Path of The Stars

“I don’t care what you think, I know what I saw!” 
 Tsu just gave me an exasperated face. “Look, I know that you and Kadra don’t get along, but she wouldn’t try to kill you!”
 I glared at her. “I saw her. Sasuke saw her. She was standing at the edge of the waterfall. Why would she be there if she wasn’t trying to kill me? Even Sasuke saw her!” Oh, how I wished I’d waited until Sasuke had been here to tell her he, too, had seen her, but I felt like I couldn’t wait. Probably due to the two year anniversary of seeing Kadra pushing me off the edge of the waterfall coming up soon. But Sasuke and his family were on their way up here, what with it being my birthday, and the entirety of Konoha having been invited. They wouldn’t be here for a couple days, but they should be on their way. 
 Yet after awakening this morning from an horrific nightmare of that day, I found I could no longer keep what I’d been hiding from my sisters for two years. It blurted from me right before we were sent to bed. I’d had an outburst at the dinner table, screaming at Kadra, and Mama sent all three of us to bed. Even though I’d been the person who screamed during dinner. I don’t know why she chose to punish all three of us. 
 This, I believed, to be the cause of Tsu’s anger. Partially at me for screaming, and partially at Mama for punishing her when she had done nothing wrong. 
 Shi stood in the middle of us, hands outstretched, as though we needed a blockage between us. 
 For once, I felt we had a block between us, and it wasn’t Shi. 
 “Katsu would never do that. She wouldn’t try to kill you! It must’ve been a nightmare! Why are you taking it so seriously?”
 I turned away from her then. “You know what, don’t believe me! I don’t care! I know what happens, and if you don’t believe me, you can ask Sasuke, because he saw it too! Since you can’t take your own sister’s word!” With that, I bolted to my door, flng it open, and fled inside, slamming the door as hard as I could behind me. If she chose to believe that–ugh! She’s so-so . . . !
 I was so angry, I couldn’t think straight. So angry, it took a moment for me to realize tears were leaking from eyes I’d clenched shut. In anger, I slammed the side of my fist against the door and made my way to my bed. “Screw them. Screw everyone. I don’t care anymore.” Into my bed I climbed, sliding my hands against the silken, black sheets. 
 Papa had left two days ago, as he always did before my birthday celebration here. Though I never knew why, I knew he didn’t want to be seen by the people of Konoha. He never said it, but over the past two years, I’d noticed all the pictures of Papa disappearing. Papa told me multiple times to not mention him to anyone at the party. He’d never told me why, but had always coached me not to say anything about him. 
 Had Papa been here at my outburst, Mama would never have sent all three of us to our beds. Maybe just me, but Papa would’ve drawn the line at all three of us being punished.
 If Papa had been here, maybe he’d understand. Maybe he would listen. 
 But as it was, I was in my room, angry, hurt, scared. But Papa wasn’t here. 

So comfortable. It's about time I started falling asleep. . . . I could see colors forming now, right about to start a dream. Right about to begin. . . . Sounds, vague. I heard vague sounds, lulling me deeper into sleep. It was just starting. A valley, with long grasses, and a beautiful, huge tree in the distance. I was standing there, in my nightgown, and–
 A hand clasped over my mouth. My eyes shot open, roaming about to find I was staring at my father's frightened face. He held one finger up to his lips. "Seishiryu, something is about to happen, and I need you to hide for me. Can you do that, Seishiryu? Can you hide?"
 It was the fear in his voice that made me nod.
 He picked me up, carried me to my armoire and opened the door just to scatter everything on the floor of the armoire. He reached forward, and I felt him run his energy through the armoire. It glowed a slight Tsuer, and the bottom of it slid open. "Get in there, and follow the signs. Do not come out until I come to get you. Don't make a sound, don't use your power. Go."
 I climbed into the hole, and watched it close above my head. Darkness closed around me, and I felt afraid. I crouched there, trying to remember what was going on, trying to wake up. People had a nasty habit of waking me up right when I was starting to fall asleep. I shook my head, rubbed my eyes, and it started to dawn on me. I looked up, touching the ceiling above my head. "Daddy?"
 It was so dark in the hole. I felt a breeze, and realized it wasn't a hole. Tunnel. The breeze was coming from behind me. I turned around, crawling through the cramped space. Feeling every inch of the way, I crawled through the tunnel as soundlessly as I could. After a few minutes, I could see a dim light glowing. I followed that light to find it was a starstone imbedded in the wall, with a note beside it, posted to the wall with a kunai.
 I pulled the note off the wall.
 In my father's messy handwriting, it read:
 
"Seishiryu,

If you're reading this, it means they finally found me. They most likely have figured out where I am, and have come to exact their revenge for me running out on them. What you need to know is Daddy did some bad things as a young adult, that still haunt him to this day.

