Walking through the streets of Narukami, Mayura took in a deep breath in.

It felt so good, to get out of the estate.

Since she was little, she would often sneak out of the estate and hide herself within a coat, that she kept hidden in the trunk beneath the tree, she and Rokuro used for their secret correspondence. He had brought her the old and damaged coat, after she told him once, how she wanted to see the city at least one time, without guards accompanying her very step. With this new tool she had been able to go through the city without anyone guessing her true identity. She had enjoyed herself, asking Rokuro all kinds of question about the life in the city – the things she didn't knew besides the rough number of inhabitants, the number of licensed vendors or the amount of taxes. After her adventures she would always return to the estate unnoticed.

Opportunity makes a thief. And so she had often met with Rokuro in secret and stole herself away until the coat had someday almost fallen apart.

Mayura now thought about her brown-haired friend, whom she had left behind this time. Should she have taken him with her?

No, it was better this way.

She couldn't imagine, what the consequences might have been, if he would have run away with her.

It wasn't that he was a simple commoner or that it was forbidden for her to meet Rokuro at all. But he wasn't a royal family member.

Yet, he was a good childhood friend since the day her father had carried him home, where their physician nursed him back to health.

Despite being six years old Mayura had understood, that her father had found him on the street feverish and half starved to death. He was an orphan. And although Mayura didn't understand, why her father would bring this one in particular home, she welcomed the boy in. Every night she would read a story to him. And one day he had opened his eyes and smiled at her gratefully. They had been friends from that time onward and grew up together like brother and sister with him living in the servant quarters of the estate.

She just didn't want to take her chances and risk the life of her best friend. It was good this way. It would have been unacceptable, if he would have been punished for accompanying her. Besides, she could do this alone.

So now as she walked through the streets with her head hooded beneath a cape above her dark blue yukata, she enjoyed herself once more again like she used to, when she and Rokuro had sneaked out of the estate.

While passing through the streets, she stopped shortly here and there to smell fresh flower arrangements or admiring beautiful jewelry. Even after having walked so often this path, she was still amazed at the scenery of the street being filled with lots of different people.

She breathed in the smells of the market and danced with the sounds of a busy market street, being in step with the sound of life.

After dwelling for a little while in this breezy picture of life, she reminded herself of the reason, why she was here.

To travel to Tsuchimikado, call of the arrangement and negotiate peace, that was her task.

When she set off to her journey, she had just thought about heading to Tsuchimikado and laying down her arguments in front of the feudal lord Ikaruga to cancel this silly, arranged marriage. The problem was, which she now became slowly aware of, was, that there existed no direct way between Narukami and Tsuchimikado. Not only were they divided by sea, but due to the war there was no transportation way either. From one of the maids she heard about black marketeers selling the exotic goods of one nation to another. But how could she find someone like this?

Besides, she had only little knowledge about the geography. The books she had with her dealt with nature, the animals and plants on the islands surrounding Narukami, the agriculture and the seasonal changes. Nowhere was written, how long it took to cross the sea or where exactly Tsuchimikado lay.

And so she decided to look for a map.

Passing by the market stalls, she looked for a vendor of maps, scrolls or books. Her gaze skipped over many stalls selling all kinds of goods. Candles, cloths, baskets and all other things she had never thought of being of importance.

Then in a corner under a wooden stand she spotted another vendor with a silver beard and similar colored hair, which fit the winkles carved into his face. His goods were hidden in the shadows of the stall's roof. But she could see, what she had been looking for, scrolls and books.

High staples of books rested on the old looking stall, scrolls were lying around here and there. And the ones in the front were bleached by the sun and dirty by the dust of the earth carried by the wind.

With a smile Mayura approached the friendly looking vendor. "Hello, good man, do you sell maps?"

The old man with a long and twisted goatee answered cheerfully, "I most certainly do. What particular region would you like? I have maps of the city, the harbor and the towns nearby."

Mayura nodded, letting her gaze slide over the many scrolls. There was surely a lot of maps hidden within the rolled up papers – but the map, she needed, hadn't been in his enumeration. "Do you have one displaying the sea and the land beyond the border?"

The look of the vendor's eyes changed, as he squeezed them into slits and mustered her from head to toe. Empathizing every word, he responded, "I have but one."

Feeling nervous thanks to his piercing gaze, she crossed the finger of both hands in front of her and slowly asked, "Can you show it to me?"

The man nodded once and turned away. Instead of searching in the pile of scrolls, he reached out and grabbed a scroll behind him.

Unrolling it, he spread his arms to show her it's total length.

The scroll was three spans long and maybe two span broad. On it's inner side it revealed a map created with careful strokes.

She could see the outskirts of Narukami and the sea spotted with a lot of smaller islands. With 晶, the character for the Crystal, the island, which bore the Crystal, was marked. Beyond the sea a larger, long stretched island lay, described with the word Tsuchimikado. Near the coast the city of Tsuchimikado began. It's size seemed to be bigger than Narukami even.

