Chapter Summary: Sita, Mika, and Yuki prove they are qualified to face the Trials for priestess candidates a year before their peers.
Chapter Word Count: 5,976

An early installment to end the year. Enjoy!

"These are all of the novices qualified for the trials?" Yuki said, looking around the temple training floor. "I thought there would be more of us."

"Fewer and fewer every year," Sita said. "Master Xio said that there is little to attract our people to become priestesses. This world is a bigger place with many more opportunities away from the temple."

"You said it yourself," Mika said. "Your younger sister didn't want to be a novice, she'd rather be an idol or go to university."

"I didn't realize that so many felt that way," Yuki said. "How do we change it?"

"We pass the trials and go out into the world," Sita said. "This is an exciting time. We have the reappearance of the Thirteen and all of the changes they will bring."

"But our clan ran away from those kinds of changes and ended up here," Yuki said, watching the first bout between a tall novice and one half her size. "Where can we go now? We don't have space ships and the Thirteen could find us wherever we went."

"Maybe it's time to grow," Mika said. "Maybe the clan can find a new purpose and not run away from those things."

"We are not running," Sita said.

"First we have to win our matches, and then pass the trials," Mika said. "Then we can worry about running and all of those things we learned."

"You must only use the novice forms," Sita said sternly. "The Thirteen forms would not be appropriate."

"There are combinations and ancient forms we can still use," Mika said. "They will not have experienced them in training.

"Our first match is after lunch," Yuki said. "You must defeat the winner of this match." She nodded at the two novices scrabbling in the clay.

"Her technique is flawed," Sita said, pointing out the taller one. "She cannot win by brute force alone."

"The smaller one has a good grasp on the basics," Mika said, in a low voice, nodding at the red-haired novice. "But you were better before we had the pod training. Though I would recommend not playing with her. Make it quick."

"The matches are supposed to be exciting," Yuki said. "Do we want to make them boring?"

"We will not play, this is serious," Sita said. "Defeat your opponent as quickly as possible. We will need as much time as possible to prepare for the trials."

"Look at this one," Mika said, as the second match began. "She is a natural."

"That is Lee-quan," Sita said. "She comes from a long line of priestesses. She rarely loses."

"She is not going to win this time," Yuki said. "Q'dan is better, if not as polished."

"Which would you rather face," Sita asked.

"I have beaten both," Yuki said. "They are well trained and know their forms, but there is something missing. You can feel it when sparing with them. They do not have that spark."

"None of the fourth year novices have that spark of the Fox God," Sita said. "That is why we are being given this chance. We have it and they don't."

"Arrogance is a fatal flaw," Mika said. "Self knowledge requires knowing one's own flaws and being able to work around them."

"Knowing we will win is not arrogance," Sita said. "We are better trained and motivated. To them this is the end of their training. We have larger goals. That is why we must win."

"You will face the winner of the fifth match," Yuki said. "Shall we place bets on how long it will take?"

"The fifth match? They are the top in forms for the fourth years," Mika said. "It shall not be easy to beat either of them."

"As long as you beat your opponent," Sita said. "We are better than any of them."

Mika bowed to her opponent, the winner of the first match. The red haired novice bowed back. She exuded confidence after easily beating her opponent in her first match. Mika did not expect it to be easy. No matter what she'd said to Sita and Yuki, she was aware that all of the fourth year novices were well trained. Not as well trained as they were but any novice reaching their final year was not weak.

Mika stood calmly, waiting for the other novice to move first. From watching the first match she knew that her opponent was not patient.

She ducked under her first move, one of the forms designed to end a fight quickly. Mika wasn't as skilled in the forms as Sita or Yuki but she hadn't fallen for that opening gambit in longer than she could remember. As she straightened she threw what looked like a tentative third year form.

The red head fell for the feint and approached within Mika's reach, earning a backhanded darting form in return. It wasn't meant to do much more than set up for another form, but the force of the blow shocked the novice, throwing off her form. They danced around each other trying to find an opening.

