~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~18~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With my father's letter clenched in my hand, my body hurled itself through the courtyard and then, when the groaning front gates opened, down the spiraling road that descended into a thick forest. I dashed into a small clearance and ran deep into the woods in fear of headlights. I could feel the burning gaze of the prison behind me, but I did not look back. Moving further into the shade of this dense forest gave me comfort. I no longer felt that I was in a spotlight. I allowed my feet to slow down, allowed myself to take deeper breaths. I fell to my knees in exhaustion. I could feel the natural debris dig into my skin. Keep going, my body shouted. Every crunch of soil, every creaky branch or bird's chirp convinced me it was over. I lifted myself back up, my knees now dusted in moist dirt, and walked at a slower pace. I was quickly running out of what little energy I had gained from the few hours of sleep I got through the night.

"He made me promise to protect you. But I'm not your savior, Yui. I can't protect you from myself, let alone my brothers. But I want to keep my word. Not for him. But for you." Shu's words played through my head and sent a ripple of pain through my chest. The damage was already done. None of them could change the past. I had no family because of their father. I had no home because of that man. I had nothing. I was alone. I would have to continue alone and hope that all of this, one day, could just be a distant memory.

My shoes slid on wet leaves. The ground was slick from an earlier storm. Today, there were no clouds in the sky, going from what I could see through the wiry branches looming over me. Suddenly, the ground below me sank. "Hwah!" My arms extended and my hands desperately grabbed at the closest tree for stability, but my nails only scratched the bark as I slipped down to the wet ground and against sharp pebbles and fallen branches that scraped and tore my skin. I tumbled down a steep hill and, landing with a yelp, ended up in a small clearing. Littered around me were stumps of cut down trees. I laid on my back, still, in the tall grass with my legs and arms spread. I breathed deeply. The sun beat down on my face. As I sank my hands into the soft grass, I realized they were empty. "No!" I gasped. I shot up and scanned the clearance. "Please," I begged whatever deity would listen. I ran to the hill. It was too steep to climb. I didn't see it anywhere. It must have fallen when I tried to grab the tree in which case it was entirely out of reach. "I'm sorry, father."

I continued on, following, at a distance, a naturally made path that appeared after the small clearance. My ankle pulsed in pain from the slip. I was going at a much slower pace than intended, but the sun was still bright. It was likely that all four brothers were still asleep. I wondered if Shu had noticed yet that I was not next to him. I shook my head. It didn't matter.

After hours of hiking, I finally saw buildings poking through the tree trunks in the distance. I could see chimney smoke floating into the clear sky. As I drew closer I could smell fresh bread baking and savory spiced stews. I could hear faint music. Directly outside of the woods were brownish red brick buildings built so closely together that they practically formed a wall. As I made my way to the dirt road that led into the village, I could see that these buildings encircled a large town square.

The square was packed with dozens of stalls and tables with hundreds of women, men and children rushing about. The noise of their chattering and bargaining mixed with the yells of sellers announcing their goods. This all but nearly drowned out the sound of an orchestra playing in the middle of it all. At the base of everything was the shuffling of shoes against the cobblestone pavement.

I sighed with relief. It would be hard for someone to spot me in this crowd. I walked through the mass of people, dodging stray dogs and hyper children. I passed some stalls that were more securely built with white tapestries hanging over them to protect from weather. Others were plain wooden tables temporarily placed for the event. Each one, however, was packed full of everything I could magine. Some had rabbits and chickens hanging from the makeshift roofs. Others sold cheese and herbs and flowers. Baskets of produce sat outside a few stalls, fine trinkets and jewelry in others. Cows, sheep and pigs were tied with rope onto posts.

"Mommy, look!" a child squealed a few feet away from where I stood. He tugged on the skirt of his mother's dress, which, matching the style of many of the other women's, was an elegantly layered dress that poofed out as she walked. She noticed the boy pointing and glanced my way. I froze in terror. My hands clenched my dress. I could feel the spots on it that had torn from my fall. I could feel on my skin where mud had dried and mixed with blood from old wounds. The wind pushed the tattered edges of my skirt against my bruised skin. The mother's nose crinkled in disgust as she peered at me. "Don't point at beggars," she hissed at her son, pulling him in the opposite direction.

