As the sun finally rose over the edge of the swamp, the red-
haired woman sluggishly blinked her eyes open once more. She
always hated having the last watch, and her companion knew that,
but it had to work out that way sometimes. There was just
something, she mused, about seeing a dawn that was unnatural.
People like her should be allowed to get as much beauty rest as
they could, and while the sunrise was pretty, it wasn't the same.

     She got up from the tree she had been sitting next to, and
stretched, grimacing as her aching muscles worked themselves back
into travelling shape. It wasn't as if they had done too much
yesterday, but the months had taken their toll. She reached to
her face, and fingered a scar that ran from her earlobe to just
next to her left eye. Yes, quite a toll indeed.

     Once she felt she was back in moving order, she went over to
where he lay, still fast asleep. He was really quite pretty, she
thought, when he was asleep. This part of the watch wasn't one
she minded. Seeing him lying there, his silver hair unbound and
billowing around his face... it was very calming. It made her
feel close to him, in a sisterly way.

     And of course, that wasn't the only fun part of having the
last part of the watch. Waking him up for the day was always fun.
It let her exercise some of her creativity. Now, how best to do
it today?

     She walked over to her bedroll, and rummaged in one of her
bags until she found an apple jack. It wasn't very big, but it
would be more than enough to serve her purpose. She went back
over to the sleeping man and tensed herself.

     "Wake up! C'mon, wake up now! They're coming for us!" she
hissed loudly. As he stirred slightly, she dropped the apple on
his chest. He awoke with a soft curse, reaching to his right for
a weapon, before he heard the laughing. It was a softer sound
than usual, because of where they were, but he knew who it was
immediately.

     "Twix!" he growled. "How many times are you going to do
that? I've told you before, you can just wake me up. You don't
have to make a scene. Believe me, this isn't the best way to
start the day." He rubbed his bare chest where the apple had
landed.

     The other Twix laughed again, and stood up. "Come on,
brother, you know that's just not as fun. It's good to see your
tense face in the morning." She grinned down at him. "Especially
because there's no reason for it." She giggled as he took a half-
hearted swipe at her, and bounced away.

     He scowled, and made moves to get up. He fumbled his shirt
out of his bag, and put it on, feeling the small tear on the
sleeve. Hmmm. Have to fix that, he thought. No one will take us
seriously if we don't have style.

     He put his hair back into his usual ponytail, and looked
over to his sister. "Anything interesting happen last night on
your watch?"

     She shook her head. "Nah, all they did was talk a lot. I
swear, after I heard that story yet again, I half expected
Krackel to come out of the bushes, commandeer the carret, and
tell his side of things."

     The male Twix chuckled, and straightened out his vest. "You
mean it wasn't just Yumi?"

     "Nah, they all did. Interesting, though. They talk louder
than they should at night. It's not like they know who could be
around."

     He nodded, and walked over to her. He favored his right leg
slightly, but he moved quickly across the small camp all the
same. "Well, it is a swamp. An empty one, as far as they know.
Maybe they were less cautious than usual." He looked down at his
feet. "It's not like we're going to try to kill them now, anyway.
We don't count."

     She patted him on the shoulder. "But we will again, brother.
Very soon."

     He nodded, and looked up at her before turning his gaze down
on the camp. "So, think it's time to go say hello?"

     She snorted. "Come on, Twix. You should know better." She
watched as the green Warrior Priestess woke the other two up. "We
need to make a proper entrance."

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

The Starburst Crystal
Created by Ardweden

Chapter 35: Sweet Returns
by Capfox

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

     Kyouji rubbed his right shoulder as he got up. Usually, when
one of them woke the others in the morning, it was by talking, or
shaking them gently. Tsugiko, however, had opted for the punching
method today. Kyouji stretched, wincing at the pain in his
shoulder before it subsided.

     He headed over to the middle of the small campsite, where
Yumi was looking through their food supplies in search of
something to make for breakfast. She glanced up as he came over,
and gave him a quick smile. "Good morning, Kyouji. Sleep well?"

     He nodded. "Yeah, just fine. Both parts of the night went
well. Actually, I feel a lot better all around this morning.
Talking to Kit Kat helped." He shook his head in amazement. "I
can't believe the little furball came in handy."

     Yumi laughed, and went back to searching. "Well, talking to
Kit Kat usually does help. He's a good listener. What did you
talk about?"