Mika took a direct blow to her back, while shielding her face from the force of the return blow. This placed her in the place she needed to be to finish the match. In what looked like a flashy swinging of arms and kicks, she forced her opponent to the edge of the match square. It wasn't her favorite of the upper forms but it was rarely used.

With her opponent cornered she paused for a second to bow. She then launched herself forward using another rarely used form. One that had no good counter. At the end of it she struck her opponent quickly, knocking her off her feet. She stood there waiting for her to get up. She gave her a minute before turning to the judge for the call.

"Done," the judge said. "Mika shall proceed to the next round."

Mika nodded, before stepping to her shocked opponent and helping her to her feet.

"Where did you learn that form combination?" the red haired novice said, once she'd caught her breath. "They do not teach us to use them in that way."

Mika shrugged. Explaining the training pods was not something she was allowed to do. "They seemed to go together," Mika said. "Some forms fit together in ways our trainers don't realize."

"You were surprisingly good," the red haired novice said. "I would be honored to train with you after the trials."

"That may be possible," Mika said, nodding before turning and heading towards the sidelines where Sita and Yuki waited.

"You could have finished the match sooner," Yuki said. "She is not as skilled."

"It would not have been fair," Mika said, sitting down. "She deserved a chance to demonstrate her own skills."

"It is not about fairness," Yuki said. "It is about showing you are ready for the trials."

Yuki casually stepped into the match square, as if strolling to dinner. Q'dan cautiously joined her. Yuki had beaten her in all of their previous training matches.

"You are looking good today," Yuki said to her. "You did well in your first match."

"Thank you," Q'dan said, clearly surprised at the compliment.

"I shall make this quick," Yuki said. "It is almost dinner time."

"I shall not," Q'dan said.

"Begin!" the judge shouted.

Unlike Mika, Yuki preferred to attack immediately. She led with a foot form, aimed at Q'dan's middle. Not expecting it to connect she followed up with a head form, causing Q'dan to duck, right into another foot form, knocking her to the ground.

Yuki stepped back, allowing Q'dan to get back up. The grappling forms were not her favorite and she avoided them when possible.

Q'dan nodded to her, and immediately fell into a back hand form, which required quick reaction for Yuki to avoid. Spotting an opening, Yuki returned with a rolling shoulder form, once more knocking Q'dan down.

As the match progressed, Yuki and Q'dan quickly traded blow after blow. Yuki was able to stay on her feet the entire time using forms that kept her in control of the match, while Q'dan had trouble avoiding the upper forms Yuki was using.

"Done," the judge said, following a long stream of forms that left Q'dan flat on her back in the match square. "Yuki shall proceed to the next round," she said as Q'dan slowly climbed to her feet.

Yuki bowed to the judge and to Q'dan. "Good match," she said before exiting the match square.

"That wasn't as fast as I expected," Sita said.

"Ending it in a single form would have looked suspicious," Yuki said. "And would have been boring. When is your match?"

"It is the last match of this round," Sita said. "Tonight."

"It shall be interesting," Mika said. "You are better. But they have not lost a training match all year."

Sita stretched as she waited for the judge to signal the match was to begin. Both Yuki and Mika had won their matches, and she could not lose hers. In the long run it didn't really matter as long as they passed the trials, but it was a matter pride.

"Begin," the judge said.

Sita bowed to the judge and then to her opponent. Her style was not the calm flowing forms of Mika or the aggressive forms of Yuki. Sita preferred the subtle approach, though there wasn't much time for that in a forms match. But the simple forms often had the greatest affect.

As her opponent tried to take her down with a wind form, Sita blocked and flipped them with a simple leg block form. Following through with a back roll into an elbow form, she knocked down her opponent, who stared up at her in a daze.

Sita found herself blocking one power form after another, quickly driving her to the edge to the match square. With no room left to maneuver, Sita attached with a modified power form of her own, one designed to end a fight quickly. Although it was taught in fourth year, it was rarely used, requiring extensive training to be effective.

This time, her opponent was knocked down and appeared to be knocked out.

"Hold," the judge said, stopping the match. It wasn't against the rules to knock out your opponent but it happened rarely. Two trainers rushed over to examine her fallen opponent.

