This is rather a small chapter; sorry guys. But I promise that the new chapter will come soon.

So the inspiration from this chapter came mostly from you guys' interest in the Shukun. Something I was not expecting -I gave it little thought when I wrote Fault. But many of you were asking who/what it was. And your answer will come soon. Trust me. By the time I publish this, I'll already have started the next chapter.

The morning was chill, mist hugged the hills and forest. The rice farmers were awake already, moving between the farms and the fort, which was a rather small building with a thatch wall surrounding it.

Usually, in our culture, my wife would stay in the fort, managing our stores and money. As I didn't have a wife, the oldest woman in the village, Kaji, lived there, burdened with those duties. Therefore, I wasn't solely in charge of my village. Something I was forever grateful for.

Deciding it would be best to familiarize myself with the peoples nearby, I headed over to where Ekra lived. Brown and blonde-haired people bustled around the place, attending to their work despite the early hour.

"Are you a ghost?" The asker was a child, around ten years old in age. She had short brown hair and bright, dreamy green eyes. She studied my pale skin with curiosity, instead of the fear that would normally come with such a question.

"No, child," I answered. "I am as human as you."

"Oh," she replied, for some reason seeming disappointed. "Do you want to see the fire-head girl? Everyone always wants to see her." Assuming she was talking about Ekra, I agreed.

I soon learned the girl was quite intelligent, though dreamy and definitely.. odd. She stumbled often and mumbled about dragons as she walked, occasionally pointing out some strange fact to me.

Eventually we reached a half built structure. Wood was piled in one corner, along with some stone. A few men were hammering some stakes into the ground, creating a makeshift wall on which the true wall would be built around. I spied Ekra standing beside a tall blonde woman, her head bowed.

"Hey!" I called out, walking over to her. The girl who had lead me muttered about scrambled eggs and walked off. Ekra looked at the woman uncertainly; she muttered a few words to her. The woman nodded sternly, and turned away.

"Is that your mother?" I asked when I came within hearing, indicating the blonde woman. Ekra paled slightly and shook her head.

"My mother died when I was born." Huh. I spared a brief thought for my mother -was she even still alive?

"I don't even know where my mother is," I admitted.

Ekra opened her mouth to respond, when her name was called. "I-I have to go." She pivoted around and ran off, heading towards what looked like a farmer -he held a bag of seeds.

"At least she's finally helping us." The words were not meant for me, but I heard them. Two women stood behind me, studying Ekra. The speaker had dark brown hair, curled into a bun at the nape of her neck.

"Took her long enough," the younger woman agreed.

"Ekra's not even an adult yet. Does your village always enslave the young?" I was a lot taller than both of them, and used this effectively now. The younger looked up at me shakily, but the elder, wrinkles beginning to curl through her face, glared at me.

"That woman is the mayor here, foreign boy. Her dad founded this village and she's goddam smart enough to help out now. Not once in the year that she's been in charge has she moved her arse to help us, though."

I looked over at Ekra, who was turned away from me. Empathy swelled through me. A dead father, responsibility beyond her age, how could I not emphasize? I had been in a similar position since my uncle had my father murdered.

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As I climbed the hill back to my village, several woman ran to me, gibbering about a boat.

"What kind!" I ordered, fearing the worse.

"Sic, it had blue sails. Whatever kind it is, it's not good." One of the calmer woman, Danshi, informed me. I studied her, bringing to mind what I knew of her. She was a widow; her husband had been murdered along with my father. Her children had been left behind. She had given up everything to escape to her. She, like everyone else, would fight to the death.

"Lead me to the boat, Danshi." She nodded, turning and walking morosely into the forest.

Just beyond an archer's range, a massive boat, the hull rising well out of the water, floated near our ship. Sails as blue as the ocean blossomed from the masts. He had found us.

I turned to the small crowd that had come with me. "Inform Kaji. Tell Kamiko to come with me to Ekra's village."

Minor cliffhanger. I love cliffhangers. Annoys you guys. Makes me want to write more.