We were on our feet again by noon, moving at a slower pace then the night before, but making good progress. The scenery had yet to change. As far as I could see, there were trees in every direction.The fantasy-esque forest seemed to go on for miles and miles. I started to lag behind Mikoto, both the sacks I carried over my shoulders weighed me down and burned my shoulders and legs due to the effort.

"Yo, how come I have to carry your junk?"

"If I remembered correctly, I saved your ass. Be grateful."

I knitted my brow in annoyance. "Yeah, after you almost made me donate blood to the vampire queen. What the hell was that about anyways? You had me thinkin' you were gonna ditch me."

She stopped and sighed. "Alright, sit down. I did say I'd answer all your questions in time, so I might as well do it now." She sat down and leaned against the trunk of an ancient oak, it's thick branches twisting down to meet the earth. She motioned me to sit and I set myself opposite to her.

"Well, what do you want to know. I won't hold anything back.

I thought for a moment before asking. "What was the real reason we lured the vampires to us?"

        She paused as if picking the right words to answer with. " I had my suspicions they possessed something of mine. I wanted it back so I thought what better way to obtain it than confronting the owner herself."

"So you used me as bait to find the person that stole from you. Alright, what did they take?"

"I assumed they possessed an item known as The Bloodblade. Turns out they didn't have it."

Squeezing information out of her was difficult. But I kept pressing on. "How do you know they don't have it? That vampire chick said she wouldn't give it to you."

Mikoto smiled. "I could tell she didn't know what I was talking about. She just wanted to gain some form of leverage. If she did know what I was referring too, or even owned it, she would have been wielding it. As far as I could see, she was unarmed."

"So what I'm getting from all of this is, you needed a bargaining chip. Vampire chick wants my blood, you want your Blood Blade, you strike a deal and you both get what you want." my face glowed red with a sudden hurt. "But turns out they don't have what you wanted, so you cut the deal and "save my ass"." She raised an eyebrow. "What I'm saying is, how do I know you didn't just save me because you couldn't trade me for what you wanted." my voice rose in anger. "How do I know you wouldn't have ditched me if it turned out they had the Blood blade?"

        A sympathetic look flashed across Mikoto's face, surprising me. She reached her hand out and squeezed my shoulder. "I wouldn't have ditched you. If Xias turned out to have Bloodblade, I'd make the trade, then immediately cut her down with it. Everything was planned and calculated, and in the scenario that she didn't have what I was looking for, I had already planned ahead to get you out of there." The only thing I saw in her face was honesty. A huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I wasn't wrong to trust her.  "You can trust me, little fangs. Everything I've told you up till then was the truth, but I couldn't have you knowing what was going on or else it'd seem choreographed."

"Alright, alright. I guess I understand your reasoning. But anyways, next question; what is Bloodblade, and why are you searching for it."

She whistled. "Wow, you better get some popcorn for this one, it's gonna get deep." I sat crossed legged in anticipation of her answer. "Like you, I wasn't spared from the amnesia that the Rift had caused. It totally wiped my memories blank. While they slowly began to return, knowledge of our species began flooding into my mind, along with directive voices. They told me to reclaim my Blood Blade, and all shall be answered. Those were the exact words."

"So. . . voices in your head told you to go find a blade. Follow me now; a blade that may or may not exist, and you make it your goal to find this blade by any means necessary. I'm not judging you or anything, but I mean— don't you think evidence this thing exist would be the best choice before confronting—literally—blood thirsty killers, demanding they hand over this relic."

Mikoto looked me up and down for a second, before smiling slyly. "Something has definitely changed about you in the few days we've been out here. You're changing, you know. Becoming more attuned to your Rifter psyche, but you're still more human than Rifter. You've heard the voices too, haven't you?"

"What do you—" I thought back and realized I had heard voices. When I was making the choice to leave the safety of the camp to look for Mikoto. At the time, I didn't think much about it. But now looking back, it wasn't me who thought those things. It was something else, telling me what I should do.

