It was massive. It was massive, slimy, dark, and she wanted away from it as soon
as humanly possible. She was a fool to even have attempted to grab at it, even
if it was for Wintergreen's favor. Now she was paying for it; it was after her.

She had heard its voice in her head immediately, testing her. A test she had
failed, and failed badly. It had come upon her with fangs bared, and every intent
to 'purify' her. It had been too much, and so she took to flight, scampering
through the rabbit-hole entrance to the chamber.

Twizzler bolted out of the tunnel, screaming at the top of her lungs.  Yumi    
leapt to her feet and chased the frightened girl.

"Miss Twizzler, what's wrong?" Yumi asked.  She wrapped her arms about the     
frightened girl, wincing as Twizzler clawed at her arms.

Twizzler blinked.  "It's...gone?  It's gone!"  She laughed, then slumped against
Yumi.

Yumi lowered Twizzler to the floor.  "What happened?"  Yumi's pulse raced, but 
not because of her earlier thoughts.  Twizzler just shivered.

"Shhh..." Yumi cooed.  "It's over.  Whatever it was, it's gone.  You're safe   
now."  

"Oh, I very much doubt that, Warrior Priestess," a voice boomed from the shadows.
"We still have some unfinished business from the Gumdrop Palace."

"Riesen," Yumi said.  Her breath hissed as she inhaled.

"I just came by to give you the same greeting your furball gave me. Some friends
of mine want to meet their new chew toy," Wintergreen's lieutenant called, stepping
into the light.  He led four Tridents as he walked.  Twelve heads focused on Yumi,
with the occasional flame bursting from a lupine mouth.

Yumi screamed.


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


The Starburst Crystal
By Ardweden

Legend 21 - Tough Cookies
By Kenji Murasaki


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


*Yumi!*

Kyouji was alert, and blade at the ready even before the scream penetrated the 
wall of rock to get to them. As he made for the hole, her cry met his ears, also
alerting the others.

Wonka, who was already a bit taken aback by the situation asked, "What's going 
on? Was that Yumi, or Twizzler?"

"Yumi," Kyouji said, almost halfway into the entryway. "She's in trouble, and we
have to go help her."

He continued to crawl into the entrance, and Wonka and Tsukigo exchanged worried
looks. Tsukigo began to go over and prepare to crawl after, when Kyouji scrambled
back into the cavern room, his face blackened.

"Kyouji! What happened?"

"Tridents. That's all I saw. It tried to burn my face off." Kyouji stood up, and
dusted himself, a deep frown on his face. "We gotta get in there! Twizzler and
Yumi are in danger!"

No sooner than he spoke, than did the danger present itself. A massive fireball
shot its way through the small entrance, slagging and fusing rock as it passed.
It continued projection, a collision course with the altar, until a bright orange
field appeared and dissipated it.

"That can't be good," Tsukigo said. "We've got to get over there and help Yumi!"

"I know, it's just a matter of getting through there and getting to them first."
Kyouji tried to think. There wasn't much he could do with that tunnel without
serious repercussions. "Wonka, isn't there another way out of this room?"

"I'm afraid not. It was Wintergreen herself that did the damage to this room in
all her anger at not obtaining the ring." The stocky scientist shook his head
sadly. "It took a great deal of work to even chip that tunnel out from what she
left behind." He said, pointing to the wall.

"There has to be some way to get through! Maybe I can put a poppy in his eye..."

There was a rumble that started a bit slow, and suddenly shook the entire cave.
Kyouji fought for balance, but ended up tumbling back and landing on his rump.
"What's happening now?"

Tsukigo, held to a wall, trying to keep from losing her balance. "An earthquake?
How?"

"This is impossible! This part of the land isn't on any unstable plates! How could
it..." Wonka stumbled back and fell into Tsukigo, who finally fell herself. "This
doesn't bode well..."

The cave shook for a simple moments more, then stopped, just as sudden as it had
started.  Kyouji stood up, and was promptly hit with a loose rock from the ceiling.

Tsukigo sat up, pushing a shaken Wonka from her lap, and rubbing her bum. "It's
over already? What was that?"

"Ouch... It had to be magic. What else *could* it be?" Kyouji walked over to the
entrance, preparing to give it another go, Trident or no.

