• Chapter 3

    It had been hours before Tsuki had reached the edge of the village. She was tired and she was starving but she knew she couldn't have a full meal until winter. During this time the humans come out to collect wood and hunt for their families. Even so, some of the villagers would catch one or two humans and give them to Tsuki.
    She begins to walk to the village gate and down strikes a bolt of lightning! She falls back startled. Her parents stand before her. She stands up dusting herself off, she asks,"What are you doing here, am I doing something wrong?"
    "No." they replied,"We want to talk to you about that guy Axl."
    "Okay." replies Tsuki.
    "You shouldn't hang around him." her father explains, "He's not one of us and it's dangerous to be around him."
    "I don't care." says Tsuki,"I trust him."
    "HE COULD BE TRICKING YOU TSUKI!!" her father yells.
    "Your fathers right you have to remember the ouside world almost destroyed the clan." her mother replies softly.
    Tsuki looks down and whispers, "You wrong, he's not one of the humans." then she raises her voice,"That was the humans who did that to us not his clan."
    Her father yells back in anger, "But his clan once helped the humans!"
    "That was a long time ago, father!" Tsuki replies as she paces back and forth impatiently.
    Her father was to angry to continue the conversation so he disappeared. Her mother walked up to her. "Why does he do that? Why does he hold onto the past?" Tsuki asked her mother.
    "That's just the way he is, Tsuki." her mother replies. "I'll be back to check on you soon."
    "Okay, mother. But before you go can I ask you a question?"
    "Go ahead." her mother says.
    "Do you think Axl would really trick me?" Tsuki says, looking at the ground.
    "No, he's a nice boy. I'm sure he wouldn't trick you." her mother softly replies, "Don't listen to what you father says he's just a grumpy old man." They both began to laugh. Her mother is giggling as she disappears.
    Tsuki walks into the village only to be greeted by silence. She looks around, there's not a soul in sight. Suddenly a large bomb falls in the middle of the village! Tsuki was in panic. Then another bomb fell two feet in front of her sending her flying into the wall which surrounded the village. She lay there motionless. More bombs came falling down on the village turning it into ruins.
    She awakes with achs and pains and a few open wounds. She sits up slowly holding a hand to her head. Looking around she notices that some of the villagers are alive but wounded. She stands up slowly; feeling a little dizzy, as she check to see who is wounded.
    Then she walks around to whoever is wounded and tends to their wounds. One villager asks her why she isn't tending to her own wounds as well. She simply says, "I take care of my village people first before I take care of myself." She continues to carry on with tending to the villagers as night draws near.
    She finally finishes as night breaks.
    Nobody answers, she walks towards what use to be the village gate, now in ruins. "What kind of leader am I?" she says in sorrow, "Letting my village get destroyed once more."
    She picks a piece of the ruble up and throws it into a near by tree shattering it to bits. Frustrated she tries to think of something she could do to fix this mess she made.
    The villagers look at their leader in worry. One limps up to her,"Milady the villagers are concerend about what's going on and wants to know." he says, "Tell us what is wrong and what's going on."
    "I'm sorry but I don't know what's going on and what is wrong." she tells the villager, "But I'm going to find out."
    "But if you leave there could be another attack." he says.
    "I'll get someone to watch over the village for me."
    "Who?" he asks, "All the villagers are wounded, the gods are to busy with other things and we are not friends with any of the other villages or clans."
    "I know somebody who can, in fact he's on his way here right now."
    "Who is it milady? Who is it?"
    "I met him while out looking for the captured guard."
    "Can we trust him?"
    "Fully."
    "You better be right about this guy milady." he turns and limps back.
    'I hope I'm right too.' thinking this she sits and waits.