Kyoka and Denki didn't move for a long moment, while Sekko looked ready to kill at least one of them.

Then Kyoka decided to take the bull by the horns. "I learned something today, that's all. I have something to ask you."

"And this... male has something to do with it," Sekko said suspiciously.

Denki started to back away. 

"Don't run," Kyoka hissed at him, "She'll definitely chase you."

Denki stopped moving.

Kyoka folded her arms, trying to appear more confident than she felt. "Is it true that when you brought me here, my father came with you?"

"The bard?" Sekko said, "Why are you asking about this? I told you never to ask again after last time."

"I want to know if you told me the full truth," Kyoka said, trying to hide that her hands were shaking. Sekko was intimidating.

Denki felt he really shouldn't be here for this. Sekko would kill him, but he didn't dare walk away.

"Why would I lie?" Sekko said.

"So, he really did just get rid of me because of the hassle?" Kyoka said.

"Of course," Sekko said.

Kyoka looked down.

"Did he say that?" Denki didn't know what possessed him to ask, but as a bard, he could read people fairly well if he tried, at least when it came to how convincing their acting skills were, and he didn't think Sekko was very genuine right then.

"Excuse me? You dare address me directly?" Sekko said.

"Uh... yes...?" Denki said, wishing he could drop through the ground.

Kyoka gave him sidelong glance like "are you mad?"

Sekko frowned. "I don't have to answer to the likes of you, boy." Boy sounded like an insult when she said it.

"I'd like to know too," Kyoka said, "what exactly happened."

"I told you already," Sekko said, "And why do you doubt me? Did this bard put ideas into your head?"

"No, he never said anything about it," Kyoka said, "I heard from someone else that it might not have been just how you described it to me. I want to know the full truth. Even if it's worse than that. I can take it."

Sekko regarded her coldy, then she said, "Very well. The full truth is, the man never told me his exact circumstances. He said it was better that we take you, and that his wife died. I know that much. He was a bard-- I know because of his attire and instruments and the annoying tunes he kept breaking into. I could infer the rest. Does that answer your question? Doubting me is an insult. I hope you realize that."

Kyoka was silent for a bit. Then she said, "So you don't know why, exactly."

"I just explained why--" Sekko began, but Kyoka actually dared to interrupt her.

"What you told me before is that he couldn't be bothered! Was that not true?!" 

"Don't you interrupt your superior!" Sekko slapped her across the face.

"Hey!" Denki said. 

Kyoka held up her hand. She didn't care about the slap-- it was normal for a leader to discipline their subordinates like that-- she cared far more about the lies. 

"Was it not true?" she repeated.

"It was true if I know men," Sekko said, "If you mean did he spell it out, I don't think any of them would criticize themselves so honestly, do you? You must have seen how they are, now. You came back here.... Princess Momo leaving is a unpleasant development... but she was always naive compared to you. I blame Rin's instruction-- she's far too easy on her pupils. They don't learn how the world out there really works from her. People are corrupt out there. They make each other wicked. They are petty and spiteful. You've seen it now, haven't you?" She glanced at Denki in disgust, then back to Kyoka.

"Even this bard wouldn't deny it, I'll wager. And they lie all the time." 

She seemed to be waiting for Denki to say something.

"Oh... uh... well..." Denki said, "I don't want to get in the middle of this, ma'am."

"That's the only intelligent thing you've said since arriving," Sekko acknowledged. It wasn't a compliment. "But surely you don't deny the world of men is corrupt."

"Uh... well... no offense, but, I'm not liking this camp too much either," Denki said, "At least in the world of men I can walk down a street without everyone looking like they want to kill me."

"Are you out of your mind?" Kyoka said to him.

"Well, she's going to kill me either way, I might as well be honest about it," Denki said, now gone too far to turn back, "I don't think it's very noble to assume the worst about Kyoka's dad either. Maybe he was a bum, but he could have not been too. If you're just going to assume the worse, isn't that kind of petty and spiteful too?"

Sekko stared at him like she couldn't believe he was that brash and foolish.

"This boy dares to accuse me of such things? Does he wish to have his spine removed?"

