BLISS
	She woke up as another wave washed over her. Sitting up slowly, 
her entire body screamed at the effort, her muscles stiff, her skin 
dry. Opening her eyes brought its own agony as the light assaulted her 
vision and salt and sand stung her.
	Another wave washed over her, splashing her gently in the face, 
causing her to sputter. Salt water. Ocean water. She looked out at 
what was in front of her and could only stare. Water. Lots of it. An 
ocean. And she was...
	Looking around, she was nowhere. Some beach, somewhere, no 
place she recognized, seemingly sitting on the edge of forever, the 
limitless expanse of blue before her. Far off into the distance, the 
ocean and the sky seemed to merge, becoming a single massive entity, 
making her feel like she was the only person in a great blue void.
	She felt... awful. She must have been passed out on the beach 
for days because exposed skin, and there was quite a bit of it, was 
angry red, sunburned. Her lips felt dead, dried out, and she was 
intensely hungry. Possibly worse was how dry her mouth was. Water... 
She desperately needed water.
	Standing was a struggle. She felt weak all over and hoped that 
it was only temporary. If it wasn't, she just might end up dying on 
the lonely beach and becoming nothing more than a dried out husk. And 
she wouldn't allow that to happen to herself.
	Forcing herself to stand and to look away from the endless 
blue, she looked at the land behind herself. Jungle. Alien. Green and 
lush, and it looked hot, while the blue had at least looked cool. 
Maybe it would be better to just wander out into the blue and relax. 
The green looked so much tougher to handle.
	Yes, the blue looked better. She was about to turn and head 
into that blue, the cool, refreshing blue that would soothe her pain, 
when she heard it. A moan from somewhere nearby. At the edge of the 
green, hidden partially by shade and a fallen tree...
	Stumbling as much as walking, she approached the mystery, 
unable to even care if there might be danger involved. The only thing 
she did care about was that she might not be alone. And indeed, 
waiting on the ground, moving feebly, was another person. A young man.

	Somehow, she managed to drag him back among the green, but in 
the comforting shade. Sitting next to him, basking in the slight 
coolness of the shade, away from the killing sun, she knew she 
couldn't allow herself to fall asleep. She might not wake up. But 
food... And water. And the young man.

	When she opened her eyes again, there was darkness. Maybe she 
was dead, but she didn't think so. There was still so much oppressive 
heat, and she was still hungry, and so thirsty.
	"Drink this," a tired sounding voice said.
	Something rough was placed at her lips and tilted, sending 
something wet and cold impacting with her lips. The sensation almost 
made her cry out, but she greedily began to slurp at the liquid.
	"Not so fast," the voice said. "You'll get sick."
	She didn't care. The feeling of that cold liquid was enough for 
the moment. Whether she could actually stomach it or not was not an 
issue. It felt good against her dried lips and washing over her 
parched gums and tongue. And down her throat... She had suddenly been 
transported to heaven.
	Moments later, she was doubled over, retching it up, her 
stomach refusing the offering as too much, too fast. The act of 
vomiting was almost too much for her to handle and it felt like she 
might faint again, but something wet and cold was placed against her 
forehead and that seemed to bring her back to reality.
	After she recovered, the cold liquid was offered again, and 
this time, she sipped it. Her stomach gurgled ominously, but decided 
not to reject the liquid that was offered. Sighing with relief, she 
leaned back and relaxed as the cold cloth was passed across her 
forehead again. "Thank you," she said weakly, her whole body feeling 
drained.
	The cloth was removed, but the offered liquid remained. "You're 
welcome."
	She turned to see the face of the speaker and discovered the 
young man that she had found on the beach sitting behind her, 
supporting her. He was wiping his neck with the cloth he had torn from 
his shirt, his face looking as tired as she felt.
	"Drink more if you think you can hold it," he offered.
	Nodding, she turned and looked at exactly what was being 
offered. It was some sort of dried out gourd maybe, or shell of 
something like a coconut. It was filled with cold, clear, sweet, 
refreshing water. Not pausing again, she drank the rest of it down, 
spilling some out of the sides. Once it was drained, she lowered the 
vessel and wiped her mouth on the back of her arm. "Where'd you get 
this water?" she asked.
	"A river, not very far away. It empties into the ocean." His 
answer was simple and concise.
	She was about to wonder aloud why she hadn't thought to look 
for anything, but then, she hadn't been totally conscious. "I'm 
hungry," she said instead. If he had found water, maybe he had food 
too.
	"Now that you're awake, I'll look for something." He draped the 
cloth over her shoulder and started to stand, so slowly like he was an 
old man, pulling away from the girl.
	She started to stand as well, wondering if it was a mistake as 
her legs almost immediately collapsed beneath her.
	"Don't try to stand. Wait here. You're not in shape to be 
wandering around like that. Rest. There's more water if you need it." 
His voice was so sincere, so serious.