It is because of these things that you and your siblings are in a constant state of danger. I can never make it up to you, and I can never take back the things I have done, but I can try to be sure you and your sisters never fall into their hands. The three of you together, you are special girls, and he would do anything to get his hands on you if he discovered your existence. Because of this, I had these elaborate tunnels created to keep you and your sisters safe.

Follow the stars, and you will find your way.

Do not attempt to go above to find your sisters, to find me, your brother, or your mother. You stay put. Do not come up. If you come up, it will be risking everything Bolestrole, your mother, Kartwer, and I have done to protect you. Do not let this be in vein, Seishiryu. Stay hidden, stay put, and stay unseen.

Follow the stars.

I will find you."

 I stared at the note for what felt like hours before finally turning to realize the tunnel made a T. I wasn't sure which way to go. I chose left. Left split off into three different ways, and I chose the far right tunnel, to see a dimly glowing light. It came to another T, and I continued to go left.
 I examined the floor, listening to them toss my room, hoping they'd give me a hint where Shi and Tsu had disappeared at. There was no trick door, nothing. I didn't know how he'd gotten it open.
 Then I remembered. The glow. He'd used his Chakra. How, though?
 I pressed my hand to the floor, running my Chakra through it, and found that inside the wood, there was a little maze. I ran my Chakra through the maze, and the floor opened. I could see them coming toward the armoire. I jumped down. The ceiling slit shut just as I heard the armoire doors open. This time, I was awake to notice that two doors had slid closed. Two doors had opened. So if they managed to get the armoire off the floor, they wouldn't find a hole.
 After two more turns, another Starstone, I found another note.

"Seishiryu,

Use the Starstones to open the door the way you do in your room."

It took me a minute to realize the note was worded so nobody but me or my twins would understand it. I pressed my palm to the Starstone, ran my energy through it, and a section of the wall that was about two feet wide slid into the ground. I crawled through it, taking the note with me, just in case someone else found it, and found another Starstone. I pressed my palm to it and pushed my energy through it.
 The floor opened up beneath me, and I fell, cupping my hands over my mouth to quell a scream. I landed on my feet, in a small room. There was only one door in the room, and with a quick inspection, the door led to the bathroom. No escape, no other way in. There was a bed, a stove, a fridge, a table with one chair, counters, and a bookshelf inside. There was a note pinned to the fridge.

"Seishiryu,

You have done well reaching this point. Now listen carefully. There are no television sets in this room, nothing that will cause noise, because this is your safe room. Shisan and Tsuerstar have one of their own. It was important to separate you three so they would not get hold of all three of you.

I know you don't like being without your sisters, but this was for your own safety. You are to stay down here for at least a week before trying to come up again. There are plenty of books, writing materials, and food for you to live on for that short time. There are weapons in the dresser, and a disguise. Wear the disguise when you leave, and be sure to keep the weapons on you at all times.

Remember your training. Do not let them come up behind you, but if they do, use your wings. If nobody comes for you, you are to wait out the week. Stay hidden, stay inside, stay silent. Do not let him find you.

Stay safe, my dear one, and know, everything I do, I do for you."

 I shifted my weight, looking around. "Papa. Oh, what am I to do?" Dropping all the papers I'd been carrying, I walked over to the dresser. All but the last two drawers were filled with clothes. The left side of the bottom drawer was filled with weapons. The other side was filled with a wig, holsters, and wraps.
 Wrapping my arms around my torso, I made my way to the bed, dropping onto it to curl into a ball. I covered my face with my hands. My chest felt heavy, eyes starting to water.
 I cried.