"Magic? Then... Twizzler! I knew that little tramp couldn't be trusted! And Yumi's
over there! We gotta get to her!" Tsukigo surged to her feet, and joined the lone
Knight Protector at the hole, where his ashen face had paled. "Kyouji? What's
wrong?"

"We're trapped." He pointed a finger in the entrance, and Tsukigo looked in,
only to see darkness. "It must have caved the rock. We're trapped here."

"Oh dear. This does not bode well at all." Wonka stated. "We'll have to get out
of here soon, lest we all suffocate."

Kyouji sat back, shoulders slumped, defeated. "No telling if that thing is gonna
collapse further. I don't like this."

"Can't we do anything?" Tsukigo looked ready to panic. Tsukigo was on the other
side with that... that thing of a sorceress, and she was stuck here, powerless
to do anything. "We can't just leave her there!"

Kyouji nodded, frowning. "I know, but unless we figure out a way past this, we're
stuck."

Tsukigo looked at the darkened hole with sadness in her eyes. "Oh Yumi..."


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


Where was she?

Everything was hazy, too hazy... She was seeing different shades of gray, and
little to no light. What happened to her?

The battle. Four beast, hounds of Hell. They attacked, and Risen laughed, and
one threw her to a side. Then Twizzler did something to one, and it fell and
didn't get up. Then she cast something and...

An earthquake. The whole cave rumbled under the spell. Risen departed quickly,
and the beasts all became trapped under stone after stone that seemed to come
out of nowhere...

Then blackness. Did she get knocked out? Hit by a stray rock? Her head felt a bit
clammy, damp even.  So little light. Why wasn't there more?

Were the others alright? Where they affected by the quake? So many questions.
Why wasn't she free of whatever it was that was holding her? Pinning her?

...Closing her in?

*NO!*

Yumi shot to full awareness, and saw nothing. A cool breeze was coming through
the cracks of rock, and it played across her face, letting her know of an open 
bleeding cut by the clammy feel of the air against her skin. She felt a bit dizzy,
and disoriented, and increasing anxiety. Were the others alright?

Yumi focused on that thought, doing her best to forget that she was trapped    
beneath a couple of hundred pounds worth of rock, and that she just might be 
dying today.


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


It was not a good day for Twizzler.

Minor setbacks were usually something she could deal with, and even turn to an
advantage, but this situation was quite beyond repair. The altar had been bad
enough, it was still making her skin crawl in all the wrong ways. The fact that
she hadn't stuck around to see if the little hussy had gotten the ring or not was
also a bad mark on her.

The the monsters decided to pop up... with Risen in tow. It might have been a
salvageable situation if only the monsters had gotten in the way; she could have
offed the goody two shoes Crystal Warrior, and then sent screamed for help and
waited for the other three to show up, killing two and leaving Kyouji for herself.
With the silver-tongued monk around, she could really do no such thing, or risk
blowing her cover.

So she had to take to battling them, putting herself at an already vast        
disadvantage. The first of the three-headed beast had charged before she could
get out a proper spell, and slammed the Crystal Warrior into a far corner, where
she landed roughly. She had gotten a shot off at one Trident, freezing it, and
heard the one that had thrown Yumi from her point at the entrance to the altar
roaring. She turned to find it spitting its cinnaburst attacks within the entrance,
and heard a brief scream of pain. They were after Kyouji!

Turning around, ignoring the smug-looking monk, she saw one Trident advancing
toward Yumi, and the other just watching. There was no other way for it to turn
out to her advantage, so she decided to act on such. One massive Jawbreaker Crash
spell later, the Tridents were dead and buried, along with the rest of the cave.

The girl she saw buried under a pile of rock and debris. She herself had grossly
misjudged her spell, and wound up with her leg, possibly broken, under a stone
slab that had fallen from the cave roof, leaving her pinned.

She shuddered as another wave of pain hit her. She couldn't fully free herself,
not without further damages, and she had no idea if Risen had been caught in
the cave in himself. No, this was definitely not a good day. She should have just
stayed in Kyouji's bed for all the trouble-

"Twizzler? Kyouji? Somebody?"

Twizzler looked around in bewilderment. The girl was alive? Truly amazing; she
had already pegged her for dead. She didn't sound too injured either, just really
panicked. Wouldn't do to let her die now, not that she could do much to help her.

"Somebody, please. Please answer... anyone..."

