Ah, terribly sorry for the wait, minna. All five of us have had very busy schedules as of late. Nothing much to say up here this time though, other than thanking all of you for supporting us throughout this endeavour with your guesses. :3 Please enjoy this latest chapter~!

"What's to do? An attack?"

"A parley rather. See, they carry green branches."

"He that is walking...has no look of surrender on his face...I'll wager my dappled Pomely he brings a challenge, not a surrender." -Prince Caspian

Chapter 4: Negotiations

The Midorikawas were uneasy.

Ever since Lettuce had arrived out of breath and flushed at the edge of the village and demanded to see the Chief immediately, they had known something was wrong. And, as is its way, word had leaked out and by morning the next day there was not one person who didn't know the story in some shape or form. People were coming from the North – people who were kin to wolves and had survived winters in which the sea's harshest gales would seem no more than a gentle breeze. And now they were here and, or so people whispered, they were hungry to make this land their own.

"They would drive us out," proclaimed Kish. "Or kill us - whichever's easier."

Masaya elbowed him. "Says your neighbour's aunt. It seems to me that nobody really knows anything about what's going on."

"Except for Keiichiro and Retasu," Mint put in, "and now Ryou. And the three of them have been in counsel all morning."

Kish, Mint and Masaya were sitting on an outcrop of rock a little way up from the village, snacking on cliff blueberries and trying to pass the time. It was a cloudy, blustery day, and while this cliff wasn't the most comfortable place in the world, at least it was away from the tense, confused atmosphere of the village. They had by now thoroughly dissected every detail they could remember about how Lettuce had looked when she came into the village - urgent, worried and really, really red - what they had heard from listening at Keiichiro's door until someone shooed them away - not a lot - and how many different versions of the story they had heard – countless - from various sources over the last twenty-four hours in order of reliability, and were at a loss.

Mint in particular was impatient - hungry for any information that might come her way. The Bird tribe had heard just enough of what was going on to make them anxious, and since she and her cousin had come this morning, she had been making endless enquiries on what was going on. As the Chief's cousin, she prided herself on knowing the gossip of both her tribe and the gossip of the Midorikawas, and it infuriated and worried her that there was an issue so huge that the tribe's elders had been in counsel for an entire day.

"What I don't understand," she said, resting her head on her chin and gazing out to sea, "is why Retasu went on her own. Surely it would have been wiser to get together a group of scouts before going somewhere like that?"

Kish shrugged. "She went off early in the morning to the woods to get some hazelnuts and fruit, I think. She didn't come back for nearly an hour, and then... yeah. We only got back a few minutes before she did, because we went out fishing after we met up with you – Masaya?"

Masaya had suddenly got to his feet and was scrambling urgently along the outcrop, his streamers out and tasting the wind. "Minto," he hissed, "hide!"

"What?" Kish was beside him in a moment, grabbing his fishing spear, climbing up the rock to where Masaya stood and unfurling his own ribbons. "Masaya – " then he stopped, and his head snapped around to face the wind. "I don't believe it..."

"Would someone care to explain to me what's going on?" called Mint testily. Sometimes, being the only one without a sixth sense grated on her nerves.

Masaya turned to face her, gesticulating wildly. "Go! Get back to the village! Now!"

Something about the way he spoke made Mint feel that, no matter how curious she might be, it would be best to do what he said – if only to preserve his peace of mind. She turned and began to pick her way back down through the rocks, occasionally glancing back at the two boys as she went.

"Hey, Masaya," Kish said after a few more seconds, the anxiety and alarm in his tone lessening slightly. "I don't think there are that many of them."

Masaya turned to him, ribbons streaming and worry written all over his face. "What makes you say that?"

'Put your ribbons to the ground,' Kish instructed. Masaya did so, bending over slightly so that the tips of his ribbons brushed the ground, and after a few moments his face relaxed.

"There. Does that sound like an army to you?" Kish asked amusedly.

"Okay, I take your point. It smelled like one. But what are we going to do?"

"Well, one thing's for sure," Kish said decisively, "we're not going to let them walk past us into our village and do nothing about it. Get your spear!"

"Kisshu, I'm not sure this is a good idea – "

"Come on!"

Masaya sighed and grabbed his fishing spear, following Kish up the rocky incline to intercept the path that wound its way down to their village.

They had had no problem figuring out which way to go.

