Sinretsu Hakai moved silently through the darkened halls of  the mansion, his hands resting on the hilts of twin katanas sheathed  within his black cloak. His eyes shifted back and forth as he passed  many doors. He had but onething on his mind: the katana of Kogi. The weaponhad supposedly been made by some great swordsmith  hundreds of years ago for theKogi family. Of course, Hakai's  current... employer wanted the blade, and was willing to pay quite a bit of ryo  to see it delivered.  It had been_so_ much ryo, in fact, that Hakai had  gladly infiltrated the mansion of lord Kogi to gain the weapon.
	To anyone watching, the sight of the large man - who  wasabout 6'4" - was simply incredible. Even in his metal-shod boots,  his footsteps were completely inaudible, and his hooded cloakseemed more  an extension of his body thanthe overly cumbersome burden it would  normally be. Of course, no one was watching; Hakai could be certain of  that. No man had caught the mercenary by surprise in at least 14  years, ever since the.... incident. He'd made certain that he was always  prepared since that awful day in his childhood. The slightestcreak  of a floorboard sent him behind apiece of furntiure, or - when none was  available - up against a wall, his blades ready to veritably jump from their  sheathes within an instant. No denizenof the house had appeared to him  yet, however. It was well past the midnight hour, and few ventured from  the comfort of their beds.  Hakai had just ascended a narrow staircase to the second floor  of the building when he heard voices. This in itself wasn't so  disconcerting, for there weremany hiding places near the mercenary.  However, the voices came from within the room the weapon he was here to steal  was supposedly held. Seeing no real options, Hakaicrouched behind a  low table next to an adjoining wall and tried to hear what was being said as  best he could.  "And what of the Romani that saw you coming here?" the first  voice was quick, harsh. It seemed obvious to Hakai that it was lord Kogi's, whothe mercenary had met once long, long ago.  "He... is being dealt with. My concerns are being more  about your country's leaders. There is a punishment for what you are  doing, and wemust not be discovered." the second man couldn't have been a  native ofthe land, certainly. His accent was obviously foreign,  rolling and thick like coffee.It wasn't Romani, though, and Hakai  could think of few otherforeigners that travelled so far abroad.  Certainly he'd never heard anything like the voice of the man that spoke withKogi.  "Leave that to me,Joshua. I am sure the men won't  be missed, not until long after they are too far down the Silk Road  tobe stopped." Hakai raised an eyebrow at that last bit, but decided it  wasn't really any of his business what strange businessKogi was  conducting.  "Fine, then. I will leave in the morning to tell my  brothers of your decision."There wasthe sound of someone standing  up, and Hakai ducked lower behind the table.  "I am glad we agree. You may sleepin the  roomnext to mine, just across the hall from here."  Nothing further was said, and Hakai saw the lights in  the room being dimmed. After a moment, the door to the room opened, and  two men walked out. It was hard to see them in the dark, but the one with  the foreign accent had proven himself to indeed be of a land that Hakai had  never seen. His clothes were unlike any the mercenary had ever seen  before, and he wore a long, unkempt beard.  The other man was, as Hakai had expected,lord  Kogi. He looked properly tired, and made for his rooom without so much as  a good night to'Joshua'. The foreigner, however, tarried a  moment. He sniffed the air, and looked up and down thehallway  quizzically. It was as if he sensed Hakai' presence, a thought that both  unnerved the man and caused him to tighten his grip upon his swords.  Afterseveral seconds, the man finally shrugged and went on to his  room.  Hakai breathed a sigh of relief, and when all noise from the two  rooms had ceased, slowly stood up and made his way for the katana he'd come here for.