	She nodded. "I'll wait here." It was actually surprising that 
she could even speak at all, but that water had done all the wonder in 
the world for her. Even though her throat still hurt, she could at 
least manage words without sounding like she was part frog.
	"I think I saw some sort of fruit by the river. I'll see what I 
can find."
	She watched him move off into the darkness and wondered 
absently who he was. Maybe she'd find that out once she could remember 
who she was.

	She was asleep when he returned, though she looked peaceful 
this time, not the fitful half sleep she had been in before. He set 
the bananas he had managed to pull down in the sand and sat next to 
the sleeping girl.
	He noted that she had finished off the water he had left and 
was clutching the still damp cloth to her chest. Thankfully she was 
breathing evenly, deeply, and her skin was cooler to the touch than it 
had been when he had awakened to find her sprawled out in the sand.
	Whoever she was, she was strong. The condition she had been 
in... she probably should have been dead. The only thing that had 
saved him from death was the fact that he had been in some shade. Some 
investigating had revealed where the girl had been, apparently 
unconscious on the beach, right out in the open. The print of her body 
hadn't quite been washed away by the waves.
	He couldn't recall a name for her, but she must have been some 
sort of acquaintance. Maybe. Not that it mattered since they were the 
only two people around it seemed.
	Gently moving the girl to an area he hoped would be shaded then 
sitting next to her again, he grabbed one of the green bananas and 
peeled it. Eating it slowly, he pondered what could have happened to 
put the two of them on the beach together. The fact that he couldn't 
remember anything didn't help either.
	There had been no sign of wreckage, nothing that might reveal 
how they had gotten there or gave any hope that there might be more 
people on the island. He hadn't gone far from the beach to positively 
say that there was no other human life there, but he could guess.
	Either way, once the girl was healthy enough, once he was for 
that matter, they would make sure to explore the island to their 
satisfaction. He didn't want to live on a diet of bananas alone.
	Finishing the banana and discarding the peel, he reclined in 
the sand and stared at the sky. The stars were familiar enough to see, 
but they looked strange otherwise. He knew one thing: he was very far 
away from home.

	The images in her dream were vague, but unsettling. Lots of 
people with hazy faces and names she couldn't remember were all around 
her. There was something huge, something evil there as well, and it 
caused her to tremble. Then there was brightness, a light of such 
strength she didn't think possible. And then nothing.
	Waking up was a nightmare in itself. All her memories were 
gone, simply vanished. She had no idea why, she had no idea where she 
was, she had no idea about anything except that she was pretty damn 
miserable.
	Sitting up slowly, already sweating in the heat, she looked out 
from under the plants. Hoping to see something, anything, her meager 
hopes fell when she saw the blue staring back at her. Nothing.
	She wanted to cry, wanted to cry at the unfairness of the world 
and yell and scream her hatred out. But something inside her would not 
allow such a weak show of emotion. Something inside her prevented her 
from losing her control so utterly.
	So instead, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, trying to 
somehow flush the bitterness from her body. Surprisingly, it worked, 
and while she was still angry, she felt under control. Exhaling 
heavily, she opened her eyes and prepared to...
	A small smile made its way to her face when she saw the dried 
out gourd filled with water and a bunch of bananas. She would have to 
remember to thank her companion, whoever he was. And he was indeed her 
companion in this little adventure. Until she figured out what was 
going on, she would need to rely on him.
	That was when her hunger reappeared in full force. Hands 
suddenly shaking, she grabbed the bananas, even foregoing the water, 
and broke one off. She peeled it as quickly as she could, it almost 
falling from her hand, and once the peel was gone, practically shoved 
the entire thing into her mouth at once.
	She didn't taste it, didn't need to because she was already 
peeling the second one. He had left her half a dozen, and within 
minutes, they were all gone. For the time, her hunger had been 
partially satisfied. She would need more food shortly, but for now...
	She picked up the water and drank it down, appreciating it 
differently than the way she had last night. It had been life then, 
but now, it was a simple joy. Her body practically sang with health as 
she downed it, and she knew she wouldn't need to consider wandering 
off into that field of blue again.
	Her quest to stand wasn't as bad this time, her legs had some 
strength to them, but she was still a bit wobbly. Yet, to be standing 
and not feel like her legs were rubber... She sighed with relief. For 
some reason, the idea that she might not be able to stand again had 
passed through her mind. That kind of weakness, she would rather die 
than live with.
	"Good, you're awake."
	She looked over and saw her companion walking out of the 
greenery with an armful of fruit.
	She waved at him tentatively, not sure what to say. She didn't 
know his name, what kind of person he was... The only thing she knew 
is that he had saved her with that water. "Hi," she said simply.
	"Are you still hungry?" he asked, noting the pile of banana 
peels.
	"Yeah, I think I am. And I... Um..." She blushed, not sure how 
to put it delicately. Or at least so she wouldn't embarrass herself.
