The school rested the entire rest of the day as they were too exhausted. It was the morning after that the group could begin the rebuilding process. Rowan with the power she had gained decided to begin issuing orders of her own to begin the restructuring process.
"We need to rebuild and patrol the school more frequently. Ayami is at risk assuming Kay is going to make another attack. We need to get the tanks repaired as those which helped us fight off Kay in that battle. The order for more tanks needs to be made and better crews as well. The three Shermans that Saunders left behind as well as the junk that lays scattered will make excellent weapons for defending the camp. We can't keep trust for everyone." Rowan explained. She seemed to eye Mio in suspicion. "For now, follow your orders. Darkstripe, Longtail, you two will act as bodyguards for Bluestar."
"Yes ma'am!" Chelsea and Satsuki shouted with enthusiasm. Miho looked around, she was a bit worried about what was happening. The students had more tanks but they didn't know if they were going to cover all of them. Nekota and Ritsu walked over to talk to Miho.
"So the new order for us is that we can't visit the leader without consulting the body guards first?" Nekota asked, and she was confused about what was happening.
"Yeah most likely, I see that your skirt has been stitched back up, did Hailey do that?" Miho explained as she eyed Nekota's green skirt.
"Yeah she did, she's still repairing most of our clothes. I just got this skirt back earlier this morning." Nekota explained. Miho nodded.
"Yeah speaking of the rules, this is ludicrous, we're still not prepared to resist a second attack but we've taken enough of a beating to really decide on what to do next." Miho explained. She still felt tired from the battle and it seemed to her that there wasn't much to do. Addisyn walked over to them, she had orders for the girls.
"Graypaw, you're going on a patrol with me and Rabbit team, Firepaw, you must report to Bluestar at once." Addisyn explained to Miho.
"Right." Miho told Addisyn before she walked away. She was wondering what her friend needed. Ayami was waiting outside as Chelsea and Satsuki were at the side of their leader. Ayami spotted Miho approaching her. Ayami turned around and began speaking.
"No need to follow me, I will be handling these matters alone." Ayami told her bodyguards to back off, and she walked over to Miho to see what was going on. "Firepaw, there is something I wanted to tell you, I was watching over your conversation with you friends yesterday and by the looks of things, you sound pretty down. Many of the students are expressing their wishes to return to Ooarai. Is there something on your mind?"
"Yeah Ayami, we're all feeling pretty homesick at this point, we don't know how long Azusa's stay is going to last, it feels indefinite on all of us and we just want her back home. We feel like we're trapped with nothing to do as we could be spending the summer with our school. The thing is however your school is still in danger, we can't leave you behind to fend for yourself until you know you can do that." Miho explained that she didn't know what to do even when it came to something like this and she was unable to make a decision, head back to enjoy the summer with her friends or stay here to battle this out to make sure her friends are safe. Ayami felt bad that Miho was being pushed into making a decision for herself. She walked over before gently placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Firepaw, I know you're going to make a decision, one that seems very rough to you. We know that you and your friends want to enjoy yourselves but the truth is, you can't get what you want even in the moment you really need it. I've already seen students demoralized and considering much the same thing about abandonment. In decisions like this, it's best to seek someone's wisdom to see what they have to say. Once you know you're ready to continue, pick your feet up and keep going, it is hard I know but sometimes it's the only decision we have to make. We can't give up even in our darkest hour. We need to rally the students together." Ayami explained to Miho that she couldn't sit there and contemplate giving up and defeat. The best course of action was to rally the students together to keep fighting. "Don't throw in the towel Miho."
"What are you going to do to help?" Miho asked Ayami if there was anything she was doing to do for her and the Ooarai students to get up and continue the fight.
"Tell me Firepaw, what do you and your friends like the most from Ooarai?" Ayami asked Miho what she liked.
"Well we like our tanks. We fought so hard for the past couple of years to secure ourselves as a Sensha-Do team. We kind of miss them to go around. I want to express this to the other girls that we love our tanks but with my decisions and how that has impacted all of us, I don't know if I am making the right decision?" Miho explained to Ayami what she liked the most and when it came to it.
"I heard about the All Star team and the schools that volunteered for the endeavor. Some of us were watching it and we were impressed with the victory you pulled off. If you miss the tanks, I'll bring a piece of Ooarai to here. Maybe that should lighten up the mood. Do you know who I should call?" Ayami explained to Miho about the victory that she pulled off and how something like that could be impressive. If the students missed Ooarai, then Ayami was willing to make the Ooarai students feel at home.
