Ren wracked his memory of the region around The Sacred Landing- errr… around Fujiyama for the location of the nearest 'lake or clean pond.' He'd been through the area a few times, but was no expert- but he didn't think it would serve to point that truth out to Makoto, who was very much out of her known world out here. So when she had asked him if there was a nearby water source with which she might 'have a bath,' Ren had simply nodded his head.

A bath. Out in the ghoul-infested wilds. Perhaps that seemed reasonable to Niijima Makoto, the mansion-raised daughter from Yock-Yo. Or perhaps their amazing luck the night before was giving Makoto the impression that it was safer out here than she had thought. Maybe it only took a night or two outside the walls of Tock-Yo to make a city girl forget why her city needed walls in the first place.

But there was no profit in fear-mongering. Perhaps their luck would hold. The wilderness was strangely devoid of ghouls, whom generally wandered around individually, seeking something to devour. Ren knew there were countless ghouls out here, but where were they? Every other time Ren had traveled through the area, he had started picking up ghouls just around nightfall, a slavering hungry beast chasing his horse just because it happened to be moving and ghouls tended to chase things that moved that were not also ghouls… By pre-dawn, he had gradually gathered a sizable ghoul pack of maybe 30 or 40 individual ghouls, all chasing and slavering after him. And then, as if some alarm passed simultaneously through them all, the ghouls would abruptly scatter and seek shelter in the final moments before sunrise.

And that was how ghoul packs formed- not from any sense of society or mutual identity- but the simple coincidence of responding to the same stimuli. So, for example, when Ren passed through an area at night and gradually gathered ravenous beasts in his wake- he was inadvertently clearing the countryside of ghouls behind him.

And so now Ren wondered with some worry: who or what had passed through this region to drag away all the ghouls? In which direction had they gone? And most importantly: in what concentrated area might the gathered mass of ghouls, upon sensing the sun, had then hidden itself? Ren imagined it took quite some time for a gathered mass of ghouls to disperse, their strange individual motivations eventually pulling them all off on their own paths- but for some amount of time, they would all be in range of a new stimuli… like perhaps the passing of two mechanical horses.

But Ren kept all of this to himself, and when Makoto asked if she might have a bath, he nodded assent. No sense worrying her. If a bath made her feel better, then so be it. It could be accomplished before dark and they could secure themselves in shelter before nightfall- some tree with high strong branches for hammock. So even if they had unluckily gone in the same direction as whatever had gathered up all the ghouls they should have seen- Ren and Makoot would be safely up and out of reach when they all came back out of hiding.

Did Ren know of a place good for bathing? No! That was never on his agenda when he traveled- but, well; Fujisan was a large mountain and water flowed down mountains. So, water must pass through the land around the mountain rather commonly. So, if one could look at the flow of the land and watch for patterns in the flow of trees, likely spots for flowing water should reveal themselves. Ren took a few moments to spot such a combination of features and turned his horse towards it.

It was mid-afternoon, the oppressive brightness of the sun about halfway on its passage back down. There was a few hours yet to rest and prepare for nightfall. Ren thought he might find himself a nice nook or gully and get some soil over his chest while Makoto bathed. There was going to be far too much sunlight on this trip, so he'd better get what reprieve he could.

Ren led them out of the grassland and into a wooded grove that seemed the gathering point between three upward sloping hills. And as luck would have it, a modest pool of flowing water was within- a meeting of two small streams which pooled in a stony depression of the land before flowing off southward as a single, slightly larger creek. The soft but continual flow made for a surprisingly clear and clean looking pool.

"Oh, Ren!" gasped Makoto, "Look at how the sunlight comes through the branches and hits the water! Its beautiful!"

Sunlight. Beautiful? Yeah, right. But Ren stifled a grimace and kept a carefully neutral voice: "Will this place serve your needs?"

"It's perfect! You really know this landscape, don't you?"