     Kyouji blushed slightly, and looked out towards the woods.
"Um, nothing really. Just the battle. Nothing important." He
shifted his cape, and hunched down. "So, what's in there today?
Something we can have hot? I'm not in the mood for anything
cold."

     "Well, there's some cured meat. It's green, but I think that
means it's still OK. We can cook that. Oh, and these vegetables.
We deserve something big today." Yumi pulled them out, and a
brief look of pain crossed her face. She grunted, then laid out
the food next to the pan.

     Kyouji gave her a sympathetic look. "You too?"

     Yumi looked up quickly, brushing some hair away from her
face. "What?"

     He gestured towards her shoulder. "You know. Did Tsugiko
wake you up with more force than usual?"

     Yumi looked down, busying herself with preparing the food.
"Yeah, she did. It wasn't a punch, really. It was just a pretty
hard tap. And I'm sure she didn't realize that she was doing it
that hard."

     Kyouji smiled ruefully. "Yeah, I'm sure she didn't. She
wouldn't want to hurt you." He reached out and rested his hand on
her shoulder. "Even so, are you OK? I know she can hit pretty
hard."

     Yumi raised her eyes, gazing into Kyouji's face with an
adoring expression. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm a bit sore, but that's
all right. Thanks for caring."

     Kyouji blinked, and turned his gaze towards the swamp.
"Yeah, no problem. Just being friendly. I have to worry about you
two."

     "I know. And you're a champion worrier. That's part of why I
love you."

     Kyouji swiftly turned back to Yumi, and blanched slightly at
her loving look. "Listen, Yumi..."


     "Well, isn't this a lovely scene!" Tsugiko said as she
approached from the woods, a small bundle of firewood in her
arms. "Please, don't let me stop you." She stalked across the
camp, threw the wood by them with a clatter, and then stood, arms
at her side, glaring at the two others.

     Kyouji hastily removed his hand from Yumi's shoulder, and
stood, facing Tsugiko with a guilty look on his face. "Good
morning, Tsugiko. Thanks for getting the firewood. And, um...
that wasn't what it looked like. I was just asking her about her
shoulder." He self-consciously rubbed at his own shoulder.

     Yumi set about laying the firewood out. "Really, Tsugiko, he
did just ask about me. Now, are you all right with some grilled
meat and vegetables, or should we try to find something else?"

     Tsugiko didn't move her eyes off of Kyouji. "Yeah, sure.
Whatever we have is fine. I can trust you to make it, right?"

     The pink-clad priestess ignored the tone in her friend's
voice, and nodded brightly. "Sure, just the way you want it. I
know what you like." She beamed at Tsugiko.

     Tsugiko glowered at that phrasing, before spinning on her
heel and heading back to her bedroll. "Exactly, Yumi. So just
tell me when it's ready, OK?"

     The cooking time passed in uneasy silence. The presence of
Tsugiko, even not by the pan, didn't make for free and easy
conversation. Kyouji helped Yumi slice the meat and vegetables,
and portion them out, but the only communication was through
gestures. Once in a while, one of them would shoot a glance
towards the brooding priestess, but she hadn't moved from her
seat, glaring off into the woods from whence she had come.

     Soon enough, the smell of cooked meat and hot vegetables
filled the clearing. Kit Kat wandered over, and lay down next to
the fire, looking expectantly up for food. Yumi laughed softly,
and gave him a small amount of her food before passing a plate to
Kyouji. She looked over at the other girl, and called out,
"Tsugiko? It's ready."

     Tsugiko got up, brushed off her fuku, and stomped over to
the fire. She grabbed her plate from Yumi, and started devouring
the food. "It's pretty good," she said grudgingly.

     Yumi smiled at the compliment, and dug into her food, albeit
more slowly. It was nice to have a quiet moment with the two of
them, even if Tsugiko was mad, she reflected. She mentally made a
note to ask her later, when they had time.

     Tsugiko set her plate down, and looked past the other two
towards the swamp. "All right. What now?"

     Yumi glanced over at Kyouji, then said, "Well, we got the
shard from the swamp, so we don't have much left to do here." She
reached down and scratched the full and sleeping carret behind
the ears. "So, what do you say, Kit Kat? Where are we off to
now?" she asked cheerfully.

     The carret opened one eye, and said, "Kaaa." He licked out
his whiskers, then closed the eye again.

     Kyouji groaned, and poked at their guide. "Come on, get up,
furball. We need to get going, and you're the only one who knows
where. So stop being lazy, and get us to the next shard. Be
useful, for once."

