Gritting his teeth, Hanamichi got up shakily and leaned out of the window. Glaring daggers down wasn’t going to of any use.

"I always win in the end."

The anger stirred up again, this time blowing up into a raging inferno. It didn’t matter that the other party had the physical advantage at that moment. It didn’t matter that he had fainted just a day ago. It didn’t matter that that monster had wings.

What mattered was this -

The tensai never loses!

Without bothering to look back, Hanamichi climbed out of the window, in search of that dark-haired youth.

"No - Hanamichi!" Youhei shouted. "Where do you think you are going?!" He rushed to the side of the window and peered down. Cursing, he balanced himself on the ledge of the window and prepared to follow, only to be pulled back by Hiko.

"Don’t be rash, young man."

"But - " Youhei hissed furiously.

"Brother.." Haruko had also woke up at the noise.

"You stay here. Yasuda, guard her. The rest, come with me!" Akagi ignored the pleas of his sister.

"No time to waste - let’s go!" Hiko motioned to the back, then pulled Youhei along with him. The room was already empty. "Use your head - the fastest way to get down is by the door, NOT the window. " Akagi was already downstairs, with his men. They were all hard-core warriors trained to react fast to situations like this.

They all searched. Down the city streets, up and over every window of the inn. Even as far as taking the horses and riding them out at least half the night. But they couldn’t find Hanamichi, nor the elusive dark angel. It was if they had both disappeared with the mist.

The time passed until it was just a few hours before dawn. In the end, Akagi called for a stop. His impromptu search party had split up at the beginning but all had come back with no news of Hanamichi. They had even gone all the way to the edge of the Forest Kiel. Now they gathered a few leagues away from the Forest Kiel. It was a short distance from the borders of the city, but a considerable ride back to their inn.

"Enough, we will carry on tomorrow." The men are tired ..

He frowned up at the sky. How could I have lost him?! My Lord had entrusted me with his scion ..

"But.. how can we give up now? Hanamichi could be in danger!" Youhei protested, riding up to face Akagi.

"It’s strange. How far could Hanamichi had gone?" Hiko murmured softly. "He had no horse, and furthermore, he had to climb down that window - which was at least 5 levels.. unless.."

"Unless.. ?" No one continued the sentence for Youhei. He looked down at the ground, his head in a whirl and the anxiety finally overwhelmed him. "He must be here somewhere.."

Akagi pretended he didn’t hear the plea. Turning his horse, he motioned to his men and said calmly." Let’s go."

Hanamichi, you had best survive till I find you, because when I do find you, I am going to spank you till you beg for mercy..

Where the hell could he have gone? Baka.. With an indignant shake of his head, Youhei kicked his horse and it reared, preparing to go right into the Forest Kiel. Akagi motioned to Hiko, an almost imperceptible movement. And he was about to go after Youhei when they all stopped moving.

"Hanamichi?" Youhei squinted into the distance.

Two people had just appeared at the edge of the forest. It hadn’t been clear at first, but now that the moon had reappeared, it was possible to see what they were wearing. The men fell silent. Hiko tensed, his sword arm preparing for battle. Akagi merely waited.

One was wearing the long grey robes of a scholar and the other in seasoned dark brown leather. A strange combination. Whoever they were, none of them was Hanamichi.

"Walk no further and proclaim yourselves --- or else you will be sorry." The calm, confident voice of Akagi held a subtle warning. Hiko raised his sword. Youhei tensed. There was something strange about these two men, it was as if he had seen them somewhere before.

But he was sure that these two were total strangers! The taller one glared back at Akagi and then Youhei couldn’t catch the action but what happened next drew a gasp from everyone. A dagger had flown from seemingly nowhere and darted into the ground just a few inches away from the hooves of the horse that Akagi was riding. It was so fast that no one reacted. There was only a cold, icy silence at that demonstration of speed.

"I don’t take orders well." The taller one said haughtily, and it was then that Youhei noted the scar at his chin. This one was dangerous. The shorter one just looked on calmly and did not say anything.

