My eyes slowly opened as I felt the ground beneath me.

I was sleeping atop a bedroll next to a campfire, now only a few charred logs and a pile of ashes. The sound of rushing water was the first of many ambient things for me to notice, then the birds chirping, looking for their next meal. Then the insects, flying about.

I lifted myself from my resting place and looked around. Hayato and Anzen's bedrolls were empty, but the horse was still tied to a nearby tree, so they hadn't gone out. Luckily, the moon was bright that morning, allowing me to search around the camp without having to get up from my seat.

We had set ourselves up in a clearing just off of the road, only a small patch of forest separating us. On our other side was a busy stream, about chest deep, allowing us to wash ourselves and giving us a clean water supply. We had thought it best to station ourselves closer to the road with an easier way to escape than hiding from the Shogun every time we camped. He most likely had Ember users able to track us, so hiding would have been useless.

Once I had enough time waking up and looking around, I was ready to search for Hayato and Anzen on foot.

I lifted myself to my feet and adjusted my kimono. But before I even started my search, Hayato showed himself.

Hayato burst out of the stream with a gasp for air, wiping his eyes and looking around. Once he noticed me, he greeted me. "Good morning, Kenshi!"

I responded hesitantly. "Good morning, Hayato... You're aware that we've got to leave soon, I don't think there's much time for swimming."

Hayato waded through the water towards the shore. "I'm not swimming for fun, I'm checking this pond for food!"

My expression grew weary. "And you expect to catch fish like that?"

Hayato rolled his eyes playfully. "Not fish, crustaceans! They hide under the rocks at the bottom of the river. You can boil them and peel off the shells."

I shook my head as Hayato patted himself with a cloth. "You eat those things?"

Hayato pointed a finger at me accusatorily as he picked his Kimono off the ground and started to put it on. "Don't besmirch crustaceans, high brow. I now know that you lived in high society, so your opinion on the poor man's food is invalid."

I rubbed the back of my neck. To think I forgot how Hayato lived. That may have been all he could've eaten at one point... But I supposed I shouldn't have felt too guilty, he played nonchalantly with my past as well. Maybe in all my brooding over my own past, I came to believe that it was unspeakable to say anything about one's troubled past, even if you are both friendly to each other. "Oh, I see... I'll have to try it if you catch any."

Hayato squeezed his baggy trousers in an attempt to dry them, to no avail. After another try, he gave up and tied his stark red kimono closed. "Don't count on it. I've checked far and wide and there's nothing there. We haven't eaten in some time as well, so that's a big problem..."

Once Hayato mentioned it, I could feel my stomach aching. I couldn't remember the last time I had a proper meal, but I cast the thought away, contemplating it would only strengthen the hunger. "That is a problem, but the most important thing on my mind is Anzen's whereabouts. Do you know where he went?"

Hayato put a hand over his mouth in thought, and after a moment, delivered an answer. "I think he said he was looking for food to catch in the larger forest on the other side of the road."

I nodded. "Alright. I'll see if I can find him up ahead. Pack our things while I get him. I'd like to get on the road as soon as possible."

Hayato looked around the camp and sighed to himself at the labor that was ahead of him, but reluctantly agreed. "Alright..."

With a small wave, I started walking towards the road. "Thank you, Hayato."

Hayato grunted in response as I grabbed a lantern sitting next to our campfire and ducked into the small patch of trees, then onto the dirt road, and after walking down it for a bit, I made my way into the large forest on the other side. There was little to be found there. Pine needles on the ground and the occasional mushroom growing on the bark of the many trees. Most likely not the edible kind, and if they were, Anzen would have already gotten to them, so I didn't bother.

I went deeper into the forest, Anzen was still nowhere in sight, but that was to be expected.

As I wondered with the endless trees surrounding me, I felt my stomach. This forest didn't seem like it held life, and we had no money.