The scent of people was all around this part of the land; footprints, bent branches and even feathers and shells hung from trees. As they began to draw near to what must be the Sea People's settlement, the scent of smoke and food cooking was tangible, even though they were upwind of the camp.

This was too easy. Pai glanced toward Zakuro, who was walking at his right. She looked grim. On the other side of him walked Mugi, a burly, ruthless-looking Ikisatashi who he had brought as a concession to Deep Blue-sama, though Pai feared he wouldn't be much good when it came to negotiations. He didn't like the way that Mugi always seemed on the verge of drawing ahead of him and Zakuro, either. Zakuro seemed perturbed by the same thing and quickened her pace slightly, pulling ahead.

Behind him, he heard Yuzu sniff the air and quicken her pace. "Do these people know nothing about keeping hidden? I could trace them out from ten leagues."

"Maybe they don't need to hide," Ichigo, the Ikisatashi girl who had also come with them, suggested. "Maybe this place is so safe that there's no need for concealment."

"Perhaps," conceded Yuzu, "but from what Pai-sama said about his encounter with one of them – which wasn't much, I'll grant you – it seems to me like they don't know the first thing about it, whether they need to or not."

Pai grit his teeth. He had tried to keep details on his encounter with Lettuce to the minimum, but people would talk. He saw Zakuro glance back at him.

"Or maybe he just found a particularly clumsy one –"

"Quiet back there!" barked Pai, turning on them in annoyance. "You're on a scouting mission, not a casual stroll!"

"Gomen, Pai-sama," muttered Yuzu. Ichigo however glared, and was just opening her mouth to retort when a shout came from in front.

"Pai!"

Zakuro had suddenly called out sharply, and Pai turned to her, looking at her quizzically. She had stopped, and was looking at him with a strange expression on her face – somewhere between curiosity, surprise and unease.

"What is it, Zakuro?"

"There," she gestured with her hand. Pai followed her gaze and saw clearly what it was that had drawn her attention.

There, coming out of the brush a little way to their right, was a winding, fairly narrow but perfectly distinct path. They could see it wending its way down through the rocks toward a narrow, valley-like cove which was mostly obscured by the steep descent. However, they could see several curls of dark gray smoke rising up from it clearly against the blustery sky.

All of them stared. This was no mark of a passing animal, not something to be caught and deciphered and followed as best one could. The path that lay in front of them was old and worn, shaped through the grass by countless feet passing along it, every day for who knew how many years. It was not in the slightest bit concealed; on the contrary, it was a guide. A guide to the people who lived here, clearly stating that here was the way down to their home, that they were nearly there.

This was a good place.

That was when it dawned on Pai just how long people must have been living here. Generations of grand-fathers and fathers and sons, all in the same place. And at the same time, with a flicker of apprehension, he realised what that meant. There was absolutely no way that this tribe was willingly going to leave.

"Halt! Stop!"

Two boys were running down the path towards them.

"What?"

A jolt of alarm ran through the small group. Ichigo and Yuzu took a step backward, Zakuro and Pai moved closer together. Mugi tensed and lifted his spear slightly and Pai leant forward and scrutinized the boys as they came to a disorganised halt in front of him.

It only took him one proper look to realise they were nothing to be afraid of. They were several years younger than himself – about the Ichigo's age – and had the gangly, clumsy manner that came between being a child and a man. The spears they carried weren't big enough to kill a deer, let alone a man and, above all, they were clearly unsure of what they were doing. Nothing destroyed an advantage like disorganisation and thus these two boys posed no threat. Pai lifted an eyebrow and waited patiently for them to speak.

After a few seconds of shuffling and awkward glances the taller of the two - a wiry, gold-eyed boy whose skin was slightly paler than his companion's - spoke. "I am Kisshu, and with me is Masaya. We are warriors from the Midorikawa tribe and request you to state your names and why you are here." The boy finished in a rush, but continued to look Pai directly in the eye as he spoke. The other boy standing beside him looked tense; his brown eyes moved over the group, taking in their size and numbers, the same ribbon-like things Pai had noticed on Lettuce's head the day before undulating before him. No doubt they were picking up some sort of information as well.

Pai was amused, but also slightly impressed. It seemed these two had come to speak to him on their own initiative; this tribe did have those who could fight, it seemed. "Well, warriors of the Midorikawa tribe, I am Pai, chief of the Fujiwaras. With me is my sister, Zakuro, and these others are our scouts and tribe mates."