Time passed. I wasn’t sure how long. It felt like days. I paced, I sat, I dozed, I ate, I read, I stared at walls, but everything seemed to stand still. As still as could be. 
 I finally got tired of waiting, and had to find my sisters. Knowing no other way out, I pulled the table under the place I'd come out at, having kept the notes where I'd dropped down at. I climbed up, pressed the Starstone at the very top of the wall. The door slid open, and I pulled myself up and through. It closed as I was scurrying away.
 I took my time getting out, but I heard nobody. When I pulled myself up into my armoire, nobody was around. Nobody was in the hallway, either, and I still heard nothing. "Shisan? Tsudoshi?" I called out, against my better judgement.
 No answer.
 I sprinted toward Tsudoshi's room, opening it to look around. Finding no trapdoors, or hidden tunnels, I left, searched Shi's room in the same way, and made my way to my mom and dad's room. 
 Their bathroom door was open, and I could see something inside there, just past the door. Clutching the kunai that once pinned the note, I crept closer to the door. “Tsu?” I whispered. “Shi?” 
 No answer. No movement. No sound. 
 So I moved closer, until I touched the door with the very tip of my fingers. The stone floor chilled my bare feet as I pushed the door open. 
 A scream erupted from me, before I could stop it. What I had seen poking out around the door were Papa’s fingertips. One arm outstretched, one arm down at his side, face-down on the stone floor, in a pool of his own blood, lay my father. 
 “Papa! Papa!” My scream echoed off the walls, surrounding me in what seemed to be an endless scream of “Papa!” I had stepped toward him without realizing it, but standing right in front of him seemed to have snapped me out of it. I whirled, ready to bolt, and immediately slipped in the cold, sticky blood on the floor. One hand caught my fall on the cold, bloody floor, but I landed straight on my butt in the blood, and my other hand landed on something hard, and cold. My heart stopped, air solidifying in my lungs, and turned my head to look down. My hand rested lightly on Papa’s arm, but it didn’t feel like an arm. It felt like a block of cold wood. 
 I scrambled to my feet, started to scream, and covered my mouth with my hands–momentarily forgetting that my hand was stained in blood. It stopped me from screaming for a moment as I turned to stare in horror at my hand. “I-I need to wash it. I need to wash it. I need to wash it.” 
 But then, I heard voices. Not from inside the bedroom, not yet, but I could hear, “Screams, where did they come from?” 
 I shot a quick, panicked look around the bathroom, but there was no way out from here, except to the bedroom. Within that glance around the room, I noticed Papa clenched in his hand a silver kunai. I dropped to my knees and, with shaking hands, pried that kunai from him. It was cold to the touch, not warm, like I felt it should be. I rose, and as quickly as I could, I ran back to the bedroom, glanced around, and, right as I heard voices at Mama and Papa’s door, ran to their balcony doors. I opened the doors, rushed out, and didn’t have time to close the door all the way before I heard the bedroom door opening. 
 My breath caught again, and I froze, my hand on the doorknob. The balcony doors were glass, but there was a thin, white curtain that stood between me and being found. The door wasn’t fully closed though, and I was afraid to risk closing it the rest of the way. Instead, I turned to look. It was too far down to jump. I looked up, remembering a time, two years ago, where I’d been on the roof with someone else. 
 Now, as I climbed up to the rooftops, there would be no safety net. No burst of sand keeping me from falling. Nobody to catch my hand as the ground crumbles beneath me. 
 My heart was pounding, but I climbed. Up, up, up. There was noise in the room below, and I stopped, holding my breath. Completely frozen, afraid to move, afraid to breathe. Afraid to make any sounds at all. What if they know I’m up here? What if–I stopped, suddenly realizing with horror that there was still half-dried blood on my hand. It was gelled more than liquid at this point, but it was still possibly wet enough to leave a trail on white doors.
 I turned very slowly, very quietly, to see the shadow of someone on the balcony behind me. I couldn’t tell if I was seeing the shadow through the glass doors, or if whoever it was, was on the balcony. Panic flooded me then, and I couldn’t breathe. If they find me . . . !
 That panic filled me, until, without thinking about it, I shoved every bit of my power into my back, into my shoulders. The wings hidden inside me flinched, spread across my back, inside the skin, spreading, spreading, until my skin could no longer hold it in. Pain began then, and I bit into my fist to keep from crying out, clenching my other hand hard enough to feel my skin break under my nails.
 My wings spread under my skin, until I could feel my skin rip, feel a corner of the wings begin to force their way out. 
 I was so focused on this, I hadn’t realized I’d closed my eyes. I also hadn’t realized that I could hear very vaguely over the thunderous pound of my heart and the sound of my blood dripping down my back, something moving closer to me. I opened my eyes to see someone, someone I didn’t know, climbing onto the roof. Our eyes locked, and I froze again. 
