N/A: Gomen! This chapter has been finished for ages. Since the task of actually posting each chapter and checking for continuity falls to me, it's entirely my fault that it's been so long since the last update. Life sneaks up on you, you know? ^^; Anyway. There isn't much more to say here, other than that we don't have as many people participating as we'd hoped. D: We'd all really appreciate some feedback, and since the whole point (well most of it) of this story is for people to participate in the contest, some of that be cool too. x3

"We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive." - Martin Luther King Jr.

Chapter Seven: Cat-Eyes

Tart was bored. Nobody had talked to him all evening other than a couple of wimpy Midorikawa kids who had wandered off and left him after the play-fighting had got a little too rough for them. So now he was just drifting about, watching the grown-ups having fun, and wishing that he had somebody to play with.

He reached a log and flopped down, munching morosely on a chunk of roasted fish in his hand and sporadically spitting bones into the fire. A high-pitched laugh drifted across to him and he looked up to see none other than his own big sister, dancing with some green-haired Midorikawa guy who Tart didn't recognise. They looked like they were having fun. Ichigo was laughing practically every time the boy spoke. Tart glanced at his sister scornfully – she fancied the boy, he could tell. Tart watched the couple for a little while longer, debating whether he should go over and embarrass Ichigo in front of her boyfriend. He decided against it. The old hag was still bigger than him, and she would definitely fight him after the Midorikawa had left.

There was nothing to do! Tart looked up at his sister one more time, but all her attention was on the boy next to her. He felt anger welling up inside him at the injustice of it all, and swung suddenly off the log, turning around and stomping out of the clearing into the surrounding brush.

Everybody was having fun except for him. It wasn't fair. Well, they should just wait. They hadn't paid any attention to him all evening. Nobody was even scolding him for wandering off. Soon they would be worried, when they realised he was lost. Ichigo would be sorry she hadn't noticed him.

Tart moved through the brush quickly and angrily, pushing brambles aside, and then, as the plants grew bigger, ducking under branches and stepping over fallen trunks. He took a quick glance over his shoulder. Nobody was looking for him yet. He could still hear music and laughter coming from the clearing.

Maybe they wouldn't ever notice he was gone. Maybe he would wander through these forests as a lone warrior, fending for himself for the rest of his life. Tart slowed down and began to dawdle, his mind drifting as he imagined it. He would be forgotten by all of them and then, one day, he would come back and save them all from some awful danger. Deep Blue-sama would be dead by then, so they would all beg him to be their Chief, but he would refuse, and disappear back into the forest, a brave and lonely hero...

A branch popped somewhere above him.

Tart froze, his eyes searching about him for the source of the noise. Suddenly he realised he could barely hear the noise of the festival anymore, and he couldn't tell which direction it was in. Without the fire, the still night suddenly seemed very dark and cold, and Tart found himself wishing he was back by the camp again. And – and there was something in the branches above him...

His imagination conjured a thousand awful images of the mysterious threat that hung, unseen, over his head. He gulped, moving toward a tree and stood with his back to it, protected, at least, from behind. He was an Ikisatashi. He could see in the dark as well as any predator – but suddenly, Tart was afraid of what he would see.

He could hear his heart thumping in his ears as he flattened himself against the tree and balled his fingers into fists. A spurt of adrenaline rushed through him as he gritted his teeth, took a shuddering breath, and looked up into the branches.

Directly above him, hanging in the tree he stood against, was a small girl.

Her scream was his scream, and the night air rung briefly with their shock and fear. Then Tart came to his senses. It was just a girl – probably bored of the party, just like him, and just as he was. He turned around, his fear forgotten, and shinned rapidly up the tree, calling to her with a sharp "hey!"

But he suddenly realised that, while his fear had disappeared the moment he saw her face, she had turned away from him and fled through the branches. Perplexed, he moved after her, wondering at the agility with which she leapt and swung from tree to tree.

"Hey," he called again, "wait up! What are you –" but then she made a mistake in her panic and lost her footing. As she scrabbled to stay on her branch, he caught her up and seized her by the arm. He could see his reflective eyes mirrored in her dark ones for a split second as they stood unsteadily in the tree. And then he realised, with a jolt, that her eyes were widening with pure, unbridled terror.