     "Gika," came the reply. The small animal didn't even bother
opening his eyes. He settled down even further, and slept
quietly.

     Tsugiko glared at him. "Great. He's so much help. How are we
going to get anywhere with him like that?" She made a move as if
to roll the carret over, but stopped as she heard a noise behind
her.

     A familiar smug male voice intoned, "Perhaps we can be of
help, then."

     As one, the three of them turned to look at the newcomers.
They looked a bit worse for wear; their clothes were a bit more
ragged, no longer the sharp grey and blue that they had been. The
woman's face had a broad scar near her eye, and the man limped a
bit as the two moved further into the clearing. They looked
harder, leaner. "It's been a while, Warrior Priestesses, Knight
Protector. I'm sure you've missed us," the woman said in an
amused tone.

     Tsugiko swore under her breath, and moved her hand to her
hammer. She gave them a tired glare before saying, "Great. Twix,
Twix. The day just keeps getting better."

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

	Rollo walked quietly through the back hallways of Wintergreen's 
mansion. The Dark Queen wanted everything done for her, all the time. 
Rollo fumed, yet again. If she's so powerful, why isn't she willing 
even to walk around by herself? Does she really need an attendant?

	She turned the corner that led to her meager room. Her brother 
had protested a few times that his status and her own should be enough 
that a larger living space was in order. But Wintergreen had decided 
that leaving her with the rest of the servants would keep her humble. 
Know your place, she said. Be happy just to wait on me. Like she really 
could be. Sometimes she thought that the illness was better than this. 
At least that wasn't demeaning.

	She opened the door to her room, and turned to lock it again. She 
rested her head against it, trying to relax and take her mind off the 
day.

	"Have a hard day, sister?" a familiar voice said from the corner.

	Rollo twirled quickly, and saw her brother leaning against the 
wall near her closet, in the left-hand corner of the room. His face 
wore the smile that it usually did when they were along. "Krackel! I 
thought you were still out at that swamp."

	"Yes, well, the business there is done." He grimaced, and Rollo 
blinked. It wasn't often her brother became upset over his work.

	"Please, Krackel, sit down. Tell me, what happened? Was it worse 
than usual?" She eyed him critically. "You don't look hurt. You're not 
hurt, are you?"

	He sat down, waited for her to sit next to him, and shook his 
head. "No, I'm fine." He took a deep breath, and continued, "However, 
many of my men died. Fine, good men that only perished because 
Wintergreen's man didn't have all the information he should have."

	Rollo looked down at her lap. She knew what her brother did, of 
course, but she hated to hear of the deaths it entailed, whether it was 
on the opposing side or Wintergreen's. She hesitated, then laid a hand 
on Krackel's leg. "It wasn't your fault. It's still a tragedy, but you 
shouldn't blame yourself."

	"I'm not, believe me. I didn't create a giant snake that could 
have killed us all." He paused, and looked down at her, taking her 
hands in his. "Rollo, there's something else. It's important that we 
agree on this."

	"What is it?"

	"On that last mission, I didn't really follow Wintergreen's 
orders. She told me to give the Crystal Warriors a fake shard, and take 
the real one back with me. I very nearly did, but in the end, I 
couldn't. I've furthered her plans enough. I brought back the crystal 
fake that she gave me, but I tricked the seeker into thinking I have 
the real one."

	Rollo widened her eyes. "Brother, if you disobey her, she'll kill 
you. And me," she added as an afterthought.

	"I know. But there has to be a way to get out of all of this. 
I've bought us some time, and I can stall. For all I know, the Dark 
Queen may send me out again, as long as I can keep her from requesting 
the shard. It can be misplaced, lost, kept secret by me. But 
eventually, she will find out, and you need to be gone when she does."

	"And what of you? You want to be here when she does?" she asked 
fearfully. "After all this, I want to be with you. We don't have any 
other family left."

	He smiled thinly. "No, I don't want to be here any more than you 
do. Truly, I don't. But I might be able to handle her long enough to 
escape. Maybe, anyway. You couldn't." He squeezed her hands gently. 
"And I could never do that to you."

	"I know. But Krackel, what can we do? I'm stuck here. I've been 
stuck here for months, and nothing we could think of has been able to 
get me free. You remember that one time I tried to escape?" She looked 
down and shuddered. "I thought she was going to kill me."

	"She couldn't, and keep me in her troops." He frowned. "There's 
only one way out I can think of, and I need you to agree to it. I could 
approach the Crystal Warriors, and ask for their help. At the least, I 
know the pink one liked you.