	Senritsu Hakai smiled as his hand closed around the katana.  Just as he'd expected, it had been all too easy to gain.  The only surprise had been the presence of that foreigner, and even he couldn't have made this mission any more difficul-
	"Stop right there." Hakai froze in place as he heard the voice.  He then whirled around and pulled forth a dagger, only to find himself within a foot of the foreigner in Kogi's house.  "And who are you?" He said, his dark eyes narrowed on Hakai.  In one hand he held a strange curved sword about four feet long.  The other was empty, but was tightened into a fist.  
	Hakai - though he never would have admitted it - was intimidated by this man.  "Who am I?  That hardly matters, does it?" he responded cooly, slowly moving one hand to a sword concealed beneath his cloak as he did.  
	The response seemed to amuse the man, though, and if he noticed Hakai's move, he did not act upon it.  "There is truth in that, indeed.  Any name you gave me would be meaningless.  But I like to know the purpose of one in a place he should not be, especially when his intrusion could cost him his life."
	Hakai found himself insulted by this man's arrogance, but did nothing to show that, instead concentrating on getting his hand to his blade before he was skewered by this foreigner.  "My purpose, sir, is but to exist.  My being here is simply to support that existence."
	"Another truthful answer, but I find that your evasions begin to annoy me.  Answer me directly, and cease pretending that I don't notice your hand going for a weapon."  
	Hakai let his hand drop immediately, and sighed as he did.  He hadn't wanted to do what he was about to do, but this man would leave him with no choice, it seemed.  He tugged slightly at the black leather glove on his right hand.  "I am here to take that katana to one who would pay me for it.  I think you should have already known that, though.  Perhaps we should instead discuss why _you_ are here, sir."
	The man's eyes narrowed.  "I think not.  You shall know nothing more about my presence than you already do, and no other shall learn of it through you."
	Hakai found his head beginning to pound from the circular way this man talked, but he caught the gist of the statement easily enough.  "You'd kill me, then, simply to ensure none knew that one man from the west was here?"
 	"I would, and I must.  Understand I bear you know ill will personally.  May Jahal bear your heathen soul." As he said this last, he began to bring his blade to bear, apparently intent on stabbing Hakai through the chest.
	He was in for a surprise on that note, though, for a ball of energy engulfed Hakai's gloved hand, then shot outward and knocked the strange sword away from the foreigner.  Then, in a move that surprised the foreigner even more, twin katanas seemed to leap from within Hakai's cloak straight into his hands.  
 	"And likewise, sir, understand that I bear you no ill will personally.  May Seiryuu bear your soul, wherever that may take you."
	What followed surprised Hakai, to say the least.  He wasn't sure what kind of reaction he'd expected from this man.  Perhaps fear or pleading, and more probably a futile struggle.  
	That fire should have sprung from the man's hands, and knocked him through a wall of the room back into the hallway was simply beyond his reckoning.  It so surprised him that he dropped both of his weapons, and was left only with the nearly forgotten dagger he'd resheathed when he willed forth his katanas.  
	The entire household was roused by this, of course.  Hakai could hear confused murmurs from every direction, and expected he'd soon see equally confused faces to match them.  
	"It is forgivable to expect that you people would be heathens.  But a heathen sorcerer, drawing on blasphemous powers?  I shall cleanse your hateful soul with the fires I have been granted!"
	Hakai just barely managed to roll out of the way of a second blast that burnt through the floor and caught the wooden walls themselves on fire.  As he stood up shakily, pulling at the burnt tatters of his black cloak, he noticed Kogi come out of his room, a sword in his hand.
	He was, needless to say, rather shocked by the entire scene.
	"Joshua!!  What is going on here?!" The foreigner... Joshua, Hakai assumed him to be, did not immediately respond, instead concentrating on further setting the walls ablaze.
	"This man attempted to steal something of yours, and I found that he is a sorceror.  I must kill him for the glory of Jahal."
	"And burn my house to the ground along with it?!?!" Kogi spluttered.
	"Your mansion has been tainted by this heathen.  By this purification, I may well save your very soul from judgement."
	Kogi cursed, and kept on pleading, but Joshua had turned his attention away from him.  Fortunately, Hakai had taken the scant amount of time Kogi had granted him to get back his swords.  He now held those very swords at the ready, and prepared to rush at Joshua.
	"You would fight me honorably, then, sorceror?  You do not deserve any such merciful death, but I shall grant you this, at least.  I shall burn your body after I have pierced it with my holy sword!"
	Hakai shrugged.  "I'm beginning to think you talk to much, sir.  Let us have this fight, then, and be done with it before the mansion collapses around our ears."


	'Father!!!  Don't leave us!!' the blue-haired boy yelled.  All was darkness around him, and in the distance, a tall man was walking away... leaving the boy behind.  The child ran and ran, but the tall one just walked faster, until he disappeared completely.
	The boy collapsed to the ground, weeping.  'I... what can I do now?  Mother... father... it's all my fault.'


