All the better; all the worse . . .

[Nayt]

Akizets felt a familiar warmness as Eld replied. She curled in on herself, but not in an ashamed or frightened way. Rather, it was a way of keeping that warmness in. She held her arms to her chest and smiled serenely. Her cheeks were burning but she didn't at all pay it any mind. It was only now, now that Eld came out and said it, that Akizetsumei became acutely aware of her goal's ultimate success: to befriend Eldridge Tsukimono. She was his friend now. He outright called her that. Akizets kept running what he said in her mind over and over again. She'd made a friend with a boy that wasn't going to just leave her to apathy. She'd made a friend that would actually care.

Maybe she could be friends with Sarah just the same. And Maya and Emily, too.

You're sweet. She almost said it to Eld. She wanted to say it. It almost hurt her to hold it back, and just as she didn't understand why she was so nervous to show her heartfelt appreciation for Eld coming out here with her, she didn't know why she was so unwilling to say that.

And so instead, she focused on something completely different. Akizets looked to Eld. Her head was tilted to the side and one of her eyebrows lifted.

"You didn't know?" She asked, "Tou trains allllll the time. Every day, in fact!"

She paused to think about it.

"I dunno why he wouldn't tell you." Akizets shrugged. It didn't seem like a big deal. She was never made aware that it was any sort of secret. "He picked up this book a long time ago on some sorta . . . dead martial art, or something. I think it's called kenbo? Kendo, maybe? I dunno. It's weird. But it's kinda cool, too. I mean, he has his own sword and everything."

[Zach Kaiser]

"No. I mean, I knew he liked to go off on his own a lot, but I never knew he was practicing kendo. Or that he owned a sword." Toushikyo was a very private person, after all, and even though Eld had gone to his house he usually wasn't allowed to see his room.

It made him a little nervous, since he'd been practicing something on his own in secret for some time. But practicing tricks for beating Sarah sometime sounded rather pathetic compared to practicing an actual martial discipline. He decided to keep his mouth shut about it for the time being.

"Err...though, I don't think kendo is a dead art," he felt the need to point out. "I'm pretty sure it's practiced in Cizok still."

After taking another bite, he added, "I brought an apple for you there if you want it."

[Nayt]

"Oh! Thanks," Akizets chimed as she reached into her bag for a moment. She shuffled her hand around blindly until she felt something that was shaped like an apple, and promptly withdrew it.

Then she thought about Cizok and kendo. To her knowledge, kendo was a dead martial art. To her knowledge, Cizok had no use for such formalities anymore. She took a bite of the apple as she thought about it.

"Maybe," Akizets replied.

She thought about it for a moment. She couldn't remember for sure, but her old history teacher talked about Cizok for awhile. It was so far back that it seemed utterly ancient to her, but there was supposed to have been some revolution or something, but it didn't hold for nearly as long as the past regimes, and recently the whole country was supposed to be something of a lawless place. Akizets tried to place times and names, but she couldn't remember it all that well. Eld would probably know better than she.

"Ummm, isn't it supposed to be a kinda no man's land anymore, though?" Akizets asked, "I think I kinda remember stuff about, um, I dunno. Mr. Gojger talked about it a lot. He said it's barely a country anymore or something, I think."

It'd been a few years since she was in school. All the stuff she didn't pay attention to was all but empty from her mind by this point.

[Zach Kaiser]

"W-Well, they're certainly having their share of problems..." Eld fidgeted a bit with his orange, uncomfortable with the subject. Being half-Cizokian, he had a fair amount of family that still lived there. Not many that he saw more than a few times in his life, but he didn't like to think that they were in a lot of danger by living there, even if it was true.

"It's not all bad though. My cousin, he practices kendo--or, some type of sword style, I think it's kendo--and he's also a city guard or something...I think the area he lives in is kind of peaceful."

He stared at his orange. It wouldn't be the first time rumors about Cizok had been exaggerated, but usually it was about the culture more than the current state of affairs. There was all kinds of differences between Algeroth and Cizok--the one a lot of people his age picked up on was that in Cizok marriage between cousins was perfectly acceptable, whereas it was at the very least odd and at worst considered evil and wrong in Algeroth.

"A-Anyway, any idea why Kyo's practicing kendo?" he asked, wishing to change the subject.

[Nayt]

"I dunno," Akizets admitted.

There was a lot about her brother she didn't know. She didn't know what he wanted to do with his life or why he studied so frequently. She didn't know why he dressed like it was always winter even in the dead heat of summer. She didn't know why he went to the woods to swing around an old sword. She especially didn't know why he even had that sword or the book on kendo or any of it.

"Dad just kinda . . . gave him a sword on his tenth birthday," Akizets rolled her shoulders, "It's weird. They went off alone to talk and that was kinda it. Tou went and got this book on kendo a few days later and has been practicing ever since."

