Ren dragged the dead Medjed soldiers off the road and a distance into the woods. It didn't seem likely that anyone else would be following, as close to sunset as they were, but there was always a chance. Meanwhile, Makoto used her pistol to frighten off the the dead men's horses, scattering them away south and west, in the opposite direction of the city. They would eventually make their way back, most likely, but Makoto didn't want that to be today. In short order, the only signs of battle were some blood stains on a dirt road.

With a grunt, Ren righted the fallen carriage- vampiric strength more than equal to the task. Though, they quickly discovered that two of the wheels were warped and thus dragged more than rolled. It wouldn't do, and Ren's attempts at bending the wheels into shape somehow produced even worse turbulence- there was no choice but to abandon the carriage altogether. But, that was no great loss, as they had planned to travel without it anyway since it was both heavy and slow. They dragged it along the road a while longer to distance themselves from the signs of battle, then pulled the wagon off the road and into a gulch.

"Should we conceal it?" asked Ren, as he gave the metal beast one last shove with his shoulder.

Makoto looked to the sky. The sun was nearing the horizon and taking on that dangerous orange-pink hue. Night was upon them.

"We don't have time," said Makoto, "We should press on."

Ren did not look at the sky. He instead looked down and replaced his wide-brimmed hat upon his head, tugging the brim down in the direction of the setting sun. But he nodded in agreement. They mounted up on their mechanical horses, Ren on his black and Makoto on one of the two from the carriage team. Ren's superior mount had separated from them during their flight, but later returned via its homing mechanism. The spare horse's lead was tied to Ren's saddle. They set off down the trade-road, south and west, towards the checkpoint station en-route to the distant city of Yoko-Ham, a place Makoto had never seen.

It didn't take long to reach the outer limits of Makoto's universe. The trade-road soon merged with some more ancient road of the Old Empire, packed dirt and mud inter-spaced with patches of unnaturally smooth stone that covered the earth, cutting a precise path though the wilderness. Makoto recognized this place. Their horses trotted along the smooth surface as easily as Johanna's wheels had raced along it that night, so many months before.

They crested a small rise and a derelict farmstead appeared before and below them, lonely in a shallow vale of scrub brush, grass, and youngish trees. The broken imperial road sank down towards it in a lazy curve, then veered off to the west. The farmstead was untouched by recent cultivation- just a bit too distant for any adventurous farmer out of Tock-Yo. They were entering the real wilds now- the places too distant from civilization for safe comfort.

Somewhere in that field were the bullet casings from her Father's gun, and of Sae's ridiculous chain-gun. And the dusty remains of that child-size ghoul. That was the night Sae had called her useless, and the next day she had met Ren. Makoto gazed on the fields as they galloped past, attempting to spot any of those bullets or bodies, but it was just wild grasses and ruin. A strange feeling went through her body. She had become different after that night- after this place. In a way, the old Makoto had never left this farm that night- some part of her had died here.

Or perhaps it was more positive to say that she had been reborn here? In an unexpected crucible.

Ren, oblivious to Makoto's internal musings, led them on down the road, the mechanical horses moving along the broken road with unnatural grace; their gallop smooth and easy. Makoto's horse had settled into some sort of follow command, so she barely needed to direct it. Its autonomy gave her the opportunity to look over her shoulder at the farmstead as they rounded the curve and left her past behind her.

This point was technically the place where Makoto was leaving literally everything she had ever known in her entire life. She turned around to gaze upon Ren, riding easily ahead of her, his black cape billowing slightly, the stiff brim of his wide hat bouncing with the cadence of his mount, his sword hilt slapping rhythmically against the horse's flank. Makoto felt a surge of warm confidence and excitement. If Ren was with her, she could handle whatever they might encounter ahead.

They crested a hill. The broken, imperial road proceeded west through coastal flatlands, strangely straight and hemmed in by unkempt trees and underbrush. The vague hint of the ocean was to the south, a sense of infinite space and a growing, purple darkness on the horizon. To the north, the land rolled with small hillocks and gradually hilly terrain. Ren led them down the hill and Makoto began to anticipate a long, speedy ride down the trade-road, but Ren soon slowed and turned them off the road and towards the northerly hillocks.

"We don't take the trade-road?" said Makoto. "We have some daylight left."

"Exactly," said Ren, "The ghouls are still hiding, and travelers will be hasty and desperate, so the bandits will be lying in ambush."

