The small boy clapped his hands in delight as the young woman made the colored sands dance and spin on the dirt floor in front of his fireplace.  She moved her hands to silent music as figures from his favorite legends leapt from the dust and spiraled into detailed beasts, villains and heroes.  He laughed and could see the corners of her mouth upturned though he could not see her face as it studied the life she created from nothing.  His magnificent storyteller had been living with his family for an entire season.  She paid rent, helped his mother and told him the tales with the little moving people.  She always had a small bag of sweets for him, procured from a secret pocket in her voluminous robes while winking and assuring his mother she'd never spoil his appetite.  The smell of baking bread wafted in from the kitchen where he could hear his mother humming a traditional song. The delicate chirping of his caged cricket and soft swishing of the sands could be heard.  And all at once, his perfect paradise was turned over.
	His father came bursting in through the door, face bright red and stomping hard enough to make the ground quake beneath him.  He stormed into the kitchen roaring to his wife and his son ran after him.  With great shouts the story was told.  One of the men at the inn, a traveler had stopped in last night for a rest.  He had accused another of the inn's patrons of being a swindler, of cheating innocent people out of their savings by claiming she could make gold from cheap and common metals.    The other men had laughed as he had grabbed the girl roughly by the arm.  They knew this girl; she lived in their village and had not tried to swindle them.  But the man declared he was taking her back to the town where she to be hung for her crimes.  Trying to calm the man down the seemingly bewildered girl had offered to buy the man a drink and talk the matter over with the man, she said it could be a case of mistaken identity.  He calmed slightly and accepted.  But when he took the drink from her hands and took a long draught, his had eyes bugged out, he had turned purple and died on the inn floor grasping his throat.  The girl was obviously upset and one of the men escorted her home.  But the village elder took a look at that same drink in the morning, at what was left in the cup and has said it is poison!  That girl staying with us poisoned him!   The father pounded his fist on the table with his last words.  The boy ran out into the room where his friend had been sitting, but all he found was a hasty farewell note scratched in the dirt, enough silver for the next two weeks of rent and a bag of sweets.


	Kyuuban cursed her stupidity as she crashed through the thick underbrush of the forest.  Her pack jumped and pounded against her side as she fought her way through the dense foliage. Blood trickled slowly from her lip where one of the village men had tried to stop her on the outskirts of the town.  He had laughed as he threw her to the ground and backhanded her.  Through an odd twist of fate he had gotten the notion in his head that she was subdued and went to help her to her feet.  So Kyuuban buried a blade in his stomach and withdrew it as she sprinted away while he thrashed on the ground screaming and moaning.
	'Fool!' she berated herself 'You should have left last night.  You could've brought the village upon them!'  But from what she had heard her previous boarder screaming, he wanted her hung from the nearest tree or worst . . .just as the rest of them would.  Dim cries echoed behind her and gave her pumping legs and additional burst of speed.  'Well . . .it was time to move on anyway.' She decided daring a backward glance.  Having spent the last few months in the village she was well aware of their defense and/or retrieval of undesirable  persons.  Two groups would have fanned out ahead by now and be waiting for her down the road.  Men would be positioned at the lake should she try to paddle or swim her way to safety.  With a sharp turn she left the path and began to run for the swamps.
	Though a short dry spell had sucked the moisture from the village and its roadways, not even the glare of the sun could penetrate the deep shadows of the marshes that lay before her.  Leaping over a massive decaying stump Kyuuban braced herself as the icy swill hit her legs.  With great splashes and soft cursing she lunged through the black mix of water, decaying matter and scum.  The froth clung to her clothes and skin while her nose coiled at the repulsive stench.  Nearing a bank where she might pull herself out of the slime she tripped and fell under.  Flailing amid the rot under the surface she felt her leg get sucked into a particularly soft spot in the muck.  She pushed against the bottom and managed to get her nose above water and wrench her leg all at once.  Her panic subsiding with each gasping intake of air she fumbled for the pack and managed to jerk it open.
	In the village it had been custom for the children to spend much time in lake to prepare them for a life of fishing.  It had also been the children's duty to search the bottom of the lake looking for turtle eggs.  They had taught Kyuuban how to use a reed pipe for breathing, for they loved to see the stories rise from the smooth sand in the shallows.  Yanking the pipe from her pack Kyuuban held it above the surface briefly, draining the foul water before popping it into her mouth and allowing herself to settle back against the soft 
muck of the swamp floor. 
