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Iwako and Shinta continued walking along the mountain path, holding each others' paws as they used to do when they were young. Even though Ryuzaki had made it clear he had disposed of the leopard's henchmen, the girls kept their weapons close. Shinta opted for her shorter sword for ease of concealment in the dark of night--something inspired by the maned assassin they had earlier befriended. The sword itself was straight with a slightly wider blade that terminated in an angle at the tip. It featured a convenient ring at the bottom of its handle. They had no need of their precautions however.

Iwako chose a spot overlooking some of the lower peaks in the range for their camp. Setting her bags down, Shinta began to walk off.

"Where exactly are you going?" Iwako's query struck Shinta as odd.

"I'm going for firewood. I don't know how much I'll find but..."

"We don't make a fire on a high peak in unfamiliar territory! Ryuzaki said there was a secret training ground here, right? How do we know there aren't others out here, ones who might not mind slitting our throats in our sleep?" Shinta's facial expression froze for a moment, and then she heaved a particularly heavy sigh. "You just need to pay more attention to things."

"...I know."

"We make cold camp tonight. Spread out your sleeping arrangements and let's turn in. And...Shinta..."

"What is it?" Iwako came forward to hug her friend, the one who she knew would be with her until the end. A slight gasp escaped Shinta as Iwako entwined her.

"Don't scare me like you did today ever again."

"You're being unusually touch-oriented today. Is...something the matter?"

"What do you think would happen to me if I lost you? Where would I go? My life would never be the same. And now that we're out here on our own, you're the only person who I could ever trust. Now let's go to bed, before anything else happens." Shinta had nothing to say, so she simply returned Iwako's embrace and then slipped under her blankets, head spinning.

*********************???????????*********************

"Wake up. We have much to discuss."

"Wh...what?" Shinta opened her eyes in a dark, stone room with a high ceiling. It took her a moment to recognize it, but it came back to her. This was the room in which she pulled a sword out of a stone altar. This was the room where she encountered...

"Behind you." Him.

As she turned to face the speaker, she saw the stone altar. Whoever he was, he was standing to the right of the altar, still covered in the black fabric from their last encounter. His footpaws were just barely visible from under it.

"It's coldly ironic of the gods to choose you, of all people to unseal me. But I suppose that's the point."

"Who...just who are you?"

"I have been known by many names over the centuries. But my birth name was Yatemo. I was a ruler. I was what you would call a 'King,' although my subjects viewed me as the divine descendant of the gods."

"I'm...confused. You keep saying 'was'...so that means you're dead, right?"

"Yes."

"But if you're dead...what are you doing here? And...what is here, exactly?"

"Well, all of that starts with a further explanation of who...of what...I am."

"...huh?"

"In the way it was explained it to me, I am half of you, and you are half of me. Neither of us is has a whole soul. It was separated for a purpose, which I will elaborate on later. But as far as this place goes, it is a place inside me, and also inside you. It is known as the Temple of Echoes. It is here that the two of us may meet at any time, OUTSIDE of time."

"Outside of time? I'm afraid I don't understand..."

"Do you remember the first time we met? When you fainted in battle, you were only out for a matter of seconds. Time here is not time there. Basically, this will give us time to discuss and to train without worrying about the outside. But for the time being, we can only commune in here. As I regain some of my strength however, I should be able to manifest myself in the real world once more."

"I'm sorry but this is just a little much for me. Everything you've just told me is so strange and it's...I just...ugh, my head..."

"My appologies. I suppose I should have explained things to you in smaller doses. In that case, we will continue this conversation tomorrow night. And tomorrow, I will be strong enough to remove the remainder of my imprisonment garb." The room started to dissolve and swim before Shinta's eyes.

"W-wait! How do I know this isn't a dream?"

"You'll find a spare limb when you need it most. That will be your proof." And with that, the vision was gone. Shinta woke up in her bed on the ground. The first thing she saw was Iwako, sound asleep next to her. The moon in the sky was at zenith, which meant that the night was half over.

"A spare limb...? What was he...?" With a sigh and a rough facepaw, Shinta fell back into bed. "Ugh...the hard ground must have caused it..." A final sigh and Shinta tried to resume her rest, wishing that the rest of her life's recent events would vanish before her as well.