My mind processed all the options available. We couldn't work for food, we had to keep our momentum, but walking with empty bellies made us slower and more exhausted. There had to be some good mid-ground...

But before I could contemplate longer on the subject, I found Anzen, kneeling at the base of a tree.

He seemed as though he was inspecting it. I called out to him. "Have you found anything yet?"

Anzen just shook his head as he stood. He looked around the forest, then to me. "Has Hayato found anything?"

"The rivers came up dry..." I would've snickered at my accidental joke, but I was too hungry to realize what I had done. "He's packing our supplies as we speak. We need to get on the road."

"Wonderful... When we find a city that has a market, we can see if we can bargain with some of our supplies. I have enjoyed the cooking utensils and extra clothes, but we need to eat... And at that point we could carry what we have on our backs, so we could sell the horse as well."

I sighed and nodded. "I know... I've been reluctant to get rid of the horse and the unnecessary supplies. We'll just have to see when we get to the nearest village."

---

Only a few hours passed before we saw the lights of civilization in the distance. The only thing on our minds was how we could get our next meal.

Soon our road was flooded with carriages and horseriders, making it take even longer to reach the gates of this larger city.

Before, we had avoided such humungous towns, as we might be recognized. But we were starved, and it was our only choice.

We kept our heads pointed to the ground and slipped into the stream of people pouring into the city. I had a feeling we were being watched. But no guards turned their heads at the sight of us, and no travelers gave us a single suspicious gaze.

Must just be nerves I thought to myself as we left the large group of people and onto the lesser-used roads.

I spoke to Hayato and Anzen as we walked along the path. "If we want to sell our supplies, we have to find someone third party. Selling so much to any regular shopkeep might bring suspicion."

Anzen stayed silent as Hayato grunted in response. It seemed they didn't care to sift through the details, as long as it meant having the money to buy food.

We tried looking, but nothing came out of it. Slowly, we started searching in the grimier parts of this cobblestone-laden city.

I watched the detailed and multi-storied buildings along with their bright paper lanterns fade away as we entered a series of shacks and abandoned buildings.

Finally, we saw a grouping of men huddled around a fire next to a large building barely holding onto its foundation.

Anzen put his arm over me as I went to talk to them. "I know how to talk to these types. Let me."

I nodded and stayed with Hayato while Anzen approached the group of disgruntled men.

Anzen explained our situation as the group ate their food and stared into the fire. Afterward, one of the men replied to him, waving his arms and pointing into the distance. Somewhere beyond the broken-down wall and into the forest.

The conversation continued between them as something caught my eye.

Deep in the forest, sitting on a branch, was an owl. Its eyes seemed to glow a subtle orange. In fact, it's feathers had an orange hue to them as well.

I stared at the owl, which stared directly back at me. The tension between the strange owl and I only grew, but I was interrupted by a hand on my shoulder.

Anzen spoke to me as I finally pried my eyes from the bird. "They're hard to bargain with. First they gave me an absurd price, then I explained to them that we were trying to help Lady Amaterasu. Apparently, the pack of criminals are also elder dragon worshippers."

I commented. "Typical."

"Which means I've used up our sympathy cards. They pointed me to their larger base and we can try to talk it through with their leader. That's all I got."

Hayato questioned. "Why don't the elder dragon worshippers care about that? Seems like they should be just as concerned about a world devoid of life as much as the rest of us."

I answered. "They still think those ancient things are going to arise again someday. To them, Amaterasu going missing could even mean the beginning of the old hierarchy re-emerging. Chaos is hope to these people."

Hayato nodded as Anzen spoke up. "This is still our only option. We need to eat."

"You're right. Off to deal with a criminal organization, then."

Anzen cheered sarcastically as Hayato pet his horse's snout.

I had hoped at one point we'd reach the palace with all of our supplies, but we knew we'd have to make sacrifices eventually, and there was no time to stay in one place.

To save a goddess, you might have to deal with the devil.