	Amplified sounds echoed through the water.  Voices wavered through the thick fluid collecting in Kyuuban's ears.  Dull pounding sounds were carried through the fine silt in which she lay half-buried and for a brief moment she wondered if they'd spot the reed sticking out of the foul water.  For a few tense minutes the pounding of footsteps assaulted her ears before they began to drift and fade.  After half and hour they ceased.  Perceiving any imminent danger gone, Kyuuban's body began to pay attention to its discomfort.  The grime had been sticking to her soaking skin and was beginning to cause an intense itch. Keeping the reed firmly between her teeth Kyuuban began to go about freeing her leg from whatever it had been ensnared by.  She was sure that had the chill of the water not numbed her body, the leg would be throbbing painfully.  After a few minutes of blind sawing with her knife she felt the restraint give and was able to rise shakily from the swamp.  
	Shivering she pulled herself from the muck by bracing herself on the roots of a tree and hauling herself out of the waters.  Tentatively testing weight on her formerly trapped leg she sneered in dismay to find a rash of fire shot up from ankle to knee.  Grabbing a fallen bough she hobbled away from the village and towards what she knew to be a remote path rarely used by the villagers.  The path would carry her through the plains and northeast to a main thoroughfare that lead to the coast. Grimacing and drawing her robe around her as best she could with one arm she tried to remember the name of the kingdom she would be heading into.  Kutuo?  Coughing, she cursed herself for not asking more about it while she was in the village, but she knew that Konan and Kutuo had bad blood from centuries before.  Questions like those would draw unwanted 
attention.  
	'I can do this . . .' Kyuuban thought as she picked her way carefully to the path.  She was sure the men from the village would be combing the woods by the lake having all ready searched the swamp. She felt confident in her successful evasion.  'There are always suckers at the coast . . .and I could always take a boat and head somewhere else completely.'  With a nod of self-assurance she reached the trail and began to head east.


	Kyuuban had always been very gifted in the fine art of swearing and obscenities; she could curse fluently in three languages and countless dialects.  That gift was currently proving to be an immense stress reliever as she stumbled on her northern course.  Her escape plan had been cursed by the Gods, she was convinced.  How else would those simpering villagers been able to have formed a complete barrier on all major roadways heading to Kutuo?  Damn backwater thugs . . .
	She sighed as she shifted her pack from one sore shoulder to the other.  Kutuo would have made prime ground for suckers to engage in trade.  Weren't they all going nuts over some insane cult anyway?  A country filled with fools all looking for a service to provide them with quick and easy gold.  And Kyuuban could provide them that service, so much as they knew.  But no, the Gods must have thought that would just be too easy for her.  They had decided, in their infinite wisdom, to make her go completely out of her way, around an entire mountain range that stretched far north; just so she could find some suckers and make a little money.  She wasn't stupid enough to attempt and cross the mountain range alone.  There were often reports of bandit attacks on travelers and Kyuuban did not wish to join the ranks of those unfortunates.  Her equipment was valuable. 
	So she had been pressing due north for days, she had lost count of how many.  Time was never an issue for her; she had almost an entire life ahead of her.  To the far north was her homeland, she would need to divert her direction to Kutuo long before that.  To the west lay Sairo.  The Suiyaku had passed through that forsaken desert during their Great Migration.  She sneered as she caught sight of the bright desert, miles off.  The dry wind was scraping against her face, the heat was trapped under her robes.  Despite the sinking sun, the damn heat was still getting to her.  Pushing away the hair that clung to her sweating forehead, she reached for her water pouch and was dismayed to find it nearempty.  Growling she changed her course yet again, heading towards a small spring Asha had shown her when they were children on a Training Run.  She smiled at the memory, their leader had been so angry when they returned from their rogue expedition.  
	She wondered how Asha had fared after she left the Tribe.	
	It was just pass dusk by time Kyuuban managed to drag herself to the spring.  Lost in her thoughts, she did not realize where she was until she was standing knee deep in the pool.  Something in her snapped.  She was tired.  She was out of it. She was hungry.  She was wet.  She was going to be freezing once the night cold bit into her leg.  She had been having a few very, very bad weeks.  And, worst of all, in her stupidity, she had dropped her equipment into the pool and, from the feel of it, crushed her small toe on her left foot.  With a loud bellow she jerked her sack out of the water, whipped it about her head and let it fly as she thrashed about in the small pool.




	"The Universe of the Four Gods?"