And then the girl went completely crazy. She gave a long, strangled scream and began to thrash at him wildly, upsetting his balance and sending them both crashing through the branches. They landed with a thud in the leaf-litter on the forest floor, and the girl immediately scrambled to her feet, standing over Tart with her hands in tight, trembling fists.

"Come and fight me, you coward, na no da! Purin is not afraid! Come on! Fight!'

Tart stared up at her, totally and completely confused. "What on Earth are you on about?" he said slowly. "Purin? Is that your name? Why would I want to fight you?"

"Purin will never tell you where they are hidden! You'll kill me before I tell you!"

"Who? What? I don't understand you! I don't know who you are!"

And then she launched herself at him.

Tart forgot his shock and fear as he jerked upright to engage her. She yelled and hammered his chest with her fists, until he grabbed her wrists and twisted them away. He levered himself upright and landed a few good kicks of his own, and then pain exploded in his middle and he realised she had head-butted him in the stomach. Confused and angry, Tart shouted out loud and redoubled his efforts, barging his weight into Pudding's shoulders and kicking her legs out from under her. They both went crashing to the ground for a second time, but now he had pinned her.

"Explain!" he panted. "Who are you? Why are you fighting me? What have I done?"

Suddenly, Pudding stopped struggling. Her eyes bored into his, and though she trembled violently, her stare was unwavering. "You aren't... one of them? But you have..."

Tart wriggled off her and put his hands in front of him, his tribal gesture for a truce. "I'm not going to hurt you. I don't know why you're afraid."

Suddenly, Pudding screwed her eyes shut and burst into tears.

Tart was at a loss. His jaw dropped and he stared at her for a few seconds, trying to understand. Why was she crying? What in Deep Blue's name had made her so upset?

He wriggled up so that he was on his knees, and shuffled over to where the girl sat, sobbing and sobbing with no break. He put an arm awkwardly around her shoulders, and patted her on the back, saying, "There, there," the way his own mother had done to him when he had been unable to keep from crying. But he had never cried like this – why, he had never had cause to! What was wrong with her?

Pudding felt his arm on her back and latched on to him with surprising strength, burying her hot face in his shoulder. Tart just sat as still as he could, trying not to do anything that would upset her more and patting her again and again on the shoulder.

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, Pudding's huge, hacking sobs quieted and she sniffled quietly, taking huge, gulping breaths to calm herself. Tart tried to gently prise her off him, but she stuck fast, and he eventually realised that she was saying something.

"It was your eyes, no da... just like their eyes... you see, they came in the night and they had glowing eyes... they followed us into the branches... but Papa hid us... he put us inside the hollow tree... he told me to keep Heicha and the others safe... and then... he went back out... and I covered their eyes and their ears, but I saw... they killed Mama and Yuebin... they killed everyone!" And then Pudding was sobbing again.

Tart shifted himself, beginning to guess what had happened. Pudding and her family had clearly been attacked by some group of big cats or other, leaving her with no parents, and, from what she had said, some younger siblings to look after. Tart was well accustomed to this sort of tragedy. Older members of his tribe often talked of attacks from mountain lions or wolves that left children orphaned or whole families wiped out. Tart had always shuddered as these stories were told, trying to resist peeking out of his tent to check there were no awful animals lurking outside. And when she had seen his bright, reflective eyes glowing in the dark, she had jumped to conclusions and thought it was the Predators coming back for her and her siblings.

That was the reason they were slowly moving south, Deep Blue-sama had said: to avoid such tragedies continuing. But did this maybe happen in the South too? Maybe there were animals even more vicious than the beasts of the North. Tart suppressed a shudder at the thought of an animal that could cause such devastation as that which Pudding had witnessed, and suddenly wished himself very strongly back around the bright, warm fire.

He scrambled to his feet and looked down at the girl who still sat on the ground, staring at her small, roughened bare feet. "Will you be alright now?" he asked awkwardly.

She took a deep breath, and when she spoke, it was with surprising calmness, as though she had gained control over herself once again. "Yes," she said to her feet, "yes, Purin will be alright."

"I'd better, um, go then," Tart began to back away in the vague direction from which he had come, sniffing the air to pick out the comforting smells of charcoal and roasted food.

"Wait," she said suddenly, and he stopped unwillingly, wishing to be away. "What's your name?"

