Fire. That was all Tomoe and Sakura could see as they descended into the chaos below them, the shrieks of the tengu soldiers filling their ears as any water in the camp was thrown onto the blaze in hopes of putting it out. Through the dense smoke they could just make out the shape of Jirou as he sternly ordered his men about and gracefully landed next to him, causing him to jump and start to draw his sword before he realized who they were.

"You two? What are you doing here?!" he barked.

"We were nearby and heard the commotion. What happened?" Tomoe grunted in response.

Jirou grit his teeth as his eyes drank in the still roaring flames. "We don't know for sure but it seems likely that this was an attack by Hirito's forces."

"How would he know you're stationed here though? He doesn't even know where Atomu and I are hiding, does he?" Sakura said, her expression fearful.

Jirou grew gravely quiet, causing Sakura's already fair skin to turn ghostly pale. Eyes narrowing, she grabbed Jirou by the collar and pulled him down so he was looking her in the eye.

"Answer me! Does he know where we are?!" she spat, her fists trembling as her green eyes shone brightly in the light of the fire.

"I...I'm not sure. We have no idea what he knows about us other than our location. I've already sent one of my men to check on the others and escort them back here as a precaution though."

"Just one? You really think one man will be able to take on whatever forces Hirito sends after the greatest threat to his reign?" Tomoe growled.

Jirou's eyes narrowed angrily at the fox. "In case you haven't noticed, my camp is on fire; I can't exactly spare many of my people at the moment."

Rolling his eyes, Tomoe whirled around and glared up at the sky above despite the smoke still obscuring his view. "I know you're there, Mizuki. Get down here now."

After a momentary pause, some of the smoke curled back to reveal the familiar flying cart gracefully floating down towards them, Mizuki and Atomu standing in the doorway with sheepish expressions on their faces.

"So, you were watching us?" Tomoe scowled disapprovingly at them.

"We just wanted to make sure you didn't try anything inappropriate again." Mizuki replied flatly, glowering back at the fox with his arms crossed over his chest.

Meanwhile, Atomu leaped out of the cart and cautiously tiptoed towards his sister, who had released Jirou and now stood staring at the ground and shaking. "Sakura?"

In a blur of motion, the vixen rushed over to him and wrapped him securely in her arms, her eyes welling with tears. "Atomu...I'm not ready. I've gotten stronger but it's not enough. I'm nowhere near Father's level of fighting skill and even he fell to Hirito! I won't be able to stop him! I won't be able to protect you and Nanami and everyone! I...I..."

"Sakura, you need to calm down. We don't know for certain that he has found us-" Atomu tried to say, but she swiftly cut him off.

"But if he has then it's all over! I can't win against him! I promised Dad that I would protect you, but I can't even do that despite all of my training and growth!" Sakura lamented as she squeezed him tighter and buried her face into his shoulder. "Maybe there's still enough time for you to get away. I could stay here and hold him off as long as possible while you find somewhere safe to hide. Maybe if I take long enough you can even escape the country; then Hirito will never be able to find you and you'll be safe! Yes, that's what you need to do! Does Kurama have a private plan? Maybe he can take you with hi, on an upcoming world tour or-"

"Sakura, stop! You're spouting complete nonsense! I am not leaving you!" Atomu snapped.

"Well I'm not letting you stay here! You're the one who bears Dad's god mark! You're the only thing keeping Hirito from winning and getting what he wants! I'm just a pawn; I'm not important! You, however, are the king! If Hirito gets ahold of you then it's game over!" Sakura replied with an equal amount of passion.

"Since when has Sakura known so much about chess to come up with a metaphor like that?" Mizuki whispered to Tomoe.

Tomoe shot the snake a disapproving scowl. "Shouldn't you be helping put out the fire or hurrying home to check on Nanami?"

"But I want to see how this ends!" Mizuki whined.

"This isn't some silly sitcom like Nanami watches, snake! Now go put out those fires!" Tomoe growled, causing Mizuki to roll his eyes before stomping off, grumbling under his breath all the way.

"I'm not leaving you!" Atomu protested, his face growing red as a vein on the side of his head popped.

"Yes you are! You may be a god, Atomu, but I'm your older sister and as such I order you to go!" Sakura retorted, her ears back and her tail swishing from side to side so fast that it was no more than a blur of red.

"And I order you to stay with me! You are my familiar and this my divine order! You cannot refuse!"

"I am your familiar because Dad asked me to be! I never made a contract with you; you have no power over me."