	Hakai gasped and opened his eyes, abruptly sitting up.  It was raining... he was outside?  The mercenary looked around himself.  It was almost dawn, and he was sitting in the middle of a meadow.  In the distance, smoke plumed from the top of a hill.  All was silent.
	"Wh- where am I?" Hakai said aloud as he stood up.  He shook his head, and tried to think.  "Last I remember, I was about to fight that foreigner back at..." Hakai trailed off, looking over at the smoke in the distance again.  His eyes widened.
	"It... it can't be.  What happened after that?" He shook his head again, and looked down at himself.  Indeed, he was still clad in his burned clothing, his black robe burned through in several places, and his black glove completely absent.
	'How am I still alive?  That foreign sorceror seemed pretty intent on killing me.' he thought, even as he searched the pockets of his cloak.  After a moment, he came upon a black glove, and pulled it on over his right hand, masking his seishi symbol.  He then looked around in the grass near him, and found a pile of weaponry.  His katana, along with the one he'd been hired to steal, were among the ones there.
	He knelt down and picked them up, shaking his head.  'I... I don't understand.' he thought, then sighed.  Running a hand through his long blue hair, he sighed.
	"No use worrying over questions I cannot answer.  I need to deliver this weapon to Eiyou."  He said, then shook his head.  "And I've got to stop this talking to myself.  Kasumi would call me mad if she were here..." 
	He smiled at the thought for but a moment, then set off to see if his horse was still tethered in the woods near the burning mansion.




	Hakai walked into the Inn, and looked around.  There were a few people sitting about the room, given the mid-morning time, but none looked familiar to the mercenary.  Even worse, it didn't look like any of them were people that he could ask about where to find someone who was.  
	'Government types, looks like... I hate soldiers.' he thought, and, sighing, walked up to the front desk.
	"Hello." he said simply, his dark eyes levelled on the man that stood there.
	The person behind the desk, a young man not over 18, seemed a bit taken aback by the mercenary, but made no indication that this was the case.  "H-hello, sir.  Would you like a room?"
	Hakai snorted.  "Does it look like I want a room?  The sun rose over an hour ago."
	"S-so it did." the young man replied, then fell silent.  The two stood there for a moment, until Hakai sighed loudly and tapped his gloved hand on the desk.
	"I take it you're not going to ask me why I _am_ here, so I suppose I'll just have to offer myself.  Do you know where I can find a man named Gon?"
	The young man's eyes widened - for he obviously recognized the name - but he shook his head.  "No... no, I don't know.  How would I know that?"
	"I think you might.  Tell me."
	The young man shook his head again.  "I don't know!  I... I... don't make me go get him.  He doesn't like to be disturbed.  If you wake him up, I'll get in trouble."
	Hakai shrugged.  "What do I care if you get in trouble?  I figured he was staying here, and I have some business with him.  Go get him, or I'll have to knock on every door in this place until I find him."
	"Don't torture the poor kid, Senritsu.  I'm right here." Hakai whirled around to the source of the new voice.  Before him stood a man about 30 years old, wearing a blue shirt and matching pants.  A large leather pouch was attached to a belt at his waist.
	"Gon." Hakai said simply, nodding at the man.
	"Hakai.  I take it you have the sword, then?"
	The mercenary nodded, and proffered it to Gon.  The older man shook his head, and looked around himself suspiciously.
	"Not here.  There're a lot of soldiers staying here tonight.  Let's go to my room."
	Hakai shrugged.  "Either place is fine with me, as long as you have my money."