Forget panicked, that poor whimper was more borderline on hysterical. Wait, didn't
that girl say something about being claustrophobic earlier?


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


No one's answering. Are they all... dead? Was she alone? The only one surviving
The cave in? Please don't let that be the truth. Yumi shivered from an invisible
cold, and screamed, "Somebody please! Answer me! Don't leave me alone!"

Echoes, then silence again. This was too horrible to bear. The others were gone,
and she was stuck in a cold, damp, enclosed-

Yumi shook her head wildly, willing the thoughts away again. She couldn't afford
to stop and break down now. She had to get out of here. She rummaged around for
her wand in the dim darkness, and grasped the handle, the wand itself buried under
a rock.

"Yumi?"

Someone was there! Thank the gods! "Hello? Twizzler? Is that you?"

"Yeah, mostly." There was a bit of grunting and sounds of some movement, and then
silence. "I'm kinda stuck right now though. I think my leg is crushed."

"Oh dear. I'll blast out of here in a moment, and be over to-"

"NO!"

Yumi stopped. "What? What's wrong? Is there something-"

"It's the cave. I didn't count on it being so unstable this deep down. I chanted
a spell to get rid of the Tridents, and it caused a chain reaction." Silence,
then, "I think the entrance to the altar is sealed too."

Yumi shook her head. They couldn't be dead yet... she wouldn't believe it. "Do 
you know if the others are alright?"

"Not sure." Another gasp of pain. "But I can check."

Yumi nodded, even though the other girl couldn't see her, and tried to keep her
mind busy with possible escape plans. She really could NOT afford to crack, not
right now...


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


"Hello? Kyouji-sama?"

The Knight Protector jerked from his thoughts, and went to the entrance hole.
"Twizzler? Is that you?"

"Yeah Kyouji-sama, I'm here. Are you alright?"

"Yeah! We're all fine! We're just trapped in here for the moment." Kyouji tried
to calm himself down, and put relief aside. "Is Yumi oka-"

"What the hell did you do?!" Tsukigo was livid, to say the least. The earthquake
HAD to be her fault, and if she harmed Yumi in the slightest... "Where's Yumi?!"

"Look green, I'm not in the mood to play with you right now, we've got serious
matters to deal with and-"

"Like hell! What did you do to Yumi you tramp?"

Kyouji grabbed Tsukigo. "Tsukigo please! This isn't the time to be fighting.
We've got to figure a way out first."

The retort, however, was already on its way. "Well excuse me for giving two damns
about Kyouji's friend! I only tried to help stave off the Tridents  from taking
a hole out of her! I didn't know that this cave was that fragile!"

"That's not an excuse! We could have been killed, and you couldn't care less!
You little bi-"

"Tsukigo! That's enough!" Kyouji barked. She looked a him, astonished. "This doesn't
help our situation in anyway, so both of you need to calm down and think straight."
He turned from her, doing his best to ignore her hurt glare, and started talking
To Twizzler again. "Is Yumi okay?"

There was no response.

"Twizzler? Twizzler!" He waited for a reply, and when none came, shook his head.
"Damnit. I don't think she's well. There's something wrong-"

"Kyouji-sama?"

"Twizzler! What's wrong?"

"I... I'm getting dizzy." Pause. "I think I'm gonna rest for a minute."

Silence resumed, and Kyouji turned to look at his companions. Even with Tsukigo
Still looking angry and hurt, there seemed to be a worried look between the two
of them.

"This isn't good." Wonka spoke up. "We have to get to the other side and tend to
them."

"Yeah, but how long would it take to dig out that hole?" Kyouji sighed.

"Not as long as they might have I gather." Wonka shook his head. "Or us for that
matter. If her spell did weaken the cave, it would probably collapse on itself,
should we attempt to dig our way out."

"We've got to try..." Kyouji said. "I won't just give up like that. There's got
to be a way though.... Tsukigo?"

Kyouji looked at her, and she seemed to catch the same idea that he had. "The ring.
The ring might work. Wouldn't it?"

"I truly am not sure, Tsukigo-san." Wonka shrugged. "It's worth a try though."

Tsukigo nodded, and concentrated on the ring, trying to feel its power. A tingle
shot through her arm, and she winced. "What? That hurt..."

Kyouji's face fell. "You can't do it?"