"Why is she talking like I'm not here?" Denki said in a very small voice.

"Because she's going to kill you," Kyoka said, "and she'll actually do it, too."

Sekko had a hand on her sword. "I'd ask if you have any last words, but, we both know, a bard's last words wouldn't be ones worth hearing."

"Wait." Kyoka stepped in front of Denki. "It's wrong to kill a guest, and you know it. What about the other two leaders?"

"Do not reprimand me, Kyoka. I am your commander. Now stand aside," Sekko said.

Kyoka had a minute to make a decision.... She hesitated, but deep down, she already knew which one she was going to make.... She set her jaw. "No."

Pause.

"Excuse me?" Sekko might be a warrior from a tribe of single women, but she sounded exactly like your mom does when you've sassed her one too many times.

"As of now, I'm leaving our troop," Kyoka couldn't believe what she was saying, but it just came out, "So, you won't be my commander anymore."

"What?" Sekko actually was genuinely stunned, "Over this idiot?"

"No... because you haven't not been completely honest with me," Kyoka said, "And honesty is one of our codes, is it not? I don't care what you thought, you had... you had no right to tell me something if it wasn't true.... Do you know how long that has bothered me?"

"It bothered you...?" Sekko looked genuinely puzzled, "Why? Your life is here. Your father was just a man. What does he have to do with it? I thought that if you didn't think about it anymore, you would have an easier time accepting our new home. Didn't you? Haven't you always felt more at home here than out there?"

"Thanks to what you told me, I never gave it much thought!" Kyoka was angry now that she was actually saying all of the things she'd been thinking for the last several hours.

Denki had never seen her like this... and a small part of him was loving it, but most of him was terrified.

"But what would you regret about it?" Sekko was still puzzled. "It was for the best. You can't actually be sorry for it."

"I..." Kyoka hesitated. "I can't say I liked the world out there very much, but the truth is, I never gave it much of a chance because that was in the back of my mind, all this time... and your instruction.... And maybe you are right. Probably you are right, but it just wouldn't be just of me to accept that without being certain."

"Certain?" Sekko said, "Certain of what?"

"Yeah, of what?" Denki couldn't resist echoing, and for once the older warrior ignored his interruption.

"Certain that I'm doing this for the right reason," Kyoka said, "That's the difference between Momo and I. She's sure she's doing the right thing, and I might just be doing the easy thing.... Yes, I think Rin was right."

"Rin? I knew she had something to do with this. What did she tell you?" Sekko said.

"That she should find out the truth," Rin's voice cut in, startling them all.

She had come around from the back of the tent without anyone noticing. 

"I always suspected you twisted what happened to suit your own perspective," Rin said to Sekko bravely, though she was not as angry as Kyoka, "So I told her she should be certain. I don't hold with how you tell our girls to look at the world of men, Sekko. Now more than ever all of us ought to be working together, before there is no world left. Your pride about it is going to be the downfall of the tribe if nothing changes.... I've wanted to say that for years... but I only found the courage just now." 

She smiled weakly. "Thank you, Kyoka."

Kyoka looked a little unsure what to do now. 

Sekko looked ready to fight Rin on the spot... but perhaps she thought just then her chances wouldn't be too good. Once someone who has never spoken up to us begins to, it is frightening, even to the most cocksure of people.

"My pride, you call it? And what have they ever done but create problems for themselves and us in the long run, with their battles of land, and wealth, and other things? The Dark Mages come from them too."

"As if a warrior is beyond corruption?" Rin shot back, "Like we've never had ours go wrong either? You may like to forget it, conveniently, but I won't. And it has always been because of pride, arrogance, and thinking we're too good for it to happen to us. That is just when corruption strikes, Sekko, is when we think we are incorruptible. I am finished with it, myself. And if you have an ounce of humility, you'll tell this young trainee of yours that you were wrong and she had better make up her own mind."

Silence prevailed.

"You expect me to change my mind just because you've suddenly grown a spine?" Sekko said savagely, "I do not know where you find the grit-- or perhaps just cheek-- to speak to me like this after all this time, but I don't expect it to last long. And our ways have kept us safe enough all this time. Which is what I would do for Kyoka."