	As it turned out, Gon did indeed have the money, and as Hakai walked back down the stairs of the inn he found himself considering getting a room for the day, as the young clerk had suggested.  Then, perhaps a trip to the market.  He could go sword-shopping...
	"Senritsu Hakai?" A man standing in a corner of the common room of the inn asked him.
	"Yes?" Hakai said cautiously, unconsciously dropping his hand to a katana hilt.
	"I... have a job for you."
	Hakai shook his head.  "That's a shame.  I'm not for hire right now.  I just collected on a big job."
	The man sighed, and kicked the wall.  "That's a shame.  This is a _really_ big job.  Lot of government money involved..."
	Hakai cocked an eyebrow, and walked closer to the man.  "Keep talking.  Just how much government money... and doing what?"
	"Well, the amount would depend on the amount of time, of course... but you could collect enough to buy this inn once you finished it."  The man walked over to a table and sat down.  Hakai followed him, but remained standing next to the table.  "As for what you'd be doing, it's a piece of cake.  Just escort a girl to Kutou."
	Hakai ran a hand through his hair, and looked up at the ceiling.  Normally, he'd never take on an escort mission.  People, especially the helpless women usually involved in such things, were a pain to deal with, and Hakai didn't have much patience with people.  He could keep calm, sure, but he'd likely end up ditching the person in question somewhere along the road if he got too fed up.  Still... there was a lot of money involved...  And besides which, he'd been meaning to head to Kotou anyway.  There was more demand for his kind of work there.
	The mercenary nodded.  "Very well.  I'll escort this person.  Just tell me when and where to meet her."
	The man, who Hakai had decided must be a soldier, smirked and pointed over to a stairway.  "Well, she's standing right over there, so I suppose right now would be fine."




	Amber woke to the sound of the batteries in her CD player dying.  "What is it now, 12 o'clock at night?" she groaned and pulled the headphones off her head to down around her neck. "I can't believe I fell asleep with these things on.  I almost never do that."
	Since she was awake, albeit unhappily, she rummaged around in her pack for the spares, popped them in, and put the old set in the recharger.  She looked around for a plug-in before the awful realization hit...  'No...  I'm still here.  This...  It can't be...'  She shook her head and resigned herself to the fact that she'd have to wait until morning to let the wonders of sunlight do the trick instead.
	She walked over to the shuttered window and nudged it slightly open, looking out onto the slient streets.  Then, she sat on the window ledge backwards and leaned out, looking up at the stars.  She could have kept studying them for hours, but her arms were getting tired of her hanging practically her entire weight off of them.  Regretfully, she pulled herself back in and closed the shutters once more.
	'I don't think I'm waking up anytime soon...  If this is even a dream.'  A chill went down Amber's spine at that admission.  She sat down on the bed again, frowning this time as something in her pocket poked her.  She slipped her hand in a pulled out a key.  She stared at it for a moment, weighing it in her palm.  "The Reference Room key... Well, everything else's here, so why not this?  I sure hope they have spares," she thought aloud, tucking it back into her pocket and curling up on the bed.  She was sound asleep in less than a minute.
	When next Amber woke, she could see light peeking through the cracks in the shutters.  She half-heartedly poked the window open again, hoping to see an interesting person or two in absence of the stars.  She almost lost her balance in shock.  'That brown-haired guy down there.  Isn't he...  The scholar I saw in the book?'  She thought about yelling out the window but realized that, since she didn't even know his name, the effort would be wasted.  Making a quick decision, she turned and ran towards the door, swinging it open.
	She strode quickly to the head of the stairs and practically ran down half of them before she lost patience and took a flying leap.  She staggered slightly on touching back down before dashing towards the door.  'Gotta catch him...  Maybe he can tell me what's going on,' she thought.
	Once outside, she hurried to the back of the inn and gave chase.  Despite his head start and the already crowded streets, she managed to make some headway and might have caught up with him had some shout of, 'Make way for the Emperor' not closed the pathway off to her.
	Biting back a cry of frustration, Amber turned and went back to the inn at a pace nowhere near as reckless as the one at which she'd left it.  She stopped just short of actually kicking the door open, but her extreme disappointment was quite clear in her eyes.  She glared defiantly at one of the one-god loving soldiers and said, "So sorry to interrupt everyone's breakfast.  Have a nice day, all.  Mine's already been ruined."
	She stalked angrily towards the stairs but stopped and turned to one side, feeling a peculiarly penetrating gaze on her.  She was about to snap out a rather caustic reply about people minding their own business, but the words died stillborn on her lips as she got a good look into a certain blue-haired man's dark red eyes.