"You can Momo Kawashima, she'll be willing to loan the tanks over if you mention my name." Miho told Ayami before giving Ayami the number for her to call.
"Okay. Meeting dismissed, I'll let the Ooarai girls know when the tanks have arrived." Ayami explained to Miho before she got out her phone and dialed the number in. Miho left, she felt demoralized still but after speaking to Ayami, she felt a little better. Hana was sitting Ritsu who had just recently returned from the patrol. "Any news about what's going on?"
"Saunders has penetrated deep in the forest, they got patrols almost everywhere, we counted three of them so far and they are being supported by one tank, some of our cabins are at risk and so is the bus, They haven't tried climbing lookout pass as that is most likely too steep for their tanks." Ritsu explained to Miho that the Saunders students were advancing in the forest and taking up positions.
"They sensed we were too tired and beaten from the raid; they were pressing forward into it. We have to organize a counter attack to drive Saunders back a bit if we are to secure ourselves a little better." Miho explained that the Saunders students were most likely gathering their strength and were starting to go deep into the forest. Miho looked around for someone but she couldn't find her. "Hey where's Mio."
"Mio went with Addisyn and Yasha to collect twigs to patch the perimeter together. She didn't want to talk to any of us when we tried to bring up the issue of why she felt so down." Ritsu explained that something was going on with Mio and Miho became concerned.
"Why would Mio feel this way? Is there something she doesn't want to talk to any of us?" Miho asked. Hana nodded no.
"I noticed Rowan was staring at Mio, I must've overheard that the camp was poorly defended which I didn't believe and Rowan also said that there were eyes in among the clan who was giving Kay info and thus the reason she attacked. I talked to Rosie but I know for a fact that she is no spy. She doesn't like Kay so it wouldn't make sense."
"What about Kimberly and Sima? The two students we captured a while back." Miho asked Hana, thinking of whom Miho had brought up. This made Hana speak:
"I'll go have a chat with them once Saori says that the tanks are on their way. We might know what exactly is going on regarding what's going to happen." Hana told Miho that she would check up on them. She too believed that Mio was no traitor. "I must take Ritsu out for target practice to see how well her aim is. Take care." Hana and Ritsu got up and walked over to see what was going on and what they were going to do. Miho got up and walked off. She had to check up on someone.
Miho got to the door and gave it a knock. Jake walked over and opened it.
"Hello there Miho, what are you here for?" Jake asked Miho what she needed and why she came over.
"I kind of want to talk to Tomori." Miho explained. Jake began to think for a moment and he spoke.
"Tomori is busy cleaning herself off. You're more than welcome to speak with me once Tomori gets herself clean." Jake explained to Miho that Tomori was in the bathroom so she was unavailable at the moment.
"What is it that you want to talk to me about?" Miho asked Jake what it was that they should start the conversation off with.
"Nothing much, spoke to Dimitri last night and he mentioned our uncle." Jake started the conversation off.
"I might have seen him months ago when we went to the snow competition." Miho explained to Jake that she might have seen him. Jake nodded as he was kind of happy to hear.
"Good. Dimitri actually asked Brook something." Jake began, he seemed to pause trying to figure out what it was that Dimitri asked.
"What did he ask?" Miho asked Jake if he was wondering what he said to her.
"Well, Dimitri asked if he wanted to get engaged with Brook. He thought she was thankful for putting the pieces back together but it turns out that when I told her brother, he wasn't pleased to hear about that as he thought that she's still too young for this. He would be happy to hear about this believing that next year would be a good time when Brook is out of Pravda." Jake explained to Miho about the plans, especially with what his younger brother's plans were and for the girl who he wanted to love.
"Glad to hear, I kind of like you as a friend." Miho told Jake.
"Yeah, especially how we fought off Saunders that time, you and I. We definitely make a good team between us." Jake explained to Miho that he was surprised about what Miho said about those words. Was he getting approval from Miho about friendship? He was still curious about that.
"That was no easy fight. We've done everything to keep Saunders back." Miho explained. Tomori came out and she walked over to the couch and sat down on it. "Hey that's my cue, It was nice talking to you." Miho told Jake before she got up and headed over to Tomori. Tomori looked at Miho as she stopped near the old lady.
"Miho, I'm glad you came." Tomori began speaking to Miho.
"I just came to check up on you to see how you were feeling." Miho explained to Tomori the reason she came over to see her.
