next to her, ponytail flung out behind him as he lay. "That was the most exhausting training session I've had in forever. You're good."

Despite her exhaustion, Hina gave him a shocked look.

"I…what?"

It was Hyoujin's turn to be surprised. "Yeah. When Kirin said you were untrained, I thought he meant you didn't know how to use your abilities. I didn't realize he only meant you were an untrained fighter." He lifted himself up on his arms to stretch. "You've got way more energy than I did when I came here."

Hina turned back to the fire in front of her, contemplating it solemnly and wondering when this place, this group, would stop upsetting her expectations.

Hina closed her eyes.

"Thank you."

Hyoujin grinned without opening his eyes. "Any time."

Fortunately for the both of them, others had been on dinner duty. Shizuku came by with bowls full of a thick, savory stew for them.

"How'd training go?" she asked.

"Izammmph," was Hyoujin's eloquent response though a mouthful of stew.

"Well, I believe," said Hina, more helpfully, before tasting from her own bowl. Hungry as she was, she still wasn't used to the outside food—especially the heat. Whatever this was wasn't bad, though, so she ate with more enthusiasm.

Shizuku laughed at their responses and sat down next to Hina with her own bowl.

"And you," she said, poking Hina on the arm (a motion which rather shocked Hina—was that normal out here?), "you didn't wear your training outfit."

Hina looked down. It was true, she'd just worn one of the kimonos she'd brought with her.

"I had forgotten," she answered truthfully.

"You should try next time—I promise you won't be sorry." She made another of those unnecessary motions she favored, reaching out and grasping one clawed hand around empty air just as said "sorry".

A loud snore made them look to the right. Hyoujin's arms were tucked comfortably behind his head, and he was sound asleep with his bowl perched on his stomach.

"Wow, you really wore him out!" commented Shizuku, before turning back to Hina.

"You'll want to get plenty of sleep tonight—we leave in the morning."

Hina was surprised. Kirin had said the market was wrapping up, but…

"Where are we going?"

Shizuku shrugged. "Kirin's probably deciding that now. Most likely, we'll head to one of our bases before deciding further."

The fox's apparent lack of interest was not lost on Hina.

"You don't care?"

Shizuku cocked her head to one side, ears bent in confusion. "Why should I?"

"Because…" Hina searched for an answer. "…you're part of the group?" she finished at last.

Shizuku clawed the air again. "Exactly!"

Hina blinked.

Shizuku cocked her head to the other side.

"It's…" started the fox, before pausing. "It's just that…why should I care? It doesn't matter where we go, because wherever we go, I'll be there."

Hina furrowed her brow, trying to understand.

"It doesn't matter. These people—you—us—they're my pack. I'll run with them to the ends of the earth, come what may. A little thing like destination isn't going to make a difference to me."

Hina was silent, taking in the fox's words. Her pack? She'd been thinking of this group as a collection of allies more than anything else, people drawn together by common need. But this…this was something more.

Kirin's voice echoed in her head.

Join us. Join our family.

She'd assumed it was hyperbole, phrased to convince her to join them.

Was that really what she had found here? If she could prove herself to these people—she had no doubt she was still in a probationary stage—would she really gain something she could hardly even remember having?

Rui's face flashed across her mind, and Hina shrank back in guilt. No. If she could learn to think of these people as family, then how much more had Rui been? They had been raised as sisters!

She closed her eyes in sorrow. Had she really…had she abandoned her best friend, her only friend, without even saying goodbye?

Had she been selfish? Had leaving really been her only choice?

She bowed her head, remembering how she'd been treated. Yes. Leaving had been her only choice, but still…she should have known better. She should have…

What?

What would she have done differently even if she had thought of Rui as family? Invited her to come along? She never would have come. She had a life there, a family of her own. Rui would never have abandoned her daughter to join the uncertain fate of a friend.

All of which left her exactly where she'd started.

She had a chance here. She had to prove herself to these people, or else…

"Hey, don't fall asleep in your soup!"

Hina blinked her eyes open.

"Come on, you're exhausted. Let's get you back to your tent."

Without asking, Shizuku lifted Hina up and half draped her over her shoulder. "Come on, right over here!" She glanced back over her shoulder and sighed. "I'll come back for that one," she said gesturing and the figure on the ground with one of her pointed ears. "Seriously, how'd you two manage to wear each other out so much?"

Hina assumed it was a rhetorical question—and besides, she was too tired to answer, or even protest being dragged around like a sack of fruit.

She hardly even noticed being dumped onto her bedroll, or having a blanket tossed over her. She was much too busy slipping into a dream where Rui jumped down from Koorime—which was only a few feet off the ground—and came to join her, and the fire danced as the dancers moved and surrounded them and took them in.