	'What is it that I see in his eyes?  Equal parts amusement and disgust at my little temper tantrum?  Yes, but that's not all.  There's something else I can't quite place,' Amber thought, and continued to gaze at him, not willing to be the first one to break the stare.
	"Sorry to interrupt this little stare-down contest you two seem intent on having, but I've got more important things to do with my time than watch you two make lovey-dovey eyes at each other," a voice that sounded like an audible smirk said.
	Instantly, both the man's eyes and Amber's swerved to favor the speaker with venomous glares.  When she realized that the soldier was one of those who had chased her the day before, she was even more incensed.  Her eyes narrowed, 'Why that little... Hmph.  Were I not currently depending on Teiran's benevolence, I'd wipe that smirk right off this one's face.'
	Apparently, the blue-haired man was under no such inhibitions.  He shifted his stance and seemed to grow slightly taller as he gave the soldier the full effect of his stare, making him flinch.  In a cool, measured tone he asked, "Do these look like 'lovey-dovey' eyes to you?"
	The soldier shook his head a bit too quickly and tried to regain his composure.  He cleared his throat and looked toward Amber.  "Anyway, this is Senritsu Hakai, your escort to Kutou's capital.  And you are..." the soldier stopped, evidently not having been told by Teiran what she was calling herself.
	"Mizuumi Sachiko," Amber said, bowing slightly towards Hakai. "Please forgive my earlier outburst, sir.  I could make excuses, but you would no doubt find them both pointless and annoying.  If you will allow me a moment to collect my things, I will be ready for our departure."


	Once back in the room and out of their sight, Amber took a deep breath and let it out slowly.  'I don't know what I was expecting for an escort, but it certainly wasn't anyone quite like Senritsu Hakai...  Despite the fact he turned that buffoon into a quivering mass of jelly with one look, I'm not really that frightened by him.  It's more like a kind of wary respect.  Well, this certainly promises to be an interesting journey,' she thought, shouldering her pack and heading back downstairs.




	Nakago stood impatiently out in front of the inn, having judged the patronage within rather... undesirable company.  All but that woman... what had she called herself?  He shook his head, ignoring the glances of passers-by.  
	Mizuumi Sachiko.  It was strange.  The name didn't seem to fit her at all... but then, having seen her, not much did.  Her outfit had been... odd, to say the least - even by Hakai's rather nihilistic standards - and those things that had been around her neck...
	'Why in the world am I doing this?' he thought, pulling his hood back and letting his blue hair cascade out.  He ran a hand through it and shook his head.  'I don't do escort missions... and that idiot of a soldier should have known that, if he's ever heard of me before.'
	Another thought.  'I don't do escort missions?  Certainly looks like I do right about now.  But why?  It's certainly not out of any feeling for that girl... anyone who can't control their temper any better than that... hah, listen to me.  Like I can talk about anyone controlling their anger...' he sighed deeply, and looked up at the sky.  
	"That girl had better hurry..." he muttered.  "Before I manage to convince feet this entire situation is as stupid as my mind says it is."
	And then, as though on cue, he felt someone tap on his shoulder.


	When Amber had returned to the inn's lower level, she saw that Hakai was no longer there.  A little stab of fear went through her at that before rationality took over.  'No, he wouldn't do that.  If he's one these so-called true god followers, he'd see it as his duty.  Or if he's a mercenary, he wouldn't have even taken the job if it wasn't worth his while.'
	'Well, whichever one he is, I shouldn't keep him waiting.  There's no sense pushing my luck which isn't running too good as it is.'
	She pretended to ignore the sidelong looks of the inn's patrons as she made her way out onto the streets of Eiyou.  Hakai was standing off a little ways to the left, his back to her and his hood thrown back.  It stunned her to realize that his hair was so long given the way her own world seemed to frown on that trait in men.  'But other peoples and places have different traditions, their own special styles and culture.  Almost anybody else would have been jaw dropping over the midnight blue hair, but not me.  I've been watching too many anime shows,' she thought wryly.
	'I wonder what he's thinking about, staring up at the sky like that?  Whatever it is, it can't be good.  He looks pretty tense.'
	Before she could lose her nerve thinking through the consequences of interrupting him, she strode forward and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.  "Senritsu-san..." she began.
	"Hakai," he said shortly, interrupting her. "That is what you will call me."
	His tone left no room for argument, but Amber didn't intend to.  If he really disliked his family name, which she supposed was the case from the way one of his hands curled almost involuntarily around the sword at his hip as if just the mere mention of the name called to mind memories that he'd rather forget, then she'd call him whatever he pleased.  "Hakai," she repeated. "I am ready to leave, now, as I said I would be."
	Hakai gave her an appraising look.  "Then, that..." he paused momentarily as if searching for the word, "...pack of yours contains supplies for the journey?"
	Amber blinked.  Of course, traveling to another country would require provisioning, such as food and some kind of blanket for sleeping on.  Why hadn't she thought of it before?  She was usually practical minded enough to think of details like that.  "No, I'm afraid not, unless you like eating paper.  I have plenty of that," Amber realized that he might take that remark the wrong way and added, "The only traveling that I was expecting to be doing was looking through shelves for books that would help my teacher in his research.  I hardly expected to end up in a country even stranger than the one I was in simply because I dozed off in front of a book."
	Hakai was silent for a moment before saying, "For a foreigner, you speak the language quite well, though you do have a rather strange accent."
	'Was that supposed to be a compliment?  If so, it was rather backhanded,' she thought and suddenly realized what he'd said.  Could she truly be speaking their language?  That didn't seem possible.  Yet, when she reviewed what she had seen and heard so far, she knew that it had to be true.  'I've never studied this, so how can it be possible?  To not only speak but be able to understand as well.  This is some kind of miracle.  But who or what caused it to happen?  This is too weird, even for any dream of mine.'
	"If you're quite through ruminating, you should see about getting what you need.  I, for one, intend to be well away from here by the time night falls," Hakai said, his voice breaking through her reflection.
	"I agree that I should, but there's one small problem.  I don't have any money."
	"None?  Not a single ryo?"
	Amber shook her head mutely in reply and looked up at Hakai to gauge his reaction, but his expression was completely unreadable.  "Come on, then.  I'll take care of it," he said and began walking, not turning back to see if she followed.