 It wasn’t anyone I knew. Dark eyes, white hair, pale skin. I didn’t recognize him. He seemed to freeze, too. With a final burst of energy, my wings sprang free. Large, black, feathered. I flicked my wings three times to clean off any blood on them, glared at the person trying to come toward me, turned and leapt into the air. 
 I made it maybe twenty, thirty feet, when I felt something slam into my back, right between my wings. I cried out, and my wings shuddered, flicked, and went still. I tried to keep them moving, but outside of a flick every few seconds, they wouldn’t move. The fall forced a scream from my throat, and I tried to flick my wings, hover, move, something. Anything. Until my wings retreated into my back entirely, and I went down hard. 
 My left thigh hit the edge of the roof, just barely, as I grabbed at the edge of the roof. Another sharp pain in my hand, and I let go, then fell hard to the balcony beneath. I lay there, breathing hard. My right side had hit the balcony, but my left had barely hit the roof. My hand, when I raised it to my face, had a dark, ragged cut across the palm and was oozing blood. 
 Breathe, I reminded myself. Breath, Se. Breathe. Biting my hand again to keep silent, I reached back and yanked whatever was stuck in my back out. A throwing needle? I set it on the floor, and took a deep, shaking breath. I was hurt, definitely, but I was alive. With that in mind, I pulled myself up using the balcony railing, flinched when my full weight made both my legs hurt, and turned toward the balcony door. The kunai I’d taken from Father still clenched tightly in my hand.
 Memories flooded me, just a little. Two years ago, I’d been on this very balcony, with a redheaded boy I now missed ferociously. He’d come to my last birthday party, so hopefully he’d come to this one. Maybe he could make it in time to help. Maybe someone could.
 Anyone. 
 The balcony door was unlocked, and I had a moment to think how unsafe that was, but also felt grateful that it was unlocked. Then, I paused, realizing I’d used my bloody hand to open the door. Oh, no. Not again! I used my nightgown to wipe the blood off the doorknob, and, hearing someone on the roof above me, ran inside. 
 Idea. I went to the door, deliberately spread blood on the doorknob, and the door, then ran to the bed, carefully climbing under without touching any of the bedding with any bloodied part of my body. I was barely fully under when someone dropped onto the balcony. 
 Clasping my hands over my mouth, I kept myself as still as I could, and watched from under the bed skirt. There was less than an inch between the bottom of the bed skirt and the floor, so all I could see was feet when whoever it was came into the room. 
 The feet weren’t very big. They wore sandals, and walked through the room uncertainly. They stood in place a few minutes, and I clenched my jaw, holding my breath, afraid. Panic roared through my head. All I could hear was the sound of my blood rushing through my head. Then he walked toward the door, and out. 
 And I lay there, relief rendering me limp on the floor. I took a couple deep breaths, and waited. Too terrified to move. Even though I knew that, eventually, someone would likely check under the bed. I was honestly pretty shocked that he hadn’t checked the bed, but there was no doubt in my mind that I’d never been able to run out into that hall and find another hiding place in my condition. No, I could barely walk, let alone–
 Someone screamed. And I knew that voice.
 “Mama,” I breathed, scrambling out from under the bed instantly. I got to the doorway before I stopped, realizing this could be stupid. They could be out there. Fear froze me in place.
 Then she screamed again, a loud, ragged, terrified scream that made my bones hurt. 
 Downstairs. She’s downstairs. Shaking the fear off, I bolted out of the room, toward the double doors leading to the small landing the stairs connected at. I paused, trying to pinpoint the sound, and she screamed again. The parlor, that was it. That’s where she is. The parlor doors, I could see from here, were open. Light was streaming in from that room, into the grand entrance hall. I could see shadows on the floor there.
 I ran downstairs, toward the door, and got halfway there before I froze again. Slowly, slowly, I forced myself toward that door. My chest was tight, lungs felt heavy, frozen. 
 “You will tell me where your daughters are hiding! I don’t care how long this takes!” I heard someone yell. A man’s voice. Anger roughened, but smooth. 
 “You can do whatever you want to me, I’ll never betray my daughters. Ever!”
 I got to the doorway. There, there was a man standing there. Brown hair, tall, muscular, wearing a black cloak with the hood down. There was a sword in his hand, pointed at my mother. 
 “Mama?” My voice was soft, barely audible over the sound of my rough breathing, but the man turned toward me. Green eyes, he had green eyes. He smiled an unpleasant smile at me, a smile that made chills run down my spine, then turned toward my mother. “I don’t need you anymore, it seems.” With that, he slashed the sword quickly across, and my vision focused entirely on the spray of blood and the glassy-eyed look on my mother’s face.
 “Mama! Mama!” I started to run into the room, and someone grabbed me from behind. “N-no, Mama! Mama! Let go! Mama!” I was being pulled away from the room, and I reached out to grab onto the doorframe. “No! No! Let go! Mama!” My nails scraped off paint from the doorframe as I was yanked off. I could still see the brown-haired man, smiling at me, still see Mama’s body on the floor. I screamed, a loud, long, ragged scream. 