	He looked at her strangely for a moment, then understanding 
dawned on his face. I will fetch more water until..." He trailed off, 
unsure how to finish. Instead of prolonging the awkward moment, he set 
down the different fruits he had collected, picked up the gourd and 
headed for the river.
	Sighing with relief, not sure exactly what she was so nervous 
about, she went a bit into the trees to do her business.

	"Here, you've got a cut on your arm." She kneeled behind him as 
he was eating a fruit with red skin and sweet meat. It was on the back 
of his arm where he hadn't noticed, and was already angry red. There 
wasn't anything she could do to help heal it, but she could bandage it 
just in case.
	She tore one of the sleeves off her shirt and wrapped it around 
his arm, then tied it snugly. "There. That should help a little."
	"Thank you. More water?" he offered.
	She nodded and accepted the gourd, almost pulling her hand away 
when their fingers brushed against one another innocently. She blushed 
and took the gourd, avoiding looking in his eyes. Sipping the water, 
she looked out at the ocean, the waves lapping at the beach in a 
hypnotic rhythm.
	"I think that we should make an effort to explore this island 
before we... give up. What if we sat here and there was some sort of 
resort on the other side?" he suggested, looking behind himself at the 
rather daunting looking jungle.
	Nodding, she said, "Yeah. I don't know how much longer I can 
look at this beach before..." And that hopeless blue void.
	"Agreed. With no sign of wreckage, I can't believe that any 
sort of rescue party will be out here looking for us." He looked over 
at his companion, hoping he wasn't being too nihilistic. "Are you 
feeling well enough to walk possibly a long distance?"
	"I think so. I just needed some water and something to eat. I'm 
feeling a lot better now." She finished off the water in three large 
gulps and stood up abruptly. No, she couldn't stand looking at that 
blue any longer. "Well?" she asked, looking down at the young man.
	He looked up at her, rather surprised. "You mean... Now?"
	She nodded, a confident smile on her face. "I want to get away 
from this beach, the ocean. I'm ready... Now."
	"Then, I guess we go." He finished the piece of fruit he was 
eating and stood up, brushing the sand off his tattered clothing. "It 
might be best to follow the river since we have no way of carrying 
fresh water," he suggested.
	"Good idea. We'll probably see animals along the river too. 
Maybe we can catch some." As her body felt refreshed, her mind did 
too. It was quickly coping with the reality of the situation and 
trying to think of ways they could survive.

	It was hot and humid, but the trees shaded the two from the 
sun. They were lucky in that respect as they were both without any 
sort of covering for their heads. That was the greatest danger now as 
they followed the river upstream, deeper into the jungle.
	The two didn't talk, the only noise coming from them was the 
heat-labored breathing as they made their way through the brush. 
Footing was slippery with the muddy ground and fallen leaves, causing 
the two to often cling to trees to keep from falling or going into the 
river.
	There was one point, a small waterfall, where the two were 
making their way up the large stones that made a natural stairway, 
that something... odd happened.
	"Watch your footing. These rocks are slippery," he warned as he 
slowly climbed onto the next rock. He looked back briefly.
	"I know." She was concentrating on her feet, the trees overhead 
casting partial shadows on the wet rocks, making footing even more 
treacherous. She swore under her breath as her foot slipped and she 
momentarily lost her balance.
	He looked back at her quickly. "Are you OK?" He took another 
step, meaning to plant his foot on the next rock, but missed. His foot 
slid off the side, and he was suddenly teetering backwards, about to 
plunge to the shallow water and rocks below.
	Looking up at the sudden movement of flailing arms, she was 
frozen. Frozen for a heartbeat while her mind determined just what she 
could do to save him. Her body acting on its own, her legs propelled 
her upward where her hand latched on to an overhanging branch. The 
momentum swung her forward where she was somehow able to grab her 
companion's hand. She turned her body in mid-swing and let go of the 
branch, landing lightly on her feet on solid ground and pulling him 
with her.
	He was jerked forward where he tripped over a protruding root 
of the same life-saving tree and tumbled into his savior. The two of 
them fell to the ground, chest to chest, him on top of her, their 
faces inches apart.
	They stayed in that position, each of them genuinely surprised, 
before it suddenly occurred to him what was pressing into his chest 
and he scrambled to remove himself.
	Breathing heavily, but not because of the heat, he stood up and 
backed away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."
	Standing up not as quickly, slightly winded from the fall, the 
hero of the moment brushed herself off even though there wasn't 
anything on her. "It's..." She started shaking her head. "No problem. 
Don't worry about it." She exhaled a bit shakily and laughed a little.
	"Whoo. That was a close call, wasn't it?" she said loudly, 
looking up and smiling.
	"Yeah," he answered, looking back at what he would have landed 
on if she hadn't caught him, "it was. Thanks again."
	Trembling a little, she tentatively patted his arm. "We've got 
to stick together, right? I didn't want to lose you so soon."
