In the bright morning, a little distance away from the small village, the General and his small group of men were getting ready to mount their horses. After a long month of hard riding in the harsh winter, he and his men had finally reached the Peach Blossom Village. It was hidden in an obscure sort of corner, that made it hard for any man to find it.

Takenori Akagi stood staring at the horizon. He was tall and dark, and he induced fear at anyone whom he chooses to intimidate. "I must not fail this mission. Success will come at whatever cost I can afford to pay." He told himself silently. The land is in times of tumult and war threatened to break out at the borders of the land. He could feel it in his bones --- change was abound in this time and place.

"Big brother .. !! Look at these .." A girlish voice gushed enthusiastically. The owner of the voice was a slender girl, with brownish shoulder-length hair. She was not a great beauty, but it was however, the plain-ness that was her strength.

"Haruko? We are setting off soon. Go mount your horse, I had instructed Yasuda to prepare the steed for you already." Akagi was having difficulty trying to frown at his dearest sister. In the end, he had to give up, he was no match for his sister’s lovely smiles.

"It is spring and flowers are blooming.. " Haruko slipped a wreath of yellow daisies on Akagi’s head and giggled. Her big brother looked so cute with flowers on his head ^_^ His men were trying to stop guffawing at the huge, stern general’s ridiculous appearance.

"Oh Haruko~" Akagi sighed and glared at his men. "Move, now! Anybody caught left behind will cook and clean up the campfire for a month!!" Nobody laughed after that.

"Take care, my brother.." Haruko murmured. Turning, she motioned to her guard to ride back to the inn which was at least another week’s of hard riding. Akagi had instructed her to wait for him there, where it was safer.

And so, the team, except Haruko and her guard turned towards the village and started riding hard. It would probably take just less than a day to reach their final destination.

Hopefully, it would mean the end of their journeys. The long, difficult search for the Prince of Light.

Back at the village...

Youhei and Hanamichi had just finished class. Bounding right out of the enclosed wooden schoolroom, Hanamichi exclaimed, " Let’s go get something to eat .. I am hungry.."

A distracted reply came back. "Yeah, okie.. " Youhei was still copying down the teacher’s notes. After a few more minutes, he gathered up all his books and followed Hanamichi out.

They stopped at the village market. Like any other day, it was a busy, hectic day. The market had always been the centre of activity. Here, you could buy anything you wish, do business or just sit around and people-watch.

"Hey look at that .. steaming ramen!" Hanamichi excitedly grabbed Youhei’s arm and pointed. The two sat down at the ramen stall and ordered 2 large bowls of ramen. While gobbling it down, Hanamichi was having this totally satisfied grin on his face. Youhei shook his head, smiling a little.. does it really take so little to make this innocent contented?

"There they are!!! Get them .. ! They were the ones who beat me and my brothers up this morning.. " A by-now familiar voice shouted, rising above the tumult of the market. Across in the opposite direction, Youhei could see a large group of people making their way towards them.

Rikai again.. this time, I will not let him off easily .. Youhei thought grimly, standing and preparing his stance.

As always, Hanamichi was the first to shout his battle cry. He overturned the table (luckily for both that they had finished their ramen) and made a rude gesture that said "Come!"

The fight was bloody, short and ugly. 8 people of Rikai’s level really couldn’t do much to hurt either Hanamichi or Youhei. Hanamichi was already sitting on top of Rikai and slapping him for ‘the number of times you called my friend a bastard from the time we were all in Primary Level(of school)" Youhei was apologising to the ramen stall owner for messing up the place and promising that it would never happen again.

Amidst the furore, a deep, low voice bellowed. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?" Hanamichi looked up and all he could see was a huge frown glaring down at him. All he could think of was ---

"Gorilla?" It inadvertently slipped from his mouth, as he stared amazed at this huge, dark brute of a hulking giant.

Takenori Akagi blinked. All he could see in front of him was a youth sitting astride another who was whining. It was a ridiculous sight but what really caught his eye was the hair ---

Brilliant red, shining like burnished copper. It even shot the sun’s rays back at the sun, as if challenging the giver of all life with all its defiance. It declared its royalty just by its hue alone.

No one has this kind of hair, unless ..

It was then that the insult sank in.

"Who are you calling gorilla? Is there no law and order in the village?" Akagi recalled his senses and seized Hanamichi up with an iron grip.

How could this little gangster be my great Lord’s hope and glory?

"Erm, sir, we weren’t really doing anything.." Youhei hurriedly came forward. He swept his eyes at the entourage in front of him. The huge one who held Hanamichi up so easily was obviously the leader and it seemed that he had a very high rank. They were dressed in armour but only the giant had a sort of dark red cape about him. And one important thing ---they were all well-armed with swords hanging by their sides. Youhei knew that they could not afford to offend this group of people. Not just yet.

He noticed the strange look that Akagi gave Hanamichi. And felt himself freeze when the giant turned his gaze to him instead.

Akagi narrowed his eyes. It was impossible. The familiar lines of Youhei’s face was cauing his blood to stop flowing. Shaking his head, he muttered "Two of them. Two at the same time... !"