[wind blows]
Shizu and his allies (he doesn't like to prefer them as "friends") entered a strange forest near the mountains. it's snowing. Poppy stick his nose into the snow, sniff around, then it looks up, and barks "[BARK!!]"
then Poppy ran back to his master, Galford.
everyone is following Shizumaru. they don't know where they're going, but hopefully Shizu might be able to lead them to the prophet who kidnapped Akane.
"hmm???" Charlotte stopped, and turned around, "HURRY UP HOAHMARU!!"
Hoahmaru is trembling. there's little ice on his nose and arms. they're frozen up. he SLOWLY step by step walk to Charlotte
"...it's..it's...it's...." trembles Hoahmaru, can't even move his arms. he tried to reach for something in his pocket...
"???" Charlotte saw a sake bag. she went up to him, and grab the sake bag,
"NOW WHAT'S THIS DOING HERE? I thought i told you NO SAKE until we find the prophet."
"but..but..but.."
"ok..fine." sighs Charlotte, "you can have a sip." she hands him the sake bag Hoahmaru's eyes widens and tears run down from his eyes. he SLOWLY (while still frozen from the cold) reach for the sake bag....drools all over his mouth, "uhh..uh.."
the sake he have been wanting to drink for so long ever since he's been stuck w/ this red-head Shizu..... his eyes widens even more and more drools as he almost reach the sake bag.... he can imagine light shining on this old crappy looking bag full with sake.
"!!!!" Shizu is alert. and stopped.
everyone stops walking too.
"what the hell???" Charlotte whispers, throw the sake bag somewhere in the forest.
Hoahmaru slowly ran after it, "n..n...noo...."
Charlotte went up to Shizu, "what's wrong?"
".....something is here." whispers Shizu. everyone looks around. but there's nothing but trees and snow.
[silence]
.........
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!! SOMEBODY SAY SOMETHING ALREADY!!" freaks Cella, "..it's too quiet here...and it gives me the chills..."
"grr...she bitches too much.." murmurs Rimururu
"i don't see anything." said Kazuki, scracthing his head
"you're wasting time, boy." said Jubei, "no one lives around here for miles..."
"........" Shizu looks around, "..it can't be the prophet.." then he continues...
[wind blows]
something flies past Shizu in the forest..!! he gasped, and stops again.
"?? now what?! my daughter is in danger! let's stop wasting time and.." complains Jubei
in a sudden, Poppy lift his ears up, and barks like crazy. then it ran pass Ukyo and straight into the forest..!!
"POPPY!!!" freaks Galford, "WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP MY DOG, UKYO??!"
"..........."
"man!!! you suck!!!" shouts Galford, "you all go on, i have to find Poppy first." then he went after Poppy.
"..GALFORD!" said Rimurur, but he's gone already.
"don't worry! he'll be fine. he can fight for himself" smiles Kazuki
"....." Rimururu hesitates, "no..it's not that..."