Mikoto grinned, knowing I had come to an understanding of what she was on about. "The voice you heard isn't merely your subconscious mind. It roots deeper, into your very soul. This voice is a directive. Even when you don't know the answer to something, that voice will guide you. It knows more about you then you. That voice, is the voice of your Anima, you true self primal self, and the same voice that gave me the directive to search for Bloodblade. It is real, and you bet your ass I'll find it."

I sorted through the shrapnel from the bomb she just dropped on me. Anima. . . why did that word stand out? I've never heard it before, but when Mikoto said it, an intense wave of deja vu passed over me. But I still took what she had told me with a grain of salt.

"What's an Anima?" I asked curiously.

"Explaining all there is to know about Anima would take decades, so I'l keep it brief. Your Anima is your inner self. A well of power, a pool of energy, your most vital instinct. Your spirit. Every living organism has an Anima, but among Rifters, there are those who are gifted with the ability to tap into it and harness its power." Mikoto lifted her right hand. I handed even noticed it until now, but it was tightly wrapped in gauze and layered with a fingerless glove. She removed the glove, and unwound the gauze from her hand. What looked like another scar lay on her backhand. It had a slightly red pigment to it, and when I examined closer, it looked to be closer to a tattoo than a scar.

She ran her fingers along the mark. "This is the physical stigma of Anima. I was able to tap into mine, and bring out this mark. With this, I can manipulate my Anima and summon its power in the physical environment." She laughed "That's what would happen, if I knew how the hell to activate the bugger! Another reason why finding Bloodblade is my top priority. My Anima told me all would be answered. Maybe then I'd be able to reach my full potential."

She re-dressed her hand, leaving me to think about everything she's said. I looked my own hand. There wasn't anything there that was out of the ordinary. How had she gained that mark? Was she born with it or had she done something to bring it out? In time, maybe I could too.

"So, if that's all you want, we should get going. I have no doubt Xias will be hot on our trails once the sun goes down." She picked herself up and stretched, hands high above her head.

"About vampires, why can't they come out during the day? Like, I know the whole thing about the sun turning them to dust and all that noise, but scientifically why can't they enter sunlight?"

"Their blood isn't like ours" she answered, "when exposed to ultraviolet light, it undergoes a chemical reaction and boils. A small amount of UV can't harm them. Only direct exposure is fatal. It's actually pretty sad."

"Is that why they drink blood?"

"Sort of. Their blood lacks the vitamins  and proteins that other living things have, including important blood cells. Vampires have the ability to digest blood straight into their blood stream, supplying them with the vitamins and cells they need and strengthening their immune system. Human blood is preferable. Otherwise they'll grow sick and die."

"Can they survive of off anything other than blood?"

Mikoto shook her head. "If they consume anything other than blood; besides water; they'll be running the risk of becoming sick due to their weak immune system. They also lack the bacteria required to properly digest solid food." I felt a pang of guilt. The vampires weren't evil, they were just trying to survive, like us. It wasn't their fault they had to live off blood and stay out of the sun.

"Feeling sorry for 'em?" she asked mockingly, "Next time we run into Xias I'll make sure to hook you two up."

"You do that," I said with equal mockery.

We began to press on deeper into the fantasy forest, passing more trees with huge branches that twisted and touched the soil below, as if the tree was trying to lift itself from the dirt. It was fascinating and peculiar at the same time. I ran up beside Mikoto who was keeping a brisk pace.

"Hey, how do you know so much about vampires anyway? Where you like a fanatic of the occult or something?"

"Nope," she replied, shaking her head, "I have a journal with everything I'd ever need to know about the monsters that stalk the night. And day."

I blinked with bewilderment. "You have a journal? Like, a journal written by you?"

She shrugged. "It's in my handwriting, but I can't recall ever writing it. When I woke up it to this it was in my hands. It's pretty mysterious actually." she added, "I can't remember writing it, so it would have to have been written pre-Rift. But then how would I know about the existence of these monsters and be able to draw them so perfectly? Makes me want to find Blood Blade even more. Answer all these damn questions. Pass me my bag, I'll let you take a look." I handed her sack to her and she sifted through it's contents. She pulled out a thick notebook, not much bigger than an average dictionary. It's cover seemed to be made of leather, and on it in big letters, the title read: Bestiarium Vocabulum. I had no idea what that meant. It sounded like a different language. Latin maybe? Mikoto tossed the journal to me. I fixed the strap of the sack containing the food around my left shoulder so that it hung by my hip. I noticed an odd symbol; a circle with a line cutting down it's radius; seemed to be painted in red upon the cover. With both my hands free I flipped through the pages.