For a moment, the two siblings glared hotly at one another as a tense silence swirled around them, their nostrils flaring and their hands clenching and unclenching into fists as their eyes burned holes into each other's chest. Finally growing annoyed with the situation, Tomoe stepped between to two siblings and proceeded to hit both of them on top of the head.

"Ow! Tomoe, what the heck?!" Sakura whined as she tenderly rubbed the spot where he had struck her.

"I'm sorry; it had to be done or you two wouldn't have stopped squabbling like school children." Tomoe apologized before placing tender, conciliatory kisses on the sensitive skin, the tip of her nose, and finally her lips. "You both have made valid points but I think there is a way to solve all this without Atomu fleeing the country and you offering yourself up as a sacrifice. Your father may have told you to protect your brother but I'm sure he wanted both of you to live."

Hot tears spilled down Sakura's cheeks as she cuddled against Tomoe, whimpering quietly. "Tomoe, I'm scared. I'm scared for Atomu and you and Nanami. I want to protect you all but I can't!"

"Who says you're going to fight him alone? You think I'm just going to sit back and do nothing while my master, my mate, and their loved ones are in danger? I'm not Mizuki or Kurama, Sakura." Tomoe cooed as he rested his forehead against hers, a gesture used by many yokai as a form of comfort as well as a silent expression of deep trust and care.

"Hey! I heard that!" Mizuki exclaimed from somewhere nearby.

"Still, I feel guilty for dragging you into this battle. If Atomu and I had not come to you for help, you would not be in danger now." Sakura whispered.

"You're right, but you would also still be defenseless and I would be even more sour and bitter than I already am. No meeting between people is simply just good or just bad. Both are always present in life; it is we who decide which one to focus on and allow to control us. I for one have had enough with regretting my past and worrying about the future, so let's focus on what we can do now, okay?" Tomoe replied, rubbing her lower back as he rested his chin on the top of her head.

"O-Okay." Sakura replied, her tense shoulders starting to relax as Tomoe's fingers drew intricate patterns along her back, leaving a faint tingling sensation in their wake.

Once he was certain Sakura's panic attack had been neutralized, Tomoe released her and turned to Jirou, who was watching Mizuki curiously as the snake easily snuffed out the many fires that had given his own men great trouble.

"Did the prisoner manage to escape during the chaos?" he asked sternly.

Jirou blinked at him then rested his finger thoughtfully against his chin. "No, she did not. In fact, she became too scared to move when she saw the flames so my men were able to carry her to another holding cell without much trouble."

"So the fires started near where she was being held?"

"One of them, yes."

"I see." Tomoe paused for a moment before continuing. "May I speak to her? I have a feeling she might know something that Hirito doesn't want us to find out."

Jirou's eyes narrowed. "How do I know you're not going in there to kill her yourself? Last I checked, you had a bone to pick with her."

"Now is not the time for vengeance; I'll save that for another day." Tomoe replied curtly. "Now, will you escort me or shall I search every hut here myself till I have found her?"

Jirou clenched his jaw angrily and motioned for the others to follow him. However, before they left, Tomoe turned to Mizuki and called to him.

"Once you're finished here, go and check on Nanami. Given their performance so far, I don't believe I trust these men to safely escort her back here." he stated before trailing before the head tengu, smirking when he noticed the harsh glare sent his way.

"Tomoe, shouldn't you go back to check on Nanami too?" Sakura whispered to him, confusion and worry in her eyes.

"I will be of more use here for now. Mizuki doesn't have an intimidating bone in his body so he wouldn't be of any help with extracting information from this woman." Tomoe replied, his hand looping around her waist again as they walked.

Sakura shuddered. "You're going to interrogate her?"

"Yes. You do not have to watch if you do not wish to." Tomoe cooed softly.

"N-No. I'll be fine. I've seen worse." Sakura replied, though her voice still quivered ever so slightly. However, the defiant glimmer in her eye told Tomoe she was not allowing her fear to control her and it made him stand a little taller as he was filled with a sense of pride.

Before long, the group stood before a sturdy looking hut towards the back of the encampment with three rings of guards standing around it, eyes wide and alert. Seeing Jirou, they all bowed humbly before parting to create a path to the door. Before entering the hut, Jirou was handed a lit torch by one of the soldiers. Tomoe raised an eyebrow.

"It's to make her cooperate. She isn't one to crack easily." Jirou explained bluntly.

Atomu frowned. "You burn her?"

"No but she doesn't like us getting to close to her with it." Jirou replied before one of his men opened the locked door and ushered them all inside.

The hut had no windows so the torch provided the only source of light. In the dim light, Tomoe, Sakura, and Tomoe could just make out the shape of the chameleon woman sitting down on a wooden stool, her arms and legs chained to the wall behind her. Noticing their presence, she glared up at them for a moment before turning her gaze to Jirou.