it's night time. they camp somewhere in the forest. the sky is fill with stars, and all you can hear is peace and quiet and soft crickets sounds of the night. at camp, the fire is burning...
"WHEW!!!! THIS FEELS GOOD!!!" sighs Hoahmaru, sits in front of the camp fire Jubei grab a log of wood, and throw at Hoahmaru's head
[BONK]
"GET OUT OF THE WAY, PUNK! you're blocking the fire!" shouts Jubei
"ouch...but i've been freezing my ass all day..!" said Hoahmaru, "speaking of ass, my butt feels cold now!!"
he pull his pants down and stick his butt to the fire, "[LOUD SIGH] HMM FEEL GOO~~D...."
Charlotte and Cella comes out from the tent, "guess it's dumplings again tonight..."
she saw Hoahmaru, his butt naked, standing next to the fire
[SILENT]
"OH...MY....GOD." gasps Charlotte, and turn around, her face all red
"OH SHIT!!!" Hoahmaru quickly pull back his pants up!
"HAHAHA!" laughs Kazuki, "where's Galford neways? he haven't come back yet."
"Galford is a big boy!" smiles Hoahmaru and grab a dumpling, and stuff into his mouth, "[CHEWING] if he can take care of a dog, he can take care of himself! hey, where's the kids? ya know, Shizu and Rimururu [GULP]"
"beats me." said Kazuki, "Shizu never joins us. he always wants to be alone."
"well he can't fight without us!! HE'S NOT STRONG ENOUGH!" smiles Hoahmaru, and eat some more, "BUT IF I'M AROUND, I'LL BEAT THAT OPPONENT UP...POW!! BAM!!! JUST LIKE THAT!"
"uh huh." said Charlotte, "i think he can fight without us."
"???"
"haven't you all noticed?" said Charlotte, and grab a dumpling, "he trained every morning. and one time i woke up and saw him cut down more than 15 tree trunks in less than 1 minute. and his agility increased and the way he sense things around..like enemies. he sensed something today before all of us did. and the worst part is..."
then she lowers her head, "..i saw it. i saw a dark glow in his eyes while he was training.."
"so?" said Hoahmaru
"AAAHH!!! think!!" said Charlotte, "i have NEVER seen anyone fight like this, especially for a 17-year old. it's impossible! and that glow...i don't know what it is, but it's really scary.."
"......a glow...?" whispers Genjuro
"..........hmm. maybe he's.." whispers Hoahmaru
everyone listens, "HE'S WHAT?"
"..he's the prophet?" said Hoahmaru
[silence]
"hm nah!" said Hoahmaru, "if he's the prophet then he wouldn't fall for Rimururu but kill her instead!"
"RIMURURU??!!!!!" freaks Cella, turn all red, "THEY ARE NOT TOGETHER, HOAHMARU!!!!!!! YOU HEAR ME?? THEY ARE NOT!!!!!!!!!! CUZ SHIZUMARU IS MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"......damn, woman." whispers Hoahmaru, "here have a dumpling." and stuff one in her mouth.

Shizu is all by himself, not very far from the camp where the others are. finally he can be alone!! those guys are really annoying and follows him when he told them to leave him alone. and worst part is: they call him FRIENDS. friends! samurais are trained to be cold-blooded killers. did something hit them in the head while they training or what? this makes him laugh inside. but it's been so long since he had a friend...the only friends he ever had in his whole life was Akane and Shogun. but Shogun changed now. Shizu thought they were friends the whole time after that inn game 7 years ago, but nah. they were no longer friends, never was. the only friend he can actually trust and still trust today was AKANE...
"........." Shizu stare at the stars. the stars sparkles like diamonds in the night sky....he have traveled so much and fought so much he almost forgot what was life again. he almost forgot how beautiful the stars were the whole time. as beautiful as Akane...
Shizu freaks out, and shakes his head, "WHAT THE @#$% IS WRONG W/ ME?! i need to stop thinking about girls! why can't i forget her? it can't be....NO WAY! i can't... a samurai can't feel..they're supposed to have no feelings at all..!"
or does samurai do have feelings after all? he's so confused. he taught himself to be strong in this fucked-up society since the day he became Hoahmaru's apprentice and never trust anyone but himself. but when he think about it...... the way he fights, all these years, the defeat of Zankuro, his skills..his powers have improved way too fast and too strong for someone at his age. and he couldn't feel things much as he used to (example: he's SLEEPING ON THE SNOW, that's cold!!! especially you didn't wear anything but a GI) and his senses is getting much sharper than most people do. he can feel his body is starting to change inside....sometimes he don't even know what's he doing and looking at..
now...he don't even know he trust himself anymore...
it doesn't matta now. all it matta is Akane. he MUST find her....
"...?" he notice someone is coming. he reaches for his sword on the ground.....
then he jumps on his feet and ready to fight, "WHO IS IT??!!!"
"it's me, Shizumaru." it's Rimururu.
Shizu calms down, and put his sword back into the sheath, "what you doing here?"
"i need your help." said Rimururu, "there's no time to explain, but Galford is in great danger. we have to get to him before IT does.." then she cries,
"PLEASE, SHIZUMARU. just help me this once...i don't want anyone else involved so I only asked you.."
"..ok. I'll do it." said Shizu.
"i know where's Galford. follow me!" said Rimururu

