As if things weren't bad enough, the very land was willing to drown them. The Oina were left devastated. There was no food. There was no warmth. There was no glimmer of sunlight at the end of the tunnel. And now, their strongest warrior was gone - lost to the Yama Tribe.

Outrage swept through Wep'keer like a disease. Everyone was shouting and frustrated. They grabbed up their weapons, itching for a fight. Some of the more desperate souls even went so far as to curse the gods themselves. They felt like they were being roped into a curse all over again. If the only way out was slaughtering their neighboring pestilence to gain the peace they so coveted; there was hardly an Oina unwilling to take that step.

And though Chief Samickle was angry beyond anything he'd felt in the past, he was not ready to open the floodgates and start a war.

"There's no way out of this now!" Elder Kemu pounded his fist against his floor. "We need to take them out once and for all!! Those fools have had it too good for too long!!"

The chief grumbled inwardly. "Now is not the time to be fighting with the Yama Tribe. First, we need to talk to them and understand what's causing them to act this way."

"To hell with that! We need to get rid of them and get rid of them now!"

The issue was tearing apart the very village. In another house in the village, Kai was beside herself with guilt. Little Lika tried to console her sister, saying that things would turn out fine and that Oki would come and save them. But it was not a job for the second-born to coax the first. The mere mention of the warrior's name was enough to bring Kai to tears. For, in her mind, it was her fault that Oki was gone, and that the village was falling into madness, and precious lives were at risk. War so soon after Lechku and Nechku's reign would be suicide.

And nobody even cared.

--------

Oki was beside himself. It was dark outside now. He couldn't leave, or even trust the female that was so devotedly staring at the entrance to the little hut he'd been stuffed into. The man couldn't bring himself to ask her anything. In his eyes, she was as good as the very demons he stood to destroy.

He'd seen some of the Yama Tribe pass in and out of the house of the healer, Madam Mura. There was nothing but contempt in their eyes. Contempt, and confusion.

Not a single one of them was adorned with that strange mask that his self-proclaimed guard wore.

She heaved a sigh. "Why would anybody be stupid enough to go on Yama land?" Oki wasn't sure if she was asking him, or herself.

"Does it matter?"

She turned back only a little bit, not making full eye contact. "If you want to live, it might."

"So the warriors are less willing to get rid of me? Your assumption seems flawed."

The girl chuckled, but it seemed sad. "I wouldn't worry about them at night. They have other… problems to deal with now. But honestly," she started again, turning back around. "Why would you even consider coming here?"

"Because it was important to the village," he grumbled. "That's all you need to know."

Her blonde hair rustled as the door of the cabin opened. The head that poked in was not friendly looking. He was far older than the girl, but still he seemed young. His hair was the same brown-and-gold as the girl's. "Sister," he growled. "This is reckless and stupid!! He needs to be gone!"

She glared at him, the glass over her eyes reflecting light in a menacing way. "Go away."

"The Oina must die! If he is sacrificed, than we might be able to--"

"I SAID GET OUT, YOU SWINE-FACE BASTARD!" She hurled a glass bottle at his head, which he dodged easily. She jumped to her feet, growling like a monster.

"Fine," he spat. "But Rin, when he comes back to murder us, it's your fault!" With a swish, he was gone and the girl slowly sat down and tried to relax.

Oki stared at her for a time. It was trying, not knowing how to make her let him go. She didn't seem concerned with pain, threats, begging, or even bargaining. After all, he'd seen every warrior who came through try one or another tactic on her. All of them ended with the men getting objects tossed at their heads.

But he had another idea.

"Your name is Rin?"

Her very ears seemed to twitch in irritation. "Yes it is."

"Rin… Was that your brother? He didn't seem thrilled to have me here. If he was the one who helped you--"

"He's no brother." she hissed. "No, that moron is nothing to me. It was my younger brother who was with me."

"I see. Rin, may I ask what you're wearing? Is it a mask?"

She huffed and seemed suddenly deflated. She mumbled to herself for a moment, but it was inaudible. "I'm not going to tell you, Oina."

