Well, it's been 5 months and I'm sorry. Just so you all know, if I ever let a story go on hiatus, I will tell everyone on my profile. So if I stop updating for a while, just check my profile and you can see if I've written anything about that story.

(Skandia)

Horace was gone. There was no evidence of anything except a struggle. The snow was disturbed, with a huge dent which probably signified the place where someone fell. Also on the ground were droplets of blood. It appeared as though Horace had been overpowered and dragged off. It was just a matter of who had actually overpowered him. Was it a Temujai? Or was it a Skandian who had mistaken Horace for an enemy. Judging by the fact that there was no evidence of a body, it seemed unlikely that the foe was a Skandian. Will knew from bitter experience that Skandians usually killed their opponents, they didn't take prisoners. However, they did not find any evidence of Horace inside the Temujai camp. If he had been taken prisoner, then they would have been able to rescue him. If they had killed Horace after they captured him, there would have to be some sign of a body. There was no evidence of any type of grave in the captured Temujai camp. When Erak, finally calmed from his battle rage that all Skandians have in the heat of battle, arrived at the scene, he immediately asked the obvious question.

"What happened?"

Will thought about giving a sarcastic reply, and then decided not to, since Erak was his friend and also Will wasn't entirely sure that Erak had recovered from his battle rage.

"I'm not sure. I think that either Horace was captured after a struggle, or this is the site of a battle that had nothing to do with Horace."

"I thought that Horace's campsite was right here."

"It was, but we can't eliminate the possibility that he had moved the campsite one day for whatever reason."

Erak nodded. It made sense. After all, Horace wasn't stupid. It was very possible that he had moved because the Temujai had almost discovered him or some other close shave such as that one. The site where the campsite had been could have been just a place where a brawl had taken place, perhaps between two Temujai men. He hoped that the scenario he had just imagined was correct. However, he had no way of making sure.

"Well, where do you think we should go to look for him?"

"Well, we could first check deeper into the woods and see what we can find."

Erak nodded, and bellowed to his men.

"C'mon boys, we're gonna check the woods!"

"For what, chief?"

"We're checking to see whether or not the warrior moved his camp into the woods."

"But, chief! You need to get back to Hallasholm!"

"I need to?" Erak asked.

"Sorry, chief. I mean you should get back to Hallasholm. The Temujai are coming and you should get back to lead us into battle!"

"That'll have to wait. If we can find Horace, we'll be a lot better off in this war."

The young Skandian made no further comment, as he knew it would be pointless to argue with the Oberjarl after he had already made his decision. As the group trudged deeper and deeper into the forest, they found nothing. As they were about to give up, they suddenly came upon a clearing in the forest. There, the huge mass of troops shocked them. As they were about to leave, the young Skandian accidently stepped on a tree root and tripped. He fell, cursing, to the snow. Immediately, Erak was onto him.

"Shut u, do you hear?" Erak whispered furiously. "The Temujai can hear us from here!"

It was too late, and a dreaded signal horn was blown by one of the sentries sitting in the trees. Soon, cries and shouts were heard behind them.

(Halt and Alyss)

"No! Before you move, always check if there is anything underneath the leaves or else you might step on a hidden tree branch by accident and completely give away your position to the sentries." Halt said, trying his best to be patient, after a hard two hours trying to get Alyss to learn how to move without making a sound.

Alyss was frustrated. She had been trying to memorize all the things that she needed to do to stay silent, which included how to position herself, the proper technique on how to step, among other tedious things. However, she gritted her teeth, and apologized for perhaps the millionth time.

Halt, so used to argument from long apprenticeships with Will and Gilan, was taken aback by the apologies. He was used to making a smart or sarcastic reply to his apprentice's remarks, but he could do nothing against apologies, so he continued to teach Alyss the fine points about the art of stealth walking.

Finally, after five hours of grueling work, Halt decided to test Alyss.

"I will be standing at that tree with the deep slash in its bark. You are to start somewhere at least three hundred yards from me. Then, you will attempt to sneak up to me. If I catch you somewhere between one to fifty yards, we will go and slip by the Temujai camp tonight. If I catch you somewhere between fifty and one hundred yards, we will work on this some more and try again. If I catch you beyond one hundred yards, I'm going to have to leave you behind."

Alyss nodded to show she understood. Halt walked off to the tree as Alyss slipped into shadows of the trees. She desperately tried to remember what she had been taught in the past seven hours. She gritted her teeth, and slowly, slowly, started to make her way forward. She knew that Halt would not expect her to go straight up to his face as it was the prime way to get spotted. She made it to around one hundred yards, and stopped behind a tree. Slowly, without lowering her cowl, or dropping her focus, she peered around the side of the tree. She saw Halt staring at one spot, not really looking around. Halt had told her that it was more likely to catch a person out of the corner of your eye than to look around all the time and possibly miss a person because you weren't looking at the right place at the right time. She slowly withdrew back behind her tree, took a deep breath, and lowered herself to the ground. She slithered out of hiding, and slowly began to make her way to Halt. 90 meters. 80 meters now. 75 meters. However, at 70 meters, Halt called out, "That was a good tactic, coming right up to my face, but unfortunately, after you get too close, no matter how unexpected it may be, people will see you. You got to 70 meters. We'll work on this some more."