At the first glance, I wanted to shut the book and destroy it. But an odd fascination overtook me and I looked back at unsettling drawing.

It was incredibly detailed. A stout creature, with a fat head, large hands and feet, green skin, and pointy ears. It's smile stretched from ear-to-ear, full of needle-like teeth. It was totally hairless, and looked like a cross between a rat and a toad. The way it grinned unnerved me, with crazed, beady yellow eyes staring up out of the book.

There was a heading above the picture that simply read: Goblin. Under the picture was a list of  what seemed to be characteristics and classifications.

The first one read: E-Class Orcneas , and under that, it read: Daemon.

I had no knew what an E-class Orcneus, nor did I know what a Daemon is. 

"Hey, Miko—" I caught myself, remembering her rule, "Uh, Susano'o, under this goblin, it says demon. What does that mean?"

"A demon and a daemon are two different things," she replied, "a daemon is any otherworldly monster that isn't a transformed human. I use the word monster loosely, as some creatures aren't classified under monster, like dragons, being an entirely separate family in itself.

 "That's the strange thing about this world; some of the monsters here aren't originally from our world. Where they're from I haven't a clue, but they're classified as daemon.

I flipped to another page of what she referred as the Bestiary. This time, it was a picture of a pale human male with red eyes and snake-like fangs. It didn't take a genius to know this was a vampire.

Under the drawing it read: A-class Sanguine, Inferorum.

The writing looked like Latin, but I already knew basically everything on vampires, so I flipped to the next page. A picture of a beautiful women was drawn instead of some grotesque monster. She had green eyes and blue hair. Around her crown was a circlet made of plants and seaweed. The women was titled: Nereid. As usual, it's classifications were written underneath the drawing.

It read: D-class Nymph, Faerie.

Something caught my eye, another classification. It read: Benevolent.

"What does benevolent mean?" I asked curiously.

"It means it's not dangerous," she answered with flatly, "There's three different categories. benevolent, malevolent, and neutral. Most daemon are under malevolent, meaning they're dangerous and will most likely attack you on sight. Nature spirits and faeries are usually under benevolent, and most rifters are grouped under neutral, meaning you can never really be sure if they're dangerous or not. Like me and Xias." She laughed, "I'd probably be under malevolent to be fair."

I had a rough time believing all these creatures actually existed, but from what I've seen so far, there was no reason why they couldn't. I just had to stay alert and trust Mikoto's judgement, if she really was the author of this  journal.

Mikoto noticed my interest in the  book and said; "You can hang on to that if you like. It's gonna do more good for you than me, I have everything in there memorized."

"Is everything in here real?" I asked nervously.

"I hope not," she replied, "some of the shit in there defy logic, but hey, what's logic when you have a tail and fangs?" she let out a hearty chuckle. I swallowed hard, thinking about what nasty beast could be out there. Vampires where the least of our problems.

++++

The sun was beginning to set. We've been traveling all through the day and were still stuck in this fantasy forest. I stuck the Bestiary in my sweatshirt pocket and made sure to keep up with Mikoto. She was taller then me and had longer legs, so it was a challenge keeping up with her long strides. She'd slow down every now and again so I could catch my breath and re-hydrate, then continued on again for hours.

I was beginning to think this forest really did go on infinitely. It was enough to drive even the most skilled navigator mad. I had no idea how Mikoto was dealing with this and how she knew where she was going, so I asked her.

"Yo, you know where you're going?"

"Yep, keep going in this direction and we'll reach the Eastern Spire; a huge mountain range. That'll take us well out of vampire territory. But going through there is going to be risky. Possibly deadly."