"Lovely girl," a woman hollered from my side. I looked at the tall woman who stood in one of the more permanent looking stalls. "So pretty, girl! But hiding in those awful scraps will not do!" The stall was lined with dresses, scarves, hats and jackets on the inside. Between us was a table packed with jewelry that reflected sparkles from the sun's light. "Won't you try one of my garments?"

"They are very beautiful," I complimented.

"A beautiful dress for a beautiful girl!" The woman grabbed a long blue dress from its hook and presented it to me. "This blue will bring out your eyes, my love. You will have the boys swooning."

"M'am, I can't-" I began.

She put up a finger, "Do not say no! Not yet! I have a scarf here." She, with her finger still up in the air, placed the dress onto the counter on top of the jewelry and leaned down. I could hear rustling and then she appeared again with a white, long silk scarf. Small red roses adorned each end of it. "This is the softest silk you will ever feel, love. Come. Feel it." She beckoned me closer.

"I would accept it if I had any money," I explained.

The woman's face turned grim. "Nothing is free, lovely girl."

"She has a point," a man's voice said behind be. My head whipped back to look at him. "Why come to the market with no money?" The man smiled down at me. His eyes gleamed with amusement.

"I came..." I started, wondering if I should run. I took a step closer to the merchant. "To window shop?" It came out mistakingly as a question.

The man closed the distance between us that I had intentionally made. He swished the side of his grey unbuttoned suit jacket and reached into his pants pocket to retrieve a wallet. "Well," he mumbled to himself, "Guess this is my one good deed for the day." He pulled out some bills and handed them to the woman, who quickly snatched it from him and began folding the dress for the sale.

As they did this exchange, I figured it now had nothing to do with me and turned to slip away. "The scarf, too," the man directed to the woman as he placed a hand on my shoulder, stopping me in my tracks and pulling me to face him again.

"S- sir?"

The man's hand remained on my shoulder. "How am I supposed to give you your present if you run away? You heard the lady," He grinned as his hand squeezed gently, "The dress was made for you! I wouldn't do it any favors."

The woman nodded in agreement as she inserted the dress into a bag and began preparing the scarf. "Yes, this dress is much too small for the sir. I do have larger sizes…" she trailed off.

"That is very, um, kind, sir," I stumbled through my words. Speaking with others was now a rusty skill that I hadn't thought to polish. But even so, even I knew accepting this would not be acceptable behavior. "But I couldn't possibly."

The woman started peaking behind the dresses against one of the walls. "The gentleman would look lovely in green," she muttered to herself, lost in thought.

"Am I supposed to just let a pretty girl like yourself roam these streets in a getup like that?" he gestured to me, then grabbed the bag from the table where the woman had placed it. "Thank you, m'am," he addressed her. "But no dress for me today. I'm not in the boy-swooning business."

"I very much appreciate this, but-" I started protesting.

"Alright, c'mon, you," he grunted as he let go of my shoulder, but grabbed onto my hand and speedily walked past me, pulling me behind. "I own a bar. It's just down this way."

"Wait, you can't just grab people!" I yelled. I looked back to the woman for assistance.

"Come again, bye bye!" The woman waved behind us.

I looked in front of me to the back of the man's head as he rushed through crowds, taking me further into the village. We passed tall buildings whose porches were filled with its residents taking in the nice clear day. If I yelled for help, it would bring too much attention. "Sir!" I shouted. "At least tell me your name!"

My face slammed against his back. "Oh!" he exclaimed. He stopped suddenly in front of a door. "I was so excited to see you in the dress, I forgot to introduce myself." He lifted my hand to his mouth and placed a small, quick kiss onto my fingers. "I'm Yamada. Local hero to sad, pretty girls." I snatched my hand away, finally freeing it from his. "And this is my bar," he motioned to the building, which looked like every other one, but had a small creaky sign hanging above it. "I wouldn't have said anything while in a crowd, but you look like you need a break. More importantly you look like you need food and rest." Without waiting for a response, he handed me the bag, turned away and shouted back before entering the door, "Come on in if 'ya want!"

My stomach growled. All of my senses plead with me. My skin felt hot and sticky from sweat. I would take the opportunity to refresh and then be on my way. I'd still have a few hours of sunlight left. I couldn't stay in this village for long. For now, I followed Yamada into the bar.