	"I didn't want to be lost so soon." He was standing, but he 
wasn't sure his feet would allow themselves to be lifted from the 
ground at the moment. One of the most surprising things, besides the 
amazing show of athleticism, was the way his companion, his... friend? 
It was the confidence she was showing.
	When she had first awakened, he had been so afraid that she 
would be helpless, useless, expecting to be catered to, but she was 
showing herself to be much different. She seemed more capable than 
him, only hindered by her injuries. There was no doubt that when she 
was recovered, he would be hard-pressed to find anything in which she 
needed his help.
	"We should keep going," she said, interrupting his thoughts. 
She looked up the river, the path it was cutting partially obscured by 
trees, and nodded. "At the speed this water is traveling, there's 
probably some pretty sizable hills at least."
	"You're right. Maybe going to a higher elevation will get us 
out of this heat a little." Thankfully, his body was convinced it was 
back on solid ground and was ready to get moving again. "Maybe we 
should keep a little farther from the river this time," he offered.
	"Yeah, the footing'll be better, but the plants..."
	He was already coming up with a minor solution. He broke off a 
sizable branch, the wood still moist and green, and pulled off the 
branches. "This'll work a little. Better than nothing," he said 
smiling, looking at the implement he was holding.
	"Now we've got a plan... Some plan." She snorted and kicked a 
rock into the river.

	The pair followed the river, but this time, they were at a 
safer distance. The brush wasn't as thick as they had feared, and only 
the occasional tall bush got in their way. The sturdy whip-like branch 
being used to clear such nuisance vegetation was working quite well.
	"That was a pretty good move you did back there. Are you a 
gymnast or something?" he asked, whacking some leaves aside.
	"I don't know. It felt like my hand was going to slip off that 
branch the entire time." It wasn't saying much, but that was the most 
afraid she could remember being.
	He shook his head, and she knew it was with disbelief, maybe a 
little awe. "Like I said, it was a good move. Great, actually... 
Uh..."
	"What is it?"
	"I was just wondering... what should I call you? I feel kind of 
uncomfortable not even knowing your name," he said, pausing for a 
moment.
	"Oh." She tried to dig up something, anything from her memory 
that might tell her who she was, but there was only a maddening blank. 
She growled with frustration. "I can't remember!"
	He blinked. "You too?"
	Oh no. "Don't tell me you can't remember anything either..."
	To her dismay, he shook his head. "I remember waking up on the 
beach, and smelling the ocean, and wondering why I was here. 
Everything before that..." He shrugged. "I feel like a newborn babe, 
save that I can talk and walk."
	She sighed. "Damn. I was hoping that maybe you knew who I was, 
or what we're doing here." Again she tried to seize the memories, and 
again found only an unnatural hole, like a tongue probing a missing 
tooth. "I guess... well, I know what we're speaking is Japanese, so 
that's probably where we're from."
	Frowning slightly, he stared at her. "I do think I know you. 
There's something just out of reach..."
	...no! i won't let it hurt aka...
	He blinked, shook his head slightly.
	...i lo...why does she hate me...no! akan...
	"Akane?" he said, hesitantly. "Are you Akane?"
	Her eyes widened. "Akane... Akane..." The word had meaning, it 
was important, it fit her...
	...akane, teased a male voice, uncute tomboy...
	"That must be me," she said wonderingly. "I'm Akane." The sound 
of the name was strangely comforting, and she repeated it again. 
"Akane. I have a name."
	"I'm happy for you," the boy replied, amused. "It suits you. 
Fiery."
	She stuck her tongue out at him. "So what do I call you, Mr. 
Nameless?"
	Shrugging, the boy slashed at another stand of vegetation with 
the stick. "I don't know. But if I know who you are, it would stand to 
reason that you know who I am."
	That made sense. Frowning, she concentrated on his face, trying 
to fit the image to the hole in her mind, trying to call it back...
	...why you! i'll...
	...ranm...
	She shook her head, a wave of dizziness washing over her. "I 
think we were sorta friends, but we weren't. You liked me, but you 
didn't. I can't... it's hard to tell."
	He glanced back at her, slicing away more foliage as he did. 
"If I was your friend, do you remember a name? Someone who was your 
friend, who was angry and not angry at you?"
	...friends...
	...uk...no! no!...
	...no! don't! not for me! no! my fault!...
	...ukyo!....
	"Ukyo," she gasped, sweat streaming down her brow. "Ukyo, 
jumped in front of me, I fell, jumped in front of me..."
	His eyes widened, the name echoing in his ears, the description 
rising from his mind...
	...no! hellthing, i won't let you hurt aka...
	...dived in front of her, weapon raised, burning searing flame 
pain screaming...
	"Yes... yes... I jumped in... you didn't want me to..."
	"Ukyo..."
	The name surfaced again, with some great feeling tied to it. "I 
suppose I am. Ukyo. Yes." It sounded good in his ears, now that he 
said it. "A fine name for a man." He frowned, feeling something wrong 
with the statement, then shrugged. "I'm Ukyo, of the Ku..." He 
blinked, the word slipping away. "Of something," he finished lamely.