His strategy suddenly seemed more difficult than it had before. "Alright… What do you hold against the Oina Tribe?"

"Me personally? Absolutely nothing. I'm perfectly happy here, stuck on this land with all of these horrible people. There's nothing wrong with seeing things collapse to a pack mentality and all of the people around you sink into the desperate acts of killing one another when they lose their minds. I've got no problem with the Oina."

"… Come again?"

She seemed to ignore him. "But the rest of the Tribe? They hate being trapped. That's what's wrong."

Oki thought hard, but nothing was ringing a bell. "How are they trapped?"

"Have you ever read a map? Once? At all?" She paused, trying to collect her emotions a little bit. "Our land is at the edge of Kamui. Polata only borders the Oina land, and the sea. We can't pass through your territory, and we cannot got out to sea. We're all trapped here."

"I don't understand," he admitted. "Why wouldn't you be able to use the sea? And why would any of you want to leave?"

"I'll explain this, but you need to promise that when you go home, you never, ever speak of this to your leader. Understand, wolf-boy?" She span around. The serious look on her odd face showed how very much she meant for him to keep his word.

Oki nodded, his curiosity peaked.

"Very well.

"The Yama Tribe had always lived peacefully on this land, from what anybody of this generation has ever known. However, over the course of the last ten years or so, we've been attacked more times than we can count. Every few nights, demons rush down from the mountains and come after us. Slowly, we're getting weaker. Slowly, everybody is dying. We never know when they will attack.

"I remember that when I was very small, about half of the village tried to depart by sea. Their goal was to reach the capital city and beg for help. But they didn't even get out of sight before their vessel sank. Nobody speaks of it now, but I remember that there was something in the water that day. There was a shadow that swallow their ship. Nobody survived.

"We're too proud and stupid as a people to ask for help from the Oina. We can't ask for help in battle, because it's pointless. We can hold the demons back, but we can't kill them completely. Nobody will ask to leave, because we'd have to march through your land to reach Shinshu Field. Between you and me, the whole Tribe is scared of the Oina. In all of our old legends, Oina warriors are portrayed as unstoppable, merciless killers.

"So, to sum up all of it, we're stuck here, slowly being broken down by demons and praying for a miracle that's never going to come." She chuckled to herself. Perhaps she was insane. Or, more likely, she didn't care. "It all just feels like a stupid ghost-story, though."

Oki felt shame in the pit of his stomach. He realized that he blamed the Yama for something nobody had ever asked them to fix, and that they were doing the very same to his tribe. "I didn't know that."

"Good. Keep it that way." She folded her arms and legs, haughtily turning to the door and refusing to look back. "In the mean time, shut up and start getting better."

He fell silent. The warrior began to wonder if this gateway he'd found into her head, one that he originally intended to use as leverage, might be better used to help the Oina come to an agreement with its sister-tribe. "You really don't like it here, do you?"

"Is that some kind of joke?" Her voice was lower than usual in tone. "What sort of idiot would I be if I enjoyed being here? It's bad enough that I can't get away to a better place, and worse because I'm here with all of the people in the world that I hate most. You," she said pointing at him, though she never turned back. "You don't even make the list."

One of the candles lighting the room flickered out, leaving them in partial darkness. Somewhere off in the distance, Oki could hear the sound of metal and screaming. His hand instinctively reached for the blade he knew was not there. "The demons?" he asked in a whisper.

"Yes. They're attacking the southern part of the territory. They won't make it this far in tonight. So don't worry; you're safe."

"I'm not worried about myself," he snarled. "There are people out there getting hurt."

She breathed a mocking sigh and shook her head. "You're very noble. Unfortunately, that won't help anybody now. If our warriors are helpless to defeat the fiends, you don't stand a chance. Especially now, when you're injured and tired. You should just go to sleep and save me the trouble of getting lady Mura to drug you later."

Even she must have known that the idea of sleep was in vain, for she didn't seem willing to stop further conversation. "How long will it take me to heal?"