	"The problem is, I haven't given them any reason to trust me. 
Giving them the shard, that's a first step, but I don't know if it's 
enough. I'll have to take it slowly, but I want to go over to their 
side. As far as I can tell, they're the only ones who would be able to 
break you out of here without getting killed. With me helping them, it 
would be simple." His frown deepened. "Perhaps not simple, but between 
the four of us, we could manage."

	"You want to rely on your enemies for help?" Rollo said 
incredulously.

	"I don't see another way!" Krackel thudded his fist on the bed, 
causing it to shake mightily. His voice shook as he continued, "I'm not 
strong enough to do it on my own. I'll try to play both sides. Get them 
to trust me without letting Wintergreen find out. But she will. I need 
to act quickly. Asking them is dangerous for us both; if Wintergreen 
thinks I'm against her, there is no reason to keep you alive."

	Rollo got up and knelt before him. He quivered lightly at her 
touch on his arm. "Fine, then. If that's what you think is our best 
shot, then let's do it. I want out as much as you do. Do your best, 
Krackel." He looked up at her, hope etched on his face. "And I'll do 
mine."

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

     "What, no fond greetings? We didn't part on such bad terms,
after all," said the silver-haired Twix. "Almost friendly, you
might say. And we're not on such opposing sides anymore, if you
remember. Or did you think that Wintergreen had just decided to
no longer send us against you?"

     Yumi got up, her hands clasped in front of her. "Of course
we remember. You really helped us out when Kyouji had that curse
on him. Without you, he would've..." She trailed off, and bit her
lip. "Anyway, we know you're not our enemies."

     Tsugiko sighed. "Yumi, we don't know they're not our
enemies. Just because they're not working for Wintergreen right
now doesn't mean that they're on our side. Not everything is so
black and white." She eyed the summoner pair. "And somehow, I
don't really think that them turning up right next to this swamp
is a coincidence. It's not prime real estate."

     The female Twix nodded. "Right, we didn't just come here for
vacation. But things haven't been the easiest for us, either."
She waved a hand at her brother. "Life's painful, all around.
Even for us. We can get along, though." She waved her hands
theatrically. "No weapons, no summoning. We're just here to
talk." She sounded less smug than usual.

     Yumi glanced at Kyouji, who nodded and mouthed, "No danger."
She looked over at the still-scowling Tsugiko, who untensed ever
so slightly, but didn't move her hand off of her hammer. Yumi
took that as acquiescence, and nodded to the Twixes. "All right.
We trust you. What do you want to talk about?" Her inner hostess
took over. "Do you want something to eat? It's not much, but it's
hot."

     The two of them made their way over to the fire, slowly,
compensating for Twix's limp. They settled down, and the male
Twix sniffed at the air. "No thanks, we already ate." He sniffed
again. "I'm not sure we'd want that, in any case," he continued.

     Yumi blushed, and ate another forkful. "It's pretty good.
But if you don't want any, you don't have to have any."

     Kyouji reached in and served himself another helping.
"Right. More for me. Man, I can't believe how hungry I am."

     The red-haired Twix smirked. "Yes, all of that getting
beaten around yesterday must have been very tiring."

     Kyouji glared balefully at the woman. "Beating the giant
snake was tiring. Getting beaten around doesn't bother me much
anymore."

     Her smirk faltered. "You beat the Jawbreaker? You must've
gotten a lot stronger since we last met."

     Kyouji bucked up, and smiled at her. "Yeah, maybe I have.
Thanks for --"

     Tsugiko put a hand out, cutting Kyouji off. She fixed the
summoners with a narrow-eyed glare. "That's something I've been
wondering about. That snake had to have been new. Those Ranchers
wouldn't have been like that if they'd known it was there." She
waved dismissively. "Don't get me wrong, I don't mind much that
slaver lizards went down, but they were too strong to not have
any defenses against something that could've eaten its way
through their entire village.

     "So, it had to be new. And it didn't seem to me that Krackel
and his soldiers brought it, because they seemed as surprised as
the Ranchers were." A quick frown passed over her face. "Well,
maybe not as surprised. Some of them did survive, after all. But
something that seeker guy said stuck. How come it was there if he
knew the swamp so well? Someone must have put it in there since
the last time he was around.

     "And there's a certain pair of people who go around leaving
large creatures around the planet like so much trash." She
clasped her hands harder around her hammer. "Tell me, that snake
was yours, wasn't it?"