She took another bite of her apple. Without realizing it, she partly spoke with her mouth full:

"I-- I mean, it's a super cool sword and all, but he never gave me something super cool like that, you know?" Akizets asked. She sounded a tiny bit jealous, but only a tiny bit. Truth be told, she hadn't the slightest clue what she'd do with a sword if she had one. The girl was a pacifist, after all.

[Zach Kaiser]

"Well...you got your necklace from your mom a few years ago, right? You must have been about ten. And I think it suits you much better than a weapon," Eld said thoughtfully. The necklace was cute, and he couldn't really picture Akizetsumei swinging a sword around. She didn't seem terribly violent, and she was probably more likely to hurt herself than anyone else.

"Still, a sword huh...what kind of sword is it? A katana?" That seemed like the most likely case, since she mentioned kendo. But then again, perhaps their home country's weapons differed from Cizok's, even if the countries were kind of similar.

[Nayt]

"Yeah . . ." Akizets looked down.

She held her key in one hand and the apple in the other. She smiled some. No matter how jealous she was of Toushikyo's gift of a full-fledged sword, she was perfectly happy with her mother's gift to her. It was sweet and thoughtful, and while Toushikyo's gift must have been thoughtful, too, it had to be a whole different kind of thoughtful. There had to be a whole ton of feelings wrapped up in it that she wouldn't at all feel comfortable carrying around for any reason. Responsibilities, probably. Her father always said they should take on more responsibilities, and thought she didn't know the details of what Toushikyo and their father talked about, she figured it was something to do with responsibilities and . . . well, she didn't really know what responsibilities she wanted in life. It'd be too much to deal with if someone else put a bunch of weight on her shoulders when she wasn't ready for it.

The girl took another bite of her apple and looked up. She could see the sword vividly in her mind, though she'd only held it once in her life.

"Sorta," she replied to Eld, "It's, um, straight. My dad called it something but I don't remember. It looks just like a katana, though! Just really really straight. Katanas are curved, right?" There was no chance to answer, though. Akizets kept going. "Tou said it's supposed to be, ummm, I dunno. Reeeeaaally old. Liiike, um, like before that big cataclysm thing. Ummm, what was it called again?"

Akizetsumei was terrible with history and couldn't recall this for the life of her. It was supposed to be a major and important event in the world, however, something that permanently changed the climate of their world, politically, socially, and economically.

"I dunno. Huuuundreds of years old, though. I dunno where dad got it from, but, um, when I held it, it was really cold. It felt like touching an ice cube."

[Zach Kaiser]

"The End," remarked offhandedly. Akizetsumei's lack of academic memory didn't phase him; he was used to hanging out with Sarah, who was just as bad if not worse and a hundred times more touchy about it. But if the sword was that old, it was practically an antique.

"Huh. Sounds neat; I'll have to ask him to show me sometime." Whether or not he'd comply was another question, and the fact that he hadn't brought it up suggested he may be a little upset to learn that Eld knew about his sword practice, but he wasn't sure he could keep his curiosity in check. A sword like ice, cold with the knowledge of the lives it's taken.

He made a face to himself; no, that was probably unlikely, and he had trouble seeing Toushikyo training for any purpose other than self-discipline.

"Ready to continue?" he asked as he finished his orange.

[Nayt]

"Mm," she smiled and nodded to Eld, before hopping off of the log and dusting off her skirt. In hindsight, hiking in a skirt wasn't such a great idea--but it wasn't like they were going out for a weekend or something. They were only going out for a few hours. A whole weekend event alone with Eld, well . . . that would've been awkward. Akizets felt her cheeks flush at the mere thought of it.

Once off the fallen tree, she motioned for Eld to follow her, but not before taking one last bite of her apple and tossing it over her shoulder and past the fallen tree. She didn't hear it land, but she wasn't quite looking for that sound, either. It didn't quite matter.

On their hike once more, Akizetsumei led Eld through the natural paths and ultimately to a point where the "roads" stopped winding so much and began something of a sharp incline. By that point, they were two and a half hours (walking distance) away from Hillcrest, somewhere between seven and fifteen miles away. The path started up the incline gradually at first, but it would soon become more and more apparent that this particular area was what Akizets meant by "hike." Eld, looking past Akizets, wouldn't see much of an end to the hill. It was too littered with trees to see far ahead, but what he could see would seem like a continual incline.

As the first time Akizets had walked this since her accident, she noticeably found much more difficulty in this than she was used to. Her legs were healed, but her muscles weren't toned and ready for this anymore. Though she clearly didn't mind the walk, she sometimes let out meek little grunts when stepping with her right leg.

[Zach Kaiser]

They were pretty far from Hillcrest now; this hike was actually much longer than Eld had anticipated. Not that it was a problem, but he didn't realize this would be taking all day. It was no wonder that he hardly saw Akizetsumei if she went this far into the forest fairly often.

"H-Hey, don't push yourself too hard, okay?" Eld asked, noticing that she was struggling a little. The last thing he wanted was for her to get injured and them be at least two hours away from any help.