"I don't know. The old lady said it'd take somewhere between two weeks and 'who gives a damn'. But, now that I think of it, that's the time frame she gives to everybody. I wouldn't rely on it if I were you."

He smirked. "She reminds me of our Elder, Kemu. He's getting old. And the older he gets, the grouchier he seems to become. I can't recall a time when he was actually kind-hearted."

"Ha! I hear you there."

"So," he strained, rolling into another position. "What is your family like? You mentioned your brother and father."

"My brother is very kind. He's still just a kid, and he doesn't know a time when things were better. He's lucky enough to not be involved in everything yet. He'll make a great scout one day. He and I are always out exploring, so I don't go into the villages too often." She illustrated with her hands the vast range they had traveled. "And my father… I suppose he has a good heart and pure intentions, but even he can't keep everybody together in a time like this. He's so busy that I don't see him much. Mostly it's just my brother and me."

"Where is he now?"

"Sujiro is with my dad right now. I don't know for sure, but I think they were in the central village yesterday." She thought for a moment. "Sorry, you probably don't know how the territory is set up for us. There are four villages. One to the south, one to the north, one to the west, and then the main one is in the middle. That way the 'important' officials are safe and sound in the middle where they can breathe easy."

"And where are we?"

"The northern village. It's the closest to the pass, and the safest in recent days. My dad is actually somewhere around here tonight."

"You don't know where he is?"

"Nope. It's too dangerous to know where the chief is at night. We've suspected that there's a snitch for a long time. But, nobody can prove it. That's part of the reason everybody turns on each other."

Oki recalled how angry all of the warriors were with Rin, and began thinking about it. "Do they suspect you?"

"Nope. Everybody just hates me."

"… That seems illogical."

"Yep. But it's true. They all hate me for one reason, or that other reason. There's only two reasons I can think of."

"It has nothing to do with me, then?"

She laughed. "This has been going on years before now. First off, I'm the chief's daughter. I'm a little spoiled brat, and that's the bottom line there. They get jealous, or upset because I can be obnoxiously rude and say whatever I want without worrying about getting in trouble. And that, my partially-lupine companion, is the way I like it."

"So then, what's the other reason?"

She was quiet. Not a sound came from her. Not even the tapping of her fingers met the Oina warrior's ears. The sound of battle started flooding back into his mind. Everything was faint and distant. But there were distinct sounds. There were explosions, and there was screaming. The more he thought about it, the more the screaming seemed like it was fake; too far away to be heard, but still in his head. Things came to the point where Oki wasn't sure if it was really happening, or if he was stuck in his own nightmarish memories.

"I can't see very well," Rin stated out of the blue. "My eyes are usually as useless as the rest of me. And these," she said, tapping her strange headwear. "These 'goggles' help me see. A few years ago a strange traveler dropped them. He didn't want me to return them, either. They make it at least a little easier for me."

"Don't sight problems usually come with age?"

"Yeah, I guess I'm just one of the lucky 'unusual' ones. See, I grew up without good eyes. I never got to learn how to read, or how to make clothes, or really even how to cook and clean. But, as the chief's daughter I had openings other than just the life of a common-woman. It really didn't matter in the end. I couldn't learn how to fight because I couldn't see the person in front of me. You can't really hunt or track without being able to see what you're going after.

"So, I just gave up and decided to make everybody else's lives miserable." She seemed abnormally relaxed. Rin was nearly lounging on the floor.

He opened his mouth, astonished by how unbothered she was with her own decision.

"Don't look at me like that, Oina. They deserved it. There's not a single one person in the village but my brother and my father who didn't kick me when I fell down or make cracks about how 'the chief's daughter is a blind, self-centered brat'. I don't feel sorry for them."

"Why didn't you just ask them to stop?"

"Please! Are you that thick?! I'm not going to lower myself down to where they think I'm vulnerable. And, for the record, I'm never vulnerable. If I wanted, I could single-handedly whip every warrior in Polata!"

"… Is that why you're always traveling with your brother, like you say? You really just want to get away from everybody."

She glared at him for a moment, her goggles shady in the darkness. "Get some rest."