Beyond the two big islands was nothing but the sea. Nobody knew, what lay across the big space of water, outside of he Crystal's reach. Mayura had read stories about scouts being send out to investigate and having never returned. People say, their souls refused to leave the Crystal's reach and escaped their bodies on their way.

At the border of the map was a caption giving rough measures of space and travel time.

This was exactly, what she needed. Satisfied she smiled at the man again. "How much do you want for this?"

"Given it's rarity, it costs 1 shu." (1)

Grabbing her pouch, Mayura fished out a coin and handed it to the man.

The man stared at her with raised eyebrows. A frown formed on his face and he rolled up the scroll. With a sigh he handed her the scroll and took the money offered to him. He bowed his head and said, "Thank you."

When he lifted his head, he smiled at her again.

Ignoring his strange behavior, Mayura took the scroll out of his hand and she showed her gratitude with a bow of her head.

"May the Crystal guide you," he said the words of parting.

"And you," she replied and turned around. Happy and satisfied about her newest conquest, she put the scroll between her white obi and dark yukata. Now she needed to head to harbor.

Just when she was a few steps away, the dark, scratchy voice of the vendor reached out to her again. "One word of caution, Ojou-san (2), the direction you seek is a dangerous one. You might, rethink your destination."

She turned her head and looked at the man. In his serious face, she recognized something like worry. Nodding one last time at him, she continued to walk towards the gates. Definitely less euphoric than a few moments before.

This journey, it was probably more dangerous, than she would like to admit. But wasn't it worth a try? She didn't want to marry someone else for an ill advised reason. What's more, she didn't want to be forced to marry someone, whom she'd never met. And she most certainly didn't want herself to be dragged to another land, to let her life and future to be sold off.

Hadn't she had the right to marry for love like her parents did?

The stories her mother had told her, about meeting her father, Mayura held to her heart. It hadn't been love at first sight but from the glint in her mother's eyes, when she told her about this, was enough for Mayura to wish for something like this. To make someone wear such a glint of happiness, too.

Her mother. She would miss her. The prickle in her chest was a sign, that she missed her already.

But she wouldn't be absent for long. When she returned after her journey, she would return into her mother's embrace, after having saved her future and hopefully that of Narukami's next generations.

Of course she was scared of what lay in front of her. But the resolution in her heart to take her fate into her own hands was beating faster in her chest, than the thoughts of failure and fear were pounding down on her head.

She would persuade the feudal lord to call off the arrangement and find another way to bring peace to the nations. And she wouldn't marry some Tsuchimikado prince.

With higher spirits her steps felt so much lighter and soon she reached the gates.

Watching out for some kind of carriage, she spotted a cart with two horses bound to its front and two men sitting on it. She walked over to them and smiled politely. "Excuse me. Does this cart head towards the harbor?"

A jarring voice asked, "Who wants to know that?"

Taken aback she stared at the man sitting on the cart, eyeing her body. The gaze of him looked as nasty as his face.

Just then a man standing not far from the vehicle, walked towards her, dressed in the clothing of a commoner, a blue Haori (3) and Hakama (4). "Transport costs ten mon." (5)

She nodded energetically at him and collected the coins from her pouch. It seemed like everything was playing out, like she had imagined. She would border the carriage and travel to the harbor in Gaja and there she would search for a boat shipping to Tsuchimikado. Delighted she handed the man the fee. "Thank you."

"We leave in five minutes. If you have some luggage, you better bring it now," he said roughly but with friendly eyes.

She shook her head. "I have none." The pack she had with her was small enough to be placed on her lap.

"Then we leave in one. Hop on," he waved his thumb towards the cart and climbed the front.

Quickly joining the two man on the cart, she couldn't help but smile. This turned out to be easier than she would have thought.

When the cart started to move, she looked more closely at her travel companions sitting opposite of her.

The one with the nasty face wore a small beard over his lips and on his chin with bald spots. The ponytail on his head was crooked to the side and his clothing must have seen better days – years ago. When he caught her gaze, he squinted his eyes at her.

She looked away and watched the other man, who seemed to be asleep. He was wearing the robes of a monk and had a pointed face. His hair was dark except for a blond strand of hair, dangling in front of his forehead. His hair reminded her of her father for he had a lone blond streak just like him.

Guilt washed over her. Should she have tried to talk to him one more time before leaving without a word? He had been unfair to her, but then again her actions weren't fair to him or her mother either.

Looking back at the fenced in city, she felt her heart twist painfully. More than her fears, her guilt and pain weighted her down. She had never left her mother for more than a few hours and already felt an hint of homesickness, thinking about not seeing her for an unknown period of time.

The sight of the city was growing increasingly smaller, while the cart drove over the bumpy main street, passing rice fields and farms.