	They stared at each other for almost a minute, pale and 
shaking.
	"There was some sort of fight," Akane said slowly.
	Ukyo nodded. "I don't remember much." He shuddered. "I do not 
really wish to, at the moment. I think perhaps we should continue 
exploring."
	She nodded. "Anything to get off this smelly rock. If I have to 
have no memory, I could at least be somewhere comfortable, damn it."
	Chuckling, Ukyo swung again, looking back at Akane as he did. 
"This certainly is no..."
	"Ukyo!"
	He stopped, alarmed. "What?"
	Akane said nothing, just pointed to the tree that was slowly 
toppling over. The tree he had just sliced in half. With a stick.
	Slowly, Ukyo looked down at the branch he held.
	"What... how did you..."
	He shook his head. "I... I don't know..."
	"Whoa," was all Akane said in response.
	"Um..." The uncertainty in Ukyo's voice was obvious. "Maybe we 
should... just keep going." He was giving Akane a weak smile, but she 
was still staring at the stick in his hand.
	Feeling suddenly self-conscious, he dropped the stick to his 
side, drawing her attention back up to his face. "Let's go," he said a 
little more harshly than he meant to. Turning, he ignored the fallen 
tree in his path and started walking.
	"Whoa," Akane said again quietly before following.

	They followed the river until it started to get dark. Neither 
feat that had been performed earlier was repeated, and each of them 
was secretly happy at that. Something so... so freakish was unnerving.
	Akane openly watched Ukyo to see if he might repeat whatever he 
had done before. He seemed to treat the incident like it hadn't even 
happened, but Akane knew there was something more to him than what she 
could see.
	Sometimes, when she was watching him, she would catch him 
looking back at her. When their eyes would meet, he would quickly look 
away, turning his attention back to the path they were cutting through 
the vegetation.
	For some reason, this brought a small, secretive smile to 
Akane's lips. She wasn't sure why, but those stolen glances were 
things she found a little scandalous, a little daring, and quite... 
exciting.
	"I think we should stop for the night," Ukyo said, leaning 
against a tree, the stick still held tightly in his hand, like it was 
fused with his flesh.
	Looking around doubtfully, Akane shook her head slightly. 
"Right here?" she asked.
	"Unless you have a better suggestion." It was evident that Ukyo 
was taken a bit aback at her rebelliousness.
	Akane looked around, then eyed a tree. "I think I do."
	Ukyo's knuckles turned white as he gripped the stick. Whatever 
Akane was planning, it couldn't be safe.
	Tentatively hugging the tree's trunk, Akane looked up, then 
with ability that seemed inherited from a double jointed monkey, she 
shimmied up the tree. At the top, she surveyed the area through the 
trees.
	"There! A little bit up the river, it looks like a clearing or 
something," she called down. Peering down at Ukyo, she continued, "I 
think it'd be better if we went to the clearing instead of stopping 
here."
	Barely able to see her face up in the tree, Ukyo nodded. "OK. 
You can come down now," he said nervously.
	"Right." Instead of kicking it into reverse, Akane untangled 
her legs from the leaves and stubby branches so they were hanging in 
mid- air. Lowering herself slowly, gripping the same branches tightly, 
Akane began to drop from the tree.
	Seeing this, Ukyo started waving his hands, actually setting 
the stick down. "Don't do that! You're going to..."
	Akane released her hold and dropped down, almost landing right 
on Ukyo. She landed on her feet with a small grunt of exertion, but 
Ukyo crumpled to the ground, groaning.
	"Oh... Oh crap." Akane kneeled down next to Ukyo and patted his 
cheek "Ukyo? Ukyo, are you OK?"
	"Yuh... yeah. I'm fine. Just caught me by surprise." He sat up 
slowly, rubbing his head a little.
	"Are you sure you're not hurt?"
	"No, really, I'm fine." He got to his feet, Akane helping him, 
and grabbed his stick again. Receiving a curious look from Akane, he 
shrugged. "I just feel better with it." He hefted it experimentally. 
"It doesn't feel quite right, but a weapon in my hand..."
	Akane nodded. At the moment, she was thinking how a weapon in 
her hand might feel better. "Why don't we get going. I don't feel 
comfortable in this jungle when it's getting dark like this."
	Nodding and recovering his breath, his stick held comfortably 
if a tad awkwardly, Ukyo set out with Akane at his side.
	They walked for 15 minutes more, the sky darkening overhead, 
stars taking the place of the glaring sun, until they reached the 
mysterious clearing. And mysterious it was. But maybe more like... 
unnatural than mysterious.
	There simply wasn't any natural way for a clearing of the sort 
the two were standing at the edge of to exist and actually maintain 
itself in a jungle. It should have lasted for maybe a month before it 
was completely over grown, but here...