No, just amazingly lucky, thought Ren. But for some reason, he wanted to sound impressive: "I've just passed through a few times, that's all."

Makoto looked at him with the sunlight sparkling in her crimson eyes, a warm smile on her face, a rare flash of teeth in an unguarded expression that was rare on her normally serious and concentrated visage. Perhaps sunlight could be beautiful, or at least make other things even more beautiful…

Her expression was one of those looks that made Ren's chest shudder in an excited away. It gave Ren a sense of being valued. Of being wanted. Of being desired. And for all those things, her hungered- though he did not realize those truths himself. He just felt warm and excited and Ren didn't really understand why.

"W-ell," murmered Ren, put off balance by Makoto's beauty in that moment "I'll leave you to it. I'll get a fire going so you can dry off and have a hot meal. We shouldn't travel tonight, so we need to find a promising spot to get into the trees."

"Oh, all right," said Makoto, her expression turning to a more common one for her face: thinking. "Are there more ghouls in this area than last night?"

Ren's mind retraced all of his thought processes from earlier, hesitated on how much he should explain, and eventually settled on: "Yes."

Makoto nodded. "Right, I won't be too long, then."

"We have time," said Ren, "Take your time."

And with that, Ren went off out of sight, but not out of hearing, and started a small fire. And for a good amount of time, Ren remained near the fire and made an honest effort at relaxation. He didn't think it was particularly cold out today, so a fire did not seem necessary; but even if they were traveling in the dead of winter, Ren could rest peacefully in a snowdrift without much discomfort. If he were alone, he would not have bothered with a campfire. He also would not have bothered with stopping. Or bathing. Perhaps he should make a show of washing himself, too? Would Makoto think he was unclean or stinky if he did not do as she did?

Well, anyway, he would not have stopped like this. But the human body was a bit more… fragile? No, that was such a negative word. The human body… required more maintenance. A bit of heat for comfort. And cooking added life to food. Perhaps certain well-equipped humans could keep up with Ren in all weather, but those would have to be robust types and experienced travelers. And Makoto- well, she was eager and doing as best she could: but Ren could see that she was like he had been when he first set out two years ago from Shukoku: soft from a life of luxury and comfort, naive to the world and its wilderness. And her body-

Ren's mind summoned up memories of Makoto bending over in her tight riding leathers, her shapely legs leading his eye up to a smallish but well-formed rump. Ren held that image in his head for a moment, then attempted to banish it with a shake of his head- a useless physical gesture attempting to dismiss the memory. But as that mental image was chased away, a new one replaced it; Makoto in that dress at her gala, the tops of her breasts heaving in excitement, her upper thighs flashing into view when he spun her during the dance.

The fire was suddenly much too hot. Ren stood up, discovering his pants were a bit tighter than usual, and he walked a few steps away, past the invisible border of radiant heat and into the brisking late afternoon air. It felt more slightly more autumnal than it had earlier today, thanks to the contrast from being so close to the fire. Ren took big gulps of it and focused his mind on his immediate senses, distracting himself from Makoto-thoughts with a thorough review of his immediate surroundings: a tangle of young trees and brush, an unknowable variety of ground-cover going to seed, each in their own unique way. A wilderness in anticipation of autumn, the air vibrating with the sounds of unseen creatures and crawlers- busy even in this brisk air, an instinctual urgency perhaps initiated by the chill promise of changing seasons.

Ren's nose picked up little but damp soil and dewy foliage- the usual cascade of olfactory information he could gain in the civilized world was absent. He could smell almost nothing- or more likely: he could smell about as well as a human could. But he was expecting that; though, the first time Ren had stepped into the wilds on his own, he'd been afraid he'd simply lost his sense of smell due to some illness- to suddenly be deprived of the ability to just.. know where humans were, where other vampires were, what they might be doing, when they last ate, and in the case of humans: if they were virgins, if they were healthy, if they were happy, sad, scared, in pain, etc. His nose could tell it all. But out here, without humans and other vampires to provide those scents, his nose offered nothing. For whatever reason, it only paid attention to people, and out here, it just sort of.. Had nothing to do.

