"The battle is far from over!" Cross yelled.

The villagers surrounded them, inching closer with their weapons, some lit up in a spark of blue flames-- but none took that daring step forward for the first step.

Cross clung to his wound, falling on one knee.

"Just the small fries left," Takara was staggering as well, "we can make it."

"You say that and you look like the wind could blow you down," Luz joked, leaning heavily against the tree, "why don't you stay back and let me do it?"

"Luz, you're half conscious," Visul helpfully supplied, "and you suck at using the strings."

"Visul, you got my blade stuck in a goddamn tree," Cross growled, eyeing the fallen tree and the blade stuck inside its broken trunk, "how am I gonna fight now?"

"My bad," Visul muttered, a smirk growing on her face as she spoke jokingly, "why don't you sleep over there while we finish up, then?"

Luz snickered, and Takara chuckled.

"Hey, that's not funny!" Cross whined, "I'm dying here!"

The three burst into laughter. Cross pouted.

With a new resolve in their step, they charged forward toward the crowd.

  ー  

A gunshot burst through the air. The man Cross was fighting fell down, having been shot right in the back. Cross fell back, exhausted-- realizing that was the last of their foes, he breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, you guys!" Titus hollered.

"Titus?!" Cross shot back up.

The blond man had changed his own bandages, walking up the mountain. He looked around, appalled at the destruction and the burnt trees, and the unconscious bodies shrewn about all over the place.

"Geez, you guys, what on earth did you do when I was sleeping?" Titus scratched the back of his head, "did you kill the whole population?"

He approached Cross with ease, eyeing the wound on the younger boy's shoulder.

Cross snickered, "it's a super long story!" he said.

"Then save it," Titus sighed. 

A lump wriggled from his back, crawling to the front, then peeking out from under his shirt.

"Gao!" Leer called, leaping toward Cross.

"Leer!" Cross bloomed in happiness, catching the bear in an euphoric, excited hug, "ahh, I missed you so much! Were you a good boy when I was gone?"

"Gaa-ohh!" Leer grinned.

  ー  

The four battlers dropped their weapons, falling to exhaustion and finally catching their breaths. Takara leaned back against a tree, unable to even voice out a retort against Titus.

Visul fell to her knees-- "Luz... it's all gone," she told him, "the mansion, the town... did we really take out everything? Is everything over?"

She seemed like she needed to cry-- but for what? She was confused by it. 

The house she lived in had burned down to ashes. The people she hid from were now all here, down and unconscious and may never see her again.

"It's over, Vis," Luz mumbled back, lying down on the ground now. 

Visul bit her lip.

The sky had cleared and the rain had gone. But neither of the twins were happy about it at all.

Home, she repeated in her head-- the place to return.

And it was burned down now, unable to reside. The villagers scorned her more than ever now-- she couldn't stay here anymore. Not on this island-- no, she wasn't intending on leaving the island. But she didn't want to stay here either.

Home, she repeated again, You've never lived, Visul, Luz had told her. 

  ー  

She had only lived by one rule in her life. Home. To stay in the house-- in that mansion-- and never come out. It was a cage and the order was to wait.

"We'll be back soon, alright?" her mother always told her, "so don't leave the house."

"Visul, you're a good girl, so stay at home."

"Sorry, Vis," Luz had begged her, the day she was kept in the mansion, "stay here, and don't let anyone find you."

The last time she left, she lost everything. She feared to take a step out of her cage. She was a willing prisoner, bound by only rules that no longer needed to be obeyed.

Rather than her not knowing how to step out-- she never knew how to live in the outside world.

She choked back a sob, "Hey, Luz... what should I do?" she turned to her brother, her hands trembling, her eyes watering, "where should I go, how should I live from now on?"  

At that, Luz closed his eyes and only laughed.

"Hell if I'd know," he sat up. "But, Vis, I know that I'm staying on this island."

At that, Cross and Takara shot up in alarm, "wait, Luz?!"

Luz stood up, walking over to his sister and facing her with a bright smile on his face, "I've lived here all my life, Vis. I know for sure that this is my land."

He crouched down and put his hand on the ground.

"I'll take over Elder Yun's spot on the chain of command. I'll make this my island," he promised, "The Yun are a prideful clan that always follow the strongest as the leader. Now that we've defeated Elder Yun-- that makes us leader, right?"

Visul looked at him expectantly. That sounded like such an idealistic dream.

"Dad was gunning for Elder's spot too, y'know?" Luz joked, "I can't let Dad's dream go to waste!"

"That's unrelated, Luz!" Visul complained, "you intend on staying? Do you want to die? You're not even strong or anything."

Luz chopped her on the head. 

"I'll get stronger!" Luz whined, "it has nothing to do with you, Vis!"

"How the hell does it NOT have anything to do with me?" Visul whined.

The two fell silent.