	There was an easy way to tell that the strange clearing was 
considerably older than it should have been, and that was the large 
pillar that was sitting in the middle of it. Even from 75 feet away, 
it was obviously ancient, looking just like a prop from a movie.
	It was formed from some sort of dark gray stone, one giant, 
unbroken piece, and it had been brutally weathered, that much was 
obvious. But the most telling thing about it, the one thing that told 
them the clearing was older than it should be was that the stone was 
bleached, sun bleached.
	It was easy to tell the stone's original tone had been very 
dark, but sitting in the sun, day after day, even it couldn't resist 
and had lightened under the constant rays.
	"What's that?" Akane asked in a whisper. Why she was 
whispering, she didn't know, but it seemed appropriate.
	"I don't know. It's... It's..."
	Akane nodded. It was eerie, the way it had such a dramatic 
presence even in the darkness. She had a weird feeling that the night 
was when its presence would be most powerful, only muted by the sun. 
"I'm not sure this was a good idea." She was getting the weird 
feeling, like a wave of invisible goosebumps, that they were being 
watched, like the night was alive and watching them.
	"It'll be fine. There's nothing to worry about." And he knew it 
was the truth, but he sure didn't feel that way.
	The night did have eyes and it was most definitely watching the 
two. It watched them with multiple pairs of yellow, feral eyes that 
moved with the speed of the wind and with the same stealth.
	Akane and Ukyo slept fitfully in the mooncast shadow of the 
pillar, unaware of the encroaching danger. If Ukyo hadn't been a light 
sleeper, they possibly both would have been dead before they could 
have further considered their chances of rescue.
	Upon waking, Ukyo's hand went groping for his makeshift weapon 
automatically. It was only a moment after that he heard the noise, a 
soft growling. Instead of bolting upright, he moved his head slowly to 
look off to his right. The source of the growling was there.
	And the smell, the smell of death and decay... Eyes that seemed 
to shine with their own inner fire, nearly glowing were not more than 
five feet away. There were others as well, all with the same ferocious 
glares of bloodlust.
	Ukyo didn't know how many there were, but he knew he had to 
fight them. If he didn't, he and Akane would be little more the scraps 
of flesh in the morning. "Akane," he whispered, hoping it was enough 
to wake her.
	"I'm already up," she answered. No doubt, she had already 
assessed the situation and knew it was dangerous.
	"What do you think?" he asked.
	"We don't have a choice." And then she was up like a shot, 
fighting, and he was hypnotized by the way she moved. "We kick ass!"
	Ukyo was shaken from moment of admiration when several of the 
beasts next to him joined the fight against Akane. They charged over 
him, drawn by the motion of the girl. Without even bothering to check 
how Akane was, Ukyo rolled to his feet quickly and started swinging. 
Now he just had to hope the stick would be enough to scare the beasts 
away.
	They seemed to ooze out of the darkness, their slim, ragged 
bodies seemed to absorb any light directed at them. Except for their 
eyes. Whether it was a trick by Ukyo's mind or something supernatural, 
he was drawn to the yellow glow in their eyes. And so was his weapon.
	When one moved in to attack, fangs bared and quite visible even 
in the dark, he swung downward and struck the beast on the top of the 
head. It let out an abbreviated howl of pain, then dropped to the 
ground.
	There was no time to consider whether he had just killed it 
because the others were beginning to attack, and they in turn were 
joined by more forms from the dark.
	It was about then that Akane wished she had something to start 
smacking the little monsters with. She was doing adequately with her 
fists and feet, but her reach was sorely lacking. The animals, wild 
dogs, drawn by their scent, had to be almost upon her to take care of 
them effectively.
	And the fighting was a necessity, but when her fist impacted 
with bone, and there was a crunching noise, like the sound of 
firecrackers, it made her almost sick. A weapon would have made it 
much more impersonal. The kick, even in bare feet, that snapped a head 
back and broke the neck...
	Something seemed to fly at her, and her arm moved automatically 
to swat it away, something wet showering her face on impact. But she 
couldn't stop. They wouldn't stop. She couldn't die. She wouldn't 
allow it.
	The tide of living darkness seemed to ebb, and then as quickly 
as they had attacked, the dogs fled. Their prey hadn't been as 
vulnerable as it had appeared, and it had hurt their numbers deeply. 
It might be a time before they returned in an attempt to taste of 
their flesh, but they would return.
	Ukyo and Akane knew it.
	"I think maybe a fire would help," Akane said, panting 
slightly. "At least, I don't know... At least...."
	Ukyo nodded and understood. It would be a comfort even if it 
didn't serve any other purpose. He looked around in the night and had 
only one question. "How?"
	Akane laughed a little. "That's the sticker, isn't it?" She 
walked around to the other side of the pillar, away from the bodies of 
the dogs and sat down heavily in the grass. If she never had to repeat 
a fight like that, it would be too soon for her.