Alyss sighed in frustration and disappointment. She tried as hard as she could, but still Halt managed to catch her. She wondered how Will ever managed to complete his Ranger's training.

(Arridi Ship)

Evanlyn, Selethen, and Gilan were talking quietly at the prow of the ship.

"We can't split our troops, Evanlyn, or else we get too divided. I know you and Horace are great friends with Shigeru, but it is impossible for us to help both Shigeru and Will. We simply are not capable in terms of both men and resources to pull off such an expedition." Gilan said.

"He's right, Princess. I had to use all my skill with words to convince the Emrikir to allow me to go. There are not enough men in any country, and there is not enough time to form any type of army to help Shigeru in time anyways. You know I like Shigeru, just like everyone who was there with us when we fought with him in Nihon-Ja." Selethen added.

Evanlyn nodded sadly. In her heart, she cared more about Will and Horace than anyone else. Just then, a dot appeared on the horizon. As the dot became larger, everybody could see that it was a ship. Selethen tensed. Pirates roamed the seas everywhere. He knew it never hurt to take precautions.

"Get your weapons ready."

There was a clatter as the men rushed to grab their weapons. As the ship came closer, it became clear that it was flying a black flag. Evanlyn unwound her sling, and Gilan readied his bow. There was no mistake. The ship was headed right towards them, and only pirates flew the black flag. There would be a fight. Selethen prayed that they wouldn't take heavy casualties. They would be more of a hindrance than a help if they showed up in Hallasholm tired, wounded, and with damage in their ship.

(Shigeru)

Shigeru woke up to see one of his lieutenants leaning over him. When he saw that his Emperor was awake, he immediately bowed deeply.

"Emperor, how are you feeling?"

Shigeru waved away his worry.

"I feel fine. How are the men?"

At those words, the man looked down. He didn't speak.

Shigeru's heart sank when he saw this reaction. He looked around, but he didn't recognize the woods that they were currently camped in.

"Tell me where my men are." Shigeru said calmly, struggling not to let his emotions show.

"They're gone." The man said sadly and wearily.

"What do you mean they're gone?" Shigeru asked, his voice rising.

The man shook his head.

"TELL ME!" Shigeru shouted, shaking the man.

"They were all captured by the Temujai in that surprise attack. We couldn't do anything. They brought their horses against us. We were destroyed. Only a dozen or so men remain with us now."

Shigeru let go of the man, and quickly rose to his knees and surveyed the small camp. He saw about 8 men moving about the camp, taking care of the chores such as cooking and washing, which was a huge downfall from the elevated, pampered status of Senshi. He looked around, then a thought suddenly hit him. He turned to the lieutenant.

"What about the Hassanu? What happened with them? Did they know to not go to Ran Koshi?"

The lieutenant shook his head gravely.

"We never got the opportunity to tell them. They'll arrive at Ran Koshi tomorrow if nothing stopped them in their journey."

"How far are we from Ran Koshi?" Shigeru asked frantically.

"Several leagues." The lieutenant replied.

Shigeru looked up at the sky.

"It's all over. The invaders have won. I have doomed the Hassanu. I'll go down in the ages as the Emperor who lost Nihon-Ja to foreign invaders. I'm sorry, Shukin, I tried. I really did."

(General Haz'kam)

When the Kaijin he had called for, had assembled, he gave them his orders.

"From now on, you are to ride up and down the column. If the Skandians dare to raid again, shoot them. Aim for the one that looks like their leader. If you can take him down, then take a couple Ulans and charge them. Kill them. Make sure they can't come back the next day."

The Kaijin bowed, and went off to their preparations. General Haz'kam smiled wolfishly. Now, all they had to wait for, was for another one of the Skandians' damned raids. This time, they would have no idea what hit them before they all went down.

Over the next few days, no raids occurred. It was as if the Skandians had literally heard Haz'kam giving his orders. Finally, on the fourth night after he gave his orders, shouting was heard, and a huge ball of fire was seen at his supply lines. Haz'kam grinned. Now, the Skandians would learn the superior skill of archery that the Temujai possessed.

But it all went wrong. As the Kaijin moved forward as a unit to begin taking potshots at the leader of the Skandians, another, larger, group of Skandians suddenly broke from cover and charged forward. The Kaijin, caught off guard, were slaughtered by the massive Skandian axes. Then, just as his Ulans prepared themselves to charge and engage in the fierce skirmish, the Skandians retreated. The bodies of the Kaijin littered the snow-covered ground, which was rapidly turning red. Haz'kam cursed, and bellowed for his aides and his personal guard. When they all arrived, he ordered them all to be taken prisoner. There was no doubt in his mind that there had been a betrayal. There was no way the Skandians could have known that he had deployed Kaijin, since he had made sure the Kaijin patrolled the lines without their standard red insignia, as well has making sure they looked like all the normal sentries. He would make the spy pay and regret ever trying to betray his leader.

-Just so yall know, this story is still unbetaed. If you are interested in betaing this story, please send me a PM. I know I'm in desperate need of one. Oh, and I'm a bit slow with PM's please don't be annoyed with me if I don't immediately reply back. Peace.

~RAfan2421