The Story of B

[Bean Bandit]

Asuza yelped and dove to the side, trying to find shelter in the trees from the incoming arrows.

"Yohko-san?" She called out anxiously, crouching low behind a convienient tree. She knew what to do when a Devil charged her, but this type of assault wasn't covered in her book.

She hoped her trainer had an idea...

[Anonymous]

The assault on the duo momentarily halted.

Only the sounds of soft humming once again began to fill the air, as the devil's swift footsteps came to an abrupt halt, causing the dry twings and leaves to the right of Yohko to crunch loudly.

[Asrana]

"Azusa-chan...run." She issued her simple command almost as she turned, focusing on her ring and releasing a beam of green energy from it.

Barely waiting fir the beam to end, Yohko turned and ran towards where she thought the village was as fast as she thought she could maintain for a long time.

[Bean Bandit]

Asuza didn't hesitate. As soon as Yohko uttered the words, she got up and bolted in the general direction of the villiage they'd been heading to, temporarily banishing her spear.

Having grown up in the mountains, Asuza was remarkably fit for such a small, slight girl, and quickly vanished into the forest...

[Anonymous]

With a loud, gurgling cry, another arrow was released. Beams of jade and white met in a titantic struggle.

But, the white bolt couldn't hold up.

The jade beam tore right through the shot, and deep into the woods beyond.

Another gruggling sound, then a loud thump of a body hitting the forest floor.

Silence filled the woods as the two girls inadverently split apart in their panic filled dashes.

Azusa, heading north. The dark forest lightening as she saw the ever so faint flames of civilization. But...where was her trainer?

Yohko, heading east, into the darker forest. The forest was remarkably quiet now, her Youma Ring not showing any sign of devils out and about.

But...where was Azusa?

[Bean Bandit]

Asuza brightened a little as she saw the faint flickers of light up ahead. It would be nice to get out of the forest...but...where was Yohko-san? She looked behind herself, and the sight of darkened forest greeted her eyes.

She bit her lip. As much as she wanted to get out of the forest...she couldn't just abandon her trainer.

Making her desision, she bent down for a moment, and  picked up a medium sized rock, with sharp edges. She then closed her eyes, trying to remember the direction Yohko-san had been facing.

She opened her eyes and turned. It had been...that way.  East, wasn't it? She slowly headed into the darkening forest, stopping every few dozen feet to carve visible notches into the trees, marking her path back to the spot she had been in, just like she had done while very young, while she lived in the mountains...

[Anonymous]

The woods had grown mysteriously calm after the two girls had defeated...whatever it had been they had fought in the clearing.

Faintly, the sounds of a wolf howling at the slowly rising full moon were heard.

[Bean Bandit]

Asuza continued to walk, flinching slightly at the sound of the wolf howling in the distance. She rubbed nervously at her upper arms to ward off the chill of night air.

Walking up to another tree, she raked the stone against it, peeling away bark and wood shavings with a few moments work, forming a visible gash in the trunk.

She glanced back at the way she had come, double checking her marked path, and nodding to herself, satisifed that she could backtrack.

With that, she turned back to her chosen destination and hurried onward. She didn't want to be alone any longer than she had to...especially in the woods at night...

[Anonymous]

The dry ground underneath her audibly cracked underneath her feet, years worth of dry kindling and leaves snapping under her dainty weight.

Everything grew still at the sound.

A owl suddenly seemed to hoot right next to her ear.

[Asrana]

Yohko stopped as soon as it became apparent Azusa was no longer with her, senses stretched from adrenaline and fear relaxing.

What?! Where was Azusa-chan?! Her thoughts became panicked for another moment before she asserted calm, time enough to be flighty later.

Looking around, she tried to get some bearing on her location or the direction of the village.

She shivered at a faint wolf howl, eyes unconsciously flicking to her youma ring.

She decided a wait a bit in case Azusa was nearby.

[Anonymous]

Yohko's youma ring was dull, its former shine lost in the darkness of the woods.

A gust of wind blew past her, chilling her through her silk dress as she waited.

The rustling of the bushes behind her suddenly broke the silence that had descended on the area.

[Bean Bandit]

Asuza froze as the ground crackled loudly, flinching. When the owl hooted, she shrieked in surprise, but cut it off, quickly covering her mouth, and looking around to see if she'd attracted the attention of something larger, and meaner than herself...

[Anonymous]

With wings all aflutter, the owl swooped low and plucked something off the ground before sweeping a small mouse in its talons and flying off into the dark night.

The sounds of water bubbling ahead were clearly heard, sounding terribly frightening in the silence.

[Bean Bandit]

Asuza flinched and hurried on through the forest. Though careful to continue marking her path, she was also careful to avoid any more excessively loud noises.

Ohhhh....I hope Yohko-san hasn't gone far.... She thought nervously.

[Asrana]

Yohko whirled towards the bush, raising her blade in a defensive stance.