"Hey, Visul, I'm telling you this as the new Elder of Shikke Island," Luz lay back down, looking toward the sky-- it was a bright, light blue, with plenty of cloud but none that painted grey. "Leave the island with those outsiders, Visul."

Visul bit her lip, "I don't want to."

"The Shikke Clan lost the war-- this island belongs to the Yun now," Luz said sternly, "you're the last Shikke on this island, Visul. This is no longer your island-- so you have to leave."

Visul sucked in a breath, "but you're a Shikke too."

"You're a witch," Luz pointed out bluntly, "we share our blood-- but I'm someone that has never nurtured my abilities. I'm different."

"That's a lie," Visul spat.

"Get real, Visul," Luz growled, "aren't you a Shikke?"

"That's why I want to stay here, Luz!" Visul snapped, "the Shikke cling to home. I'm--"

"You have no home!" Luz raised his voice. 

Visul, biting her lip-- burst into tears. "I know... I already know, you asshole!" she got up, grabbing Luz by the collar, "but what should I do? How do I cling to home when I don't even have one? Hey, Luz... do you know what to do? what can I do? What would you do if you were in my place?"

Her voice shattered, spilling past her throat painfully, vomitting out emotions that she felt disgusted to have. That she never found the need to experience. She was confused-- confused, and so, so new to everything.

You've never lived, Luz had told her, neither have you grown up at all. Visul was just a child deep inside, never allowed to grow up and never being taught how to grow up. 

Swearing under his breath, Luz pushed back against Visul.

"I'm telling you to get off the island and find yourself a home!" he yelled, "Go do what no Shikke has ever done, leave! Find yourself a home that isn't this humid land you have nothing to love!"

"Hey, hey," Takara stepped in, reaching his hand between them and pushing them apart, "cool your heads, both of you. Talk this through calmly."

The two seemed like angry kittens growling at each other from two ends of Takara's hands. 

"Hey, you two..." Takara grabbed them by the scruff-- "CALM DOWN!"

He smashed their heads together.

They both screamed in agony, contorting in a crumpled mess on the ground.

"What the hell was that for?!" they screamed.

Takara sighed. 

"Takara's right, if you yell so loudly like that, the villagers are gonna wake up and we'll have to fight again," Cross whined, "Visuuul, heal my wounds for meee!!"

Cross crouched down next to Visul like a spoilt child.

Visul had to laugh, "alright, alright."

"Hey, Luz, are you really intent on staying on the island?" Cross asked the boy, "you might die."

Luz nodded, "I've lived on this island alone for ten year, after all! If I know anything-- it's that they will submit to the stronger. Even Elder Yun was a half-blood and they obeyed him--strength is a matter of pride to them. They're not gonna burn me, I hope!"

Luz's gaze was serious. He was determined, and Cross knew that look-- it was one of a man that wouldn't change his mind anymore.

"My father loved this island, my mother loved this island too--" Luz told him, "I want to do my part and make sure this island doesn't become an abandoned, uninhabited piece of dead land."

Cross, in respect for that resolve, smiled.

"Hey, Visul," Cross turned to Visul, who was working to mend his large shoulder wound, "would you join me on my pirate ship?"

Visul tutted, "I said I wasn't going to leave--"

"If you don't have a home," Cross was unaffected by her immediate rejection, "we can be your home. As it so happens, Takara and I are vagabond because we couldn't stay in our homes anymore, y'know? We're the same!" 

Visul faltered.

"Leer too!" Takara chuckled, "we all kinda have nowhere to go and nowhere to return to-- so we ran to the sea, thinking we could belong there. The sea belongs to everyone, y'know. It's a free place, and anyone can be there."

Visul felt her fists clench-- her heart was beating in a staccato unfamiliar to her, feeling an emotion she didn't want to.

"Our boat is small now-- but we'll get a bigger one. We'll find more comrades, we'll go on adventures together," Cross promised, "would you join us, Visul?"

If you have no home, just go find one, Visul realized.

Maybe, just maybe-- that was the true intention of this rule the Shikke had always followed. To find themselves a home they could call a place they loved. To find a place they would love to die in, and enjoy living in.

To Luz, it was Shikke Island.

To Visul-- 

A tear fell from her cheek.

She sniffled.

If you don't have a home, we'll be your home.

Would you join us, Visul?

"Yes," she choked out the words, "please." Bring me out to sea, she pleaded in her heart, let me have a home in you. "I want to have a place I can call home, Cross."

Cross seemed to burst into joy. He turned quickly to Takara, who broke into a smile at the sight. Leer, uprooting from inside Cross's shirt, landed on Cross' head and hopped forward, leaping into Visul's lap.

"Gawrahhh!"

"Hey, Leer!" Takara freaked out.

Standing at the side, Luz smiled. Wiping a happy tear from his eye, he turned around and made his way down the mountain.

  ー  

"This country only had one rule-- Home-- it's to live where you die, to die where you live. To hold your hearth closer than your heart, and always return to it."