 “Se?” I heard a weak voice, from toward the front doors. When I looked toward that voice, I saw Big Brother, face a little bloody, eyes wide, limping, but mostly unharmed. “Seishiryu.” His bright green eyes were panicked, flashing between me and whoever was holding me. He stumbled forward, hands clenching at his sides, then seemed to swallow hard. A long, slow blink, a deep, slow breath, and he started walking toward me. 
 “Big Brother! Help me!”
 His face hardened, and he looked from me, to the man holding me. In an instant, he’d flung something through the air, toward the man holding me.
 The man gasped, leaning backward, and I felt something wet, warm drip onto my shoulder. The hold loosened, and he slowly seemed to sink into the floor.
 “H-hey, what are you-?” 
 Big Brother yanked me into him quickly, flinging something into the room with the brown-haired man, and picked me up. “Hold on tight, Seishiryu,” he said softly. 
 I buried my face in his shoulder, wrapping my arms around him. “Big Brother, Mama is . . . !”
 I felt him nod. “Yes, I know. It will be okay, Seleh. I’m going to get you out of here. I promise.” He turned, and we started to walk. “Why did you come out from your hiding place? It was safe there.”
 “I wanted to find my sisters.” 
 “They’ll be okay. Everyone will be okay. You just need to go back to your hiding spot.” He was walking toward the stairs. 
 Then he stopped, body tensing, and he put me down. He was staring up into the landing leading to the upstairs hallway, an angry, almost hateful look on his face.
 “Well, well, well. I spy a little nuisance.”
 I turned toward whatever he was looking at, but I couldn’t see a face. Just a black cloak. 
 Yellow eyes. . . .
 A chill ran down my spine. I hesitated. “B-Big brother?”
 “Run, Seleh,” he said softly. “Go. Get out of here. Run, fly away. Now.”
 I stared up at him. “What about you?”
 “Just go, Seleh. I’ll catch up.” 
 I nodded, glanced up at the cloaked man. Though I wasn’t sure how well I could run, or how long I could, I took off toward the front doors, hesitating slightly when I reached the parlor doors.
 “Run, Seleh! Run, now!” Big Brother shouted, and I jumped, picking up speed once again.
 And I ran out, into the darkness. Tears were streaming down my face, I was covered in blood that was mine and wasn’t mine, and the only thing I wanted was to be somewhere I felt safe. Somewhere I could wash the blood off.
 So I ran to the Waterfall Place. Through the forest, past trees, over fallen longs, pricking my skin multiple times as I pushed through brambles, I ran. I fell once, after my nightgown caught on something, sending me sprawling into the dirt. But I stood back up instantly and continued to run. As fast as I could. And when I found myself at the Waterfall Place, I stopped, collapsed at the edge of the water, and cried. Sobs so powerful, my entire body shook, I cried. As silently as I could. 
 I’m alone. 
 It was my reflection in the water that broke me. I was fine, until I sat at the edge of the water, and looked into the water, ready to wash my face clean. I broke. I cried. 
 But not long. I couldn’t. Sniffling, still gasping for air, I stopped crying, wiped my face with my dirtied, bloodied nightgown, and stood. I longed to wash myself free of the blood, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t bare to see myself again. 
 With tears drying on my face, I ran to the cliff, staring up as I started to climb. Up, up, and up, I didn’t stop. I couldn't stop. I reached the top, and to my surprise, as I pulled myself up, I wasn't alone.
 Katsu sat there on a big chair, legs crossed, high heel dangling off one foot, wearing a golden gown, golden high heels, with a wine glass in her hand. She seemed disturbingly unperturbed for what was happening. She stood, walking toward me. "Dear Seishiryu. Did you really think you would get away? Meet up with your sisters? Be all safe and comfy while the rest of them burnt? I don't think so."  She stood, kicked off her heels, and walked toward me as I clung onto the edge of the cliff. “I will not fail a second time, little sister!” Once she reached me, without warning, she stomped down on my hand.
 I let go with that one hand, clinging with the other. "What are you doing!?"
 "What I've dreamt of doing since you were born! Dropping you in water to watch you sink!" She stomped on my other hand.
 I let go, but had already grabbed a root with my other hand. "Katsu, stop! I'm your sister!"
 "You are not my sister! I have no sisters! You took everything I ever wanted, everything! You took father's attention, you stole my brother, you took the Clan I wanted to marry into! You took everything! You got the better fiancé. You got the better village. You got the better future, while I got to sit around in a tiny little village with a mean-nothing person!"
 "You were betrothed to Suna's-!”
 "Not anymore! He turned me down! Said I had an ugly personality. And poof. He was gone. Leaving me with nothing but a tiny betrothal request from some unimportant bullshit boy, while you? You get to go off to be with the Clan I’ve wanted since I was born. I wanted him before he was even born, and you got him! You did! I don't know what makes you so fucking special, little sister, but I can guarantee, after this, you won't be. Everyone's going to feel bad for the girl who survived her family's murder. And I'll have something in common with him. I'll have been ridden of you, I'll get the Clan and the fairytale I wanted, and best of all! I steal your own betrothed from you." She knelt, cupping my chin in her hand. "That's the best vengeance I can think of. Kill you, and steal your fiancé, steal your place. Your future."