With a deep sigh, Mayura pushed away the guilt. She should concentrate on her quest and on the way she could enjoy the sight of the thick trees and the surrounding mountains grazing the horizon.

She heard the clearing of a throat and let her gaze jump to the owner of the voice. The nasty looking man watched her again. He snarled, "So, who are you? Why is a young girl driving on her own to the harbor?"

"It's nothing of your concern," she mumbled.

"Hoooh?" With a grin the man leaned forward and reached for her hood.

Just then, as fast as lightening his hand was chipped away by the monk's staff.

Surprised both her and the other man stared at the monk, who seemed to be very awake now.

He glared at the man from the side, "If the maiden does not want to tell you her identity, you should let her be."

The man jerked his head away, "Tss."

She looked at the monk again, who took his staff back and leaned it against the wooden frame next to her, effectively shielding her from the other man off. A grateful smile broke out on her face, "Thank you, very much."

"I did, what I needed to do," the monk said, wearing a serious face.

He actually didn't look like he slept at all, but seemed very sharp. His eyes were small, almond-shaped. Beneath his left eye he wore a scar. Interested Mayura asked, "I wonder, weren't you asleep?"

"I've meditated. I channeled the Crystal's powers through my body," he explained.

Channeling the Crystal's power through your body? She wondered, how people could do that. A priestess at the shrine of Narukami told her once, how she tasted the power in the air and felt it in the water she bathed in. Mayura herself had never felt it, although she had tried and although the power of the Crystal was said to surround every living creature all the time.

Looking at the monk, she thought, that he did seem powerful. But she wasn't sure, if it was because of the Crystal's powers or a strengthening style of life. Yet, she was sure she could get more knowledge on the Crystal. "You belong to the brothers of the Crystal, don't you?"

"I do," he nodded.

She leaned forward, "Can you tell me about the Crystal? What about the fulfillment of the legend? When will the star fall to divide the Crystal?"

He raised an eyebrow and mustered her face for a bit. "The Crystal gave us life. It will be the one to decide, when we are worthy to receive its ultimate gift," he replied in a slightly spaced out voice.

"Tsk," the other man suddenly fell into the conversation, "That's nothing but a fairy tale."

"I won't tolerate blasphemy on my cart," the driver barked out all of a sudden, silencing the man who looked very uncomfortable now.

Mayura ignored the interference and firther inquired, "So as long as we are unworthy to the Crystal nothing will happen?"

The monk nodded. He mustered her face again, before he explained, "People seem to have forgotten about the powers of the Crystal. They eat and live under its reign, but are oblivious about, where the food they consume and the air they breathe came from. Me and my band of brothers seek to remind the people of the holy Crystal's powers." He made a pause and then continued, "If people believe again and stop committing the sin of blindness, the Crystal might call upon the star mentioned in the prophecy."

A prophecy. She believed it had been just that to the people for hundreds of years. In old books the legend had been referred to as a prophecy. But at one point it had started to be called legend.

Maybe the monk was right. Maybe people grew accustomed to the powers of the Crystal and the war, and so the prophecy became a myth to them. Yet, so many people still put their lives on the line, acting accordingly to that myth.

Mayura sighed and leaned back. She knew she had to be careful about her words. Slowly she responded, "The belief you speak of sounds sincere. But how does your religion justify the war, that has been going on for a century according to the words of the legend?"

The monk looked at her very openly, "The prophecy doesn't force Narukami and Tsuchimikado to fight. It were the first believers who misinterpreted its words. People could end the war and still wait for the Crystal to be split in two."

Mayura sat up straight. Did the monk knew about a way to stop the war? "How can it be a misinterpretation? It's said, the star falls down, splitting the Crystal and bringing the war to an end."

The monk shook his head and raised it, making his cheekbones look so prominent, "A war must not be that of weapons, it can be of wills and hearts. There mustn't be bloodshed. Besides, it's not war the prophecy calls upon but peace."

Thinking about his answer for a while, Mayura tried to imagine the idea of ending the war by carrying it out on another field. Although the monk didn't knew, he had given her another argument she can bring forth, facing the lord of Tsuchimikado, she was grateful to him. With a smirk she looked at him, "Thank you, Houshi-sama."

A red hue came into being on his face now, making her giggle.

Covering up his blush, he put on an serious face again and said, "You can call me Jinya."

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(1) Medieval currency system is a mess, since the values changed through history: So this system will have following currency: 4000 mon = 16 shu = 4 bu = 1 ryo (one ryo is worth the amount of rice to feed a person for a year).

(2) Ojou-san - "Young lady" formal address to a lady of status.

(3) Haori – a kimono like jacket.

(4) Hakama – Japanese trousers.

(5) Same as (1).

A/N: Was this still interesting or was Mayura's part boring?

And please, don't forget to vote, if you feel like it. X'D