"Not that. I did feel some power, and then something shot through my arm, a bad
tingle, and then it started to hurt, like I was bit." She frowned. "I almost had
it though." She drew away again, concentrating harder. She thought about her
friend in trouble on the other side, and hoped that would bring her the power,
the need to open the ring's ability and use it to-

Tsukigo screamed, and collapsed into Kyouji's arms. "Tsukigo!"

"Pain... it hurts to much. It hurts to use it..."

He held her in his arms, then looked at Wonka, who shrugged. "This just doesn't
get any better, does it?"


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


How long had it been? An hour? Felt like it anyway. Sitting in a cramped dark
space, couldn't reach her wand. Yumi didn't feel good. She felt scared, lonely,
and hurt. Why hadn't anyone else done anything? Twizzler had said that they were
alive. Why weren't they doing anything?

Didn't they care? Didn't anyone care that she was here? Where was her mother,
and her smiling face that always made her believe she could do anything? Where
was her father's strong, warm arms to comfort her? Where was...

"Kyouji-kun..."

"Oh wonderful. So you DO have a feelings for him."

Yumi turned her head to the sound of the voice, Twizzler's voice, sounding tired
and pained. And annoyed. Very annoyed.

"Well, whatever then. Kyouji-sama is mine. You're nicer than green, so I guess
I can forgive you for that."

Yumi shook her head. "I... How can you claim him like that? Has he said what he
wanted?"

"It's obvious what he wants." Twizzler said. "I mean, nothing personal, you do
have a better spot than your friend does. He looks at you, but I have his      
attention. It's just destiny." She sighed. "He's probably gonna break out of that
wall any minute, and save me..."

Yumi huddled in the corner, deciding to keep her thoughts to herself...

"no."

"What?" Twizzler said. "What is so hard to accept about it?"

"No. It's not right. You... Tsukigo... you both are just horrible to him. You
haven't given him any choice in the matter."

"How..." Twizzler trailed off, a dizzy spell hitting her, then spoke again. "So
you're saying we're bad for him? Why should you even care? You never make a move
toward him. Even green can admit that she likes him, not that it'll matter."

"No... It doesn't matter what I want." Yumi replied quietly, almost to herself.
It really didn't, it was up to Kyouji, if he even cared for her like that. Even
if she did want him, she had no real rights...

"Did... did I just hear you say it doesn't matter?" It was silent, and then    
Twizzler began to laugh. "Oh dear. You mean you... feel it's 'dishonorable' to
go for what you like? What, did your friend see him first?"

Yumi remained quiet, but she was starting to seethe. How could she laugh at her
feelings like that? It's not as if she was doing something wrong...

"It's a wonder he even looks at you at times." Twizzler shook her head, a smirk
on her face. "I mean, of course he would, you are a bit better looking than your
friend. Still, do you think you're doing the right thing? Denying your desire?
That's pitiful."

Yumi bit her lip. "What does it matter to you anyway? I'm not trying to force
myself on him ever three minutes!" The situation was starting to get to Yumi,
but she was a bit beyond caring anyway. The others were in the next room, about
to die of suffocation, and now she was being mocked by a Barbie doll that trapped
her in the cramped hell hole in the first place. Why couldn't she just leave? Just
blast the place and...

"What does it matter? You don't even act on what you feel!" Twizzler's patience
was wearing thin as well. "Green is a walking bundle of nerves, and you're so
certain that quiet hope will fix everything! It's a wonder that Kyouji-sama even
puts up with either of you, especially with me around." Twizzler chuckled, a smug
laugh that grated further on Yumi.

"We made it this far because we're strong together! You probably wouldn't even
understand that, you've actually done your best to separate us! It's a wonder you
didn't kill us all with that spell!" Yumi shuddered. It was getting hot. REALLY
hot. Harder to hold her temper too. Why couldn't the little brat just shut up?

"So I made a little miscalculation." Twizzler winced as she moved the wrong way
hurting her leg even more. "Would you rather have been eaten by a Trident, or
taken by that monk?" She chuckled again. "I can just picture that. There are forces
under Wintergreen that would have had a little fun with you before they'd have
taken you to her. Dunno... they might like a quiet one like you."

"Why do you insist on being so smug? What can you possibly gain from it?" It was
steaming. Perhaps if Yumi was thinking more clearly, she'd have noticed that she
was starting to glow.