	She turned the book over and opened the front cover.  It looked old enough and the language was not modern day Chinese, as a matter of fact she would have bet her home that it was much older that may be even the people in the library knew.  She began to decipher the characters with out to much difficulty.  She had finished the first page when a bright white light engulfed her.  For a moment she felt as if she was suspended in the air, in the light.  Before her eyes a tiger appeared, a white tiger that had a striking resemblance to a kitten Anni knew.  It gazed at her as if waiting for her to make the first move, just as the kitten had.  
	"What is this?"  She asked nothing in particular.
	Before Anni realized what had happened the light dissipated and she was left standing in what felt like sand.  The bright sunlight caused her to squeeze her eyes shut.  She blinked her eyes and attempted to get a picture of something, anything.  All she could see amidst the blinking was flashed of yellow.  When her eyes had adjusted to the light and she got a good look at where she was, she almost wished she could not see again.  Laying in front of her was dessert, as far as she could see.  To her left and right as well.  She spun around and was thrilled to see something else.  The mountain range loomed in the distance.  It was large so it must not have been that far away.  She took a deep breath a book on the and concentrated on what was important.  Her dark clothes were soaking up sun like a sponge sucks up water.  She decided to ignore the heat and start moving.  She began the walk towards the mountain range ignoring the pounding sunlight.




	"You always try to protect me from everything.  God Mom, leave me alone."  
	"Don't curse at your mother."
	"Every time you want to do something and I won't let you,  you always say that Anni dear."  
	"But it's just a party."
	"People drink and do drugs at parties.  You're too young"
	"Why?"
	"Because I said so."
	"But-"
	"No buts."
	"You would have let Kallie go!"
	Anni's voice.  Then the sound of a door that was slammed shut.

	Anni's eyes flashed open as the remnants of the dream filled her mind.  She examined her situation.  She laid sprawled out on the ground.  She had undoubtedly passed out, though for what particular reason she could not quite seem to place.  She pushed her body off the ground and sat up in a bit more of a comfortable position.  She counted the options for her collapse mentally on her fingers.  First there was the fact that she was exhausted from the walking, then heat exhaustion, and dehydration, and perhaps clinical insanity.  Though the last was a stretch.  She needed water, the desert sun had gotten to her.  She realized then that the sun was just beginning to set and it would be dark soon.  Her mind told her that she had to get up and find water, while her body said "Nope, not moving."  
	She suppressed the urge to lay back down and sleep.  Her head was pounding and her throat was sore.  For a few long moments she sat on the dusty ground and let her sub-continence fight.  It was no surprise to her when her mind, armed with common sense won over her body? which by now had worn it's defense to nothing.  She pushed herself off the ground as she dealt with the dull ache in her arms? Why were her arms hurting?  She was dumbfounded.  She walked slowly and stared at her feet, to guide their actions.  The ground too had changed; from the fine sand that had once covered  the desert ground, to dusty, light colored dirt specked with small rocks and shrubs, and the beginnings of the forest. In the sight before her eyes lay a mountain, one she had never seen while on `tour' with her parents.  She had been all around Japan, even the remote parts? her parents had tried camping for a while. She kept walking.
	When she concentrated on the time she had been walking she was not sure about the minutes but the sun had almost set and before she knew it, it would be dark.  She heard the soft trickling of water and looked over to a large pile of different sized boulders.  In the clefts of the rocks was a small stream of water.  It flowed down the side and dripped into the holes between the stones.  Anni ran over to the land form and held her hands under the natural fountain.  She let the water fall down into the `cup' and brought her hands up to her mouth to drink.  She drank from the water until she could not drink another sip.  Then satisfied her health was no longer at risk, she sat upon one of the flatter stones and collected her thoughts.  The forest was ahead of her and perhaps a town.  "Where am I?"  She spoke out loud.  After all there was no one around to hear her.  "I can't remember for the life of me how I got here.  The last thing I remember was being at the library in the Reference Room and then the flash of light.  Maybe someone hit me over the head and dragged me out here."  She felt the back of her head, but there was no indication that she might have been struck.  "Oh well.  I don't have time to worry about how I got here, I just have to figure out how to get home.  Theoretically,"  she pulled her bag to the side to lighten the load on her back.  "If I can find a town I can find a way home.  Even if the don't have an airport or train station? though I haven't been to a town yet that hasn't had a train station.  Not the point Anni,"  she took a deep breath.  "A phone will do, Father will wire me money, but he's gonna wanna know how I got here.   I don't even know how I got here, what the hell am I supposed to tell him?" she paused.  "He'll pick me up anyway."  