     The Twixes exchanged a quick glance, then the male Twix
looked resolutely back. "Yes, it was. We've gotten a lot better
since the last time you saw us." He took his sister's hand in his
and squeezed it. "We've had to."

     Tsugiko quirked an eyebrow at him. "You had to. You had to
leave a giant killer snake in the middle of a swamp."

     Twix started to speak, but was stopped by his sister. "Yes.
Yes, we have to. Don't be so quick to judge us, Tsugiko. You
don't know what we've been through."

     Kyouji stepped forward, in front of Tsugiko. "Right. So, why
don't you tell us what you've been through. Because I can say
that I really didn't like that snake." Yumi nodded, and turned to
gaze at the pair.

     Twix ran a hand through her red hair, and sighed. "You want
us to relive all that just so you can feel safe?"

     Kyouji nodded. "Yeah. If you're not going to, maybe you
should leave."

     She looked at him coolly, and sighed again. "All right.
Fine. You remember how we were when we left you, after you went
off with my brother and got the Crystal Ice. We couldn't go back
to Wintergreen. We weren't exactly in her good graces by that
point. In fact, if we'd tried, she'd probably have killed us.
That's what we thought, anyway. And it certainly bore up on the
evidence.

     "It's not too hard for us to make our way through Mars. It
takes a lot to slow us down. We also have a lot to offer any
place where we stay." She shook her head at Tsugiko's
disbelieving look. "Yes, we do. We're not all monsters and
tricks, you know. We may not be great healers, or great
geomancers, but we know enough to help out a small village."

     Her brother took up the story. "So that's where we tried to
go first. There was a place, near Queen Licorice's old domain,
that we had visited a few times while we were serving
Wintergreen. It was a nice little village, and we got along with
the people who lived there well enough. We used to help them out,
do little things. Summoned a little creature to eat up their
vermin. Anyway, we got along with them.

     "So, we headed over there. The army is more spread out than
you'd think; once you're in Wintergreen's territory, there isn't
much there. And we had no problems breaking the lines and getting
in. We had settled down pretty safely, just a little town's
humble sorcerors." He smiled thinly. "A far cry from the
recognition we had, but we were alive."

     "Right," Tsugiko said. "Want to get to the part with the
giant reptiles and mass murder? Because that's what I'm wondering
about."

     The female Twix glared at her. "Hold on. We'll get there.
You won't understand the ending without the beginning and middle.
So, there we were. It was pretty nice there. We had only stayed
there about a month and a half when the troops came." She
shuddered, and her brother squeezed her hand gently.

     "I suppose it was too easy, thinking that living in the Dark
Queen's domain, she wouldn't notice us. Somehow, she found out we
were there. And she sent in a platoon of elite troops. They were
to make an *example* of us. That no matter how powerful you may
be, you couldn't stand before her. That no betrayal would be
allowed.

     "The troops stampeded through the village, and tore it to
pieces. The houses..." she faltered, and her brother continued.

     "The houses, with the people locked inside, they burned. No
one was to keep us, shelter us. And they took us on, too. But we
summoned monster after monster, and when five were on the scene,
we ran. Unscathed, that time. It was easy enough to get into the
woods."

     Yumi gulped, and blinked back a tear. "So they all died?"

     He nodded sadly. "Yes, I'm sure of it. They made a point of
leaving no survivors. And there was nothing we could do. But
after that, we didn't want to hang around in the villages
anymore. Dealing with all our friends, putting them in the same
danger as us, we couldn't do it. From then on, we stuck to the
forests. Living there, it's harsh, but we managed.

     "We wandered around, making sure we never spent too much
time in any place. After a couple of weeks, we made it out of
Wintergreen's lands, again with no problems." He snorted. "She
should hire better border guards. But it was easier to live
outside her area than in.

     "After another couple of weeks, though, we ran into a
patrol. We picked up our packs and tried to flee the area, but
before we could really escape, another group of elite troops
showed up. There was nothing to do but challenge them, and they
were good. We performed our best summons, but they still injured
us. That's where I got my limp, and my sister got her scar."

     Twix ran a finger absent-mindedly over her cheek. "But, of
course, we won. Just because they were good doesn't mean they
could beat us. An inconvenience, true. We knew then, though, that
we really needed to get out of the area. Away from anywhere where
Wintergreen could catch us. And we knew the best place for that.

     "All magic users on this world hear the tales of the Taffy
Swamp when they're taught their first spells. It's the best
example of a place where your magic won't work, and we were
always warned early on about it. If you rely on sorcery, you need
to know where you can't use it."