Zakuro stepped forward, and after the two boys glanced at one another in surprise they shifted their gaze to her. "Kisshu and Masaya, we have come as an embassy to your chief. Are you expecting us?"

They looked blank for a few seconds, and then comprehension flashed across the shorter boy – Masaya's – face. "Yes, we are expecting you," he said. "Our chief currently sits in council over the matter."

"As we have not yet reached the village, you may escort me to him, if you wish," Pai offered. From the corner of his eye, he saw Mugi give the slightest of smirks.

Kish and Masaya had a short muttered conversation, with several glances toward the party. Pai strained his ears to catch their words; "Shall we split up? ... one at the back and one at the front... I think you only do that if there's more than... fine, then let's just... I don't like the idea of not being able to see them, though..." Pai found himself smirking slightly. Zakuro glanced at him with a quelling look.

A moment later, the boys seemed to reach an agreement and turned back to the group. Masaya raised his voice. "We will take you to our chief. Please follow us."

Kish nodded in confirmation, and the two of them turned the way they had come, motioning to Pai to follow them. Pai twisted around to look at the rest of the party. Yuzu and Mugi shrugged, but Ichigo nodded vehemently, her eyes on the green-haired boy in front of them. Zakuro rolled her eyes and began to walk forward. "I don't think they're going to do us any harm."

Pai nodded began to follow the two 'warriors' down the path.

"So they said nothing about where they were going?" Ryou asked for the third time.

"I told you, Ryou," Mint snapped impatiently.

"I think your interruption is pointless then, as it holds little relevance to the matter at hand –"

"But what is the matter at hand?" Mint burst out. "I, for one, have no idea what's going on, and there's rumours enough to drown in buzzing around both the villages, and I think you should let me – that is, people – know what's actually happening."

"As it happens, Minto," Ryou said icily, "I was just about to find you and return to our tribe to do just that. If you had been a little more patient and not burst in on our counsel over something so trivial -"

"What Ryou-sama means is that all of you will know what is going on very soon," interjected Keiichiro, pouring oil on the troubled waters, "and that you only need wait a little longer. And while Kish and Masaya's alarm may have some significance that we can decide later, at present there are more important issues we have to discuss before..."

Lettuce, who had remained pale and quiet throughout the conversation, suddenly stood, crossed the room toward the doorway of the hut and stepped out, her ribbons moving and twitching in the breeze. "I don't think there are, Keiichiro," she said quietly, and Mint noticed with a flicker of alarm the veiled nerves in her voice.

Keiichiro was at her side in an instant, his own ribbons unfurling. Mint and Ryou looked at one another in a moment of mutual confusion. "Retasu? Niece, what do you mean?"

"Look," she pointed.

They heard Keiichiro's sharp intake of breath from across the room. By the time they were as much as halfway across, Keiichiro had turned and was heading towards his seat - Lettuce tailing behind him - with a look of grim anxiety on his face.

"They're here. Kisshu and Masaya are with them," he said.

Mint felt her stomach lurch, and hurried forward to the door. They were here? They were invading already? Were Kish and Masaya perhaps dead, killed in some gruesome savage manner, and being brought back as a trophy? Or had the two of them seen the new tribe and jumped ship? That thought sent hurt twisting through Mint, unbearable even as a "supposing". A thousand muddled, chaotic ideas ran buzzing through her head, blotting out her common sense and filling her with panic. She closed her eyes, shook her head and peered out of the hut, taking in the actual spectacle in front of her.

Mint blinked. What she saw was so different from her panicked thoughts that she could have laughed with relief but, in its way, so bizarre that it held her where she stood with fascination and bemusement. She wondered who was being taken in - if anyone was - and if not, why on earth what was happening was happening.

A group of people, who, by the paleness of their skin and the furs they wore as clothing could only be the invaders, were being led into the village by Kish and Masaya. They were walking ahead of the group, looking tense and uncertain, while the people behind them followed in a loose knot, looking about them with interest. Midorikawas were coming from their huts to stare in silence at the procession, dropping their eyes if any member happened to glance at them then lifting them again, staring at Kish and Masaya with eyes filled with questions.

"So it's true," murmured Mint. Then she turned to Ryou. "Do we know if they come in peace?"