Except for Makoto's scent, of course.

And come to think of it?! Why couldn't he catch her scent right now?! Alarm rang through Ren's body- he took two quick steps in the direction Makoto's bathing stop, but then his logical mind caught up with him: she was downwind, so he would not be in the path of her scent, that was all; the chill air was dry, which reduced the staying power of any scent; and she had gone to bathe- eager to brave the icy water of a mountain pool. Water would stop her scent from spreading, too, even if she was naked.

Naked. Exposed. Vulnerable. Had he even checked the surrounding terrain? No! Foolish complacency that. And he'd already started a fire, advertising their presence to any sentient creature nearby! Stupid, stupid stupid!

During their travel today, he'd used high points to check the terrain behind them. He'd made sure to travel with the wind at their backs- so as to catch the smell of any humans following them. But so far as he could tell- they were well and truly alone out here… Makoto could probably walk ten miles in any direction, naked, and not fear of anyone seeing her. Any -living- someone, anyway.

But- Ren thought he could have missed something. Or they had advanced into the territory of some bandit camp that was more gutsy or formidable than he had considered. Humans could live out here, if they were careful and/or had sufficient force to cull ghoul-gatherings before they got out of hand. And -that- was another possibility of the lack of ghouls: a large, human force in the area.

Ren felt a compelling need to go check on Makoto. To make sure she was fine. To dismiss a sudden onslaught of nightmare scenarios running through his mind: assault, violation, torture, murder, kidnapping, slavery- a rapid-fire horror show of Makoto in appalling situations. Ren couldn't let that happen.

Stop! None of that was happening. She was fine. He would hear anything that happened in that nearby pond, and she was a formidable fighter in her own right, and her sword and gun were with her. All that Ren would accomplish would be a perverted peek at Makoto while she was bathing. That would not do.

What he should do instead was to correct his complacency. He needed to find a good vantage point and survey their surroundings. And the most likely spot for that was atop the nearest rise in the landscape towards the east. He would head up that way, parallel to the pond, and find a likely tree to climb. He set off and realized it was only a wall of willow branches which hid most of the pond from his view. He forced himself not to look, but he assumed it also would obscure his view of Makoto. He caught the sound of disturbed water, and an eddy of wind brought her scent to Ren's nose; fresh, clean, and enticing.

Makoto was fine, and sense Ren could move very quietly when he wanted to, she didn't seem to notice his passage. So Ren moved off along the leeward side of the pool, moving downwind of Makoto, which would allow his nose to keep track of her. A short distance away, an old red cedar towered over the hunched willows, perched slantwise on a hillock of higher, dryer ground- perhaps the tree was some old holdout from when this lake had either been larger or before some creature or act of nature had changed the flow of waters in the area. Regardless, it seemed nearly fifty meters tall with a thick truck and strong branches. Ren climbed up easily.

The near shore of the pond remained enshrouded by the willows, keeping Makoto's activities obscured from view- and Ren scolded himself as a pervert for the sly glance he gave to ascertain that. But the rest of the world opened up before him as he climbed, the red cedar's height generally rivaled by its own kind, and but this old survivor stood like a flagstaff in a valley of smaller, leafier plants. The land north of the lake was higher towards Fujisan and Ren immediately noticed the tell-tale scars of a road. That was alarming. Roads meant humans.

He went on alert and scanned what he could of the land. In the near distance, there was a patch of trees missing, as if some god had stepped them out of existence like tall grass. Logging. There was, or had been, a logging operation out here- which was not unheard of. All of the houses in Tock-Yo were made of wood, and that wood had to come from somewhere. He'd seen a human logging camp once- a large, fortified ad-hoc thing that protected the loggers during the night. Trees within an easy day's reach of Tock-Yo were long since chopped, so these temporary camps must be a lucrative, and dangerous, destination for the gutsy urban laborer. They were also generally surrounded by vampire hunters on retainer, who worked to cull and disperse ghouls that may be drawn by the smell of concentrated human life- or by camp travelers arriving a bit too late in the early evening.