"Old habits stay longer than old sense eh?" Tomori asked Miho if this was true.
"I suppose so." Miho replied. "So how are you feeling Tomori?" Miho asked her friend how she was doing,
"This old leg is playing up again." Tomori explained to Miho that her leg was starting to bother her. "But I'll be fine. It was nice for Ayami to tell me that I could stay and that I was welcome. Ayami is a sweet girl but can be savage in a fight."
"How did you fight off Alisa in that night raid?" Miho asked Tomori curiously how she was able to pull this off.
"Oh Alisa? Alisa is strong but she isn't a clever person. In my long years of being a nurse and doctor at Kuromorimine, I've seen thousands of students in and out and I could tell what their personalities are. I think I figured out Alisa's tactics of being headstrong but easy to fold. Fighting you was more of a challenge as you had tricks to get me to fold and without any violent methods." Tomori explained to Miho that she was more of a challenge but even Tomori knew what a student was capable of based on their personality and how they acted.
"Really?" Miho asked Tomori about what was going on.
"Yes. You were clever in negotiating peace and winning my trust in you. I have known Alisa for three years now, she hasn't changed, a bully but has no brains." Tomori described to her friend about what happened and what she thought of Alisa.
"I'm not surprised that Ayami told you that you could stay with us. You certainly showed your loyalty the night we were attacked." Miho told Tomori she was more than happy to hear about the fact that her friend was happy about this.
"Truly a loyal student would have fought alongside the school that raised her." Tomori explained to Miho.
"If what you said was true, I would still be fighting for Kuromorimine." Miho told Tomori with that explanation that she would be with Kuromorimine if she was raised there with loyalty in mind.
"Well said youngster. But then, you have always been a thinker." Tomori told Miho that she used her brains to get out of situations rather than her brawn. Miho paused as she began to think of what to say next to Tomori. She was part of the Kuromorimine nursing and medical team. She had something to say.
"Do you ever miss Kuromorimine?" Miho asked Tomori.
"I missed the old Kuromorimine, long before the accident of the 62nd Sensha-Do tournament. I always suspected you did the right thing by rescuing that Panzer 3 crew from drowning. The way the school used to be." Tomori explained. Miho smiled thinking there was someone who supported her in doing the right thing by helping out the Panzer 3 crew a couple years back.
"Long before Erika became vice commander?" Miho asked Tomori if it was long ago.
"Yes. She changed the school to make its students feel unwelcome." Tomori told Miho, she paused as she began to think. Tomori began to laugh as she found something to be funny to her. "She always knew how to give a good speech. She can make you believe in anything. She can make you believe that a Panzer 1 was a Maus if she said her mind to it. That is why I was so blind to her faults."
"You also can't believe who Maho's apprentice was." Miho began as if she wanted to see if Tomori recognized who it was. Tomori's face lit up with disbelief.
"Not Olivia Kaya?" Tomori asked.
"Yep." Miho told Tomori who it was. Tomori laughed as she seemed to be amused about old memories.
"I haven't seen her for four years, I saw her charge at a machine gun head on just to take it out only for her to get knocked over. I wonder if she's changed with Maho's guidance?" Tomori asked when her laughter dissipated.
"She sure has. Not really risking it all when she knows she can do everything safely." Miho explained to Tomori.
"That's good to hear. Before you go I heard you were in a fight with Saunders students before you got back to camp, is that true?" Tomori explained before asking Miho a question.
"Yeah and they managed to draw blood, Stephanie managed to patch my cuts together with Marigold." Miho explained to Tomori. Tomori began to think as if she didn't know what to say.
"Sometimes Marigold isn't enough to keep infections like that at bay. Go find some wild garlic to roll yourself around in, the smell would keep out any infections. There is a patch not too far from here. Although your friends might not thank me for my advice." Tomori explained to Miho what she needed to find if she was to rid herself of any infections.
"Okay Tomori, I'll leave you to rest." Miho explained to Tomori. Tomori nodded with approval to what Miho had said.
"Go carefully young one." Tomori explained before she got up and left. Miho nodded and left the cabin to look for the wild garlic that Tomori was talking about. She was about to leave when she was spotted by Chelsea who was guarding the entrance. Chelsea wasn't pleased.
"Where do you think you're going?" Chelsea asked. Miho turned to face Chelsea, rather spooked from the unexpected question.
"I was going to go find some wild garlic that Tomori told me…" Miho stammered, trying her best to explain to Chelsea what she was doing. Chelsea's gaze narrowed, she wasn't going to take too kindly to Miho's answer.