	She was so tired she just wanted to sleep, but with it getting dark and all. To be honest she was not entirely to sure what would be the best for her right now. 
	"Maybe I should wait until tomorrow to keep moving.  That might be best."  
	She leaned back against the rock and decided, she should at least rest for a little while.  She closed her eyes, if only for a moment.


	Anni's eyes drifted open. She gathered her senses together and examined her surroundings.  There was the sound of splashing water, and she shivered at the cold bite of the wind.  It sent countless chills down her spine and she suddenly wished for her leather jacket back home.  It was undoubtedly still sitting on her bed waiting for her.  She opened her eyes and let then scan the darkness before her.  She couldn't help but wonder how long she had been asleep for.  She had only meant to rest her eyes.  She looked over to a stream and concentrated on something moving in it.  It was a bit too far away for her to make out a description of the animal.  She pulled her book bag over to her and fished out a butterfly knife.  She smiled at the beautifully marbled black and green colored handle for a moment before flipping it open, and exposing the curved stainless steel blade to the moonlight.  She swung the bad over her shoulders and hopped off the rock.  She let a stab of pain shoot up her back and mentally cursed herself for not sleeping in a more comfortable position.  She made her way towards the stream to see what had caught her attention and woken her up.
	It wasn't until she was nearly upon the creature that she realized the `animal' was  no more than a person, thrashing about in the water.  Suddenly it hit her? A PERSON!!  "Hey," she yelled.  "Hey you, you can help me."  
	She took a deep breath? "Am I glad to see you.  I've been wandering in that desert for almost a whole day-I thought I was going to die-I haven't a clue where I am-If you could just help  me get to the nearest  town, I could get a train home.  I mean I'd really appreciate it."  She took another deep breath and, regardless of weather she had the girls attention or not she continued to complain.  "My head hurts, my back hurts, I'm gonna be sunburned for the rest of my life, I'm hungry and thirsty and tired and for the sake of the gods I just wanna go home.  So you'll help me out won't you?"  She fixed her eyes on the darkened shadow of the person before her.  "I really hope I didn't just get myself into trouble?"  She whispered loud enough for only herself to hear.


	Kyuuban froze as she heard the voice boom from behind her. Turning slowly, she saw the young woman who rambled at her with desperate gestures. Amid the gush of words, Kyuuban took a moment to start at the girl's clothing.  What whore wore THAT garb? The girl's tirade died down as Kyuuban blinked.  It then dawned on her that this fool has seen her in the middle of a scene her pride could have done without. 
	"Who in the names of the Gods do you think you are!?" She lashed out, kicking water at the girl. "You don't come up at someone behind their back! I could have- should have killed you!" Her small frame shook, part rage, though more at her recent miserable luck then this wayward traveler, and part cold. 
	Anni was taken aback by her lack of common courtesies. Couldn't this girl see that she had been lost and she was only looking for a bit of help. And what was with this I should have killed you routine.  She spoke in a calm quiet voice.  "I-I'm sorry." For lack of a better thing to say... Anni knew better than to take up an attitude with the only sign of human civilization since she had gotten there. She stared at the strangely dressed girl and wondered what kind of store sold those clothes. "I didn't mean to startle you... It's just that I've had a really bad day, and I haven't seen a person since I got here. My apologies." She bowed her head, as she'd grown used to doing and waited for the girl to speak again. Though this time she hoped for a more positive reaction. 
	Kyuuban drew a breath and swirled some of the lapping water about from her pant legs. She did figured it was quite possible for an idiot to loose their way in a desert. She began to speak slowly, as to a child. 
	"Apology accepted." It had been a fair trade. "Now then, I have rations I am willing to trade with you. For your thirst, I suggest you look where we are.  This is an osasis. You seem too healthy to die.  The nearest town, is Sairo. That way." She pointed across the expansive stretch of sand. "I am not heading that way. How could you possibly not be aware of any herbal remedies for your pains? And by the Gods, you complain more then anyone else I have ever met." Her patience was wearing thin again. 
	"So unless you've a fire to offer, or something to balance the information I have given you, be quiet."  With the final statement, Kyuuban sloshed out of the water and lifted her pack, standing on the opposite side of the pool from the girl.  "Do you have anything to trade for food, girl?  And what is that you're wearing, you look like a fool!" 