"Done," the judge announced. "Sita shall proceed to the next round."

Sita was joined in the match square by an excited Yuki and Mika.

"You did it!" Yuki said. "I thought you'd have to forfeit."

"There was no chance of that," Mika said. "I told you she had it all under control.'

"It did not look under control," Yuki said. "Those wind power forms are hard to defend against using the novice forms."

"Yes," said Sita. "Fortunately, there is enough variation that I was able to use several forms that are not often seen in training matches."

"However you did it, we need to celebrate," Yuki said. "Tomorrow we have more matches to win."

"And one of us needs to win it all," Mika said.

"We may be matched against each other," Sita said. "If they want a single winner, we must at some point."

"I can beat both of you at once," Yuki said.

"That was a fluke," Mika said. "It will never happen again."

"We shall see," Sita said. "That was just for fun. This is for honor."

"We are the only team to win all of our matches so far," Mika said.

"They won all of their matches against the fourth year novices," Master Xio said, watching Sita, Mika, and Yuki walking out of the match square.

"Tomorrow they must face each other," Elder Yusif said. "They will not restrict themselves to the novice forms."

"I believe they will," Master Xio said. "They know their own abilities better than anyone else."

"Novice Yuki will not be able to resist showing off," Yusif said. "And against each other they will not worry about injury. Against the fourth years they would have risked hurting someone using the advanced forms."

"They showed excellent restraint," Master Xio said. "If we did not know of their training we would have not noticed the subtle differences in style."

"We have chosen well," Yusif said. "When they pass the trials they will show that they have earned their place."

"Yes, they are what we wish all novices to be," Master Xio said. "But they have not passed the trials yet."

"They shall pass," Yusif said confidently. "They have been blessed by the Fox God."

Master Xio stood in the center of the match square facing the three novices. "We do not reward the winner of the pre-trial matches," she said. "But we do acknowledge that they are the best of our priestess candidates and allow them to take the trials first. Sita, this year it is your honor. Although you, Mika, and Yuki are third year candidates, the three of you have earned a place in the trials tomorrow."

The three novices bowed low, to the cheers of the other novices. There had been much surprise when they'd completed the matches undefeated by any fourth year novices. But once the shock was over, everyone had been excited.

"I don't think they realize what's next," Yuki said to Sita and Mika over the shouting of the other third years novices. "But the fourths do." She nodded at the small group of fourth year novices, some of whom they'd defeated during the pre-trial matches.

"They will know next year," Sita said.

"There is no break between the matches and the trials," Yuki said. "Don't we get to rest first?"

"Tonight," Mika said. "You can rest all you want tonight."

"Generous," Yuki said.

"You can rest after the trials," Sita said.

"Will they tell us what the trials are?" Yuki said. "They say we have been training for them but never what they really are."

"I cannot say," Sita said. "You know my visions do not let me see into the trials."

"We can travel in teams," Mika said. "Up to four novices in each team. Or alone."

"How do you know that?" Yuki asked.

"I asked one of the priestesses last year," Mika said. "I wanted to know if we had to face the trials alone."

"And we don't," Sita said. "How is it a fair trial if there are different sizes of groups?"

"Because the trials are not just a measure of what we've learned but a measure of who we are as a people," Mika said.

"Contrary to rumor, the trials are not an attempt to thin the ranks of novices," Master Xio said, meeting with the candidates the following morning. "You all shall have equal opportunity to succeed. If you are unable to complete your trials you are welcome to continue training and retake them."

"We have ten trial groups this year," Elder J'dan said. "And one candidate who wishes to take the trials alone."

"Each group shall be given a task as their trial. If you are diligent, there is no danger for your task but it will challenge you in mind, body, and soul," Elder Yusif said. "When your group is called, please follow Elder P'tan."

"We would be last," Yuki said, as all of the other groups had been led out of the temple and sent on their way.

"Please remain seated," Master Xio said, sitting down next to them, followed by the other elders. "All tasks in the trials are unique, within certain boundaries. But they all provide the Elders with clear indications of your suitability to become clan priestesses."