	The pair stood in the marketplace of Eiyou, glancing here and there at various foodstuffs.  Amber - or Mizuumi, as Hakai knew her - stood out like a sore thumb in her strange clothing, not to mention the oddly constructed pack she wore.  
	"Yes, we'll need supplies, Sachiko.  What, did you think we'd make it to Kutou in a day?" He shook his head.  'I swear... this is the strangest person I've ever met.  At the same time, though... there's something enticing about her...'
	He picked up a few buns of bread from one cart, then glanced over at Amber again.  "I'd guess, given that you didn't even know we needed supplies, that you aren't carrying any money, are you?"
	She shook her head.  "Nothing they'd take, at least."
	Hakai sighed, and rolled his eyes.  "Figures.  I'll just take it out of my fee." Without another word, the mercenary pulled a few coins from his purse and pressed them into the merchant's hand.


	Amber looked back at the town one last time as they rode away - her on a rented horse that had Hakai had not been happy about buying, the mercenary on his own smoke-colored one - a strange feeling in her heart.
	"I feel as though we're leaving something important behind..." she said, shaking her head as she glanced over at the outwardly unconcerned Hakai.  The mercenary, for his part, didn't even bother to feign interest.  "Indeed?  The feeling will pass, Sachiko.  Perhaps if you concentrated on your destination, and not the roads already taken."
	They rode in silence for several minutes at that remark, Amber looking down at the ground - unusually cowed by this strange man, even if it wasn't out of the sense of fear that everyone else dealing with him seemed to feel.  The town eventually faded from sight entirely as they crested a hill, and soon after, the feeling passed just as Hakai had caustically intimated it would.  