	Okay. Anni could deal with the initial outburst from this girl, but now she was getting sick of it. She would have been insulted by the stranger's comment about but, she was used to it. And how the hell would she know herbal remedies for pain when all she had to do was grab some Motrin from her shelf in her room? Anni rolled her eyes and decided she should keep her temper in check. "You say the nearest town is Sirou...but there's no way in hell I'm going near that desert again. And what do you want in *trade*," She put an emphasis on the word. "It's not like I carry large sums of cash on me on a regular basis." She crossed her arms and realized she still had the butterfly knife in her hand. She didn't regard the girl as a threat so she flipped it closed and let her gaze fall on the stranger again. "And please don't talk to me like I'm a child... I happen to have a 4.0 GPA." 
	She stiffened as the knife flashed, but eased as it was concealed.  Kyuuban marched through the pool and glared at the girl, two inches from her nose.  "Then don't ACT like a child! What's GPA anyway!?  Genbu's  Private Ass!?"  She sneered. "And what the hell is cash!? I mean GOLD, you got any GOOOOLLLLDDDD!?"  She waved a hand in front of the girl's face before circling behind her.  The girl turned to face her. She was obviously dealing with a lunatic.  Perhaps she could get the better trade. "Gold or goods for trade. That knife you just tried to pull on me would be fine." She dropped her sack and did a trick to procure her own blade. "Yours looks different then mine. And it's SaiRO, not 'roo'. You want to leave the desert? You can come with me if you pay your way. I'm going north then east to Kutuo." She jerked her head. "You can travel almost anywhere from there." 
	That was it.  
	Genbu's what?  Whatever.  
	What the hell was a Genbu anyway?  Nevermind. 
	"A 4.0 GPA means I'm smarter than you. And, what kind of backwater town do you live in!? The world doesn't run on gold anymore sweetheart. And I'm sure...Kouto...is lovely this time of year, but I really need to get back to Tokyo. And now that I think of it... Where in the name of the Lord and Lady am I? What part of Japan is this? I couldn't have possibly been brought out of the country." 
	She glared, "and don't think you're getting my knife. It has sentimental value." 
	Kyuuban smiled inwardly, she doubted this high handed whore was more intelligent then she was. After all, she wasn't the one lost in the desert. But the girl was obviously insane, what did she mean the world didn't run on gold?  That was Kuuyban's entire profession. She hid a laugh in a cough. "The world doesn't run on gold? Well then, the Gods must be playing a clever trick on me, girl. Because I wasn't able to purchase any supplies by the grace of any merchants last I checked." She frowned, a thought occurring. 
	"Now then, where is this . . Tok-yok? And how could you so lost as to not know where you are? We're in Sairo, the country. South of Hokkan. And where is . . .Jay-pon? I've never heard of it . . .and I'll forget that remark about my intelligence. It's safer for you that way." The anger was coming back. "And if you're not going to trade you can starve to death you ignorant whore!" 
	"Screw you!"  Anni took a step forward and back handed the girl.  "Call me a whore why don't you!"  She yelled angrily.  She glared at the girl face, the light provided by the moon. 
	Kuuyban raised her knife.  "Flesh or blade?" she demanded.  "You're choice.  You'll loose either way." 
	She looked at the closed knife in her hand.  "Flesh... I'd hate to think I'd have THAT big of an advantage."  She put down her book bag and shoved the knife into the small side pocket. 
	Kyuuban paused a moment as the girl stooped and put her weapons away, before tossing her own dagger into the ground and whirling the heavy sack about her head and catching the girl in the jaw with it.  "THAT'S a big advantage!" She yelled as she dropped her equipment and leapt at the girl. 
	The bag struck her in the shoulder, she hadn't even tried to jump out of the way of it.  She was stunned when the forces of the hard heavy back sent her flying off her feet and onto the ground.  Anni rolled out of the way as the girl came at her and jumped to her feet.  She struck out with her foot and caught the girl from behind.  "Lucky shot."  She said as she took up a fighting stance. 
	Kyuuban smirked as she moved with faint hit.  The girl had evidently acquired some training, but there was no way she could be a match.  She took two steps back and motioned the girl towards her.  With a deft motion she was out of her robe and had snapped her vest off as well.  The traditional Suiyaku fighting stance. 
	Anni pondered for a moment the situation she had just gotten herself into, and, for a moment wished she had allowed knives.  But she dismissed the thought with a nod and moved to attack the girl.  She lunged forward to punch her in the stomach, head shots were not her style.  She was, however, careful to keep herself covered. 
