~*^*~Laura Rider - Ice~*^*~
["In the land of twilight, under the moon//we dance for the idiots//ring-around-the-roses, jump to the moon//we sing with the castanets..." ~from "In the Land of Twilight, Under the Moon"(.hack//Sign Insert song)]

It was mearly a while ever since the younger Laura met up with me. Since she wanted to be away from much of the others, I had thought about it...that was a lot like me at that age...hopefully her early teen years would be better than mine. At least somebody felt like being around me, because my random iciness would scare them away. Arwen had curled up and passed out into sleep, probably exhausted after not sleeping for two days. For me, I haven't slept in the two-and-a-half to three days we were here, but I, myself, was amazed I haven't fainted or started hallucinating yet.

The pale colors of pink and purple splashed everywhere among the sky, some patches of blue starting to take place, the orange-pink sun spreading its shadow onto the land. It reminded me of yesterday, only less crowded. I eyed around for a moment, the entire crowd had left from last night, leaving it a complete emptiness around the courtyard. The fresh smell of dew and crisp leaves blanketed over what food and gun powder smells were left from last night, leaving what was once an orgy into a complete stillness of serenity.

I looked around, Kouji was all of the sudden...gone. He must've returned his own clothing and slept in, otherwise he is purely tired and just shacked in for the morning, and recover his exhaustion. Wherever he was, I bet he must;ve been in a beter mood than me, maybe even Jun....but I didn't know. The silence between me and Laura last a good fifteen minutes, but I had to say something, so I let out what I planned on doing, my independant journey and everything.

"Well...Laura...I..." I said quietly, slightly stuttering, "At first I thought about it...that I should go on my own journey somewhere, but then you came along and I was wondering..." She looked up at me with confusion about what I was going to say, "...would you like to come along with me...?"

-*-Kouji Hikazu - Light-*-
["Kitsukazu ni kaketa kanjou hiroi atsumete//Yurushi wo motometara.." ~from "Half-Pain" by Bana(Witch Hunter Robin ending)]

I, gazing down at my renewed clothing from before the festival, felt free from the heavy robes, thankful not to be dressed like a perverted monk. Putting my bandanna on, I walked away and towards the tree for no obvious reason, the sunlight shining brightly through the rainbow leaves. With amazement of this sight, I ran a bit further...and stopped, gazing as I squinted my eyes....But then turned away, for I had seen something at the corner of my eye...an opening in the tree? Curiously, I pulled out my D-Sense, which made a slight beeping noise, as if it wanted me to go into the opening.

Putting up my D-Sense, I took a deep breath. After exhaling it, I tried my hardest to squeeze through, and made it. I saw a light only a foot away, then stepped into it. I felt slightly blinded by the fact it was made of a pure white-gold color. Confused, I walked through, gazing at the imprints of the Hikari symbol across the wall in a gold yellow color, and a design of what looked like a human-like femmenine wolf, and a wolf...much like a MetalGarurumon my mother told me about...which was within a manga version of the first season, I think.

I dashed ahead, as I noticed at the end....an altar, with a yellow orb filled with a swirling blue mist, nearby a statue of a girl...possibly in her teens. The statue itself looked somewhat sad...but more of an emotionless expression. Something inside of me told me to approach the orb and pick it up. With my egg at hand which wobbled slightly, I gulped, only to take yet another deep breath. Sweating a bit on my neck, I placed a pair of firm hands around the orb, picking it up...