"[BARK!!]" Poppy stops, and sniffs around. Galford finally caught up to it "POPPY!!! where..you..going..[breath]" Galford tries to catch his breath,
"???!"
someone was spying on him behind the trees. he looks around and get ready to fight, "WHO IS IT?! COME ON OUT!! YOU'VE BEEN FOLLOWING ME ALL DAY!!"
no answer.
".....GALFORD..." a girl whispers..
"!!!! WHO IS IT??!" he looks around more, but nothing. must be his imagination..
"[BARK BARK!!] [GRRRR!!]" Poppy growls fiercely at something but Galford don't see anything, "what's up Poppy? you being acting strange. HUH?"
[crunch]
suddenly, a footstep appears in the snow in front of Poppy!
[crunch]
and another..
[crunch]
and another...
"......!!!!" Galford freaks out

Shizu and Rimururu are somewhere deep inside the forest. it's starting to snow.
"hmm...ohh.." Rimururu keep murmuring to herself, and walking around confused. then she finally stopped, and kneel down, "gomen, Shizumaru...i don't know where to go...i can't find it.."
then she start crying, "i'm so sorry, Shizu... i shouldn't have drag you out here.."
"Rimururu, stop crying!" said Shizu, "CRYIN WON'T HELP! damn, girl."
he looks around, "how can Galford be in danger? of what???"
"there's this monster..." whispers Rimururu, as she wipe her tears
"a monster..?" said Shizu, "huh?"
a girl is standing right there, in front of Shizu, not far away. she's very pale, long black hair, and wears a red gi. she doesn't have much of an expression in her face. she's a bit younger looking than Shizu and Rimururu..
"hey...you shouldn't be here alone...." whispers Shizu.
the girl turns and run away! it slowly disappears...
"HEY!!! COME BACK!!" Shizu went after the girl. Rimururu followed.

"DAMN! i lost her." Shizu look around desperately. he followed the mysterious girl and got to somewhere in the forest he don't know. now they're totally lost.
"what were you chasing, Shizumaru??" siad Rimururu
"THAT GIRL! did you saw her?"
"what...what you talking about? there's no one but us here."
"what the hell.." whispers Shizu.
"[BARK!!] [GROWL!!]" a dog is fighting something fiercely not far away...
then the dog cries in pain...
"!! WATCH OUT RIMURURU!" he push Rimurur out of the way. the dog was thrown to her..lucky she got out of the way...
then Galford too.
"damn.." whispers Galford, wounded....then he lays unconscious
"GALFORD!" Rimururu went to his side, "please..you have to be ok.."
Shizu takes out his sword, but fight what? fight who? there's nothing...
he looks right and left, nothing but snow and trees. and silence.
[snow continues]
"[GASPS!]" something swings to Shizu from the left!! he ducks in time, but something hit him from right. [BOOM] he got fell to the ground..
and there's no one there...
"SHIZUMARU.....!" gasps Rimururu, and wants to help..
"NO, Rimururu." said Shizu. he slowly gets up, very pissed off now. he wipe off the blood in the corner of his mouth, and hold onto his sword.
[crunch]
a footstep appears..
[silence]
something swing at Shizu from the front!! but he miss it in time. another swing at the right, then to the left...Shizu tries to avoid all the hits... [SLASH] something almost cut him! but his clothes got cut instead.
"GRRRAAAAAAAAA..!!!!!" Shizu attacks, and do a Songetsuzan..
[SLASH] blood flies to the white snow. the enemy appears...it's a huge chimera! it screeches in pain as he do the Songetsuzan.
"......" Rimururu watches them fight..
Shizu lands on the snow. the chimera is pissed off and attacks Shizu even more! he know defeating this monster won't be easy. he got a plan....he ran deep into the forest, the chimera follows.