	Kyuuban twisted slightly to ensure that the girl would think she had connected again through skill.  Kyuuban felt the blow against her ribs and grimaced slightly knowing there would be a lingering pain for a few hours.  But the feint had worked, and Kyuuban held fast to the girl's arm, attempting to throw her off balance. 
	Anni spun around and as her arm twisted, she twisted in the other way and pulled out of the girl's grip, she was disappointed that it took as much strength as it did to break the girl's grip.  Her face never showed it though.  It had retained a calm look of determination the whole fight.  She regained her balance and acted to kick the girl feet out from under her. 
	As the girl made a feeble attempt to trip her, Kyuuban drew her feet off the ground and lashed out with a brutal fist that caught her opponent on the side of the head, snapping it to the side.
	Anni stumbled backwards and barley managed to stay on her feet.  For a moment her vision blurred and she worried she would pass out.  She glared at the girl and, for the second time during the fight, wished she had allowed knives.  "So we're allowing head shots now?"  She took a deep breath.  
	"It's not usually my style, but for you I may make an exception."	She moved forward and shot out her fist towards the girls jaw...  Stopping it short only to use the other fist to hit her in the stomach with all the strength  she could. 
	"Gah!"  Kyuuban's first thought was along the lines of "Head shots allowed if I let you land one!"  Her second thought, as the fist connected to her gut, was "Perhaps not having eaten for nearly a day was a good thing." And her third, and vocal, thought was a near inaudible stream of soft cursing and calling her opponent a dirty whore in a few dialects as she backed away, towards her bag, hands clutched to her abdomen.	The girl took a step forward to strike Kyuuban again.  Kyuuban grasped her sack and leapt up, catching the girl under the jaw. 
	Now that hit her hard.  She was once again knocked off her feet and hit the ground with a thud.  As her vision dimmed and refocused and she tried to regain her concentration, the girl moved down and placed her knee on Anni's throat.  She gasped for air...."All right, all right you win."  She growled. 
	Frowning, Kyuuban took the pressure off the girl's neck and took a few steps back.  She slung her bag over her shoulder and winced slightly as it banged against one of her bruised ribs.  "You don't fight so bad for a lost brothel girl who's been out in the desert. Makes me think you aren't some nomad either. Where do you come from?"
	Anni coughed and grudgingly stood.  She hadn't been beaten THAT badly one of the fights she'd been in back in LA.  "Look I'm not a 'lost brothel girl'' at all."  She brushed some dirt off herself and looked at the girl.
	"I was born in the US, but I'm living in Tokyo right now.  To be honest I really don't know how I got here.  Last I remember I was reading a book in the Tokyo National Library and then there was a bright flash of light.  When I next opened my eyes I was in the desert."  She looked to be genuinely confused.
	"And I must say, you fight very well yourself.  especially when you use that bag of yours."  She rubbed her jaw and winced a bit...  
	THAT  was going to leave a nice bruise. 
	Where is this Tok-yok?"  Kyuuban retrieved her vest and robe.  "I've never heard of it."  She grinned.  
	"And if you're not a brothel girl, what are you in garb like that?  My apologies for using the bag.  But you did get to call what would be used.  And I let you land a shot.  So I feel my actions for hitting you in the face were justified."  She shrugged.  "Nothing too personal.  I'm merely more accustomed to knives." She grinned.  "You'd have been dead five times over.  Now then, shall we talk of a trade like rational beings instead of the insane, grappling lunatics we are? 
	"I guess that would make two of us that are better with knives.  And..."  she hesitated.  "Tokyo is a huge city in Japan."  She walked over to her bag and knelt down beside it.
	"And I suppose, since trading appears to be the way you work, it's the best bet for me."  She pulled out the knife and turned back to face the girl.  "By the way...  My name is Annilynn Sabir, but everyone just calls me Anni."  She held out the knife.  "In normal circumstances I would never have dreamed about trading this to anyone, but?"  she looked around her at the foreign landscape and took a deep breath.  "I would hardly call these Circumstances normal.  You claim that Kutou is one of the biggest cities around here.  And if your right, then perhaps I can get back to Tokyo from there."
	Kyuuban inclined her head.  "Anni.  Called Kyuuban." She plunked down on the soft dirt and began to rummage through her sack for something to start a fire with.  "We'll set here for the night and start out tomorrow morning. And as soon as I get a fire going . . .we'll talk trade. . ."