"Are you going to kill me now?" she spat bitterly.

"Not today, Ayano. The fox has some questions for you." Jirou replied, nodding at Tomoe

The woman's lips curved into a sneer. "You think you can make me talk? Take your best shot."

Tomoe looked unperturbed by the woman's challenge and approached her with little caution. "Ayano. So that's your name."

Ayano's eyes watched him closely. Scowling down at her, Tomoe ignited a ball of fire in his hand, making her jump and try to back away.

"I believe you have some information that will be useful to us. Care to share it?" he growled, the flames giving his face an eerie glow.

Ayano clenched his teeth. "I'm not scared of your little flame, fox."

"Really? Then you wouldn't mind me coming closer, would you?" Tomoe responded and inched closer to her, making her squirm ever so slightly.

"Get away from me."

"Tell me what you know and I will."

"Never! My sealed lips are what's keeping me alive around here."

"You think you'll be killed as soon as you've told us what we want to know?"

"Either you will or Hirito will."

"I think Hirito plans to kill you regardless of whether you speak up or not."

"What do you mean?"

"Those fires from earlier...I think they were meant to kill you."

Ayano stared up at Tomoe for a moment before her lips curved into an unnerving smile and she started to laugh. "That's what you think? You're dumber than I thought, fox."

Tomoe angrily clenched his teeth and shoved the ball of flames closer to Ayano's face. "What do you mean? What do you know?!"

"Nothing that will be of any help to you now." Ayano chortled, her eyes sparkling.

Growing angrier by the second, Tomoe grabbed Ayano by the neck with his free hand and lifted her into the air. "Did you leak information about this camp and Atomu's location to Hirito?!"

"How could I? I've been locked up here the entire time. I do know who did though." Ayano snickered.

"Who?!"

"Even if I told you, it's probably too late to do anything."

"Tell me now, wench!"

Ayano only laughed maniacally while Tomoe squeezed her neck with all his might. Fearing he would kill her, Jirou stepped forward and tried to pull the two apart, but Tomoe threw him off with ease.

"What has Hirito done, you psychopath?! What do you know?!" the fox seethed, an aura of bloodlust oozing from him.

"Not enough to save your friends. The vixen and the demigod will be dead within a fortnight." Ayano sang smugly, her eyes fixed on Sakura and Atomu.

Tomoe angrily ground his teeth and discarded Ayano on the floor, raising his hand to strike her down. However, before he could, Atomu stepped between them and grabbed the fox by the arm.

"Tomoe, stop! She's trying to get under you skin. Let me try." he said before turning to Ayano with a stony expression on his face. Ayano smirked at him.

"You should just surrender if you wish to save your friends. Even now it might be too late for them." she hissed mockingly.

"And what will happen to you if I do that?" Atomu responded coolly.

Ayano's smile faltered. "What?"

"After my sister and I are dead, what will happen to you? You don't think you'll get to just walk away with your reward, do you? Even the little you know about Hirito is too much and makes you a threat to him. He'll pay you and then have you struck down before you can cross the threshold."

Ayano's expression remained fixed, but even in the poor lighting Atomu could tell that her skin had paled significantly.

"You may not be liked here but I promise that you're safe. These men serve me and I will not have you killed for no reason. You may still keep silent if you wish, but if something happens to us, I suggest you forget the money and run. If you're lucky, you might be able to escape to someplace where he won't find you." the demigod continued gravely, his eyes never turning from hers as the air between them grew heavier and heavier to the point that it was pinning the chameleon to the floor. Once he had finished, he rose to his feet and turned to walk away when Ayano suddenly spoke, her voice now soft and solemn.

"Even if I told you everything I know, it's too late to matter. Hirito already has what he needs to get you to come to him." she whispered, her eyes fixed on the floor.

Atomu glanced over his shoulder and frowned at her. "And what is that?"

Ayano did not answer, and the room became blanketed in silence as the others thought long and hard about the cryptic statement. Suddenly, Sakura's eyes went wide.

"Nanami." she said.

Atomu and Tomoe both tensed as they turned to look at her, hoping they had misheard her. "What?"

"Nanami. He's going after Nanami!" Sakura exclaimed, her voice trembling.

In a split second, Tomoe was out of the hut and soaring through the camp as fast as he could, Sakura, Atomu, and Jirou right behind him. As the tops of trees blurred into a sea of green beneath him, the familiar's frantic heartbeat roared in his ears as the rest of his body became numb with panic. It took him under ten minutes to get back to the shrine, but each second seem to stretch out for an eternity as his mind raced with all the possible torments his goddess might be suffering at the moment. When the house finally came into view, he gracelessly dropped to the ground and ran into the house, calling out frantically.