     Kyouji nodded. "Right, if you're going to be disarmed, you
want to know where."

     The female Twix nodded emphatically. "Exactly. But for us,
we knew that was the place where we were least likely to be
spotted. Wintergreen can't see in here, and we can manage fine
without our magic. So we started walking here.

     "It took us the better part of two months to get here. On
the way, we heard a rumor that there was a shard in the swamp.
With that, we formed a new plan. If we got a shard, we'd be in a
position to bargain, or at least in a stronger position than
where we were then. Especially if we could get it and hide it. We
started to run for the swamp. Every day we travelled hard. It was
tiring, but we had a reward in mind: a return to our position of
renown."

     Her brother nodded, his eyes glinting. "We had to get here
before anyone else did. We showed up here a couple days ago. But
as we got in, we noticed the signs. There were Ranchers here, and
there was no way we'd be able to get past them, either to get the
shard or even just to stay. We'd encountered them before in our
travels, and they're such nasty little folk."

     Tsugiko smirked. "Yeah, we know."

     The Twixes looked at her, and the male one continued. "Well.
We've been practicing our summons while we've been travelling;
it's one way to pass the time. So we went outside the swamp, and
summoned a Jawbreaker." He preened, his face glowing with pride.
"Those are some of the hardest creatures to summon, and we did
it. Only, once it went into the swamp, we lost control of it."

     His sister shrugged. "At first, it did what we wanted
anyway. It got rid of the Ranchers, and gave us a path in. But we
didn't have a way to get past it. A bit of a flaw in the plan.
But then Krackel showed up, and you three. You know the rest. All
we could do to help ourselves stay alive, to get back to where we
were in life. All we ever wanted was renown. And failing that, a
happy life. We could've had that here, but now..." She shuddered
again. "Staying in a swamp full of rotting ranchers isn't the
best life I can think of."

     Her brother nodded. "So, instead, we're like you. We're
looking for the Starburst Crystal shards. Of course, we're
better; we'll find the others easily. We don't want to fight you;
you can keep yours. But that's our ticket, our bargaining chip."
He raised a hand to his chin. "Come to think of it, if you die,
we're out of a position." He flashed them a quick grin. "So we're
rooting for you, in our own way."

     Tsugiko leveled a glare at them. "The reason you had to
unleash an uncontrollable giant snake is that you thought you
needed more power? Really. Thanks, but I don't think I'm inclined
to forgive you."

     The silver-haired Twix looked back. "We don't need your
forgiveness. We don't need your help. In fact, we only need
hers." He turned to look at Yumi. "And we'll be giving back
something. A trade."

     "What is it?" Yumi asked curiously.

     "It would be easier for us to get around if my leg didn't
have this limp to it. It hurts at the end of each day. If you
heal it --" and here the red-haired Twix cleared her throat. The
man rolled his eyes, and continued, "and my sister's scar, then
we'll tell you where the next shard is. It's more than your guide
will do for you right now."

     Yumi hesitated. "Well, it won't work in here. We need to get
farther away for my magic to have any effect."

     Tsugiko looked around at the other four disbelievingly.
"You're not actually considering this, are you? They nearly
killed us! And you're going to heal them? Are you nuts?"

     "Tsugiko-chan, please. They didn't mean to, and they did
help Kyouji before. If they want to give us information, I'll
heal them." She essayed a tentative smile. "No one should have to
be in pain. They'll be helping us. If they get a shard, it's way
better than Wintergreen getting it. Maybe they'll give it to us,
to help beat her. Right?"

     The Twix's eyes glittered. "Maybe," the male one said.

     "Fine.  And *maybe* I'll hammer the two of them right out of
our camp," Tsugiko muttered.

     "I can go heal you, now," Yumi said to the Twixes.

     "I don't believe this! They tried to kill us before, they do
it now, they admit they're not on our side, and still!" Tsugiko
scowled, then spun on her heel, and stalked out of the clearing.

     Kyouji's shoulders slumped, and he grimaced. "All right,
Yumi. Go help them, and get the info." He nudged the carret with
his toe, causing an annoyed "Gika," and sighed. "I'll go after
Tsugiko."

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

	The branches whipped at Tsugiko's arms as she ran through the 
woods. She could feel a couple of welts rising on them, but she didn't 
care. It was more important to get away from the campsite, away from 
all of them. Between her companions and her former enemies, she had 
quite enough of people for just now. She had walked out of the 
clearing, but the further she moved out of their sight, the faster she 
went.