"If you need help, just ask," he offered--an offer that might tempt her for more than her straining muscles.

[Nayt]

"N-no," Akizets shook her head, "I-- I'm fine."

She trudged forward. They still had an uphill climb ahead of them, and so long as Akizets could concentrate on it well enough, she'd be just fine. That wasn't to say she didn't appreciate the concern, though. The fact that Eld at all showed any concern for her well being was actually pretty heart warming.

"We're almost there anyways . . ." Akizets said with strain thick in her voice.

Akizets was right about that. They were nearly to the top of the hill, but the "top of the hill" probably wasn't what Eld exactly thought it'd be. Akizets led Eld forward until there was no more room to go forward, not by walking. They had to stop abruptly, whereupon Akizets took a moment to break from walking, heave a sigh, and lean against the apparent rock-face which towered before them.

It wasn't that tall, a little less than fifteen feet high, but it was a completely vertical incline. The hill stopped at a cliffside, it seemed, and however short of a drop it was, it was still a cliffside. It seemed there were large stones and rocks jutting from the rock-face, though, things that ultimately made it possible to climb.

Akizets wasn't about to get right on that, though. Not at first. It was her ultimate goal, perhaps, but for now, she needed to take a breather.

[Zach Kaiser]

It came as a mild shock to Eld that the reason they stopped was due to the next part of their hike involving a straight vertical ascent. He was in decent shape but he was still no athlete; at least he'd been practicing climbing, though trees instead of cliffs. He needed a break before tackling this as much as Akizetsumei did.

"Sorry if this is getting repetitive, but are you sure you're up for this?" he asked. The incline seemed hard enough on her; could she really handle this so soon after recovering?

On the hill he could at least catch her if she lost her balance or something; here, all he could do was stand at the bottom and catch her if she fell.

[Nayt]

"Y-yeah," Akizets breathed, "I've done this a ton of times . . ."

It was clearly obvious that she was reaching a point of exhaustion, but she sincerely wanted to press forward. That was all they had left to do, climb this rock-face, and they'd reach the spot Akizets wanted to go. The spot she wanted Eld to see. One of her favorite spots in this whole area.

For now, though, she just needed a moment to sit and rest. She sat with her back up against the rock-face and leaned her head against it. Her breathing was almost steady again, and she no longer felt the urge to cough in exhaustion. A momentary rest really was all she needed. Up there, though, she fully planned on getting a drink and breaking into the lunch she'd prepared for them.

"Wh-what about you?" Akizets asked, now less winded than a moment ago, "I-if you don't wanna go up, we don't have to, you know? I'll understand."

[Zach Kaiser]

Eld was tempted to say no, not because he was afraid to climb it, but because he really didn't want Akizetsumei to get hurt. But as much as he hated to admit it, some part of him wouldn't let him use that particular lie to prevent her from going up the cliff. And he was a little curious as to what kind of place would be worth all this hiking just to see.

"I'll be fine. Just...don't wear yourself out, okay? We have to get back, remember." There was a certain amount of risk he was used to taking, given Sarah's tendencies, but again there was difference between doing something risky in Hillcrest and doing something risky two hours into the woods. Even when he trained he made sure it was close enough that if he hurt himself he could yell and be heard.

"Whenever you're ready," he said after he caught his breath, gesturing for her to go ahead of him. If she fell then, at least he could catch her. He tried not to think about what someone even as small as Akizetsumei might do to him if she landed on him from fifteen feet up.

[Nayt]

"Mm," she hummed and nodded, "O-okay."

Still feeling as if she needed to catch her breath for just a little longer, Akizets paused for another couple of minutes to continue resting. This time was spent talking up the location, though. They were going somewhere, climbing, and she was more than excited to show this place to Eld--she was practically elated. By the time a few minutes passed and she was ready to go, she practically had enough energy to scale the wall on just the fumes of anticipation alone. She said in that time that this was her favorite spot ever, and personally expressed how much she wanted to show it to her new friend. How much she wanted Eld to see this thing that meant so much to her.

When she was finally ready, she got up quickly, dusted off her skirt, and turned to the rock-face.

"Pleeeeeease catch me if I fall," Akizets chimed meekly. It was the only time thus far that Eld might actually see that she had a bit of self doubt somewhere.

And with that, she started up the rock wall. She'd done it so many times in the past it was all practically devoted to muscle memory. She knew exactly where to put her hand first, a large chunk of rock over her head. She knew exactly how to pull with her arm and exactly where her left foot needed to go. It was all like clockwork in her mind, and lifted herself rock by rock as if she was born to hike, run, jump, and climb her way through life. And it all felt nice and perfect and nostalgic. She didn't even realize she was wearing a skirt the whole time, and how Eld standing below her only needed to look up to spoke a pink article of skimpy underclothing wrapped around her bottom, especially when she was lifting one her legs to take the next step.

No, the girl was blissful in nostalgia and completely unaware.