"You should let her grow up," Rin said, "She's old enough and smart enough to decide, but even a child should know the truth, Sekko. Shame on you."

Sekko made a move as if to strike her, and Rin was just going to let it happen-- when a third voice cut in.

"I see that the festivities are not sufficient for everyone tonight." It was Hanta... and she looked peeved.

"Oh man, now all three scary ladies are here," Denki mumbled.

Tibult had followed him at some point, and now she put her head on his shoulder.

"Hanta," Rin said evenly, "We were in the middle of a debate."

"I noticed." Hanta was rarely sarcastic, and that meant she was angry. Kyoka shrank back a little.

Sekko didn't want to start it with Hanta too.  "It's nothing."

"I don't think so," Hanta said, "And clearly if I don't step in you both will be fighting like one of our novices before too long. Probably slinging mud too. Well, I heard enough. Rin and Sekko, I agree with both of your positions, and I think the Queen would too. Sekko is right, we are safer keeping our ways... but Rin is right also-- it is our way to tell the truth. We're not like our sister tribe of bandits. We don't rely on tricks and deceptions and half truths..." with a pointed look at Sekko.

"And you, Kyoka, if you are discontented here, now is your time to say so. You won't get another chance, likely as not. War with the Dark Lord is on our doorstep and we all know it. I wasn't going to say this till tomorrow, but the Queen has already sent word. Things are bad."

All of them went very sober, even Denki. "How bad?" he asked.

Hanta didn't seem to resent the question even for him.

"More and more blight is spreading, but that's not her only problem. Monsters are pouring into the area from the North and West.... It is as if they are looking for something... and I suspect you already know what it is." She looked directly at Kyoka.

"The new holder," Kyoka said.

Hanta nodded. "Is the bard safe hearing this?"

Denki was amazed she even asked.

"He knows all about it. He was there for the whole time," Kyoka said.

"He was?" Sekko said.

"Very well," Hanta continued, "Then I will be frank with you both. There's something about the new holder you should know.... A very long time ago now, one of the previous holders was a woman in this tribe.... She left it, and I think she even got married. It was a strange business. I guess it was not for her, but the tribe trained her while she was learning to use the power.... Well, she never forgot our kindness. Many years later, she came back to tell us she sensed it was going to be time to pass along the SOL.... I suppose they can tell when. She asked us to train her new chosen successor for her also... but he was a man. That was the 8th holder."

They all stared at Hanta.

"I have never heard this," Sekko said.

"That is because the queen only told me this before she left last month," Hanta said, "and she told me not to mention it unless thing got desperate... and in her message, that was the word she used. So I am telling you now."

"So this tribe trained the 8th holder?" Denki said.

"Not quite," Hanta said. She lowered her head. "The queen at that time refused. She thought it went against the bylaws.... I do not know if that is really true. It was an extenuating circumstance in every sense of the word, you would think, but she was very strict.... You remember her, Sekko? She was still alive when we came here."

"Yes, I was under her care for a while," Sekko said, "but she was quite old even then."

"Like teacher like student," Rin muttered.

Sekko glared at her. "Go on, Hanta. What happened?"

"Well, it seems the 7th holder was not pleased. She had done a lot to protect the tribe while away from it. She said we would live to regret it. I don't know if that was a curse or not, and neither does the queen, but it might as well have been. We heard decades later that the 8th had gone missing without choosing a successor. Some said he was dead.... While we now know that he wasn't, no one in the tribe who even knew about it, knew if the SOL could be lost if the holder died without passing it on in time... or if the 8th would just live until he did so.... Hence, our current queen conceived of the quest to find him."

She tilted her head. "She told me she had a dream in which she was warned by the goddess that if we didn't recovered the Holder, our tribe would be wiped out by the Dark Lord, along with the rest of the land... and she would not be able to stop it..."

There was a long silence following that.

"Even the goddess...?" Sekko said.

"The tricky thing about gods," Hanta said, "is that they are often only as active in our lives as we allow them to be, as their followers. Creati might be more powerful than the Dark Lord, theoretically, but she is a goddess, not a human... and we are humans. We neglected our responsibility, I believe, by not keeping a watch on the 8th while we had the chance, and it's my personal opinion that had we done so, things would not have gone this far. As it is, this was our final chance to salvage it."