"Nanami! Nanami!"

"Tomoe!" Mizuki's voice exclaimed as the snake came racing out of the living room, tears spilling down his cheeks. "Tomoe, she's gone! Nanami's gone!"

Instantly, Tomoe's panic began to melt away, leaving room for a new emotion to emerge: blinding rage. Whirling around, he tried to run for the door but Atomu and Jirou swiftly caught hold of him.

"Let me go! I'm going to rip that wretched reptiles to shreds!" he shrieked angrily, thrashing violently in their grasp.

"Tomoe, knock it off. Killing Ayano won't do us any good!" Atomu exclaimed.

"I don't care! She could have prevented this and she didn't! Furthermore, she hurt Sakura, your sister! Why do you try to protect her?"

"Because my father believed bloodshed was never the answer to anything!" Atomu bellowed angrily, causing Tomoe to quiet down. "My father fought only when he had to and only as a last resort. He never like fighting or war or death; he was a god who valued life, peace, and compromise! Even in death, I'm sure my father would still feel the same way, and I am going to lead in the way I feel would make him proud."

Tomoe shot the demigod an annoyed scowl but he didn't struggle against him any further. Turning sharply to Mizuki, he barked, "Where is Hiromi? Was she taken as well?"

"She's in the living room getting patched up by Onikiri and Kotetsu and Lord Mikage. It appears whoever kidnapped Nanami tried to kill her as well but failed." Mizuki said.

Tomoe's eyes widened. "Mikage? He's here?"

"Isn't that what I just said?"

Rolling his eyes, Tomoe hurried into the living room, and sure enough, there was Mikage, seated on the ground wrapping a massive bandage around Hiromi's waist. Jirou immediately rushed to the peahen's side and scooped her up in his arms so gently one would have thought she was a porcelain doll on the verge of breaking. Hiromi offered the massive tengu a weary smile and raised a trembling hand to caress his cheek.

"You came..." she said in a voice so quiet a mouse would have trouble hearing it.

"Who did this to you?" Jirou asked fiercely, though his eyes conveyed worry instead of anger.

"One of your men came to the house earlier and asked to speak with Nanami. He was acting odd, so I followed him and listened outside the room where he and the tochigami were speaking. When I heard her, I ran in, but the man had been waiting for me and attacked me before running off with Nanami." Hiromi replied quietly, resting her cheek against Jirou's chest as her tired eyes peered up at his face.

Jirou clenched his jaw as his body started to tremble his pent-up anger. "One of my men? One of my men did this to you?"

"That must be who leaked your location to Hirito." Sakura stated.

Tomoe did not say anything; he was completely frozen as he stared at Mikage with wide eyes.

"You..."

Mikage offered him a sad smile. "Tomoe."

"You....Why didn't you stop him?! Why didn't you intervene and save her?! She is your predecessor, is she not?! Don't you care about her at all?! Why are you never there when we need you?!" Tomoe cried angrily, hot tears running down his face as he glared at his former master.

Mikage only gazed back at Tomoe with sympathetic eyes. "I did not know anything about this, Tomoe, though I wish I had. The only reason I came here was to pay Nanami a visit and ask about you, but instead I found Hiromi here in critical condition. I'm sorry that I could not have been of more help."

Tomoe said nothing, his hands clenching and unclenching into fists. Watching him with worried eyes, Sakura crept up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Tomoe, what are we going to do?" she whispered.

"I don't know. Hirito has his location cloaked, no doubt, so I'm sure it will not be easy to find him." the fox replied defeatedly.

"Tomoe, I'm so sorry."

The room grew silent until a tengu soldier suddenly came running in, panting and wheezing heavily.

"S-Sir! The prisoner has agreed to tell us where Hirito's base is!" he exclaimed once he had caught his breath, bowing respectfully to Jirou as he spoke.

Tomoe, Atomu, and Jirou all locked eyes, a silent understanding passing between them.

"Ready the troops then." Jirou ordered bluntly. "Tonight, we go to save the goddess of this shrine."

-----------------------------

((Hey guys! Just a little heads up, I'm going on a short hiatus starting sometime Sunday afternoon/evening and ending sometime Friday afternoon/evening. Updates also might slow down a bit since summer is close to ending for me. However, I promise I'll keep doing my best to fill your hungry hearts and minds no matter the season so don't worry and have patience with me. Love you all and see you all soon!))