"Retasu-san said that they would come with an embassy, to negotiate – though I expect they see it as more of a formality than anything else," Ryou's face was hard and grim, and as he nodded towards the party, Mint could see his jaw was tight. "See that man's face? He must be the chief, judging by the way he's positioned himself at the head of the group. He doesn't take Kisshu and Masaya seriously."

Who would? Mint thought, with a hint of amusement. But at the same time, she felt proud of her two friends. They must have met this party when they climbed the cliffs, and the thought of the hasty ad lib they must have done when they encountered the group made her smile.

"You think this is funny, Minto?" Ryou said quietly, his sharp blue eyes catching her expression. "Well, make yourself useful. Go back to the village. Fetch our warriors. Be quick about it."

Mint gasped at the unfairness of her cousin's order. "But Ryou-san, that not fair! I want to hear – "

"Go!"

Mint ground her teeth and began to pick her way down from the hut, looking up as she passed the 'embassy'. Her eyes met Masaya's, and he gave her a quick, tight smile. She grimaced back, and proceeded down the path, looking up at the strangers and daring them to try and intimidate her. She was about to slow down and analyse each of their appearances in turn as they passed her, but then she heard Ryou give a slight cough behind her, and stomped faster down the path instead, looking straight ahead. How could they have the negotiations without her there? It just wasn't fair!

As she passed the last of the group, Mint broke into a run, heading towards the cliffs and her own village, her quick feet and eyes picking out the fastest way up. The sooner she got there, the sooner she could be back.

Keiichiro welcomed the group in the most gracious manner possible, giving a quiet word of thanks to Kish and Masaya. He motioned for them to be seated on the driftwood logs set in a circle around the centre of the room, which most of them did, though Kish and Masaya stayed standing in the recesses of the room, neither of them particularly wishing to make fools of themselves in the negotiations. Mugi hovered, evidently wishing to remain standing, until Pai gave a sharp, terse motion with his head and he sat down sullenly next to Ichigo.

Pai looked around the circle, memorizing the faces of those he did not know and studying the expressions on those he did. He noted that all the members of his group appeared tense and awkward, aside from the Ikisatashi girl, who looked interested and Zakuro, who remained expressionless save for an occasional, searching flicker of her eyes. Yuzu and Mugi both seemed stressed, uncomfortable with their close proximity to the strangers, while in the corner the two boys who had led them in talked quietly, their bizarre antennae twitching incessantly.

Pai turned his attention to the two men who had been talking as they had entered the room; these must be men with power in the tribe. The younger, blonde one's expression was stony; like Mugi, he looked tense and maybe, Pai thought, even a little angry. The brown-haired man next to him seemed, by comparison conspicuously relaxed – as though tense negotiations with unfamiliar foreigners were something he encountered every day. This must be the chief of the tribe, Pai thought, to be so self-assured. And if so, who was the man on his right...?

Just then, he spotted Lettuce sitting to the left of the Chief. The blush he had noticed on her cheeks when they were in the woods was now absent from her face, and she was obviously tired. She looked pale and on edge, her hands gripping the log on which she sat, but with a stubborn tilt to her head that refused to display fear. He scrutinized her closely, noting where she was seated and recalling her words the previous day. As he watched, she leant over and whispered something to the Chief; he nodded. She was respected within her tribe – that much he knew. Could that mean that she was, perhaps...

Pai suddenly noted a slight resemblance between her and the Chief, and relaxed. She was a relative then, like Zakuro was to him; she had skills that were valued in her tribe, and direct kinship with the Chief – thus she was respected, Pai hypothesized. Besides, that man was far too old - older than himself...

Pai suddenly noticed his sister watching him closely, and hastily looked down at the floor.

"You'd better start, Keiichiro-san," Lettuce whispered to her uncle. "They're only getting more bothered the longer we sit here."

Keiichiro nodded and turned to the front. Lettuce watched him as he took a deep breath, carefully arranging his features into an expression of composed hospitality. Lettuce looked away from him, her eyes moving around the circle for what seemed like the hundredth time.

As her eyes reached the red-haired girl opposite her, Lettuce noticed that the girl was gazing to Lettuce's right, where Masaya and Kish stood quietly talking to one another. She heard them fall silent and the red-head blushed, coyly turning her gaze to the floor. Lettuce almost smiled, but then imagined all too clearly what Mint's reaction would be, had she been present.