Bandits! Makoto had forgotten about that possibility. Caravans traveled during the day to avoid the possibility of ghouls, but they still went with guards for the bandits. If some people would brave the wilds to trade with other cities and to farm nearby land, still others would brave the wilds to steal from their fellow humans- and in the lawless wilderness, there were no consequences. If a caravan vanished, no one would ever bother to investigate, so if it was ghouls or plain old banditry, human-on-human violence, no one would ever know.

Makoto thought it was ironic that two vampire hunters, en-route to an island ruled by vampires, would most immediately need to worry about the threat of hostile humanity. She allowed her horse to follow Ren's winding path through the scraggly forest, musing on the necessity. She thought of vampires as monsters- bloodthirsty killers and predators who drank the blood of humans. But how did that compare with a murderous bandit who would kill you for your money, for your horse, for your whatever. A quick death by a bandit's sword certainly seemed preferable to being devoured by a ghoul; but both were death, both were tragic… and yet- and yet one seemed murder for convenience and the other… was a basic need for sustenance, wasn't it? A need to kill so as to not starve and die.

Two paths meeting at the same end, yes, but which was the more monstrous road, really?

But perhaps it was a just a waste of thought. Makoto didn't intend to die at all. She intended to make the journey, learn why the world was as it was, (and discover Father's fate), and then go home. Whatever she might learn would be entirely wasted if she didn't make it back to share it with the city.

If Makoto allowed herself some personal arrogance, this journey was essential for the people of Tock-Yo- perhaps for all of mankind. With the right information, perhaps Tock-Yo could better its position in the world. Gain more security, more resources, or maybe just learn a better method for finding disguised vampires- just about anything would surely be useful somehow, someway, some day.

Makoto kept her wandering musings to herself. Ren was concentrating on their path, leading them west and north, ever towards the more mountainous terrain. She was curious why he'd picked that direction, but she didn't want to question him and make undo noise while they attempted a quiet passage through the area. Ren had spent more time traversing the wilds than she ever had.

They continued on for two hours, at least. The sunset was hidden by the hills which had now swallowed them up. It was getting decidedly dark, only a fading hint of light in the western sky. Ren came to a stop in a clearing, looking around slowly, making loud sniffing noises. Makoto pulled her own mount to a halt as she waited, letting Ren the silence to employ his senses however he was wont to do. For Makoto's part, she was starting to lose the texture of the land in shadow, but all she could hear was the soft movement of wind in the trees atop the small hills, and the wind smelled of wet soil and it held the chill of impending nightfall.

Ren dismounted and looked at her. "Take what relief you need. Once you are ready, we will press on through the night."

Makoto was surprised by the announcement. "We're going to fight through our first night?"

Ren gave her a quizzical look. "Fight?"

"The ghouls will be after us."

Ren blinked. "Oh. No. They don't come after me. And I don't intend to let them catch scent of you. We can make good time in the dark while the bandits will be shut away in their camps."

He reached into his saddlebags and pulled out a coil of something that looked like wire, and after squinting at it for a moment in the dim light, Makoto recognized it. It was the incense Ren had used to mask her scent during their stakeout of Shujin Academy- a lifetime ago, or so it seemed.

"I have enough to get us through tonight," said Ren, "and I think it would be best to get as far from your city as we can."

With four dead Medjed paladins in the wilds behind them, Makoto did not disagree. She dismounted, her thighs already sore from the few hours in the saddle. It had been a while since she had been on a long ride- her legs were going to be awful tomorrow, but there was no helping it. She excused herself off to a near distance and took the necessary relief of bladder and bowels, struggling slightly without the usual conveniences an indoor bathroom provided. She managed it, as she'd managed it before, though it had not been often.

When Makoto returned to the clearing, Ren avoided her gaze awkwardly, which caused Makoto to blush. What was he-? Oh! God! With his hearing and sense of smell, he might just be far too aware of what she had been doing. Did she go far enough away? God! What a nightmare!

"L- let's stretch our legs a bit," said Ren, still not making eye contact. "We can walk for a little while and then eat. Then we can mount up and move on."

"O-okay," said Makoto, her cheeks burning like they were on fire. Were they moving on because he could smell what she'd done and wanted to get away from it? That was surely it. God! Again! What a nightmare!

Makoto tried to suppress her embarrassment as they led their horses into the darkness. It was honestly a bit too dark in these glens for her to walk with any confidence, but she wanted to get away from that place, too- perhaps even more than Ren did. So she walked recklessly ahead and at slightly increased speed.

