‘I wonder what is keeping Tsukasa …? He’s been gone longer than I was, mind you I guess neither of us have towels, luckily I had my dress that I could use, but he doesn’t really have anything. I guess I’ll just have to wait and find something to do while I wait; there is the fact that any trace of us being here needs to be removed. I guess I could start to do that. Remove the stones and get rid of the traces of the fire. I’ll need to scatter the pine needles again so that is looks like we haven’t been here. Guess I’ll get started while I wait for him …’

She stands up and picking up the stones, she disappears into the copse to scatter them. While she is away from the bags, a guy slips into the campsite and opening one of the backpacks, he removes something, before shutting it again and slipping back out of the campsite, leaving everything else undisturbed. A few moments later Katsumi reappears with two handfuls of pine needles which she begins to scatter as she kicks at the burnt patch where the fire place used to be. Tsukasa soon returns to Katsumi when he stops as soon as he reaches the outskirts of their camp.

“What’s up?” Katsumi asks.
Tsukasa looks round the campsite sceptically before he says.
“… Nothing. Let’s just get packed up.”

And he strides over to his back and picks it up before turning to Katsumi and saying, “hurry up. I want to get going.” “What’s the rush? I haven’t really finished removing all traces of us being here.” “Don’t worry about it, just get your bag and let’s go.”

And with that Tsukasa begins walking away from the camp, leaving Katsumi scrabbling round, picking up her pack and tying her coat dress onto it as it isn’t really dry, she follows Tsukasa. They walk in silence, Tsukasa ahead of Katsumi as he is walking quickly. She is almost running after him in an effort to keep up.

“Tsukasa, what’s the rush?”
“… Nothing. I just want to get away from here …”

*~*~*~*~

‘That presence I felt before, it was stronger at the campsite. I guess who ever it was has been there and I don’t like this fact. I want to get away from there, hope that who ever it is isn’t following me. Us. I don’t know who it is and I don’t really care, I just want to be as far away from there as possible …’

He strides on, his eyes trained on the horizon, taking everything in the surroundings as he walks quickly away from their campsite.

*~*~*~*~

Having walked through the world for the daylight hours the sun is beginning to set, creating shadows which look like they are moving. Even Tsukasa now looks round more as things catch his eye. His hand is permanently on his gun, ready to draw and shoot at a moments notice.

‘We’ve been walking through this world for what feels like forever. Why haven’t we found a way into the next yet? Normally we get through them quickly, yet this one we’ve been in for days and I’m getting sick of it. And all this dust. I want to be able to get it off my coat, and my clothes.’

‘We’ve been heading for those mountains for the past two days, yet they don’t seem any closer now that they did when we first entered this world. Maybe we should be heading for something else …?’

She looks around at the landscape around her, not noticing anything new or remarkable about it. Her gaze turns to her boots and she looks with resentment at the red brown dust covering the base of her coat and trousers and completely covering her boots.

‘I really hate this place. How am I ever going to get all this dust of my clothes? It’s gonna be impossible. Tsukasa is so lucky that he doesn’t collect any. I wish I has some of that rock he wears to discharge the electricity. Then I wouldn’t have this problem.’

‘The rocks round here really do look menacing, why can’t we be somewhere pretty for a change. Or at least somewhere with grass rather than dust. Grass is so soft, I’d love to just lye in a meadow again …’

‘We haven’t seen anyone or anything in days. Is this world uninhabited or something? All we’ve seen is trees, and not many of them at that. It really is lonely, what with Tsukasa being so cold to me. But I guess it’s better than being alone … just.’

Tsukasa puts out his right arm in front of Katsumi after stopping himself. She doesn’t notice this and walks right into his arm, only to jump back and say,

“Huh? Why’ve we stopped Tsu-?”
“Look, and no names …”
“Wha?”

Her gaze follows Tsukasa’s up to a fairly high rock nearby but slightly ahead of them. Stood on top of the rock is a person.