	"Akane, are you hurt?" Ukyo asked, crouching at her side and 
putting his hand on her shoulder. He leaned the stick up against the 
pillar and patted her knee.
	"I'm fine, just a little tired. Just... tired." She leaned her 
forehead against her knees and sighed heavily.
	Ukyo looked at her, trying to determine if she was actually 
hurt, and when she seemed only... tired, he decided a fire was 
necessary. "Right, I'll try and get a fire started for... something."
	Try. That was the important word. Just how he planned on making 
a fire in the middle of the night, in the middle... well, kind of the 
middle of a humid jungle where everything around him was green, and 
when he had no idea where to even begin looking... The idea of a fire 
was starting to look like wishful thinking.
	It took him one trip around the pillar in a wide circle to 
figure this out, and then he returned to Akane. "Um, I think the fire 
is going to have to wait," he said sheepishly.
	She laughed a little, not lifting her head. "I'm not surprised. 
We don't seem to be much into survival, do we?"
	"I suppose not. Maybe we'll do better in the daylight." After 
they'd had a chance to recover from being attacked by a pack of wild 
dogs.
	Smiling grimly, she glared out at the surrounding jungle. From 
several places, a pair of red dots glared back.
	"Get some sleep," she said, suddenly feeling very tired. "If 
we're going to be attacked, we might as well grab as much rest as 
possible in preparation. I'll wake you when it's your shift."
	Ukyo nodded. "Wise."
	He curled up in the shadow of the hideous column, and tried to 
sleep. It was a long time before he could.

***

	Akane awoke to the smell of roast wild dog.
	Yawning, she sat up, shaking the stiffness from her bones. In 
the back of her mind, the images of faces faded away into the dream 
they had emerged from, like mist in a harsh sun.
	Ukyo sat hunched in the shelter of the monolith, roasting a 
haunch of canine steak over a crude stick spit. He smiled wanly at her 
as she yawned and wandered over.
	"How'd you get the fire going?"
	Ukyo smiled sheepishly. "I am a bit embarrassed. It wasn't 
until almost morning that I noticed the huge stone pillar was, in 
fact, a huge flint pillar."
	Akane chuckled. "Whoops."
	"I broke off a fragment to use in a future camp," he said, 
fumbling behind him to show her. "Staying here probably is not 
wise..."
	"It's stone. How did you break it off?"
	He blinked, surprised by the flatness in her tone. "I took my 
stick and shattered..." Ukyo trailed off. "I shouldn't be able to do 
that, should I?"
	Akane slowly shook her head. "Nope. People don't just shatter 
stone with..."
	...bakusai ten-ket...
	...focus, release....
	...she lashed out, shattering the stone wall with the force of 
her blow...
	"Akane? Akane, are you all right?"
	She nodded, feeling a little nauseous. "I... I just remembered 
a little. I can do that too, with my hands." She stared at him 
helplessly, frustration welling up. "Damn it, we can smash rocks to 
powder and fight off rabid wolves with bare hands and branches, but we 
can't remember our own last names. What the hell are we, and what are 
we going here?"
	Ukyo frowned. "I don't know. Perhaps we were in a shipwreck, 
and were washed ashore..." He shrugged helplessly. "There wasn't any 
wreckage on the beach, but I suppose it could have been a small boat, 
far at sea..."
	"And we both happened to have the exact same type of amnesia?" 
Akane asked skeptically. "I don't think so."
	Shrugging, the boy turned the haunch again, sending spatters of 
grease sizzling into the fire. "Then I don't know. Perhaps we have 
been drugged, or brainwashed, and managed to escape."
	Akane shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. Maybe we're secret agents or 
something." She grinned, poking him. "Hey, Bond, when's that gonna be 
done? I'm starving."
	"It should be finished soon." Ukyo carefully poked the meat 
with a fire-cleansed stick, noting the result with satisfaction. "I'm 
a good cook. You'll like it. Wild Dog ala Stick."
	She smirked. "Good thing you're the one cooking. I'm terrible 
at it, it'd be burnt and everything."
	Ukyo carefully turned the haunch again. "Who taught you?"
	"Well, it was when I was little, and..."
	...terrible, but will have to...
	...cooking? you, akane this stuff is tox...
	...akane, why can't you make something edible for once? jeez, 
are you trying to poison...
	A low scream ripped from her throat. Shaking, she turned on 
him, furious, her stomach churning. "Don't you ever do that again. 
Never. I'll remember when I'm damn well ready, do you understand? When 
I'm ready." Her face had gone pale, and she could feel the fever-sweat 
dripping down her face, running into her eyes. That voice talking 
about her, saying those horrible things, damn it, damn it, go away...
	"I'm sorry," Ukyo said awkwardly, worried by the sudden 
explosion. "I was just trying to help..."
	"Well don't. Please." With an effort, she forced her breathing 
and heart rate to slowly return to normal. "That kind of help I don't 
need."