"Um…" Tart scrambled, trying to collect his wits and answer her, "I am Taruto Ikisatashi."

The girl smiled a little, although her reddened eyes never lifted from the ground. "Thank you very much for comforting me, Taruto-kun. I hope I'll see you again."

"Yeah. You too," Tart managed, and then turned and hurried as fast as could in the direction of the fire and the camp.

As he ran, he mulled over everything that had happened in his mind. Perhaps the girl called Pudding had been overreacting. Tart knew that girls cried a lot more easily than boys. Ichigo still sometimes cried, although she was eight summers older than him. And one of the Midorikawa girls had started bawling just this evening, when he had tugged one of her ribbon things and hung on. Maybe Pudding was just remembering a nightmare – after all, he had been scared, hadn't he, when he had been on his own in the dark woods. Her parents were probably somewhere around this fire, enjoying the food and talking about boring grown-up things.

Tart began to regret not bringing her back with him, instead of leaving her to sit on her own in the forest. She might get lost, or scared again – and he might not be able to find out which tribe she was from so they could meet each other again. But she wouldn't be in danger, he told himself. Of course not. Because this was a good place. Deep Blue-sama had told them so, lots of times. The South was safe, so the people were soft.

But as the first flickerings of fire became visible through the trees, Tart couldn't help but remember how terrified she had looked when she had seen his eyes, and the awful way she had sobbed and sobbed as though a strong dam of a thousand tears had been broken. He hoped he would never have to see anyone cry that way again.

And then Tart broke the tree line and came back into the light of the camp-fire, and almost immediately his sister's worried voice was shrieking his name and he was being pulled bodily towards the centre of the circle. Everybody had been looking for him, apparently, the other children, and some Midorikawas ('lovely Kisshu-kun and his friend and Retasu'), and even Pai-sama, and they had all been worried he had wandered off into the forest and gotten lost forever. So he had to answer questions for a long time, and be annoyed because of course he wouldn't get lost, and push all thoughts of the funny girl who he had found in a tree to the back of his mind; at least for the moment.

The party was beginning to break up around them.

The music had ceased and the players were slinging their instruments onto their backs or packing them into deer-skin bags, laughing and joking and un-cramping their fingers. Now and again a stray note or two would float through the air or a person would sing a few bars, cutting over the low chatter that filled the camp.

Women were disassembling the wood spits that hung over the glowing embers of the huge, dying fire, while others gathered their families together and collected belongings. People were saying goodbyes, trading names and tribes, laughing over a last joke. The red-haired Ikisatashi girl appeared out of the shadows by the wood's edge, talking loudly and angrily to her little brother who had been lost.

In short, Pai was witnessing the aftermath of a successful party.

His gaze drifted over to where his sister and Lettuce were talking to a large group of women from his own tribe. As he watched, one of the women passed Lettuce a pouch of some spice or other and Zakuro said something which made the whole group laugh. The extent to which the members of both the Fujiwaras and the Ikisatashis had bonded with these people was more than he had dared to hope for. There had been a few tussles, naturally, but no more than there were at any festival, and certainly, everywhere he had looked there had been people from every tribe talking and eating and generally having a good time. Everyone had enjoyed it, and people had shared food and made friendships with members of other tribes, himself included.

Or at least, nearly everyone.

Pai looked to where Deep Blue stood alone, his cold eyes surveying the scene in front of him, clearly very much annoyed. He felt a flicker of anger stir within him as he watched the Chieftain's expression. Deep Blue's tribe was happy. They liked the land, they liked the people, and Pai could tell that they liked the peace. His father had always taught him that a tribe's happiness should always be a chieftain's priority. So why couldn't he just leave well enough alone?

But as he watched, the Chief's attention seemed to focus, and a light of interest came into his eyes. Pai followed his gaze, and realised that Deep Blue's attention was on a group of Ikisatashi warriors who were standing just within the circle of light given off by the fire's embers. Pai could tell even in the dim light that they were very drunk. Near them stood a group of young Aizawa women, all slim figures, golden hair and sidelong glances. Suddenly one of the Ikisatashi men – that big brute Mugi – shouted out to the Aizawa women, catching their attention.

Pai remembered certain customs of the Aizawa tribe. He looked over at Deep Blue-sama, and knew he did too.

