Haku cannot believe it. A human? A mere weak human had helped him, a divine entity -- a god? Oh, how this forest is making a fool of him!

Blood splatters on the floor and his face as he slices a vampire bat into two. Then, though already dead, he steps on it and crushes its tiny bones on the ground. A group of four bats comes to attack him and he does the same to them -- slicing them and crushing them with his feet.

"You seem on edge," Jaariko likewise uses his sword to bring death to the approaching vampire bats. "Has something happened inside the fog?"

They are already out of the muddy ground and back to the forest's rows of trees and surrounding thick bushes. It is still night time but there are no more stars in sight because the skies are covered by dark heavy clouds.

A thunder rumbles from somewhere nearby.

Haku slashes another bat. Of course, something has happened. But he couldn't tell Jaariko that someone as feeble as Senko saved him from sinking to his death. So he ignores him.

Jaariko sighs. "Haru isn't talking to me," then in a louder voice says, "and the two ladies here are not even helping!"

Lin is busy helping Senko clean herself but stops when she hears Jaariko's words. She shouts back, "Isn't that why you want to travel with us? To protect us? Go on and do what you want then."

"What if we just abandon you and let these bats sip your life away then," the tengu mutters.

"What?" Lin asks in a loud voice.

"Nothing!" Jaariko continues slicing the attacking bats like Haku.

When there is no more vampire bat in sight, the two go back to Lin and Senko.

"There is a cave near here that I saw. We can stay there. It looks like a storm is coming." Haku is exhausted but he doesn't let the group notice it. Meanwhile, Jaariko lies sprawled on the dirty floor.

Senko has both her fists near her heart. "No. We cannot stay there. We need to get going." She looks at Lin and then back at Haku. "Our parents..."

"Will only die if you die here." Haku finishes her sentence.

One by one droplets of rain drop from the sky.

"We should wait until the storm passes. Then, we'll hurry out of the forest." Haku strongly suggests.

Lin places a hand on Senko's shoulder. "He's right. Don't worry. The storm would soon pass. If not, then we leave these two cowards and dash towards our next destination."

Senko seems to agree because she stops insisting on going.

+0+0+0+0+

The cave that Haru-san saw is just five minutes away from where they were. It is pitch dark and the temperature is so cold due to the storm.

"We need fire. I'll go and find some branches." Haru-san says.

Feeling restless because she's got nothing else to do, Chihiro volunteers to go with Haru-san. "It'll be faster if I help you."

Is it just her imagination or does one of Haru-san's eyes actually twitch upon hearing her words?

Since the incident on the muddy ground, Haru-san seems to be avoiding her, always keeping a distance between them as they travel together and not talking to her, not even a thank you after she had rescued him. Not that she wants to hear his gratitude, it's just that she wants to talk to him. But when he did, it was about waiting in a cave. Chihiro fears for her parents' lives. They've been sick for days and any minute now they could perish.

"Fine," Haru-san says and starts walking. "Stay close to me."

Chihiro walks behind him, looking at the sky. It's dark but there is a hint of light. She hopes that Meilin-san is right, that the storm might soon pass.

Haru-san is quick at getting the fallen branches, while Chihiro doesn't even know what she should pick, so she just gets whatever she sees -- everything that she can carry. The number of twigs she has in her arms is too plenty that she finds it hard to balance them.

"Let's go." Haru-san starts to walk back to the cave with the branches tucked in his side, between his arm and his body.

Oh. So that's how you carry them.

Drenched in rainwater, they enter the cave. Meilin-san gets four fish she hid inside her obi as Aki-san starts the fire.

They eat the grilled fish as they sit around the fire.

"How is my dish, beautiful lady?" Aki-san asks Meilin-san. "Isn't it delicious? Mouth-watering? Scrumptious? Do the flavors burst into your mouth and leave your mouth with the most pleasant aftertaste?

Meilin-san bites on the fish meat, chews it, and swallows before answering. "Flavors? What are you talking about? You just grilled it."

Aki-san swings his index finger from left to right. "No. No. No. They were not just grilled. The placing of the meat on the fire, how many times you should turn its sides, and how long it is cooked. They all add to the tender juiciness and the flavors of the fish meat."

Meilin-san disagrees and the two start to banter. Chihiro cannot help but smile, remembering her parents' lively banters. She eats her food while listening to the two. Then, her eyes land on Haru-san. His eyes are closed as though he is sleeping. Maybe he is? She needs to look closer so she stares hard at him. Suddenly, he opens his gray eyes. Chihiro is so surprised that her upper body almost descends to the ground. Heat rushes to her cheeks. She knows she's blushing.