 I glared at her. "You destroyed everything, because you are a petty, jealous bitch!"
 She glared at me then, and no more words needed between us, she raised her other hand, a dagger in it. A pause, she gave me a horribly angry look, and shoved the dagger through my hand.
 I screamed, jerking my chin out of her hand and let go with my other hand, falling. I hit the water, hard, going under. Opening my eyes wide, I stayed under. She knew I couldn't swim.
 At least, not well. Underwater, I kicked and flailed my way toward the rushing water. Though I hoped she had no idea, there was a hidden cave behind that water fall. I made my way toward it, toward the underwater entrance. There was no way to get in unless you were underwater. Katsu would not know that.
 I would not know that, if not for Tsu. Her ability to transform into her Nymph form was the only thing that helped save me. She'd told me all about the hidden cave. The only thing she'd never told me is if there was a place above water. I was risking my life hoping there was.
 As it turned out, there was a tiny opening when I surfaced that led to a larger, dry cavern. The opening was just barely big enough to me to squirm through. Finding it just in time, I thanked Tsudoshi a hundred times as I huddled in the larger cavern, shivering, terrified and angry. I waited there, holding my wounded hand, waited, hoping she would leave soon. It got dark before I made my way out. I made my way toward the horse pasture. It wasn't until I could see it that I realized it was a bad idea.
 A sense of dread came over me, though I wasn't sure why. I hopped over the fence, crept toward the barn, looking for my horse.
 "So, you were faking me out. I waited for hours for you to come out."
 A chill ran down my spine. I turned my head to see Katsu leaning against the fence. "Why don't you just let me be?"
 "Why won't you just die?" I could feel her Chakra building. She held her hand up, palm upward. Red rose petals floated around her hand. "You are the bane of my existence, Seishiryu Hoshikuzu."
 My heart was pounding. I was so tense, I could barely breathe. My very skin was trembling. "You can't do this."
 "Well, well. You found her. Good job, Katsu." My heart stopped. The cloaked, yellow-eyed man walked around to stand by her. "Hello, there, darling."
 "You-you brought him here, didn't you?"
 "Of course I did, little sister. We waited there for you to come out, but you either found a good place to hide, or dear little Tsudoshi taught you to transform into a Nymph."
 I clenched my teeth together. "I won't forgive you for this, Katsu. And if it takes the rest of my life, I will take your life."
 "I don't think you're going to have time for that," the man said.
 My heart was pounding, but I wasn't going to let him know that. I needed to remain calm, think rationally.
 "So what are we going to do with her, anyway?"
 "We're going to use her as bait to find the other two. I'm sure we can figure out a way to do that."
 Smoke. Why was I smelling smoke? "You're not getting rid of me that easily, you bastard! Get away from my sister!" Big Brother? He was barely on his feet, but he was making his way here. "Seishiryu," he limped passed me, "this is going to be my last stand. You have to get out of here." His voice was breathless, weak, and I could see that he was on his last leg. He smelled strongly of smoke. When he had his back to me, I could see why. There was a large portion of his back that was burnt to a crisp.
 How was he still standing? "Big Brother. . . ."
 He still had one last knife in his hand. "Start it up, Seishiryu. Go."
 "You? How many times do I have to kill you before you stay dead?"
 "Unfortunately for you," he panted, "you bit off too much for you to chew." His head turned toward Katsu. "And you, leasing this monster on our family! You have no idea what he's done to us before. You are singlehandedly responsible for destroying our family."
 "Like I really care, brother. Did you know, he's only our half brother? He's mother's bastard son from a previous marriage."
 "I'll just finish you off quickly. Beheading you seemed too extreme before, but I guess that's the only way to get rid of a roach, tear it to pieces." There was a kunai in his hand as he said it.
 "Don't bother," Big Brother panted. "I'm on my way out. I only have one more move. One move I hoped never to use. Seishiryu, get out of here."
 I backed away, turned, and started to run.
 "Throw it, don't let her get away, but don't hit a vital spot."
 "Got it."
 Looking back, I saw the rose-petaled attack rushing for me. I jerked to the side, but the attack brushed my face. Knocking me sideways, I rolled, got to my feet again, but I felt the blood stream down my cheek. Another blast hit my side. I kept running, holding on with one hand while I pressed my other hand to my side. Feeling the warmth of blood, I tried to go faster.
 Something sharp bit into my shoulder, and I reached back, feeling a throwing needle embedded deep in my shoulder. Glancing back, I saw my brother start to glow a deep, forest green color. The glow strengthened, growing. He turned to look back at me. "Get out of here, now! If you get caught in this, it could kill you!"
 Yanking the needle out of my shoulder, I threw it to the ground.
 An outward explosion of energy threw me forward. I rolled, and I felt my ribs ache from the running, or attacks, I wasn’t sure, but I stood quickly, and kept running. All three of them were on the ground, but I could still sense that Katsu and the cloaked man were alive, while Big Brother's energy had left him. He was gone. The other two's energies had lessened, but they were still alive. He'd essentially blown himself up.