Pai's eyes left Deep Blue and watched as the scene unfolded.

"Hoy, beautiful girls," Mugi shouted, tossing his flask down and focussing all his attention on the group. "Come over here."

Encouraged by Mugi, the other Ikisatashi men took up the chorus. "Yeah, won't you come over here?"

"Have some fun for once!"

"You know you want to, pretty birds." The joke sent the group of men laughing raucously.

"You're not afraid of a few cats, are you, chicks?"

A slighter, dark-haired girl – with a jolt of apprehension, Pai recognised her as Mint, the Chief's cousin – detached herself from the group and marched towards the offending men. "I will not have you treat my kinswomen and me with such disrespect." She said in a clear, carrying voice, capturing the attention of everybody who was not yet watching the standoff. "You are intoxicated. Please regain control of yourselves, or you will be very sorry."

There was a moment of silence, and then the Ikisatashis let out a high-pitched, mocking "ooooohhh!", before laughing again.

"Oh, this one's tough! I'm truly scared now!" jeered Mugi, laughing with his face impertinently close to Mint's. "You think you are so high-up, Princess? I think you need to be taught a little respect!" He lurched forward, grabbing her wrist and pulling her towards him. The other Aizawa women shrieked in shock.

"STOP!"

Suddenly there were Aizawa men sprinting toward the scene from all across the camp. Ryou was the first to appear, roughly yanking his cousin's arm away from Mugi and spinning her behind him. Ryou strode forward and pushed Mugi roughly in the chest.

"If you ever touch her again – " he spat.

Mugi's initial shock was over. "Get away from me, bird-brain, or you'll feel the sharp end of my spear!"

"If you insult our tribe one more time, it will be you and your friends who suffer."

More Aizawa men were coming all the time, forming a barrier in front of the women and menacing the group of Ikisatashi men. Two tall, muscular Aizawas appeared at Ryou's sides and raised their spears aggressively. The Ikisatashis hissed back, and a few slipped instinctively into their low, feline fighting stances.

One of the Aizawa women screamed, and Mint hushed her sharply. But more yells were breaking out all around the fire as people clustered closer, squinting in the dim light of the flames to see what was happening, readying themselves for the fight. Pai glanced over at Deep Blue, and saw the expression of vindictive glee on his face –

Pai was across the circle in a flash, placing himself between the two groups. "Break it up!" he barked, placing his hands on Ryou and Mugi's chests, and pushing them calmly but firmly apart. "We don't want any fighting. Put that weapon down, Mugi-san, and Ryou-sama, please get a hold of yourself. We –" he grouped himself reluctantly with the drunken gang he was holding back "- are not quite used to the customs of your tribe, yet."

Mugi bared his teeth, and lifted his hand as though to strike Pai away from him. Pai turned to him and flashed him a warning glance, allowing his teeth to pull into the hint of a snarl. Mugi met his eyes, froze, and then slowly lowered his hand.

"Quite right, Pai-san," suddenly Keiichiro was beside him, radiating diplomacy and herding the Aizawa men backwards. Turning around, he could see Lettuce and Zakuro appearing on the scene, calming down the seething Aizawa women and talking quietly to Mint.

Keiichiro placed a hand on Ryou's shoulder and spoke placatingly. "Ryou-sama, the Aizawa's customs are honourable, and though it has been a blessing to have such a diverse gathering here tonight, you will remember that – especially under the intoxication of wine – everyone can make mistakes." Ryou locked eyes with the Midorikawa chief for a moment, and then sighed heavily.

"I will let it pass, then, this time," he said grudgingly, casting a reluctant grimace over to where Mugi and the other Ikisatashis stood, "but this is the second occasion this evening that Aizawa values have been compromised. I demand that a concerted effort to respect our customs should be made next time we meet, by all the clans." Ryou flashed Keiichiro a significant look, and then motioned to the tall Aizawa warriors next to him.

"Shiso, Kabu, I think it will be fitting if the Aizawas leave now." The men turned reluctantly away, casting the Ikisatashis mutinous glances over their shoulders.