God!… God! And she would be around Ren for- for- God knew how long. In the wilds. Without bathing. Without bathrooms. And inevitably- during her moon cycle. God! What would Ren think of her with that nose of his? In the five minutes of stumbling through the darkness, cheeks still burning, anxiety in her chest- Makoto truly doubted the wisdom of this trip more than she had ever done before.

What was Ren thinking? Was he regretting the trip now, too? He assuredly was and-

"I wanted to- um-" Ren began, perhaps trying to break the awkward silence. "Move away from where we were because- of the scent."

Makoto almost staggered as a sword of embarrassment struck into her heart. It was as she had feared! God!

"It will attract ghouls," said Ren. "So we needed to move a bit."

"I- I'm sorry," said Makoto, her voice catching in her throat.

Ren paused his stride a moment. "Makoto, you don't need to apologize for necessities."

"D- did it bother you? Should I have moved farther away?"

"Did what bother me?" said Ren, then he froze for a second, a realization seeming to hit him. "Oh! No! You moved downwind! Nothing carried to me! Was- was that what you were so afraid of?"

"What? Downwind?" said Makoto. She wasn't sure what he was talking about, but it sounded like a hope. He didn't actually smell it? Any of it?

Ren had stopped walking, his head was bowed, and his shoulders were shaking.

"Ren?" said Makoto, worried at first, but then she realized Ren was laughing- though he was trying to stifle it. He turned towards her and his gray eyes gleamed red in the dim light of the falling night; but, it was the sparkle of a ruby gemstone, not the ominous gleaming red she'd seen a few times before.

"Sorry. It's funny," said Ren, a chuckle still on his voice. "And I'm relieved. You looked so terrified when you came back. I thought you were beginning to regret your decision to come on this trip."

Makoto didn't know what to say to that. She was relieved and embarrassed and halfway between laughing with Ren and crying for the shame of it all. Ren's grin fade slowly into a look of concern.

"You really were afraid, weren't you?" said Ren, sounding confused and concerned.

More than anything, Makoto wanted to change the subject. The initial embarrassment was bad enough, and now that wasn't a reality, she was starting to feel embarrassed about being embarrassed. Change the subject!

"What did you mean?" said Makoto, quickly, walking in front of Ren along the same path they had taken before he had stopped to laugh quietly. "What do you mean by 'downwind'?"

Ren took the hint quickly enough and took long strides to catch up with her. "I thought you claimed to be a hunter." His voice had regained the bantering tone.

"Don't tease me!" said Makoto, setting him aback again. She must be sending out mixed signals, but she couldn't help it. She was feeling mixed signals.

"Sorry," said Ren, quickly. Then he was silent a moment, perhaps considering his next words around his touchy companion. "What- what do you think 'scent' is? Meaning- what is it, exactly, that your nose tastes?"

What her nose… tastes? Makoto had never really thought about it like that before. She had read plenty of books, but texts on the human body were somewhat taboo. And those she had managed to get her hands on didn't spend much time on the sense of smell.

"Humors," said Makoto. "The nose draws in the ambient residual humors of the space around it. And most things radiate humors in a proximity around them, proportional to their own ratios of the four humors- those, of course, being: red blood, yellow bile, phlegm and-"

"That concept is sound… enough" said Ren, quickly, interrupting Makoto's flowing narration. "But- the uh- residual humors are not simply a matter of proximity. They float upon the wind, like leaves on a stream. And like such leaves- they cannot go against the prevailing current."

Makoto's inner eye showed her an image of leaves falling into a stream and flowing away from her. "Downwind," she said, immediately understanding the concept. "Meaning the air was moving past you towards me, so no residual humors would travel towards you from my direction."

"Yes," said Ren, simply. "And in that concept lies the trick to being invisible to a nose."

Invisible to a nose? Makoto was surprised by that strange contradiction. She laughed and Ren smiled.

That was interesting. Truly interesting. And useful! Makoto stole glances at the dhampir who walked beside her in the dark of the wilds. She'd come to expect learning vampiric knowledge from him- but this concept of being 'downwind' wasn't anything of that sort. It was a kind of pragmatic worldliness, and it was a truth to Makoto's reality that she had never really realized in her entire life.

Just how many wonders were inside Amamiya Ren? How much remained undiscovered?

"What is it?" said Ren, again glancing at her.

"I was just thinking," said Makoto. "That we've known each other for some time now, but we don't really know each other, do we?"

Ren gave her a sheepish glance, his eyes briefly gleaming red in the darkness before he looked away, his eyes ahead of them. "I suppose we will have time now."

"Yes," said Makoto, "We will."