[CRASH] "[ROARRR!!!!!]" the chimera roars and destroys every tree in its way. while it's running after Shizu, it sometimes attack him with its long tail. but missed.
"...!!!" Shizu stops when he reached the edge of a frozen river, but he can't lose. so he walk on to the frozen river..and the chimera follows.
[sceech] Shizu almost lose his balance, it's too slippery.
"[ROARRR!!!]" chimera roars
[crack] the ice start to crack from its loud roar..
then the chimera attacks with its tail and aim straight at Shizu! he missed it..but it hits the ice instead. [LOUD CRACK] the ice cracks! Chimera and Shizu slips into the cold water!
"[ROARRRR!!!!!!]" chimera tries to swim and get out of the ice-cold water, but useless. it's too heavy. the chimera slowly drowns...
Shizu swims and get out of the water as soon as he can. it's freezing cold out of the water. he shivers a little, but that's all. he doesn't feel anything else...

he walks back to where Rimururu and Galford are, very tired and wet.
"....?" he gasps. he saw Rimururu sitting beside Galford....except...except that it isn't Rimururu!
"..Galford.." she whispers..
it's Nakoruru!
Nakoruru hold onto Galford, who's still unconscious, "..please Galford...you must wake up.." then she whispers, "i'm so sorry, my love.... I wish I could be with you always..but..."
"...Nakoruru.." whispers Galford, talking in his dreams, "..Nakorurur..where are you? Nakoruru....I missed you so much..."
"........." she lowers her head, then closes her eyes, "...i've never left your side, Galford. i've never left Rimururu's side too...I missed you two so much.."
"..Nakoruru.."
"..i'm sorry, Galford..." a small tear run down from her eyes. then she slowly walks away...
"NO..NAKORURU..NO...COME BACK...PLEASE.." whispers Galford, still asleep Shizu saw the whole thing.
Nakoruru ignored Galford and walks away..
"WAIT!" Shizu finally step up, "Nakoruru, you were the one who i sensed earlier. but what happened..? why are you like this? you..you can join us if you want. Galford would like it a lot, and your sister too.."
"....Shizumaru, you're grown...but sometimes you must accept what is real, you must accept what's MEANT TO BE.." whispers Nakoruru, "me and Galford...we both love each other, but we're not meant to be.."
"but...BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO LEAVE HIM!"
"no...i don't want to leave him and my sister..but nature...it need me..." said Nakoruru, ".. it's destiny. IT'S FATE."
"..........." Shizu don't get understand....
"....poor Rimururu.." she looks at her sister, who's unconscious too, "..i'm so sorry i left her when she needed me...please, Shizumaru. please take good care of Rimururu."
then she disappears...
"WAIT..NAKORURU!!!" shouts Shizu..but she's gone.

"what happened..?" said Rimururu. she and Galford and Poppy regain consciousness after a few hours..
"all i remmeber i was trying to help Galford then..." whispers Rimururu
"everything is ok now." said Shizu
"..that monster." said Galford, "WHAT WAS THAT?!"
"it's Chimera." said Rimurur, "that's the last monster Nakoruru went after before she diseappeared..." then she lowers her head, "i tried to find her, but she's nowhere. all i can find is her knife....the same knife i'm using now."
".....Nakoruru." Galford closes his eyes.
"let's go back to camp. they probab wonder where you two were." said Shizu. Rimurur and Poppy goes first..
Galford still stand there, very sad.., "where is she all these years..? why is she hiding from me? i heard her voice! i know i did! i know she's still around...but why is she avoiding me.? damn.."
"....." Shizu saw how sad he is.
later they went back to camp..


Chapter 17-----The Last Night