Just then, Keiichiro cleared his throat, and all eyes turned to him as he began to speak. "To all of you, welcome to our village. I am Keiichiro, Chief of the Midorikawa tribe," he said cordially. He then motioned to his right. 'This is Ryou. He is Chieftain of the Aizawas, who live nearby."

A small flurry of murmuring broke out amongst the strangers; they had clearly not anticipated the presence of more than one tribe in the vicinity. After a few moments Pai raised his voice and the room fell silent. "I am Pai, Chief of the Fujiwara tribe. With me is my sister Zakuro, members of our tribe, and our allies, the Ikisatashis. Their chief, regrettably, could not come."

Lettuce felt a dropping sensation in her stomach, and fought to keep her face free of dismay. So their doubled numbers meant nothing, after all – the Fujiwaras had another tribe with them, too. Pai's choice of word – allies – sent cold fear down her spine. As she stared toward him anxiously, the woman next to him – his sister – looked up, deep violet eyes boring straight into her own. Lettuce hastily directed her gaze towards her companions instead, watching their reactions.

Yuzu noticed the green-haired girl on Keiichiro's left look shocked as Pai mentioned their numbers, but both Ryou and Keiichiro's expressions were perfectly controlled.

Ryou now leant forward and raised his voice above the hubbub. "We have some questions for you, Pai-sama," he said, and Yuzu tensed as, past the honorific, she heard a slight edge of aggression in his tone. "Firstly, do you and your allies –" he put only the very slightest emphasis on the word "-mean to stay here? If so, for how long?"

Pai drew himself up slightly, meeting Ryou's gaze directly. "We plan to stay in this area, Ryou-sama; this land is good, and there is plenty of food and shelter. How long we shall stay I cannot tell you. The amount of time is indefinite. As I told Retasu-sama when I met her, we only wish for a place to stay where we shall not be hungry, where our young and old will not be killed during the winter." His eyes moved to Lettuce's face, as though looking for her support, but she kept her eyes firmly fixed on a spot just above his head.

Yuzu watched the girl closely. From what she could see, she was young – only a little more than ten and five winters, by the look of it – not particularly athletic-looking, and not particularly brave. She seemed pale and quiet, unwilling to make decisions herself, but Yuzu gathered that she was a respected figure within her tribe. In the wolf tribe, a member received recognition by proving their skill by producing food and shelter for the tribe, fighting or scouting - as she had done - or simply by being strong enough to survive the winter. What did this weak, defenceless tribe, who did nothing to keep themselves hidden and had no warriors to speak of, value about this girl? What would make them see her as worthy of respect?

So wrapped up in her thoughts was she that she didn't notice the Midorikawa chief leading up to his question until he asked it. Leaning forward, his odd, charcoal-silver ribbons moving very slightly in the air about him, he said, "Pai-sama, there is one thing I must know. If your two tribes do end up staying here, do you think we can all live here peacefully?"

The atmosphere in the room seemed to tense. There was a moment of silence as everyone waited for the reply to Keiichiro's question – the one that all of them had been wondering about since they had arrived. Yuzu sat quietly, her eyes locked on Pai's face, watching as he opened his mouth to speak. What would he say? What –

Then Pai gave the Midorikawa girl an abrupt, lightning glance and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Yuzu stared, but Pai was already looking away, so fast she thought she might have imagined it. He seemed to have chosen what to say, speaking slowly as he selected his words.

"That will depend, Keiichiro-sama, on the amount of resources that this area contains; for example, is there enough food for four tribes in this place? Enough firewood?"

Beside him Zakuro was looking askance and across the circle the two boys who had escorted them in were watching him with reluctant admiration. He had, very neatly, dodged the question.

Yuzu slumped in her seat, bored.

Keiichiro looked at him hard, an expression of appraisal visible beneath his careful mask. "Well, it depends; we have different sources of food, and they are all gathered from different places. If you were to..."

Mint scrambled through the scrub at the edge of the cliff, bushing wiry branches out of the way and dodging sharp rocks underfoot. She heard the cry of sea birds all about her and she could feel the familiar, rough turf under her feet. She reached a certain spot along the barren cliff and stopped, looking this way and that, checking the coast was clear and she was not being followed here by some wolf-like stranger. Then, relaxing, she crouched where she was, took a firm grasp of a chunk of heather and swung herself off the cliff.