	It was a nice enough day; not a cloud littered the sky, and the noonday sun shown brightly down on them without radiating too much heat.  The grasses whispered in a mild northeastern wind, seeming to create a countermelody to the constant clacking of the horses' hooves on the cobblestoned road (a road which was rapidly deteriorating to dirt the farther they progressed, but a road nonetheless).  But the mercenary Hakai seemed nervous, skittish, Amber would have said if she didn't know his nature.  His unusual eyes darted all about, as if he expected at any moment something to leap out and attack him on this serene day.  His hand rested perpetually on what Amber was sure was a sword, hidden though it was underneath his cloak; his whole body tensed at the slightest noise.
	Eventually, the young woman decided to say something about it.  "What's wrong with you, Senritsu?  Is something wrong?"
	The mercenary gave her a look that could have wilted flowers; but Amber was hardly a flower, and she returned it with all the intensity he had given it.  He softened somewhat at that, smirking amusedly, and shook his head.  "Nothing is wrong, Mizuumi.  My reason for alertness is none of your concern."
	The young woman tensed at that.  "If you're expecting something to go wrong, I'd think I have a right to know about it!"	Hakai looked as though for a moment he'd give her an even more cheeky response, but he instead turned his head abruptly to one side, as if listening to something.  When he turned back to Amber, every bit of amusement had drained from his face, and he put a finger to his lips.
	"Dismount." he whispered firmly, quietly doing so himself.
	Amber cocked an eyebrow at the merc.  "What?  Why?" but even her protest was hushed, with this sense of urgency the man had created.  
	Senritsu didn't reply, simply narrowed his eyebrows and furiously motioned for her to hurry up.  Confused, the young otherworlder did so, her eyes dancing over the seemingly empty landscape.  
	And, quite suddenly, those eyes were greeted by a black streak of... something, rushing across the landscape to meet them.  She stared at it, almost awed, until Hakai leapt over and forced her to the ground.
	As she struggled to regain the breath the man had knocked out of her, the arrow flew over her head.  Hakai immediately leapt to his feet and drew both of his weapons - katanas, Amber noted with some interest - his eyes searching for whatever had fired the bolt.
	His efforts did not go unrewarded.  Soon after Amber struggled cautiously to her feet, four men on horseback came riding into sight from just over the next hill.  Though Amber could not make much out about them, Hakai could tell - with no small amount of bitterness - that they were bald, dark-skinned men, carrying in their hands strange curved swords (one held a longbow as well), wearing strange white clothing.
	He grimaced slightly, and looked over at Amber.  "I would get out that dagger I put in your pack if I were you, Sachiko." his eyes immediately refocused on their attackers.  He gritted his teeth.  "Westerners."




	If Amber had a little time to think, she might have been really frightened over her narrow escape from the arrow.  As it was, all she felt was no small amount of anger and a piercing pain running along her right side where she'd connected solidly with Hakai's armor.  Even in her ill-tempered state, she could tell the sense of his words and got out the dagger, wondering just how he expected 'her' to be able to do anything against scimitars with such a measly little pigsticker.  On closer inspection, she did have to admit that it was closer in size to a shortsword than a dagger, but that didn't make her feel much better about her chances of holding her own.  
	Thinking quickly, she dug into her pack and slipped the first CD she found onto her right index finger, reflective side up.  'Maybe if I can foul up the bowman's sight with this, he won't be able to get off another shot.  There's only one way to find out.'
	Amber judged the angle carefully and timed it just as the bowman was about to release his second arrow.  Things worked better than she could have ever hoped.  Not only was his aim completely spoiled, sending the arrow whistling past far to Hakai's right, but his horse shied away, forcing its rider to drop the bow and concentrate on bringing the unruly mount back under control.
	During that time, Hakai moved a few dozen feet forward before stopping completely, both katanas slanted downward.  One of the white robed riders yelled something to his companions, most likely a comment about Hakai's apparent fatigue, for they laughed harshly and the three in the lead zeroed in on Hakai, coming at him from slightly different directions as if to surround him.  It was probably the last mistake that they would ever make.
	Amber watched in stunned wonderment when Hakai suddenly sparked to life, his twin blades becoming nothing more than silver blurs as he began an intricate dance of cuts, dodges, and parrys that, at such close range, negated his oppenents' height advantage in favor of his greater maneuverability.  The deadly grace of his movements made the riders look slow and clumsy by comparison.  
	'He's really, really good,' she thought, biting down on the corner of her lip. 'Hiring someone of his skill must have cost Teiran and his group a lot?  More than it makes sense to risk on a mere chance that I might end up agreeing with their teachings.  Either Teiran's got  a lot of money to burn, or there's more at stake than I realize.'
	A whisper of movement penetrated her awed daze, and she lunged frantically to one side, the sound and feel of ripping cloth behind her telling her than she almost hadn't been fast enough.  The fourth horseman had dismounted and come up stealthily behind her.  By the time she turned to face him, he was already readying his scimitar for another strike at her.  Instinctively, she raised her dagger to block it and was driven to a kneeling position, her left arm shaking in an attempt to keep the greater weight of the swordsman and his sword from getting any closer.  The dagger's blade began to creak ominously under the strain, a sure sign of its imminent shattering.  'I'm going to die,' Amber thought numbly. 'There's no way, no possible way that Senritsu-san can make it back over here in time.  Lord, help me.  I need a miracle to get out of this one.'