"There was much discussion of your task," Elder Yusif said. "Your training for the trials was not the traditional training. A normal task would not be a challenge. And would not provide a clear measure of your potential. So we have come up with something special."

"Special?" the novices said.

"How special," Yuki asked.

"There are places where the walls between the worlds are very thin," Master Xio said. "You shall travel to one of these places, journey to the other world and retrieve a token left there by the Fox God in his travels."

"Sounds simple," Yuki said. "What's the catch? What is really happening?"

"No, it isn't simple," Yusif said. "This token is a sacred relic that others are searching for."

"Sneak in, sneak out?" Mika said. "And don't get caught?"

"Are there monsters guarding this relic?" Yuki asked.

"Not that we are aware of," Master Xio said. "But its guardian will not allow it to be removed without much persuasion."

"So, sneak in, bribery, sneak out," Yuki said. "This does not appear to be a huge task."

"You are leaving something out," Sita said. "Are all trials this vague?"

"Yes," Yusif said. "Part of the trial is finding the true task."

"Which is?"

"We cannot tell you," Elder J'dan said. "That is part of the trial. When you return you will tell us all you have learned."

"So, test at the end?" Yuki said. "We can do this."

"What are we allowed to take with us?" Sita asked. "Will we need money or food? Special equipment or clothes?"

"And how long do we have?" Mika asked.

"The trials are normally a month," Master Xio said. "But time between worlds often runs at a different rate so it may take longer. Or less. Do not expect it to end on a specific day. The trials end when they end."

"So keep going until we find it and get back," Yuki said. "Got it. No pressure."

"When do we begin?" Sita asked.

"Go to your rooms and get what you think may help," Yusif said. "But remember that you must carry everything you take yourselves."

"No transportation?" Yuki asked.

"Foot," Master Xio said. "Unless you are able to find something on the other side. You cannot take anything large across the barrier. It must be on your person when you go across."

"What do we do when we want to come back?" Sita asked.

"We will be watching," Master Xio said.

"An Elder will bring you back across," Yusif added.

"Don't forget," Yuki said. Sita and Mika nodded in agreement.

"They took it well," Yusif said.

"I do not believe they have realized how difficult a task they have been given," Elder J'dan said.

"If they succeed we will have one of the great relics of the Fox God in our possession," Master Xio said.

"If they don't succeed we will have lost them," Yusif said. "I believe we should have sent them on a different task."

"If they are truly blessed by the Fox God they will succeed," Master Xio said.

"Or maybe the Fox God will want them for himself and he'll keep them," Yusif said.

"Or the Fox God will slay them, and us, for daring to seek the token," Elder J'dan said.

"Go on a quest and possibly not return?" Yuki mumbled as she prepared a small pack with clothes and other necessities. "Why certainly, Master Xio. Don't mind if I do."

"We will return," Sita said. "This is not exile."

"If we don't find that token and return with it, it might be," Yuki said.

"Please be positive," Mika said. "And think of the adventure."

"Through the walls of the world? What does that even mean?" Yuki said. "Is it magic? Or science? We don't know magic. We don't know much science," she said, grumbling.

"We will find out," Sita said. "But if it required magic would they not have taught us enough to get by?"

"Ready?" Mika said.

"What are you bringing?"

"Enough clothes for several days. And some gold and silver, that I was given," Mika said.

"Food?" Yuki asked.

"You always think with your stomach," Sita said. "We can get some travel rations from the dining hall."

"Travel rations? Do we have to?" Yuki asked. "They taste bad. Maybe we can forage for food on the other side."

"We do not know if there is anything edible on the other side," Sita said. "Finding out we would starve on the other side would be too late to do anything."

"Can we bring some treats with us also?" Yuki asked.

"A couple things," Sita said. "But nothing bulky. We will want to move fast."

"Ready to go?" Yusif asked the novices, as they returned from packing.

"Yes, Elder Yusif, Elder J'dan, and Master Xio," Sita said.

"Excellent," Elder J'dan said. "Please follow me."

"How are we getting there?" Yuki asked the others in a low voice, as they followed her out of the temple.