At least, that was how it would have appeared to an onlooker. Mint Aizawa knew different. She lowered herself from the edge of the cliff and dropped onto a narrow outcrop, easing her way along and then taking a brief hop onto another. This wasn't the safest way down, but it was certainly the fastest.

Off to one side of her a large, glossy-headed sea-bird carked and flapped its wings, eyeing her expectantly. It was the breeding season for those birds – Mint could see from here that it was sitting on a nest – and the kin of the birds rarely passed a nesting gull without giving them a titbit of some sort. It made the birds tame if they were given food, encouraged them to nest close to the village, where a passing, careful Aizawa might be able to sneak an egg from an unguarded nest, to eat or to bring up tame. It was a fair exchange.

But today, Mint was in a hurry. "Gomen, sister, no food. I have a message to deliver today."

The bird rustled its feathers in a moody way and settled back down on its eggs, and Mint proceeded along the cliff-face.

After a few more minutes of climbing, smoke began to show from around the cliff. Mint dropped lower and, rounding a corner, entered the small, overhung valley that the Aizawas called home.

The majority of the tents were sheltered under the cliff, but a few protruded out at this time of year, small homes set up on the sparsely vegetated rocks that jutted out into the sea, jet-black against the white, pounding surf. In the winter the village would contract, drawing back into the valley and the cliff caves to be away from the harshest winds. But right now, the weather was fine. There were people everywhere - fishing, talking, training birds, all of them, Mint knew, with the bird-wing mark of the Aizawas there between their shoulder-blades. Mint ran into the midst of the village and hollered over the pounding of waves.

"Strangers from the North are here!" she yelled impressively.

The chatter immediately around her died into silence. Then, as her words sunk in, the camp descended into chaos. One child began to scream; adults were shouting and running to their tents.

"STOP PANICKING!" Mint shrieked, and there was quiet again. Then, in her normal tone, she continued.

"They're not attacking us yet. But they are at the Midorikawa village now, 'negotiating'." Mint stressed the word and a wave of muttering swept through the crowd. "Ryou-sama needs his warriors to go there now, in case things turn ugly," Mint continued. "He and Keiichiro-sama are in council with their Chieftain as we speak. Come on – fetch those who aren't here. Get your spears. We need to go!"

The camp began to bustle with activity again, the young men hurrying to get their spears and rallying around Mint, who was waiting impatiently at the foot of the ascent"

"Come on come on come on!" she called impatiently. "Let's go."

Only half an hour after Mint had set off to the Aizawa camp she was back again, with near fifteen warriors in tow. They stood outside the hut, having organised themselves efficiently into two rows, and Mint called from outside. "Ryou-sama!"

A second later, Kissh pulled open the curtain that served as the door and looked at her. "What are you doing here?" he whispered. "They've almost finished!"

Sure enough, from behind him in the hut Mint heard a rustle as people got to their feet and the sound of a deep, unknown voice saying good-bye to Keiichiro.

Mint's blood boiled. "Ryou-baka! When he comes out here, I'm going to – "

Just then, the group of strangers she had seen coming in began to make their way out of the hut, stepping around Mint and Kish with no comment and glancing curiously at the redundant group of warriors lined up on either side of the path. Mint just realised that she and Kish were blocking the way out when she noticed Lettuce inside, talking with Masaya in one corner.

"Retasu!" she called, walking inside, "I need to talk to you – "

As she walked through into the hut, a red-headed girl about her age bowled past her towards Kish. "Hey, Kisshu-san?" she called loudly, taking Mint's previous place in the doorway,"I was just going to thank you for 'escorting' us to your camp." There was a trace of mockery in her tone, but also curiosity. She was testing him out then, Mint thought dryly.

Kish turned around to look at her, rapidly improvising. "You're welcome, Ichigo-san" he said cordially. "I wouldn't have thought trackers such as yourselves would really have needed our guidance to find the village, though."

She stopped in surprise - evidently having expected a more self-conscious answer than the one she had received - and then began to reply, her voice losing some of its sarcastic tone. Kish allowed himself to be ushered out of the hut as the girl continued to talk.

Mint eyed her curiously until both she and Kish were out of sight of the doorway before turning back. "Retasu, what's been happening? Why were a bunch of random enemy tribe people in Keiichiro-sama's hut? Who was she?" She motioned with a jerk of her head to the doorway of the hut, through which they could hear snatches of conversation floating in.