Ren immediately worried about the fire, but it was small, and he could not spot the smoke above the tree tops near him, and he knew roughly where to work. So the trees were adequate enough to disperse the small smoke of it- so there was no immediate danger. He relaxed a bit and resolved to spot the logging camp- it couldn't be too far from that clear-cut part of the nearby forest. He climbed a bit higher and roved his eyes over the undulation of the nearby landscape. The eastern woods which skirted the base of Fujisan didn't seem to offer any clues. Perhaps the camp had already moved on? Ren began scanning the horizon in all directions.

To the south, the land flattened towards the sea, an invisible presence over the horizion. It was a marshy expanse broken up by leafy vegetation and enormous groves of bamboo. Back north, the gleaming white peak of Fuji sat lonely in the sunlight. The nearer forests offered little to Ren's eye but an rippling wave of leaves and needles. He saw no smoke of cookfires, not even of their own- of which he was satisfied. No sign of human activity anywhere- he climbed a bit higher to get a better view of the west, and as he did so, the wind changed, abruptly gusting in from the west.

Blood and death flowed into Ren's nose, trigging all the human-focused sensors in his skull, causing him to shudder involuntarily from the unexpected intensity of it. The tree to which he clung swayed in the wind as Ren recovered from the surprise. It was the heady musk of slaughter, and he had not smelled anything as intense since… since he had left his homeland in Shikoku. What the hell was that smell doing out here? Ren started to climb up a bit higher, trying to get a better vantage to the west. What the hell was over that way?

-Snap!-

Ren fell.

His left leg bounced him awkwardly away from his tree, his panicked flailing hands only ripping handfuls of green needles in the effort to arrest his descent. As his body tumbled, he had a brief glimpse of a rapidly approaching bed of willow branches below him, which his body then sliced through. He hit something- hard. A sharp pain in his lower back, his legs felt like they were no longer attached to his body. Then, he was tumbling down through leaves and landed with a wet thump.

After a short period of shocked breathing, Ren cursed himself for a clumsy fool. He tried to gather himself up, but found his legs no longer answered. That hit on the willow must have done something to his spine, and the best he could do was pull himself into an awkward sitting position. There was little point in dragging himself about with his arms, he would just have to wait for whatever damage to his back to heal.

Morgana!

Silence.

Oh. Right. He was alone. And he would have to heal alone. Damn.

Ren looked up to find himself under the umbrella of a willow, the branches like a thin curtain only slightly obscuring the world beyond- almost like a lace curtain. And a small distance beyond that, a naked woman stood in knee-high water, pointing a very revolver in Ren's direction.

Ren froze, half due to the gun, and half due to Makoto's body, which his eyes traced of their own accord. They traveled up her long, shapely legs- those wonders which had immediately enticed him when, months ago now, Makoto had first jammed her foot onto his saddle strap and demanded he answer her questions. His eyes went over her hips, onto which he had once held while they danced- and between them, a small fluff of hair which hid appealing mysteries. But lingering only a moment, Ren's eyes traveled up a taunt belly to supple breasts, nipples notably erect in profile. A defined collarbone, a elegant neck, a slightly pointed chin, a clenched jaw (lips pursed in concentration), a pointed nose, and two crimson eyes which danced in a mixed expression of surprise, shock, and growing indignation as she recognized his identity.

Wonder and amazement filled Ren's mind at the sight of her, and then those emotions turned to shame and fear- she would think him a pervert! He tried to stand up to offer a dignified apology, but found again that his legs would not work. There was nothing to do but offer an undignified apology from the ground. He raised an arm, palm outward, and averted his gaze from Makoto's nakedness.

"R- Ren, what are you doing?!"

"S- sorry!". It was all that Ren could think to say.