"Why did the whole tribe not go looking for him, then?" Rin was shocked.

"A whole tribe could hardly go unnoticed through the Dark Lands, could they?" Hanta said, "Our only choice was to sent the two who'd be most likely to get through unseen or unharmed. Our paladin and our best scout." She nodded at Kyoka, who looked like she was having a hard time swallowing all of this.

"And I knew none of this until last month, myself. Only the queen and priestess knew that. The priestess is with the queen now, providing support to her, so there was no one to ask about it. This is the extent of my knowledge... but what Kyoka told us, that there is new holder has made it all clear to me. I have been thinking and praying since earlier... and I see this as perhaps our chance to atone for the mistakes of the past.... We must protect this new holder. Perhaps then our full strength with be restored.... I am sure you older matrons will not argue that our power is not what it was even 10 years ago."

They didn't argue. 

"It's no coincidence. Without the 8th around, we all suffer, because Darkness grows and saps our life," Hanta said, "Creati can't thrive without something to work with, and those infertile Dark Lands are part of the problem. It's all out of balance, and now the new holder is out there, alone as it seems.... At least our Paladin had the right idea, but... I fear if she is not aware of all this, she will not make it right, not in time.... And so we all have a decision to make, don't we?"

They understood now.

"Someone will have to go after her," Rin stated.

"Oh, well, hey, I was already going to go," Denki said, "I have to talk to her anyway. I even know where she's headed. I don't mind telling her all that too."

"You?" Sekko said, "A man can't go off and do that for us. It's an atrocity!"

"I have to agree, it is not your place," Hanta said, "I think one of us should go. But the question is who. We will all have our hands full with monsters in a matter of weeks, if the queen is correct, and we don't know where the 9th is. Except for Kyoka, none of us have even seen him." 

Kyoka looked up. "You want me to go, don't you?"

Hanta shook her head. "I wouldn't make you do that again. Not if you feel your mission is complete... but... from what you were saying a few minutes ago... it occurred to me, perhaps you don't feel that way. So, I will open it up to you. If you want to undertake this, you can go... and take whomever you wish with you. Only, it can only be one person.... Otherwise, we'll choose someone else."

"This is... sudden..." Rin said.

"Wow," Denki said, "What a decision..."

"If you need a night to think about it," Hanta said.

Kyoka looked up. "No, she said, "The truth is... I was going to leave again anyway.... I just hadn't decided how."

"You were?" Denki said.

"Yes..." Kyoka said, "I need more time to think about all this... away from the tribe... and... I... I abandoned the 9th, same as Momo. Same as the previous queen did to the 8th, don't you see? I think it has to be us. At the very least, I will tell her what happened. She'll know what to do.... Besides... I think I need to face her anyway.... I was not fully honest before."

"Very well," Hanta said, "Then you must choose your companion."

"I think we all know how this will end," Rin spoke up, "As much as both of you dislike it, this boy here has been tied up in it all this time and is already going to look for our paladin on his own. I think the gods really couldn't have made their will more clear here. It's unorthodox, but perhaps if refusing to protect a man is the cause of all this, then allowing a man to help us is a way to repent of it. Does anyone disagree?"

Even Sekko said nothing.

"Uh... well.... Only if that's all right with you..." Kyoka was embarassed, now she looked at Denki.

Denki wasn't the type to leave you hanging. "Are you joking? Of course it is! Oh--um, that is, after all that, your tribe has to fix this, and if I'm already going, we might as well go together right.... Wait, are you sure you don't want a warrior, though?"

"They need all of them here," Kyoka said, "and...well... if I'm fully honest... your vicious mockery is easily more powerful than most of the warriors here, and the strongest ones should stay with the tribe."

"He can do vicious mockery?" Rin said, "I've heard of that.... You are more fearsome than you look, young man."

Denki took that as compliment.

"It's settled, I suppose," Hanta said, "You can stay the night here. Take whatever weapons and food you need.... I'm turning in..." She walked away.