"Ichigo," muttered Masaya. "She's a member of the Ikisatashi tribe."

"That's what they're called?"

"Well," said Lettuce grimly, "what one of the tribes is called."

Mint was surprised. "There are two tribes?"

Masaya nodded. "From what I gathered," he continued, "though of course they didn't say it like this, but they're sticking together until they're sure of this land – teaming up for now. They can always turn on eachother later, sort of thing. It seems like quite an uneasy alliance; the Chief of the Ikisatashis didn't even turn up, just the Fujiwara Chief, his sister, some other wolf warrior and a couple of Ikisatashi rank-and-file thrown in for good measure."

"How about the negotiations?" Mint inquired. "What did you talk about?"

Masaya snorted. "Nothing useful. They just asked about which creatures were our kin, and we told them which not to kill dolphins and black-headed gulls and otters, and where the deer usually graze and so on. But Ryou and Keiichiro-sama were very careful about what they told them and what they didn't, I noticed that – they never mentioned which way the wind usually blows, or where we go to fetch our water."

"And then they each introduced themselves and told us a little about their kin, and that was it," Lettuce finished. "The Fujiwara are the kin of the wolves, and Ikisatashi the cats. Both predators, and so naturally alliance and negotiation aren't easy for them; the cats in particular. I could tell they wanted to fight."

"Wait, hold up a bit," Mint said quickly. "The Ikisatashis. They're kin of cats? But that must mean they ally themselves with them. Cats are untameable, everyone knows that!"

"I don't think it's quite the same, Minto-san," Masaya said quietly. "You know that in our tribe and yours we don't kill some of our kin creatures, like Black-headed gulls and otters and so on? Well, there was one thing I noticed about the Ikisatashis, just after they said they were the Cat's tribe. Both of the warriors who we saw were wearing cat-skins of some kind."

Mint's eyes widened, but she managed to swallow her shock and keep her voice steady as she answered. "That's... different."

Lettuce stared down at her lap without a word. "I think the wolves are different again, though," she said quietly. "The Fujiwaras didn't seem as… I don't know... uncompromising as the two Ikisatashis – just as dangerous, but less likely to fight us... and a lot more tolerant. I feel that we could get along quite easily." She looked up and saw her two friends watching at her rather oddly.

"If you think that, Retasu-chan, I'm sure you're right," Mint said after a moment. "But all this isn't really what I'm interested in. What I want to know is: how did you know they were coming? And what did you think of all of them?"

Lettuce nodded; Mint could see her reluctance to talk about the newcomers more than she had to. "Alright, I'll tell you what you want to know, but let's get out of here first. I've been in this hut for hours."

Beside her, Masaya pushed himself off the log he had been leaning on and began to walk toward the door. "Well, I'm going to try and detach Kisshu from that Ikisatashi girl, and then we'll come too. That meeting was so stressful - you weren't missing anything good, Minto." He gave her a warm smile, and she felt her spirits rise marginally.

She stepped outside the hut to see Kish and the girl called Ichigo were still talking. They didn't seem to notice Mint, Masaya and Lettuce approaching until Masaya coughed slightly from behind Kish and he turned around with a start.

"Hey, Masaya," he said, laughing. "You gave me a shock!"

"Sorry," Masaya replied. "I didn't mean to." His brown eyes held a trace of laughter in them at his friend's absorption in the conversation. In front of him, Ichigo leaned around and looked at Mint and Lettuce curiously. Mint stared boldly back.

"Ano... we were thinking of going for a walk, Kisshu," Lettuce said timidly.

He shrugged. "Sure, why not? I need to blow away the cobwebs after that session. See you, cat-girl.' He gave Ichigo a jaunty grin.

"Great," Mint said hurriedly. "Now let's go." She reached for his arm and began to pull him off the path towards their usual route up, a little way along the cove. She nearly laughed when she noticed Ichigo's surprised, slightly annoyed expression. Well, Mint would prove to her that Aizawa girls were every bit as capable as Ikisatashis.

"Shouldn't you be going somewhere?" she said tartly, tilting her head toward the group waiting at the foot of the cliff.

As if to prove her point, at that moment the burly Ikisatashi man called out. "Ichigo? Are you coming any time before winter?"