	She tripped over a tree root, stumbling and catching herself up 
against a tree. She felt the bark scratch up her arms. This was a good 
enough place to stop. She had to have moved pretty far away.

	Tsugiko's thoughts flowed angrily through her. Damn them! Yumi 
with her forgiving nature. Just going and helping out the Twixes like 
they had earned a favor from her. They nearly killed her beloved 
Kyouji, but that's just bygones. No problems there.

	And there was the boy, too, Tsugiko stopped. He didn't exactly 
say anything to discourage Yumi. No, he just stood there like Yumi's 
attendant. Of course he wasn't going to contradict her. Their love was 
too strong for disagreements like those.

	She clenched her fists, and tried to quiet her thoughts. Running 
off was only a temporary solution. She needed more control. Enough to 
head back, anyway. But not for a bit; make them worry a bit. She 
snorted. Depriving them of her presence wasn't the worst punishment 
they could get.

	She tensed as she started to hear noises heading towards her. 
Instinctively, she reached back for her hammer. She unholstered it, and 
stood at the ready, facing towards the sounds.

	After a couple minutes, Kyouji stumbled into view. He tripped 
over the same root she had, Tsugiko noted with bleak amusement. Some 
trees are just trickier than others.

	He looked up at her sheepishly. "Not as smooth as I'd hoped. 
Tsugiko, come back, please. They're probably already gone. It's not 
like setting a leg right or removing a scar is going to turn the 
balance of power here. Yumi just wants to help, and help us, too."

	Tsugiko glared at him. "Right, she just wants to help. And you're 
siding with her because you think it's in our best interests? Or just 
in your own?"

	Kyouji blinked. "Well, mine too, sure. I'm one of us, after all. 
What helps all of us helps me, too."

	Tsugiko rolled her eyes. "And of course, it has nothing to do 
with any other reasons. Nothing to do with your relationship with her."

	Kyouji frowned, and stepped towards her with his hand out. 
"Tsugiko, what's wrong? You know there isn't anything else. We're in 
this together, all three of us."

	"Some of us more together than others."

	He slapped his hand down to his side. "Fine. Tsugiko, trust me, 
tell me what's going on. I want to know." He grinned at her. "Maybe I 
can help. But you need to tell me." His smile faltered a bit as she 
stayed silent. "If it's easier for you to just hit me, you can do that. 
Everything else on the planet does. Just... letting it out helps."

	Tsugiko looked at him hotly, her hands itching to take him up on 
his offer. She fought down the impulse to smack him. This was her 
chance to tell him. He seemed earnest enough. Maybe he was right. 
Hitting him would only make her feel better for a little while, anyway.

	Kyouji's shoulders fell. She'd been quiet for a couple minutes 
now. He found himself wishing she'd whack him, just to see her do 
something. She wasn't usually so still.

	Her hammer slipped from her fingers with a thump, and Kyouji 
started. She glanced up at him, then off into the woods to his left. 
"All right," she said slowly. "I'll tell you. Don't interrupt me, 
though."

	Kyouji nodded, and smiled reassuringly at her. "Great. Just talk, 
I'll listen."

	She nodded, and looked back at him speculatively. "You know, when 
I first met you, I thought you were really nice. You seemed interested 
in me. First time a guy ever was like that. I guess that was the first 
time I thought about it. But it didn't last long, and then we ended up 
here. You, me and her."

	Her voice turned thoughtful. "Even from the beginning, I 
should've known. It was easy enough to deny it all, though. We rushed 
around all over, on our big powerful quest, and I could try not to 
think about it. Or even delude myself a bit, in my weaker moments.

	"Shard after shard, we went around. You got hurt, I got hurt, 
everyone got hurt. Wherever we went, there was pain. But we stuck to 
it. And the more I dealt with you, the less I could tell myself that 
things weren't as I thought."

	Kyouji looked on, a perplexed look on his face, and her voice 
became more urgent. "I should've known, there's always a limited 
window. Especially with her around. I know she means well, but that 
never helps when you're in the heat of the moment.

	"Mars itself, it's not a bad place to save. I like it here. 
Partly because of you. You're always so hard on yourself, but you try. 
You told me before, on the way to the Heaths', that you admired my 
nobility." She snorted. "Well, for all its many failures, I like 
yours."