"Why—" before I could finish, a deep growl cut through the air. My heart hammered, thinking it was some sort of monster that made the noise, but when I looked to Mikoto, she was. . . blushing?

She came to a halt and cursed under her breath. "These fruits aren't doing jack for me anymore." Another growl sounded, and she put a hand on her stomach to silence it. For the first time since we've been in the forest, she's shown signs of being tired.

"Oh, that was you." I released a sigh of relief. "I thought that was a daemon or something. You need more food, huh?"

She shook her head. "I'll be fine. It's getting late and once the sun sets, Xias will be hot on our trail. The farther we get during the day the better." With that she continued on again. I couldn't shake the feeling that she was being prideful. She moved more sluggish now and I was easily able to keep up with her. Beads of sweat covered her brow and gradually became winded. Her stomach roared once again, louder then before, and I knew something had to be done. The sun had yet to set, so we'd have enough time to eat and move again.

Mikoto stopped again and leaned against a hollowed tree, out of breath. Her stomach growled and she gripped it and winced.

"Okay, now I know you need food. Whats up with you? why aren't the fruits working?"

She sighed, "Unlike a human, my body burns more calories and needs more to keep going. The meager amount of food we've be eating isn't going to be enough for me."

"Why am I alright?" I asked curiously.

"You're still more human than rifter, so your body hasn't fully adjusted." She sat down and leaned against the tree, breathing hard and heavy breaths.

"So you need more calories in you," I rubbed my chin. "What has a lot of calories in it?"

"Meat," she looked around, "good luck finding that out here."

I thought hard. I remember watching survival shows, seeing the people that have no food and settle for something else. Something that Mikoto might not enjoy.

"I know something you can eat, but you may not like it."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

I look towards the ground just in time to catch a large cricket leap over my shoe. Immediately bent down and cupped it in my hands before it could flee. It frantically bounced around in my hands, it's hard exoskeleton clawing at my palms. I wasn't scared of bugs, so I could care less.

"I've heard that crickets have tons of calories, so you should start of with this."

Before I could take a single step towards her, her tail whipped like a spring, stopping right before decapitating me. My face went pale.

"Don't come any closer!" she roared. "I swear to god if you take another step closer with that thing—" she didn't finish her sentence, but I got the picture.

Eventually I found my voice. "Wha-what's the problem. These things are good for you." Her tail was inches from neck, and even though it wasn't out right deadly, I knew it had enough strength to break my neck with ease.

"I don't give a damn! Just keep it away from me." Looking at her face, I could see the slightest hint of fear. Was she afraid of the cricket?

"Goddamn, whats gotten into you? I'm just trying to help." Aggravation began taking place of fear. It pissed me off that I was being threatened when all I was doing was trying to keep her from starving.

She lowered her tail and clenched her teeth. "Insects are disgusting. I rather starve than go anywhere near one. Get rid of it and let's go. Where almost out of the forest anyway." She got up and marched back in the direction we were headed.

"But wait, you still need to—"

"I said I'm fine." she said, cutting me off. "Now stop wasting time or else i'm leaving you behind." There was a lot of things I could have said then, but it wouldn't be right. So I kept quiet and followed her. So much for my efforts to be a good partner.

++++

The moment the last rays of light were lost over the horizon, we broke into a run. Mikoto pushed herself hard; even with her energy sapped it was still a challenge to keep up with her. I carried both sacks again as it was an over encumbrance for her. I was very aware of the current danger we were in during the night hours. Xias and her vampires would vary well be on our trail.

After a full twenty-hours of non-stop travel, we emerged from the maddening forests. The scenery was fresh and filled me with eagerness. The forested ended in a widespread plain. Grassy hills and fields spread miles out in every direction. Behind us sat a wall of trees that went in either direction for miles, creating a separation between grassland and forest. 

 It was dark and I couldn't see that much of the terrain, but in the distance loomed a giant solid wall, spreading as far as the eye could see. I couldn't make out what it was, but I assumed what I was looking at was what Mikoto referred to as the Eastern Spire.