 But no, he was moving. I stopped, turned, eyes wide. Big Brother pushed himself up onto his elbows and knees. I could see him panting. I wasn’t that far away. His energy was barely, barely there. 
 “Big Brother!” I started to move toward him. 
 He looked back at me, panic flashing across his face. The cloaked man was moving again, and Big Brother climbed to his feet, barely standing, and half-limped, half-ran toward me. “I told you to run, dammit!”
 I ran to him, meeting him more than halfway, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Big Brother, I can’t go without you!”
 He picked me up again, and I could see over his shoulder that the cloaked man was starting to sit up. Big Brother ran, toward the forest, leapt over the fence in one, quick bound, and we were suddenly surrounded by trees. But he was limping badly, and breathing laboredly. His arms were shaking as he held me, and after maybe three minutes, he stopped, collapsed to his knees, and sat me down. “Seleh,” he panted, “see that bush? Hide there.” 
 I looked up at him. His face was cut up and burnt, bloody, and his eyes were listless. Big Brother was exhausted, that much I could see. “You hide with me. Please, Big Brother.”
 He shook his head. “No, Seleh. No, I can’t.” He offered his wrist to me. “Drink, please. There’s nothing else I can give you to protect you now. Drink, heal yourself.” 
 “Big Brother-!”
 “Drink!”
 I jumped, and grabbed his wrist. His blood was earthy, but weak. His blood held no power. It was as though I was drinking the blood of a dead person. His eyes had closed, and he was swaying on his knees, so I backed away, wiping my mouth. “I-I did it.”
 His eyes opened slowly, and I felt my heart skip a beat. “Goodbye, Seleh.” He hugged me, then shoved me down to the ground. I landed in a deep, wet mud puddle, sinking in up to my elbows. Before I could react, he had grabbed mud and rubbed it into my hair, and skin, quickly. “This will help you hide,” he whispered. “They’re coming. You need to stay hidden. Do not come out, no matter what you hear.” 
 I nodded, sniffling. “B-Big Brother, a-are you . . . will you . . . find me?”
 He smiled, but the smile was tired. “Yes, Little Sister, I will find you. No matter what.” He pulled me to my feet, hugged me again, and kissed the one clean spot on my forehead. “I love you,” he said softly, arms tight around me. I could feel his energy leaving him, even as he knelt here with me. He let out a breath, then pushed me gently toward the bush. “Go. Hide in that bush. Don’t come out.” He stood, watched me scramble in the thick, green, bushy bush. 
 I stayed low to the ground, barely able to see through the thick bush. Keeping my breathing low, and silent, I sat, motionless, watching Big Brother. 
 He stayed still, staring off into the distance, as though he was watching something, with a small smile on his face.
 Sounds, footsteps. I turned quickly–cursing myself afterward because the bush rustled–to see the cloaked man. I clasped my hands over my mouth.
 “Where is she?”
 Big Brother turned, that soft, happy smile on his face. “On her way to safety. You’ll never catch up to her. I found her horse.”
 “You. You could’ve survived all this, if only you’d cooperated.”
 “I will not let my father down. You cannot have my sisters.”
 “He is not your father.”
 “He is my father. And I refuse to let you have the people he sacrificed his life to keep away from you.”
 A small, muffled sound, almost like a laugh. “And you, too. You’ve sacrificed your life as well, haven’t you?”
 “That’s right, I have,” he said softly.
 “It almost seems a waste of energy to help you along, but, alas, you’ve been a nuisance for so long, I don’t trust your ability to just die.” There was a blur, I saw nothing, and then suddenly a sword sticking out of Big Brother’s back. The cloaked man was standing in front of him, too close, one hand cupping the back of his head, the other hidden between them.
 I gasped, I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t stop it. I gasped, tensing.
 But he didn’t seem to hear. He took a deep breath. “Your death is in vain, for I will find those three rats.” He backed away, yanking the sword out of his chest.
 Big Brother’s body slipped to the ground, falling with a thunk, and I had no doubts now that he would not get up again. 
 My breathing was a little fast again. 
 And the yellow eyes were on me again. He was holding the sword at the ready, and coming toward me. 
 Then something caught his attention. He turned toward a strange sound, and it took me a minute to recognize the sound as a galloping horse. Then he was off, after the horse. 
 I waited a moment, but that almost-capture sent me spiraling into panic. This wasn’t a good hiding place. I had to get back to the Waterfall Place. That was a good hiding place. 
 So once again, I took off running toward the Waterfall Place. I wasn’t far from it, so it took mere minutes to get there, and I approached the water, then stopped, taking a few, shaky, deep breaths. 
 “Seishiryu?” 
 I know that voice! I whirled, eyes locking onto Tsudoshi. “Tsu! Tsu!” I started to run toward her, stopping just a couple feet away, because something about her seemed off. “A-are you hurt?”
 She shook her head, smiling at me, and stepped a little closer. “I’m fine. Why are you covered in mud?”
 I hesitated, feeling like I needed to back away, but not knowing why. “Sister?”
