Back to ze past

"Well maybe your help isn't needed." Said a blonde man as he appeared behind Mori. He dropped slowly to his knee's, his eyes looking over the boys face. he looked up to Mori. "I'm sorry about having to take him. But if I let him stay the pain would have been worse."

---

"Miko!" Sandy exclaimed, rushing to her side. "What happened?"

Arashi curled in on herself with another sharp cry, black hair draping over her shoulders. "Hurts." She gasped. Raven hovered behind Sandy, looking on with a mask of worry.

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"You can't!" Mori said quickly, eyes tearing away from Sadaharu. "It's... He's too young to die like this!" He growled, one hand brushing through the hanyou's hair.

"You think I liked doing this?!" Death snapped. "I didn't, I had grown attached to you people. You should know this as well as I. Mori, understand there was nothing I could do." He laughed slightly. "Poor fool knew what was coming, didn't even want to play my games."

---

Sandy lifted her into his arms. "Get some water!" He snapped to Raven before taking her to her room.

Raven noded and rushed off to do Sandy's bidding, a grin forming on his face once he was out of sight. "Oh, I'll get water." He upended a small vial into the bucket of water. Scentless, tasteless, colourless. This was so pathetically easy! He headed back and set the water down by the bedside, moving out of the way again.

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Mori bowed his head. Everything that death was saying made perfect sense, he just didn't want to have to hear it. "There must have been another way." He gave a shuddering sigh before an idea struck him and he looked up. "The one who did this, who was it?" He demanded, control fraying ever so slightly as he started to understand that the boy in his arms wasn't going to breathe again.

Sandy put a cloth in the water and placed it over the girls head.

---

Death looked up, his eyes dark. However as he went to speak a silly grin crossed his face. "No-one of importance."

"This is of the highest importance." Mori growled. "And not time for your damned jokes."

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Arashi turned her head slightly and rose a hand to brush at the cloth, fingers closing on Sandy's hand. "Water." Raven supressed a tune and filled a cup with water, passing it along to Sandy. It would have been nice to know just how much japanese this one could speak, but it wasn't really important. "There's something going on outside, someone's hurt. I'll go see if there's anything that can be done if she's not well." He said with a nod and then walked from the room.

"If death himself doen't laugh in the face of death, then no-one will." He sighed and stood upright. "Mori, I can't say who."

--

Sandy helped her drink the water.

"Doesn't matter. I'll find them eventually." Mori said bitterly, looking up at him. "With or without your help."

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Arashi drank and then sank back onto her bed, pain sharp on her face and then fell into unconsciousness.

"Well, I have to stick around anyway. But let me tell you, that boy stinks of death, if you know what I mean." Death tried.

---

Sandy sat beside her, praying she wouldn't die.

"Sorry to say, but your sticking around doesn't sound too cheery" Mori commented, ignoring his reference to Sadaharu.

"As I said, death hangs around here." Death lent down. "And I don't mean just me. Sometime new comers arnt all good times. yeah?"

"New comers?" Mori shook his head. "Nothing else has happened here. Nothing else but this." He rose unsteadily, holding Sadaharu close to his chest. "You speak in way too many riddles."

"Can't speak scense, if I did you would still hear riddles. get it? I get it." Death nodded before stadning. "Now! How here can make tea?!"

Mori took a while to register what he'd asked. "In there." He nodded at Elizabeth and Shade's house, Shade having gone back inside to keep the kids distracted. "I'm sure you could..." He shook his head and started to walk away with the dead panther. He had to be buried before carrion stopped by for lunch.

Death stood. Ok, he felt a little bad for the man, losing so many people. But if he knew who did it... well, not even Death could say it.

However, maybe his cousin could.

Taro slowly walked from his room, one hand to his healing chest and the other to the wall. He stepped into the main room.

Elizabeth looked to him and smiled. "How are you feeling?"

---

Evelyn was by the well, trying to get the bucket out so she could drink.

"Top of the morning." He winked and leaned back against the wall. "Where's Mori?" He asked her.

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A pair of strong hands lifted the bucket. "Here you go." Raven said, eyes bright with mirth and passed the bucket of water down to the child, hand shifting over the top for a fraction of a second.

Elizabeth looked away. "Sadaharu was murdered." he muttered.


---

Evelyn grinned. "Thank you sir. You must be really strong, i want to be strong but maybe I will be one day. Do you think so? Rhun says girls can't be strong but I'll prove him wrong, just you see..." A couple of her words were drowned out as she drunk. "And then I'll be a pretty girl who people will want to marry and I'll make sure that Rhun lives in a dirty house because HE BROKE MY DOLL!" She stormed off.

He walked over to her and touched her shoulder. "I'm going to go and find him then." He said. "Maybe the children should stay inside for a while, if the village isn't safe..." He started for the door.

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Raven watched after her with a smile. She would bedown soon, and a few other children he had spoken to today. Then the well shou;dn't even be considered. He proceeded to poison it. The weakest always caught sicknesses first.

Elizabeth nodded. "Evelyns outside."

Taro walked outside to look for Evelyn. He'd find her and then look for Mori.

Takeo ran back to the Tavern

Yuni was still hanging around inside the tavern, not having anywhere else to go yet.

He saw Kuroi at the bar and asked him where Hikaru was
"Still upstairs, Momiji won't come out of the cupboard. last i saw she was still trying to coax her out"

Takeo ran up stairs to see Hikaru sitting next to Momiji's hidingplace and sulking with much vigour.

Evelyn ran up to taro. "Whats going on? Did I miss something! Tell me what I missed, I hate missing things. like when I missed Amara hitting her head against the well andeveryone laughing about it and they didn't tell me because I wans't there. I don't think thats very fair because they were laughing about it for days afetrwards and I was left not laughing."

Taro smiled and bobbed down. "You haven't missed anything like that." He said and tucked some hair behind her ear. "Right, here's the plan; you and Rhun are going to stay inside and keep an eye on your mother. Can't leave adults alone for vey long can you? We're hopeless!" He grinned.