Mikoto came to a sudden halt and I almost ran into her. She wobbled on her feet and I was at the ready in the event that she collapsed. She pointed at the black mountains in the distance.

"You see that?" she asked, "That's where we're headed. But the thing is, it'd be suicide to go at night. Not just for me, but for you too." She dropped to her knees and took shaky breaths. For the first time I realized how serious her current condition was. Her body would begin to shut down if she continued burning more calories than she consumed.

I pulled out a water canteen I'd been sipping from through out the day and handed it to her, She snatched it and drank greedily until the canteen was empty. Her stomach made a sound similar to an angry dog, and in return she clenched it tight and held her head against the cool grass. Something had to be done.

I made and attempt to help her up, but she glared at me like she'd murder me.

"I know you want to stop, but we can't. Not out here at least." I pulled out what we had left of the fruits. They were wrinkly and soft, but still edible. "Eat all of this, and we'll try to find some kind of shelter for the night." I said, taking charge for once. She didn't protest and devoured the fruits, tearing into the soft skin with her lethal fangs. Once she finished, she struggled to stand up. Without thinking, I supported her; placing her arm over my shoulder and holding her around the waist.

"Don't touch me," she spat, "I can walk on my own. . ." Her weight pressed down on me and I clenched my teeth to keep us both up. Although I wasn't as drained as her, my legs burned and my body wanted to quit on me.

"Like hell you can," I said, gritting my teeth and taking one step at a time, "Let's just keep going, okay. We're bound to find some where to set you down." I paused for a long while, "You should really consider eating those crickets. Whether you like it or not, they're gonna keep you alive tonight."

She shook her head frantically. "Ain't no way I'm going anywhere near those things."

We walked, counting our steps in silence, heading in the direction of the mountains. I could feel the thump of Mikoto's heartbeat since our bodies where so close. Her skin was slick and warm with sweat and I had to hold on to her tight to keep a solid grip. The moon lit the path we traveled, and in the distance, I thought I could make out a natural rock formation. From here it looked like Stonehenge. Rectangular rocks were stacked on top one another like dominos. More door-sized stones were place around in a tight, circular pattern.

"Hey, you see that? You think It'd be a good place to hold up for the night?" She nodded and it was decided.

I had been correct; this was a rock formation. It seemed man-made, but proved as a good shelter against the elements.

 We held up inside, our backs against the flat stones, opposite of each other. Mikoto had her knees pulled up to her chest and her tail over her shoulders.

"You alright?" I asked, concerned.

She managed a weak smile. "I'll be fine for the night. Where both gonna need some food in us by tomorrow, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there." She paused then looked up at me. "I shouldn't have been so hard on you. You were making the right choices and you got us in a good way for the night." She gave me a warm smile and I had to hope the shadows hid  my flushed face.

"Do you think we'll be safe for the night?"

"This is as safe as we'll be tonight. There's nothing out in these plains that'll be a threat, but entering those mountains at night is the worst possible thing we could do. Xias should be a days trek behind us, and she can't travel during the day so we should be fine for now."

I raised an eyebrow. "What's in those mountains that's so deadly?"

"A-class Giant, Daemon. Category: malevolent."

I blinked in confusion. "What's that?"

"Trolls," she said "Nasty creatures that only come out during the night because their bone marrow calcifies when exposed to direct sunlight for a long period of time. They're essentially giant, ugly vampires. Vampires can only travel at night, and they wouldn't be stupid enough to risk an attack from a hungry troll, so past that mountain and we're set. It'd be a good idea to read up on them in the Bestiary tomorrow." She yawned and shut her eyes, instantly falling asleep.

Trolls, I thought. I would have never uttered the word until now. There was going to be some stuff in store for us tomorrow, and I prayed everything would just go well. I'd just keep fallowing Mikoto on her insane quest. Maybe I'd learn more about this new world. I might be able to discover secrets about myself like Mikoto did. With this thought in my mind, I curled up against the stone. I didn't have a tail like Mikoto to keep myself warm the night air was cool so using my arms as a pillow, I shut my heavy eyelids and slowly descended into a dreamless sleep.

It would the last one I'd be getting for a while.