"The entrance is an hour from here," Elder J'dan said, gesturing at the temple van. The novices got in the back of the van, piling their bags in the back.

"What can you tell us?" Sita asked, as the driver started up the van and drove out of the temple complex.

"Please save questions for when we arrive," Elder J'dan said.

"Yes, Elder J'dan," Sita said. "Time for a nap," she said to the others, sitting back and closing her eyes.

"A nap?" Yuki said. "Excellent idea." and she also closed her eyes.

Mika shook her head and leaned against the window and watched the passing landscape. Time passed in a blur as the van headed towards the mountains. An hour later they came to a stop in a small clearing.

"Are we there yet?" Yuki asked, sitting up.

"If not we are very close," Sita said.

"Cheerful looking," Yuki said, looking out at the forest.

"Take your bags," Elder J'dan said. "I shall return shortly," she said to the driver.

The three novices followed her out of the van and into the forest. They followed a rough path for several winding kilometers through tall trees and over several rope bridges before reaching a tall stone doorway in a cliff face.

"This entrance will only open from the outside," Elder J'dan said. "To return someone must open the gate for you."

"How will you know to come?" Sita asked. "How do we signal you?"

"Light a fire in the altar in the chamber," Elder J'dan said. "Someone will come to fetch you."

"It took us more than an hour to get here," Mika said. "So, someone will open this for us an hour after we light the signal fire?"

"Of course," Elder J'dan said.

"So, we just go in and then what?" Yuki said. "Do we get a map? Or even instructions?"

"Here are your instructions," J'dan said, handing each of them a small leather pouch. "Everything you need to know is there."

"Can we ask a question before we go?" Sita asked.

"You may ask," Elder J'dan said. "I may not answer."

"What are our chances of success?" Sita asked.

"I cannot answer that," Elder J'dan said. "This is a special trial. We have never sent novices on this path."

"So, others have attempted this and failed," Mika said. "Do we know what happened to them?"

"You have all of the information available," Elder J'dan said.

"Thank you, Elder J'dan," Sita said, bowing to her. Yuki and Mika followed suit. "Come," she said, and stepping to the door pushed it open. Pausing for a moment, she stepped through. After Mika and Yuki joined her inside the doorway, the door closed behind them.

"Not a friendly place," Yuki said. "Do we have any light?"

"Over there," Mika said, pointing at a bright circle of light across the chamber. They carefully stepped into the light.

"Do we have the same information?" Mika said, opening her pouch. She looked quickly through its contents. "A map, a drawing of the token, and a phrase book?"

"The drawings are the same," Yuki said, comparing hers to the others. "The map looks like it's only part."

"They form a larger map." Sita said.

"The phrase books are the same. Anything else?" Mika asked.

"Directions for opening the portal from this side," Sita said, holding up another piece of parchment.

"How do we get back?" Yuki said. "No point in going if we can't come back."

"It says we can use the token as a key," Mika said. "Though not how or where."

"It must be part of the trial to figure this out," Sita said. "If we can't figure it out we'll fail."

"If we can't figure it out, we'll die," Yuki said.

"That makes the task very simple," Mika said. "We can't fail."

"That is a good assumption," Sita said. "Failure is not a valid option."

"How do we open the passage to the other place?" Yuki said.

"Looks simple," Sita said. "Stand in the center of the chamber in the Fox God's symbol and ask the Fox God to take us there." "Well, let's get this over with," Yuki said. "The sooner we find the token the sooner we can go home."

"Packs?"Mika said. "In the circle or on our backs?"

"Packs on," Sita said. "We do not know if they'll travel with us if we aren't holding onto them."

"Wouldn't want to lose them," Yuki said.

"Ready?" Mika said.

"Ready," Sita said, stepping into the circle. Yuki and Mika quickly joined her. As soon as they were all ready, Sita started reading the prayer to the Fox God.

"When is something supposed to happen," Yuki asked in a loud whisper, as soon as Sita had finished speaking.

"It already has," Sita said. "We are now in a different place."

"Looks the same," Yuki muttered.

"It is a different world," Sita said. "Many things may be the same. Others will be very different."