Pai felt the sudden change in the atmosphere around him; people wanted to be away quickly now, before anything serious happened. People were shouting hurried goodbyes and picking up their last few things. Keiichiro continued to talk light-heartedly to the Ikisatashi men, who, rather shaken with the suddenness with which the supposedly peaceful Aizawas had turned on them, were willing for the most part to let it go, though Mugi and a few others hung sullenly in the background, still fingering their weapons. Pai glanced over to where Deep Blue was standing, still in the shadows. Pai realised that Deep Blue's gaze was trained on Keiichiro, with an expression of annoyed distaste.

"He's disappointed."

Pai jumped. Zakuro was at his elbow, eyeing Deep Blue distrustfully.

"Do you really think so?" Pai said quietly. "Why would any Chief want unnecessary conflict for his tribe?"

Zakuro laughed. "Any good Chief. A tyrant like Deep Blue over there is another matter. Now stop looking at him, or he'll notice."

Pai sighed and turned away. "The Ikisatashis are a powerful tribe, and so are we. But I'm afraid that Deep Blue – and certain members of his clan – would shed blood even if there was no need for it. I mean, I would fight for this land, willingly, if I believed my tribe would go hungry if I didn't, but Deep Blue - "

"Are you sure about that?"

"Sure about what?"

Zakuro smiled.

Pai stiffened. "What are you implying, sister?"

"I'm just saying that you're lucky that we don't need to fight. Otherwise, I think you'd be in a very awkward situation indeed, Pai-kun."

"Stop being cryptic. If you have something to say, say it."

Zakuro shrugged, and then turned around as Lettuce came towards them with Suika in tow.

"The Aizawa women are calming down now," she reported, "and they're saying goodbye to some women from the Ikisatashi tribe now, so I don't think any bridges have been burnt for them. The men are another matter." She grimaced. "Here's Suika." She gave the wolf an awkward pat on the flank.

"I think she likes you," Zakuro told Lettuce.

Lettuce smiled. "I like her."

There was a moment of silence. Then Mint's loud, clear voice echoed across the camp. "Retasu! We're going now!"

"Coming!" Lettuce called, and began to move away.

"Thank-you so much for inviting us all, Zakuro-sama. I hope to see you soon," Lettuce bowed her head, and then turned to Pai. "And, ano, goodbye, Pai-sama. I hope to see you again also." She was silent for a moment, and then she said, "Thank you for dancing with me."

Pai was lost for words for a moment. But then he managed to collect his thoughts, and say shortly, "It was a pleasure. And please, call me Pai-san."

Somehow, even this remark made her cheeks heat up and her ribbons twitch, although she determinedly held his eyes. "Pai-san it is."

"Retasu!"

"Good-bye!" Lettuce touched her hand to her tribe mark, placed in the centre of her collar-bone, before turning and hurrying towards the waiting group. Pai returned her gesture, before realising that she wouldn't be able to see.

Then he saw Zakuro looking at him, and jumped, feeling stupid.

She was watching him with an expression of mingled incredulity and amused delight on her face. "Pai-kun, Pai-kun, Pai-kun."

"What?" he asked defensively.

She just shook her head dismissively and motioned to Suika to follow her turning away from him and beginning to walk towards the fire. "Maybe you'll figure it out yourself. But I'm holding my breath."

The Wolf got to her feet with a grunt and looked up at Pai, her deep yellow eyes unfathomable. "Women," Pai muttered. "Suika, do you understand her?"

Then Suika opened her mouth and gave him her craziest grin, tongue lolling to one side in an expression of disconcerting mirth. Even she was in on the joke.

"You're impossible!" Pai shouted after his sister.

Although her back was to him, he could hear her laughing.

Away from the fire, it seemed very dark and cold.

The Midorikawas and Aizawas walked away from the gathering in one large group and, considering the amount of people, they were unusually subdued. An occasional child would talk loudly into the silence, or someone would sing a few bars of a song, but most people were either silent or talking quietly amongst themselves. The confrontation at the camp had put a damper on everyone's spirits.

There were only two or three hours' real darkness in this night – soon there would be dull light over the sea, and it would be morning. But now, the stars were abundant all over the sky, and the moon was a full orb floating along beside them.

Lettuce, Masaya, Mint and Kish were walking in silence near the back of the group, listening to the incessant chirp of cicadas in the brush and the rustle of grass beneath their feet. Once they hit the main path, they would part ways. And while it felt wrong to leave one another without summing up the evening at all, none of them felt particularly inclined to speak into this silence.