"I guess," Ichigo said reluctantly, beginning to back toward the cliff. "But aren't you all coming up this way?"

"Well, that's not the only way up, you know," Mint said airily, turning away. "Not all our paths are marked as clearly as this one." Ichigo frowned.

"You could come with us, if you like," Lettuce offered, and Mint glanced at her, annoyed. She knew Lettuce was only trying to be courteous, but if Ichigo took her up on the offer Mint's whole afternoon would be ruined.

"No, I'd better go," she said stiffly, turning around. "But thanks for the offer," she called, flashing Lettuce a genuine smile over her shoulder. She joined the rest of her group at the bottom of the cliff, and they began to pick their way up. Mint noticed the predatory way that they moved - easing themselves from one piece of cover to the next - and shuddered, turning back to her group.

"Baka," she said lightly to Kish, breaking the tension. "You'd flirt with anything if it stayed still long enough."

"Hey, don't be like that, Minto-chan," Kish said, playfully ruffling her hair. "It was only a bit of fun. But c'mon, let's at least get up the cliff before you start gossiping your heart out."

It took them all of five minutes to climb the cliff, the route so familiar that even Lettuce barely stumbled. They crawled over the top of the cliff and headed a little way inland just as the wind veered around to the south, no longer blowing off the sea but across the land.

They made their way a little inland a bit farther before sitting down in a small, tangled copse some way into the wood, where they knew from experience there were several good, early raspberry bushes to snack from during a conversation. The two boys quickly gathered a handful and joined Lettuce and Mint on the ground, passing them each a few pink, squashy berries.

They chewed in silence for a while, then Kish spat out a seed and asked, "so are we going to start with the serious stuff, or the Minto-Retasu-lowdown?"

"Let's talk about it seriously first," Masaya put in. "Get it out of the way, so we can enjoy our afternoon."

Lettuce nodded, and the four of them sat in silence for a few moments, spitting seeds and occasionally reaching towards the bush to pick another fruit.

Then, Masaya spoke. "Well, if they do decide to attack us," he said conversationally, "we're screwed."

The small band of warriors made their way through the forest in silence for the most part, probably pondering the meeting that had just passed or - in the case of Ichigo and Zakuro - sulking.

In Zakuro's opinion, this 'embassy' had been a complete and utter waste of time. Nothing had been decided, nothing had been resolved, and whenever a difficult question had come up, her brother had skilfully diverted the conversation so that it did not have to be answered. Now, as she walked beside him, she noticed him keeping his face carefully free of expression; a closed mask that, now she thought of it, reminded her precisely of the expression Deep Blue wore all the time.

Zakuro gave a sigh, and Pai turned to face her. "Is everything alright, Zakuro?"

"What is it to you?" she snapped, lengthening her stride until she was a little way ahead of him. She could feel his eyes on her back, but didn't turn around. He would know she was mad at him. Good.

She could see what he was trying to do clearly; he didn't particularly want to fight these people himself, but he was unsure what Deep Blue-sama's opinion was. So he was procrastinating, trying to stave off the moment when they would have to commit themselves either to comradeship or war until he knew Deep Blue's decision. And then, thought Zakuro bitterly, his would probably be the same. It was ridiculous. Just when and why had her brother, Chief of the Fujiwara tribe, started to become so – so… submissive to that tyrant? She could see it happening. It wasn't right, and she hated it. But she couldn't see a way to make Pai admit it, even to himself, or a way forward. She had no solution.

But one thing was for sure – she had to actually talk to these people. Not just sit in a ring sizing one another up and neatly avoiding all the real issues - actually talk. And if Pai wouldn't... well, she thought, maybe it was time to take matters into her own hands.

Zakuro came to a halt and turned around to face her brother. "Pai, I'm going for a walk, she said firmly. "I'll see you back at the camp. Feed Suika for me, will you?"

Pai took a step forward, his face confused. "Zakuro, what are you doing?"

"I told you, I'm going for a walk. Don't worry, I won't be too long."

He sighed. "Alright. I'll see you... later, Zakuro-chan."

Zakuro didn't reply past a nod, heading away from the surprised-looking group through the trees. After a few yards, she broke into a run, heading back the way she had come, but a little toward the north, against the wind. Not too far away, she could smell people.

I'll talk to these people, and decide what to do myself. Then I'll talk it over with Pai, and we can do what's best, even if it means going against Deep Blue for good.