Haru-san puts his hand near the hilt of his sword and positions himself at the cave's entrance. "Aki," he calls his brother.

"Yes," Aki-san replies and does the same.

Meilin-san comes closer to where Chihiro is sitting and places an arm around the younger one's shoulders. They keep quiet like that, waiting for what is lurking just outside their shelter. When it finally gets nearer to them, Chihiro finally hears the noise -- it's the sound of kids crying.

"Oneechan!" Chihiro tries to stand up but Meilin-san stops her, forcing her to stay seated inside the now-warm cave. "But they're just kids. They must be lost and looking for their parents. There is a storm outside. A strong one. Maybe they're quivering in the cold. Or they might be wounded."

Meilin-san whispers, "Chihiro, this forest is enchanted. What we hear might not be what it actually is. Let's just stay here until we know we are safe."

"But--"

Haru-san and Aki-san sprint into action, using their swords to halt the movements of that something who wants to get inside the cave. When Meilin-san and she don't hear nor see any fighting and after making sure it's already okay, they approach the two boys. They see, indeed, two young kids bawling their hearts out -- two human kids, according to Meilin-san.

The three spirits are stunned. How can humans -- and they're even just kids -- reach one of the deepest parts of the forest unharmed without a guardian? Chihiro, too, is surprised. But then again, she's also human and yet she's here. There must be a good reason why the two are here.

The white fox steps closer to one of the kids, the one with her black hair tied into two ponytails and looks about 7 years old. Meilin-san touches the little one's cheek, just to make sure they are real and not just a figment of their imagination. The girl cries louder. So does the little boy beside her who looks about 5 years old.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The white fox panics.

Aki-san puts the tip of his sword in the middle of the little girl's neck. "Why are you here? State your business!" But the two just continue crying, irritating the wavy-haired spirit.

Losing his patience, Haru-san san is about to strike the boy but Chihiro places herself in front of him, shielding the little boy from danger.

"What are you doing?" the spirit asks her, annoyance painted on his beautiful face, "we cannot trust them."

"It doesn't mean we should just kill them."

"What do you intend to do to them, then?"

She looks at Meilin-san but she, too, seems to not know what to do. "W-w-we'll let them stay with us until the storm passes. We'll ask them who they are and how they were able to come here."

"That doesn't sound like a good plan." Haru-san still doesn't want to lower his sword.

"We tie them up while we question them," suggests Aki-san, to which Haru-san agrees.

"We'll tie them to the tree--"

"No!" Chihiro gathers the two crying kids in her skinny arms. "That'll be cruel! At least let them inside the cave. They would die if you let them stay outside."

Haru-san's eyebrows knit together, he looks like he's one tiny step away from being furious. "We cannot lower our guard. Not inside the forest. These two kids had traveled the very dangerous forest unharmed and unscathed. They may be capable of things we do not know. We cannot be certain of the harm they may bring to us."

"They're just kids."

"They're human."

Ah.

Right.

Haru-san is a spirit and, clearly, he doesn't like humans. What will happen to her if he discovers that she is human too? Maybe also don't believe her? Tie her to a tree? Kill using his sword?

She shouldn't let him. And she absolutely shouldn't let him do those to these poor kids.

"I'll take care of them. You, Aki-san, and Oneechan should just stay in the innermost part of the cave. Leave these two with me."

"I told you, we can't--"

"I insist." She takes the hand of the two kids and leads them inside the cave, letting them sit on the floor where it's just enough for them to feel the warmth of the fire from within. Aki-san shrugs his shoulders and enters the shelter with Meilin-san. Haru-san puts his sword back in its sheath and follows the two.

Chihiro lets the children sleep on her lap. Thankfully, they've stopped crying. She'll just ask them her questions when they wake up. And, speaking of sleep, she also feels like sleeping too. With all the stress and fatigue she experienced, her eyelids become heavier until they close her eyes and she's carried to dreamland.

+0+0+0+0+

Chihiro is woken up by a really nice smell -- like that one soup her mother cooked one rainy morning. She opens her eyes and is surprised to see that she is no longer inside the cave, waiting for the storm to pass. She's inside a dimly lit messy kitchen with a huge table, huge utensils, and literally huge everything! She tries to stand up but only now notices that she's tied up. Beside her, leaning on her is Meilin-san, deep in sleep and also tied. On her right are a tied and also sleeping Haru-san and Aki-san.

Where are they?

And why are they tied up?

She tries to wake her comrades up but they won't. Panic rising inside her, she squirms out of her binds. But she couldn't free herself. What on earth is happening? She's so frightened that when the enormous door opens, she pretends that she's still asleep.