The guy looks impressive silhouetted against the setting sun, his coat flying out behind him, his hair also whipped backwards. A merge of red, orange, yellow, purple and blue is behind him from the setting sun. His coat is a three quarter length black cord coat, which helps accent his height of 6’ 3”. He is wearing black heavy jeans, over large black boots, which also have quite a lot of silver metal work on them. On his torso he is bearing a black, figure hugging, t-shirt. His long black hair, which reaches his shoulders, is loose and straight, is blown away from his face by the wind. His eyes look as black as night, as if there is no color in them what so ever. In comparison to all this black, his skin is very pale, but in the semi light, it almost looks tanned. By his side is a long black sword sheath with a sword in it.

“You finally caught up with me then?” says the stranger.
“Who are you?” asks Katsumi.
“Right now I’m more concerned with why have you been following us.” Tsukasa says in a low voice.
“Following you? I haven’t done that today, Tsukasa.”
“Yesterday. And you know my name?”
“Ok yesterday I may have been following you though I’m amazed you realised. I guess I shouldn’t be. But I over took you this morning while you two were camped. I made sure you would pass me by watching you all day and altering my course accordingly. And yes I know your name. It wasn’t too hard to pick it up, nor yours Katsumi.”
“No introductions needed from us then,” says Tsukasa.
“But who are you?” asks Katsumi.
“In a minute Honey. Tsukasa does something feel … familiar?”
“What?” asks Katsumi.
“Tsukasa I’m from Gaia.”

*~*~*~*~

‘“I’m from Gaia” … those words hanging heavily in the air. How am I meant to react to that? He comes from the same place I come from, he knows my world. He knows what I went through, he saw what Chaos did. Did he also take up arms to …? I still can’t admit to myself what I did. Or was he some how spared?’

‘Can he read all this in me? Or is it harder now we are outside Gaia? I can’t actually read him at the moment, so maybe he can’t read it in me. Did I know him, did he know me? Did we come from the same place? So many questions, so few answers. And I can’t read them from him.’

Tsukasa is stood intently looking at the guy stood on the rock in front of them. A look of almost terror on his face as the guy studies him.

“So what is your name?” Katsumi asks again.
“I think Tsukasa can answer that for you.”
“Not yet …” replies Tsukasa.
“What …?”
“Give me a minute.”

Tsukasa stands and continues to look intently at the guy. His eyes glaze over and he stands motionless as he concentrates on the guy in front of him. After about two minutes his eyelids flutter and it is as if he has just woken up. He collapses to his knees breathing hard.

The guy quickly dismounts from the rock and runs to Tsukasa. He skids to a halt next to Tsukasa and bends down next to him, placing a hand on his back and says to him in a low voice so that Katsumi can’t hear.

“It’s harder, I know, outside Gaia. It takes longer and far more effort, and the whiplash can be immense. I learnt that the hard way last night trying to read you. Don’t try it often, I think it will get harder and harder to do.”
“Thanks for the advice, but I hardly use it anyway, Motosune.”
“So you did manage to read that much then.”
“I read a considerable amount more than that. But it can wait.”
“What are you two muttering about?” asks Katsumi.
“It’s nothing Katsumi,” replies Motosune.
“But I still don’t know your name.”
“His name is Motosune,” says Tsukasa as he stands up.
“Are you ok? What did he do to you?” Katsumi asks Tsukasa.
“I’m fine now, or will be, and he did nothing to me. It was my own fault.”
“But what …?”
“Doesn’t matter. Shall we go?”
“He’s coming too?”
Tsukasa looks slightly up into Motosune’s eyes and says, “Yes, he’s coming.”

Tsukasa starts walking and Motosune falls into step next to him. Katsumi stands looking as them, shock written clearly across her face.

*~*~*~*~

‘What? Why? I don’t understand. He is so open with Motosune. I mean he let Motosune touch him. Yet he got really upset when I accidentally touched him. He’s only just met Motosune so why did they seem so close. I mean it seems like he has said more to Motosune in the short time they have been together, than he has said to me.’

‘Am I … am I just jealous of Motosune? The ease Tsukasa seems to have with him. It seems so unfair. I’ve known him longer, yet he seems more at ease with Motosune, more willing to be open.’

She starts walking after the two guys, kicking at the dust as she goes.

*~*~*~*~