Ah, a mercenary... Akagi didn’t move back nor did he look at the dagger. It was as if the dagger had been of no consequence to him. But he noted the symbol that glinted strangely in the moonlight.

That is NOT the symbol of the Brothers of the Dagger...so why does his skill reflect that of the legendary Brothers? In a split second, Akagi made his decision. He would not entertain one who had such a murky background. There was more important business at hand.

"We will leave now." He motioned to the rest of the men and caught hold of Youhei who was still staring strangely at the two youths.

"You will not be able to find what you seek." For the first time, the other youth spoke.

One who handles a dagger with such skill, yet not a Brother. One who but wears the robes of a simple scholar but exudes the power of at least the level of a seer...they bring only one thing. Trouble.

"You do not know what I am seeking." Akagi’s glance would have impaled another man, but the scholar did not seem to be at all affected. The supposedly mercenary scowled at the tone but did not interrupt.

"You are seeking the dream of your childhood." The scholar said, a voice that rang as clear as a bell. He stepped forward, only to be greeted by Hiko’s sword. The mercenary was just as fast, side stepping the scholar and placing himself between Hiko who was still seated on his horse and his companion.

Youhei stared at both of them, his mind in a whirl. There was something undefinable about the scholar, something that he could not grasp. The scholar was the nexus of something so powerful that he couldn’t even see the boundary of it.

How the hell did I know that?

"Don’t try to play games here.." The taller one frowned at Hiko.

"Mitsui.. please.." The scholar admonished gently.

"I don’t see why we have to be so damned polite to these people!" The mercenary scowled, his eyes throwing a challenge at Hiko.

Meanwhile, Akagi remained silent, his face an expressionless mask. Youhei glanced curiously at the general. Dreams? What dreams?

Akagi appeared to have to come to a conclusion of his own, because he suddenly slapped his horse and turned swiftly. Hiko looked startled then followed, like the rest of the men. Youhei frowned.

Gripping the reins tightly, he called out stubbornly, "I am going to look for Hanamichi alone then."

"No, the one you seek is with the Darkangel." The scholar now turned his gaze to Youhei.

Akagi turned sharply and Hiko sucked in his breath.

"How do you know that?" Akagi asked in a low, measured tone.

Youhei couldn’t breathe. It was astonishing how a person with such a gentle demeanour could have such a piercing stare. One that seemed to look right through his soul. For a few moments, Youhei was so stunned by the impact of the eye contact that he couldn’t move.

"The child of the sun will return, but not before and not after." The scholar turned his gaze back to Akagi, a strangely indecipherable expression on his face.

Child of the sun? Akagi froze.

"Playing with words again, Kogure?" The mercenary said in a bored tone.

Youhei moved forward, then got down his horse. It was strange how he found these 2 strangers so familiar, but even stranger when he realised that he trusted the words of the scholar. Hiko blurted out a ‘fool!’ when he saw Youhei going so close to the two.

The one called Mitsui regarded Youhei with an almost amused look, then turned to the scholar and remarked, "So who is this one?"

Kogure looked askance at Mitsui’s lack of courtesy then bowed to Youhei.

Youhei stared unmoving in front of both of them as he tried to assess the whirl in his mind, then said flatly, "I know the two of you."

Kogure smiled warmly.

"Forgive me for not acknowledging thee earlier." The seemingly harmless scholar then held out both hands by way of greeting. Youhei could have sworn at the moment that he was bathed with a soft light, so soft that it was there one moment, and gone the next.

"Greetings, oh Eternal One."

Note: Harlow!! TP is back after a super-long absence!! *grin* Erm, just a note to thank all the little reminders that I have received asking me to write faster and to come up with this chapter. Sorrie for making you wait so long.. gomen nasai *bows* It has been at least 3 months since I last wrote something for TP *sheepish* I assure you, I won't give this story up.. heh heh at least that's what I think now... hahahahahahahahah .. don't mind me, I am on a crazy streak today..

One other thing to note here. This chapter introduces another two main characters, Mitsui and Kogure. I have written a side story explaining their arrival. That story is called The Mission and you can read the whole fic here. (A total of 10 chapters)