"You don't take orders from that mangy old woman. Go and help with the repairs." Chelsea sternly told Miho that she should help fix the camp up for another attack. Miho grumbled, not too happy with what her orders were. "No student is allowed to leave the camp tonight."
"Yes Darkstripe." Miho sadly told Chelsea before she turned and walked off. "More like Dirtstripe." Miho grumbled while she walked off to help with the repairs.
Night time came and the Ooarai students were looking over their tanks.
"Well, I can't believe we have a piece of home again. Looks like we will be able to repulse the next Saunders attack." Azusa told the group that she was kind of happy with the tanks that Ooarai received.
"Not only that but I had to ride along to make sure they arrived in one piece. That really is no easy feat." Josephine explained that she came along with the tanks. She was letting the students inspect the tanks which brought the tank numbers up to roughly seventeen tanks with some dedicated medium tanks.
"We're happy to have the stuff we miss so dearly." Saori expressed to the others. Shinobu grabbed some of the ammunition and passed it up to Akebi.
"You think we will be able to hold our own in this fight, Piyo?" Piyotan asked while she tossed ammunition up to Nekota who was loading it into her tank.
"Maybe so but these tanks will be a big morale booster, we're only half a team as the other half is either working or preparing themselves for their exams when the final year comes around." Akebi explained while she kept passing up ammunition to Noriko. Miho noticed that the girls were happy once more to have a piece of Ooarai with them. Josephine was busy talking to some of the students about volunteer work as Ritsu and Mio walked over.
"Spending time with your friends? I can respect that." Ritsu began talking to Miho.
"Yeah, they're satisfied that a piece of home is with them." Miho explained to Ritsu.
"I wouldn't mind having something from my old school be with me though giving it to my parents was for the best. They were worried about it causing too much pain while I settled down here." Ritsu replied to Miho that she seemed to have enjoyed this part of her life being here though a memory of the past she didn't know was going to hurt her or not. "Anyways, how's Tomori?"
"She's doing fine, she told me to go find wild garlic for my cuts." Miho explained. Ritsu seemed interested in what Miho was saying.
"Wild garlic? I wouldn't mind trying that, my leg still hurts from that fight." Ritsu explained to Miho that she was willing to try something to help with her leg.
"I can seek out to go get some, I can sneak out of this hole at the back entrance, it should only take a couple of rabbit hops." Miho explained to Ritsu that she was willing to see if wild garlic would be good for her leg. Mio was having second thoughts.
"Uh I don't think it's a good idea." Mio began. Ritsu nudged Mio as she had the words for Miho.
"We'll cover for you." Ritsu told Miho.
"Thanks." Miho told Ritsu that she was thankful for her friend having her back. Miho wandered off out of the camp to go looking for this wild garlic.
Miho poked her head around, sniffing the air for any scent of wild garlic. She sniffed the air a couple more times, picking up a whiff of what she believed was what she was looking for.
"Oh yeah, the garlic patch is definitely that way." Miho told herself. She sniffed the air again, getting some other scents. "Wait is that Saunders, no it can't be. But it also smells like Rowan and she's with Chelsea and Satsuki. But why?" Miho wandered off to find the wild garlic. Miho found the patch of wild garlic and its odor was strong, a pungent type of smell. Miho knew this scent was sharp and strong. Might as well get naked and roll herself around in it. Miho began to take off her shirt to prepare for the process. She was about halfway up when she heard three people talking. She pulled her shirt back down and walked up to who was talking. She hid in a bush to see who it was. It was Rowan talking to Chelsea and Satsuki.
"Starclan knows that my apprentice has shown little promise from the start. But I didn't expect her to turn traitor!" Rowan growled to her friends that she still thinks there was a traitor in their ranks.
"Mio's not a traitor." Miho muttered to herself. She knew this was true.
"How long did you say that Ravenpaw was missing on the trip to mothermouth?" Chelsea asked Rowan if she could recall Mio going missing.
"Long enough to have traveled to Saunders' camp and back." Rowan explained that Mio was definitely a traitor. Miho couldn't believe herself.
"That's impossible, she was with us the whole time." Miho muttered to herself; she knew this wasn't even true.
"She must've told them that their leader and their strongest warrior had left the camp." Satsuki added to the conversation. She knew full well that they needed to get Mio out of the picture. "Why else would they attack when they did?"
"We're the last school to stand against Saunders. We must remain strong." Rowan explained. Chelsea seemed to like the idea of getting rid of Mio.