	A tone of anger started to creep into her voice. "You're really 
quite the guy, Kyouji. Always around to try to help. But you couldn't 
just pick, could you? You left both of us in the wind, then that little 
red tramp showed up, and you couldn't get rid of her. Bask in the 
limelight of all that love. Does it remind you of home? I bet you were 
quite the ladies' man there, too.

	"But here, wherever we go, there's someone who wants you. It 
couldn't have been that nice there. And through it all, I still felt 
the same. I kept thinking, maybe, maybe. Right. You'd get it together, 
you'd figure it out. Someone would finally take me over her.

	Her voice broke, and she stopped for a moment to recover. Kyouji 
reached a hand out towards her, but she waved it off. She sounded 
angrier now. "No. See, and then there was that little conversation we 
had on our way into the mountains. I know, I know I was harsh. But you 
didn't have to just run off and take her! You know what that feels 
like? Probably not. It's like getting passed over for something you 
wanted, yet again. Like always. Except here, it's something you wanted 
more than anything you could think of.

	"And you had to have known! How could you not have known about 
me? Yumi, in all her wisdom, had to have figured it out at some point. 
And she's just the kind to tell you." Her face twisted. "Not that she'd 
let it stop her. But you did, you had to know. And you still went off 
and told her that. Took her. Still."

	Her face softened, and tears were forming in her eyes. Kyouji 
again reached towards her, saying, "Tsugiko, please –"

	She slapped his hand away. "Shut up! You, you took me down 
without trying. And I never even got to say it. Even after you told me 
how you felt about me, I didn't." Her voice trembled, and the tears 
started rolling down her cheeks. "Well, you know what? I loved you, you 
bastard. Just like you *said* you loved me. See how far that got me, 
your love. I can't believe I believed you. I can't believe I let myself 
think I ever had a chance. It's all the same in the end, for me. 
Always."

	She sniffed, pulled a hand across her face. Her tears smeared 
across her cheeks. She bent quickly, scooped up her hammer, and walked 
off past him.

	Kyouji stood there, stunned, his hands clenching and unclenching. 
Finally, he said, "Um. What?"

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

	Yumi walked around in the clearing, tying up the rest of the 
camp. The Twixes had headed off with a smile after she healed them. She 
got the information from them, too. All she had to do now was wait. She 
absent-mindedly scooped up Kit Kat, and pet the sleeping carret as she 
tidied up.

	She heard the noises coming from the woods and turned to greet 
her friends. She stopped short, however, when she saw Tsugiko. Her eyes 
were red, and she held her hammer in her hands. Her eyes flashed as she 
looked at Yumi. "So where are we going? The Twixes told you, right?"

	Yumi blinked. "Yeah. The next one is in Guylian. Kit Kat can help 
us once we get closer." She cocked her head, looking at the other girl, 
her cheerfulness rallying. "They were actually quite nice people, 
Tsugiko. You shouldn't judge them too badly. They've had a hard time, 
too."

	Tsugiko opened her mouth to argue, but then closed it, a tired 
look suddenly on her face. "Right. I'm sure they were. Let's get 
going."

	"Without Kyouji? Hey, did he find you? He went into the woods to 
go get you."

	Tsugiko laughed, a bitter edge to the sound. "Yeah, he found me. 
He'll be back soon."

	"Tsugiko, is there anything wrong? You almost look like you've 
been crying," Yumi said worriedly.

	The green-clad girl turned away from her companion. "No, I'm 
fine. Really."

	Yumi started to ask again, but Kyouji wandered out of the woods 
then, a puzzled look on his face. He looked from Yumi to Tsugiko, and 
back again.

	Without looking at either of them, Tsugiko said, "Great. We're 
all here. Let's get going to this Guylian. I want out of this swamp." 
She holstered her hammer, put on her pack, and walked off. The other 
two, exchanging curious glances, picked up their things and followed.


Author's Notes:

Yet again, my longest part. It's like a trend, or something.

Another trend is that this is the second consecutive part to be 
produced (mostly) in Saskatoon. Can't say that for many pairs of Impro 
parts.

Fun, fun, fun. Honestly, I really do like this series. Healthy, and 
strong and moving. Thanks to Nicolas and Ard for the prereading. Can
you believe this is the first part of mine that I've had those things
for? Strange, that.

So! Another time I've managed to do everything I've wanted in a part, 
and I think it worked out OK. A bit touch and go, and I certainly 
worried about a lot of this, but I think it worked out OK. Of course, 
I'd really like to know what you all think, so drop me some comments 
and such. Any way around, whatever you think. ^_^

Capfox
tsuwabuki@utena.org
1/25/02