"Well, this one is very different," Yuki said, who'd opened the door and peaked out. "We aren't in the middle of the forest any longer."

Mika joined her at the door. "No, that isn't the same," she said. "We can't stay here."

Sita quickly gathered up their equipment and joined them at the door. "We need to get out of the temple," she said, after taking a look. "They may not be very friendly when they discover us in their temple."

"Where is the token from here?" Yuki said.

"To the north of here," Mika said, looking down at her piece of the map. "Right on the edge of this map."

"It's getting dark," Sita said. "Wait until it's dark out. Did we bring any torches?"

"Rechargeable light sticks," Mika said, holding one up.

"I don't think there's any rush," Yuki said, kicking at the floor. She waved another light stick at the floor. "Look at the dust. I don't think anyone has been in here in a long time."

"Does the map show this town?" Sita asked, while watching the people moving between a large fountain and low buildings.

"No," said Mika. "Just the fountain."

"So our maps are wrong," Yuki said.

"Or old," Sita said. "We don't know how long ago they were made."

"Well, hopefully no one has found that token already," Mika said. "We didn't come here just to sight see."

They sat in a circle out of sight of the door and waited.

"We've seen the sights," Yuki said, an hour later. "And it's now dark. Time to move on?"

"Time to move on," Sita said, nodding in agreement.

Opening the door just enough for them to squeeze through, the three novices slipped out into the courtyard. When no one seemed to notice them, they started walking around the fountain, towards the road leading to the outskirts of the town and towards the token.

"Too easy, so far," Yuki said.

"Not very curious," Mika said, looking back at the town they'd come from.

"We blend in," Sita said.

"Not intentionally," Yuki said. "We must look familiar in our traveling cloaks. They paid no attention to us."

They walked for an hour until it was too dark to travel safely.

"How far to the token?" Sita asked. "Can we make it tonight?"

"No," Mika said. "If this map is accurate, based on how far we've come so far, it'll be several days travel."

"The sooner we find it the faster we can get back," Yuki said.

"But not in the dark," Sita said. "We need to make camp."

"The map has a small building on it just up the road a bit more. We can stop there," Mika said.

"This is spooky," Yuki said, poking her head into the small stone hut. "It has a fireplace," Mika said, joining her. "We just need wood and we'll be warm all night."

"But no door," Sita said. "We will need something to block the door."

"Stones," Yuki said, pointing at a row of large rocks along the side of the hut. "They've been used for that before."

"Good," Sita said. "Mika, find something to burn."

"As you wish," Mika said, giving her a low curtsey.

"Silly," Yuki said, poking her. "I'll come with you. Wouldn't want you to get lost in the woods."

Sighing at their antics, Sita stepped into the hut, and looked around. It was only slightly bigger than their rooms in the temple, but would be okay for the night, she decided.

"There's a lot of dead brush along the edge of the forest," Yuki said, dragging in a large armful of broken branches. "There's a stream back in the forest. Mika went back to get some to clean with."

"What is she carrying it with?" Sita asked.

"There were two stone buckets on the other side of the hut," Yuki said.

"Good," Sita said. "Do we need anything else?" she asked when Mika returned with the water.

"A fire," Mika said. "We can use it to heat some of the water."

Yuki learned back against the stone wall, watching Sita writing in her journal in the flickering light, while Mika was carefully repacking her pack.

"This doesn't feel very trial-like," Yuki said.

"It's like a story from one of those novels you get from your sister," Mika said. "Adventurers travel to a distant land on a quest."

"Those are full of exciting action," Yuki said. "Constant attacks by monsters, and witches, and dramatic rescues. This is boring."

"I'm sure there will be excitement at some point," Sita said. "But the less the better. We want to get the token and get home with as little excitement as possible."

"But is it really a trial?" Yuki said. "We work together now, and don't need to learn how to get along. We've trained together for months and know our strengths and weaknesses. Things we are supposed to learn on this trial."

"The Elders believe this is a challenge for us, otherwise they wouldn't have assigned it to us," Sita said.

"We should sleep," Mika said. "We still have a long way to go in the morning. And then home."