"The school would be better off without a traitor like Ravenpaw." Chelsea explained as she seemed to agree with Rowan.
"I have to say that I agree with you Darkstripe." Rowan began, she sniffed almost as if she was ready to cry with the decision she was making. "Even though she's my own apprentice." Miho withdrew as if she knew they were making up lies to get Mio into trouble.
"Argh. Can't they see it's all just an act to get Mio into trouble?" Miho muttered to herself. "No of course not, if Rowan asked, Chelsea and Satsuki would throw themselves into the river and believe whatever dirt Rowan feeds them." Miho told herself before she slipped off before the three girls were able to notice. She approached the entrance of the camp, still debating on what to do. "I can't tell Mio what I heard; she'd be terrified. What can I do? Rowan's the school deputy, no one is going to listen to any accusations made by a student not part of the school. But Mio's in danger, if this lie spreads, she could be exiled or worse. There's one thing I got to do, I got to tell Ayami what I've heard. Somehow convince her I'm telling the truth." Miho told herself before walking back into camp. She huffed; she was terrified about what had happened when she heard what was going on outside of the camp. Ritsu was waiting for Miho, wondering if she found what she was looking for.
"Any luck?" Ritsu asked, and she noticed Miho's breathing was ragged and tired.
"No luck with the garlic, Chelsea is prowling out there." Miho explained to Ritsu.
"Never mind that, we can get some tomorrow." Ritsu told Miho that tonight wasn't the best and Mio was right. Miho looked at Ritsu and noticed something was off with one of her legs.
"You look pretty stiff; I'll go get you some poppy seeds from Stephanie." Miho explained to Ritsu before she got ready to walk off.
"No, don't worry about it, I'll be fine." Ritsu explained to Miho that she didn't need much but Miho wanted to help her friend out.
"It's really no trouble, I'll be right back." Miho told Ritsu that she was off to get some poppy seeds for her. Miho walked off to get something that she believed could help her friend.
Stephanie was pacing back and forth, unable to shake this feeling off from her. She didn't know what exactly was going on. She had been pacing in front of her cabin entrance for the good part of a few minutes. Miho walked up to see Stephanie was still pacing.
"Are you okay Stephanie?" Miho asked, she wanted to see if her friend was doing okay.
"The spirits of Starclan are restless, I think they're trying to tell me something." Stephanie explained to Miho that someone was trying to tell her something. "What can I do for you?" Stephanie asked Miho if there was something she needed for her.
"I can do with a couple of poppy seeds for Ritsu, her leg is starting to bother her." Miho explained to Stephanie that she needed something for her friend.
"The pain of not being with Chika would make her injuries feel less, but she'll mend in time. But in the meantime, you're right. Poppy seeds will help." Stephanie explained to Miho before she entered her cabin. After a couple of minutes, she returned with a few poppy seeds for Miho. "Make sure she only takes one or two."
"Thanks." Miho told Stephanie. She took the poppy seeds and began to walk away. Stephanie was at ease for a moment while she watched Miho walk off. She then remembered something she wanted to tell her.
"Wait." Stephanie told Miho. Miho gasped as she turned back to Stephanie. "Miho, Starclan spoke to me just before you joined us. I sense they want me to tell you about this. They said: That only fire can save our school."
"What?" Miho asked, she felt confused and needed more answers if Stephanie was willing to elaborate on what she said.
"Take care Miho." Stephanie told Miho before she walked away.
"See ya." Miho replied. Miho turned and headed back to Ritsu with the poppy seeds. She continued to walk, all the while the words were dancing around in her head. Only Fire can save our school. Fire can save our school. Fire. Fire. Firepaw. Miho shook her head trying to get Stephanie's voice out. After this, Miho was very confused about what Stephanie was talking about.
"Why did she share that with me? Surely fire is an enemy to all that live in the forest. I don't get it. How can fire save the school?" Miho asked herself, she was having trouble making sense of what Stephanie had just said. Almost as if she was talking to a very weird, twisted tongue of Darjeeling or Mika combined with the fact that the girls thought they were feral cats. Miho walked off into the darkness, with the poppy seeds for Ritsu.
A lot was on Miho's head, and she needed to figure out what it all meant.
[A/N]: The prophecy from the first chapter has surfaced again. What could this fire be that is going to save the girls? I would like to know your answers and if this fire could be what Stephanie was talking about. If it's something about a girl being like a fire? I would like to know your answers. See you later.