Twizzler, on the other hand, did see the pink light beginning to emanate from the
massive pile of rocks at the far end of the cave. It sparked her interest, and
gave her an idea. "I'm what I want to be. It's not my fault that you resent that.
Maybe if you'd loosen up, you'd know what I'm talking about. That's another point
green has over you. She at least knows what she wants to do with her anger." The
sorceress sneered at the glowing pile. "You are angry, aren't you? You can't get
to Kyouji, you couldn't defend yourself against some overgrown mongrels, and   
you're letting some silly space fear bite at your patience. Rather sad if you ask
me."

Yumi pulled at her dress collar. It was getting worse. Twizzler wouldn't quiet,
and she was getting hotter by the moment. It was making her even more edgy than
she already was. "Just leave me alone. Please? I don't want to argue."

"Oh, so now that you ask, I'm supposed to follow?" The glow was getting worse,
but Twizzler wasn't going to relent, not if this was going to pay off like she
was thinking it would. "So how many of Wintergreen's minions have you been so
polite and considerate to? I bet you even call the beast 'monster-san'."

It was worsening. Her head swam through a torrent of her emotions, and stayed on
one specific, strong flow: her anger. She was mad at herself for falling so quickly
in a fight, mad at her claustrophobia and what it was doing to her. She was upset,
angry, and hurt, and she was very hot. WHY couldn't it be a bit cooler?

"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. You can stay in your quiet little world and
be afraid of your own desires and such, it just leaves more of Kyouji-sama to
me. So what do you think our first child's name should be? Hershey's? Henry?   
You'll be invited to the wedding of course, we DO need a ring girl..."

Okay. So she didn't show her feelings about Kyouji. So she liked him a lot. But
to let this brat, this... HUSSY walk on her like that... Yumi had never really
had an urge for violence before, but right now she wanted nothing more than to
slap the smug grin that she KNEW was on Twizzler's face off. Hard.


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


Kyouji gulped. Tsukigo was still resting from whatever it was that took her, and
that simply left them puzzling at what to do next. He had been listening in to
the conversation taking place in the next room, and from what he caught, it wasn't
really getting any better. Why was Twizzler picking at Yumi? What did the girl
do to her? Yumi had even gone as far as defending the sorceress's desire to go
with them to the cave, why was she snapping at her for it?"

"... You can stay in your quiet little world and be afraid of your own desires 
and such, it just  leaves more of Kyouji-sama to me..."

It was getting worse, and his senses were starting to tingle, but he dared not 
say a word. It was more like the feeling of a fly attracted to a very hot light,
as if he could not pull away.

There was silence for a moment more, and then a loud, if muffled sound, like an
explosion. A moment more, and the sound was repeated. Then Kyouji slipped away
from the wall as some of it decided to give way to a powerful blast of pink    
energy.


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


It was said that the power of the Warrior Priestesses are mostly from their    
feelings, the inner emotions that drive their legendary abilities. From deep   
within, they are able to call forth their power, and use it to their purposes.

Yumi's anger and fear was eating at her, and she finally gave it form. With a  
mighty blast, she blasted the rocks away, incinerating some of them with the   
blast of magical power.

She looked around, and found the source of some of her torment, slack-jawed.
A quick swing of her wand, and the rock trapping her leg simply ceased to be, in
fact healing some of the scrapes along her leg as well. She then turned to the
entrance hole, albeit slowly, and blasted it open, clearing all debris from it.

Twizzler collected herself, and checked her leg. It wasn't broken, but damn if it
wasn't sore as all hell. There were still a couple of nasty cuts in it as well.
It was hard to move, but she wasn't too worried.

She had heard of the powers of the Crystal Warriors, but she didn't imagine that
they could be so grand. It actually made her question briefly what a real fight
would be like against that green hussy.

The pink aura of a pissed Crystal Warrior forced her to turn around. "So, you've
got some kick afterall. Good. I was actually worrying about you for a moment, but
there may be hope for you yet-"

Yumi slugged her. Hard. Twizzler didn't even have time to reflect on the pain
before she blacked out.


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


After waking up Tsukigo, the others made their way through the tunnel, and were
shocked at what they saw. Before the cave had been slightly bumpy, with        
stalagmites and stalactites here and there. Now it looked more akin to a warzone,
the ground pockmarked with small craters and rubble.