The grasshoppers continued to chirp.

Eventually, Kish could stand it no longer.

"So," he began cautiously. "That was, uh, some party."

There was a moment of silence, and then Masaya cleared his throat and said, "Yeah". Mint sighed loudly.

Five more steps.

"I barely saw any of you for most of it," Kish continued awkwardly, "What were you all doing?"

Mint drew in breath. "Masaya was doing the get-to-know thing with Keiichiro, Retasu was acquainting herself with the Chief of the Wolves and I was standing by a tree watching the dance, prohibited from participating by my dear cousin Ryou." She gestured sharply toward the front of the crowd. "Until, of course, I was assaulted by some moronic member of the Ikisatashi clan – I trust that you weren't so entirely caught up in your own little world that you failed to notice that, Kisshu."

"No, I noticed!" Kish said quickly. There was a pause. "Are you... okay?"

Mint stopped walking and rounded on him. "Yes, I am fine! No thanks to you!"

Kish stopped walking too, thoroughly perplexed. "Minto-chan, what's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong?" she hissed. "Oh, so now we're not with the Ikisatashis, you've miraculously remembered I exist again?"

Kish looked helplessly at Masaya, who refused to meet his gaze. "Minto-chan – "

"Don't 'Minto-chan' me!" she cried. "I cannot believe you! Let me say two words to you before you call me 'Minto-chan' again, Kisshu, and see if that enlightens you. Ikisatashi Ichigo!"

Mint turned and disappeared nimbly through the crowd, leaving Kish to stare after her. Suddenly, realisation showed on his face.

"Ah."

"Seriously, Kisshu?" Masaya said. "You hadn't realised?"

"Oh, fish-heads. How was I supposed to know?"

"Well, she's only been flirting with you since like –"

"But I thought it was playful banter!"

"Well, maybe it was, partly, but she's always sort of thought that –"

"But yeah – how was I supposed to know?"

"She's really upset, Kisshu."

"Well – "

"Guys!" Lettuce said loudly. Both Masaya and Kisshu stopped talking and turned to her.

"Leave Minto to calm down. Anything you do now will make it worse."

Masaya opened his mouth to speak.

"Masaya, do you really want to end up on the receiving end of Ryou's spear twice in one night?"

He closed it again.

"But Kisshu-kun." Lettuce turned back to Kish. "Do you really like Ichigo-san?"

Kish shoved his hands in his pockets and began to walk again. "Do I have to talk about it?"

"We need to know whether this was worth hurting Minto over," Masaya said.

"Come on, we're your best friends," Lettuce added.

"Fine," Kish sighed heavily and stared determinedly at the ground. "Well... yes."

Lettuce and Masaya exchanged alarmed glances.

"She's really cute, and funny, and she's a good dancer. She was so worried about her little brother when we couldn't find him, and she wasn't afraid to hide her feelings. She's kind, all the time." Kish sighed, "the way Minto-chan only is once in a blue moon..."

Someone cleared their throat behind them.

Lettuce, Kish and Masaya jumped, turning quickly to see Keiichiro. He was walking behind them, so silently that they would never have noticed him if he had wished it.

"Keiichiro-sama," Masaya said quickly. "We didn't know you were here."

Keiichiro laughed. "Don't worry. I barely heard anything."

Kish's ribbons twitched uncomfortably.

"I came back here to talk to you about our hosts this evening," Keiichiro continued, "Kisshu, Retasu, I address this statement to you in particular."

Lettuce dropped her gaze as memories of the evening came floating to the forefront of her mind. She hoped it would be too dark for Keiichiro to see the blush that was tinting her cheeks.

"While it's wonderful that you two are already forming relationships with these Ikisatashis and Fujiwaras, I feel that it's my duty as your Chief – and as your uncle, Retasu – to warn you that forming close bonds at this stage of relationships may be risky. While I trust both your judgements of the individual, there is no official alliance between our tribe and theirs as of yet. Until we can be sure they will not attack us, you two should be careful."

Lettuce glanced towards Kish, who met her eyes with a frown. It made her relieved to know that he was taking this situation seriously too.

"So essentially, don't get too far in with these people in case we end up having to kill them?" Kish said.

Keiichiro sighed. "I wouldn't have put it quite like that, Kisshu, but yes, that is what I mean."