A low growling woke Sita several hours later.

"What's that?" Yuki asked in a low voice.

"Something outside," Sita said. "It can't get inside."

"The rocks we piled in the door wouldn't stop a drunken fox," Mika said. "There must be something else keeping it out."

"There's a glow around the door," Yuki said.

"Glow? I do not see a glow," Sita said, shifting until she could see the door in the very dim light.

"It's very faint," Yuki said, "like that moss that grows in caves."

"That must be something only you can see," Mika said. "Like Sita's visions."

"What's your 'magic' power?" Yuki asked, as they listened to something snuffling outside. "We can all use chi, Sita has confusing visions, and I apparently can see something glowing."

"I can listen to you ramble without killing you?" Mika said.

"That's not a power," Yuki said.

"It's a miracle," Sita said. "The Fox God must be watching over you."

"Or everyone else," Mika said.

"We all have our talents," Yuki said. "But mine is useful. I can read in the dark."

"I am going back to sleep," Sita said. "Whatever it is it isn't coming in here."

"Sunrise is very soon," Mika said. "We need to be ready to go as soon as it passes."

"Whatever you say," Yuki said, laying back down.

"No idea what that was last night?" Mika said. Sita and Yuki had carefully examined the trail of footprints left behind.

"It was wearing something on its feet," Sita said. "But it wasn't very large."

"It tried to move the rocks we blocked the door with," Yuki said "but it wasn't strong enough."

"Not ghosts?" Mika asked. "Or monsters?"

"Monsters would have made a bigger mess," Sita said. "They did not leave anything behind. We should go before it comes back."

Nodding, the other two novices picked up their bags and stepped away from the stone hut. Sita stepped in and returned with her own bag.

"This is not a simple cave," Sita said, looking up at the large temple to the Fox God, built into the side of the large cliff face. It jutted out of the stone wall several hundred meters. "It is bigger than our temple."

"It also looks abandoned," Mika said. "Do we know where the token is in this place?"

"No," Sita said. "The maps say it is here but nothing exact."

"So we need to search for it," Yuki said. "Ever feel like an ant?"

"Not until now," Mika said, looking up at the very tall temple face. "Where do we start?"

"Along the sides," Sita said. "We need to look for any hidden surprises. The deadly kind. I don't want to have to explain to Master Xio that I lost you because you weren't looking and fell into a pit."

"A pit with glowing green slime," Yuki said. "Like that one." Yuki pointed at a large pit along the western wall of the temple face. "Fall in that and you aren't getting out of it."

"At least we're prepared," Mika said, taking out her glow stick and guide rope. "We don't have a map of this building, do we?"

"No," Sita said. "Just a mark on the map that it has the token in it."

"So it could be anywhere in there," Yuki said. "Suddenly not looking simple."

"First step when going into an unknown situation?" Sita asked.

"Survey the situation," Yuki said. "We need to know exactly what is in there so that we can eliminate the ordinary and find the target."

"So, Yuki can hold the guide line first," Mika said. "And we can quickly get a sense of the size of the problem."

"As long as you don't get lost," Yuki said. "I do not want to have to find the token by myself and have to explain what happened to you to the Elders."

"If you don't let go of the guide line, it shouldn't be a problem," Sita said. "We'll take it in quarters first."

"This does not look this big on the outside," Mika said, standing in the middle of the temple ante-chamber.

"There may be magic involved," Sita said. "Strong enough for Yuki to see it."

"We should really have her in here with us," Mika said, nodding in agreement. "Seeing the old magic would be very useful here."

"Someone needed to anchor the guide line," Sita said.

"Chalk or breadcrumbs would have worked too," Mika said.

"We did not bring chalk or breadcrumbs," Sita said. "Nothing is foolproof."

"Next time we need to bring chalk," Mika said. "It has many uses."

"If we find the token we won't be back," Sita said.

"You don't think the Elders will find another task for us where we can find chalk useful?" Mika asked.

Yuki suddenly joined them in the first chamber.

"What are you doing in here?" Sita asked.

"There's something out there," Yuki said, breathlessly. "Something large and smelly."