They also found an unconscious Twizzler, and a still-glowing Yumi. Her fist were
balled, her dress was in tatters, and she looked really, really distraught. She
turned to look at the others, and rushed and fell into Kyouji's arms, and began
to cry. The boy stuttered in confusion, but held her.

Wonka surveyed the unconscious sorceress. "The worst thing about her is her leg.
We need to splint it so she can move." He looked up at the collection of teens,
Tsukigo's tired, but somewhat happy look as she stared at the sorceress, Yumi's
bawling, and the confused Knight Protector. "Well, I'll go see if our mounts are
okay, and then see about getting supplies."

Wonka quickly went of for the mentioned supplies, leaving the teens alone.


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


The two girls' wounds were tended to, and they made their way to the mouth of the
cave, staring out into the night sky as it reflected it's light on the bare white
sand and rock. Deciding that traveling out into the cold desert night would be
pointless, the set up camp back in the cave itself.

Kyouji stepped from the flaps of the tent, and sat by the fireside, where Yumi
was sitting, her gaze into the fire. He merely sat at first, and said nothing,
staring into the fire himself, unsure of what he should say. Then she turned and
looked at him.

"My shift is done, huh?"

"You can go ahead and sleep Yumi, you do need to rest at some time." She had almost
fallen out in his arms earlier, but she refused. She had helped set up camp, and
only taken first watch as a compromise, because it would let her rest sooner.

"Alright. What did Wonka-san say about Tsukigo?"

"From what he saw, he stated that she shouldn't try to use that ring again, at 
least until the rest of what's needed is gathered." He continued looking at the
flickering emerald flames before him. "He suspected that the crack in her jewel
prevented her from fully using the power of Pop, that it was the slight taint of
Wintergreen that makes using the ring painful."

"Alright." Silence for a moment longer, then, "Is Twizzler... okay?"

"Nothing that your healing didn't fix. She said she isn't holding too much of a
grudge, if that's what you mean."

Yumi nodded tiredly, still ashamed at her earlier behavior. What she had done to
the girl earlier was inexcusable, not matter how angry she was. She would express
her apology when she got the chance. Still... it had felt good to let go a bit,
to act on something else other than what needed to be done.

Yumi got up, and started to go back to the tent where Tsukigo and Twizzler were
both resting, when she stopped, and turned to look at Kyouji.

"Is there something wrong Yumi?" he asked.

"Kyouji-san..." She knelt beside him. "I'm sorry, for earlier. A lot of things
got to me, and it was uncalled for."

Kyouji only shook his head. "You don't need to apologize, I understand. It must
have been hard for you to be trapped like that."

"No. No, it wasn't simply that." Yumi bit her lower lip, and pressed on. "It's 
just that... I realize this is hard on you, having to put up with us like this."

"Put up with?" Kyouji looked at her, a bit confused. "I don't think of it as an
annoyance... too much." Tsukigo could be a little less hostile at times though.

"True, but we could be a little easier on you, think about what you feel about
this more often..."

"But, you don't seem to do what they do Yumi. You're always pretty nice, and I'm
thankful for that." Kyouji's smile faltered when Yumi winced. "Did I say 
something wrong?"

"... No. I'm just a bit tired. Good night Kyouji." She made to get  up again,
and looked back at him, feeling a softness for him in her heart. It was eating
at her, but she would tolerate it. It was bad enough with the other two, she'd
only make it worse... wouldn't she?

She turned to look back at him, and blushed. He still had a confused look on his
face, but smiled at her. "Have a nice rest."

*Why should you even care? You never make a move toward him. Even green can    
admit that she likes him...*

Yumi shook her head, and left for her tent, ignoring her feelings and hoping for
a peaceful sleep.


>o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o< >o<


This... was an effort. That's rather sad because it doesn't even LOOK like that.
Once again, I managed to make Tsukigo a really big power symbol too. ^_^;;
Anyway, thanks to Ard-chan for the understanding and extension, as the week did
not let me take the time on this I wanted on it.

Apologizes as well for not being able to get prereaders. That'll learn me a thing
or two about asking early. Anyway, good luck next author, and I'll sit around
until I sign up again. Ja ne.

K. Murasaki

7/2/01