 “Se! Seishiryu!”
 My head turned toward that voice instantly. “Shi! Oh, Shi, you’re-you’re alright!” 
 She stared worriedly at me. “Se, g-get away from her.” I could see Tsu stepping out from the trees behind her.
 “Shi? T-Tsu?” I looked back–
 A sharp pain in my abdomen brought me to my knees. When I looked up, Tsu’s face slowly melted away, turning into Katsu. She sneered angrily down at me. “This time, you won’t get lucky!” She grabbed my hair, pulled my face downward, and kneed upward at the same time.
 I tasted the blood and saw black before I felt the pain. I suddenly couldn’t breathe, and was choking on my own blood. A moment later, I was thrown through the air. I hit the water hard, and everything went black. 
 The next thing I was aware of, I was being pulled quickly through the water. I couldn’t open my eyes. I couldn’t breathe. I still could taste blood. My lungs were burning, head swimming, and suddenly, we were falling. 
 Then I was pulled up, up, and into open air. “Se?” Tsu’s voice was worried, and I tried to force my eyes open, but I just couldn’t. She pulled me until I felt ground, and pulled me out of the water, holding my hand when she had me set safely on the ground. “Squeeze my hand if you can hear me! Please!”
 I squeezed. 
 She sat me up, patted my back hard, and I spat water out. 
 I forced my eyes open. We were in a smaller cave than I knew about. “W-where-?” It hurt to talk. 
 “There’s a cave under the cave behind the waterfall. I brought you here. It’s safe.”
 “Shi?”
 “She’s getting help. It’ll be okay.” 
 “H-help?”
 She lay me down, and I tried to look at her, but my vision couldn’t focus. “Are you okay? I have to go help her.”
 I nodded, rolling limply to my side. My hand fell over the edge of the ground, into the water. I didn’t care. “I’m fine.” But I wasn’t entirely sure that I was. Even as I spoke to her, I felt blackness eating at my vision.
 Tsu nodded, and dove back into the water. “I’ll be right back!” And she was gone.
 I let myself drift in and out of consciousness. I preferred that to being fully conscious. It was too painful. 
 When Tsu came back, she flinched as she pulled herself out of the water, favoring her left shoulder. But after that, things got blurry, fuzzy. She pulled me through the water again after instructing me not to breathe. I had to focus hard to stay conscious for that. Once pulled out of the water, I was faced with Shi. 
 “Se?” Shi waved a hand in front of my face. I watched her listlessly. She bit her lower lip. “Sh-she’s not doing good, Tsu. We need to get her help, right now, or . . . or I don’t know what will happen.”
 “Can you bandage her?”
 I drifted again. I vaguely felt it as they bandaged me, but I paid no attention to their talking. 
 Until, “I could only find Se’s horse. I couldn’t find ours.”
 “It’s okay. Papa trained them to carry all three of us bareback. We can put Se in the saddle, and tie her in, and sit behind her.”
 “Yea, that’s what we’ll do. We can’t not be on horseback. We need speed. We need to get Se help.”
 “I-I’m fine,” I blurted out, wincing when I heard how garbled my own voice was.
 They ignored me, and I left the conversation again. I retreated into my own head, vaguely aware of being tied onto my own horse moments later. Shi climbed up behind me, and Tsu seated herself in front, giving me something to lean against, while Shi wrapped her arms around me. 
 We started moving, and I drifted in and out again. 
 Shi suddenly tensed behind me, and I forced myself awake. Voices. Shi was still, barely breathing. “Stariyanna can’t gallop at her best pace with all three of us,” Shi said softly.
 “What do we do?”
 “Se needs to find help.” Shi was suddenly gone, and I slumped against Tsu. “We will have to draw them away.”
 I tried to straighten then, but could barely hold myself up. “N-no, you guys, you c-can’t.”
 “We led them away before! We’ll do it again.” Tsu slid down next, and I could barely stay conscious as she tied me more securely to my horse. “Besides, Shi’s right. Stariyanna can’t gallop at her best pace if we’re all three on her. We need to find our horses.” She smiled. “We’ll catch up!”
 “No, Big Brother said-!”
 “We love you, Se!” Shi interrupted me, then slapped Stariyanna’s hindquarters, yelling, “Hyahh!”
 Stariyanna took off, and I clung with all I had to consciousness. “N-no! Tsu, Shi! Please don’t go!” But after struggling against whatever was tying me to my horse, I lost consciousness again. In and out, in and out, I drifted. When I was conscious, I fought against the ties, but I couldn’t stay conscious long enough to make a difference.
 I don’t know how long I kept drifting in and out, but finally, I became a little more clearheaded. I could keep my eyes open finally. I could barely breathe still, but I was conscious. At least enough to untie myself, so I did.
 And immediately fell from my horse. My wounds protested, and I gasped, whimpering in pain. Stariyanna stopped immediately, turning her head to look at me almost reproachfully. It was hard, trying to stand. My legs wouldn’t support me easily. 
 Stariyanna, seeming to sense this, lay beside me, and I climbed onto her back that way. But she wouldn’t turn, when I tried to make her turn. She wouldn’t turn back. “Stariyanna, please! I have to find them. We have to go back!”
 Instead, she kept going forward, galloping now at her fastest pace. She refused to stop, slow down, or turn around.
 So I called for them. “Shisan! Tsudoshi! Shi! Tsu! Tsu! Shi! Please, anyone! Anybody!”
 And I kept calling for them.
 But they weren’t going to come.