	"Very well." He carefully removed the haunch from the spit, 
deftly tore it in two, and handed half to her. "Bon appetit." The 
nausea quickly faded under the delicious aroma wafting from the steak, 
and she wolfed into it like a starving animal. It wasn't half bad, she 
thought, pleasantly surprised. Ukyo actually did seem to be a decent 
cook.
	"Hey, not bad. Best wild dog I can remember eating." It was a 
pretty feeble joke, but he smiled anyway.
	As they finished and wiped their mouths, Ukyo stood. "We shall 
need to find a spot with adequate protection from the dogs. Perhaps a 
canyon, or maybe we can build a palisade."
	Akane nodded, scrambling to her feet. "Yeah. We'd better get 
moving; no sense in hanging around that creepy old thing." She 
shuddered. "Dunno why I wanted to make for it in the first place. 
C'mon, let's find us a new campsite."
	Ukyo put out the fire as best he could manage, not figuring it 
would really catch considering the conditions. "Should we just keep 
following the river? Right now it's a pretty good landmark feature."
	Akane chuckled. "You don't really have any idea what you're 
talking about, do you?" she asked, smiling at him.
	"Well, not really. But it seems to be a sound plan." He 
collected the flint pieces he had broken off the pillar and tied them 
in a piece of his shirt. "I suppose if they get lost, we can come back 
and get more, but... this not a place I wish to return to."
	Akane nodded. "Me neither. Let's go. Up the river is as good a 
direction as any."
	They left the pillar and clearing behind as nature took hold to 
remove the evidence of their presence. As they entered the jungle 
again, Akane spared one glance back at the eerie unnatural stone and 
shuddered.

	Akane jumped up and managed to pull a coconut off the tree. She 
squeezed it in both her hands, snapping the bristly outer shell and 
revealing the smooth inner shell. She discarded it over her shoulder 
and went to work on the inner shell.
	Ukyo glanced back when he heard the snapping sound, and 
whistled appreciatively as the shell broke like so many twigs in 
Akane's hands. The "milk" spilled out onto the ground as she nearly 
shattered it and offered him a piece.
	"Thanks," he said, reaching for her offer. There was 
something... not right about things, but he dismissed the feeling. It 
could have been any number of things, but until something made itself 
evident, he could only try to relax. Taking the coconut piece, he bit 
on it and scraped the meat off with his teeth.
	"You know," he said, idly munching, "I think we're going 
uphill."
	"I could have told you that about a mile ago." Akane stopped 
and pointed up through some tree. "If you would have looked, you'd see 
the stupid mountain right in front of us."
	Ukyo stopped and looked where Akane was pointing. There was 
indeed a mountain looming above them. It appeared that they would be 
climbing it to some extent very soon. "Well I guess I can't be as 
perfect as you are. I've got other things on my mind, like figuring 
out who I am!"
	Letting out a disgusted breath, at Akane, at himself, he turned 
and continued to march ahead.
	Akane sighed. Stupid stupid stupid. "Ukyo! Wait up! I didn't 
mean it like that!"
	"Oh? And just how did you mean it then?" he replied, obviously 
with wounded pride.
	"I just meant that... Just... I don't know." She seemed to sag. 
"I didn't mean it the way I said it though."
	"I understand. It's quite difficult for me to... remain calm 
under the circumstances. Something in me wants to crawl into a hole 
and stay there, not believing what's happened. I have to... force 
myself to focus on the reality of the situation and not let myself 
get... too idealistic."
	Akane nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound so... 
mean. I think it's the heat."
	"I shouldn't have been so touchy. I know you didn't mean any 
harm by it."
	The silence was almost deafening as they looked at each other 
awkwardly.
	"Next time, I'll... I'll try not to get so hot-headed about it. 
I think we're both on edge from all this. Truce?" Akane asked, smiling 
tentatively at Ukyo.
	"Of course. We just need to know when our lines have been 
reached and take care in not stepping over them." He looked back at 
the mountain then. "I'm sure we'll find something of interest there."
	"Then we go." Akane started their trek again, trying to retain 
her center of calm.

	The uphill walk was quite gradual, but pleasant. Even in the 
heat, the pair walked swiftly, comfortably. They didn't speak, but 
only because of the lack of discussion material. In a different place, 
they would have looked like two experienced hikers.
	They stopped at one point, the sun high overhead, and ate fruit 
and drank water from the river. Still they avoided talking. There was 
an unspoken understanding that they simply couldn't get on each 
other's nerves. If they started to annoy each other, being the only 
people on the island, things would get very dismal very quickly.
	"Shouldn't be too much further and..."
	"And what? I don't think we're going to find anything we 
haven't seen on this island already, Ukyo. I really don't."
	He nodded a little. "But we have to try. Even if it's only to 
look for things that will make... our lives easier here from now on." 
But no, he refused to give in. Not yet. He would search the island 
completely until he finally decided there was no other choice. "Let's 
keep going."
	Akane stood, refusing the offer of his hand, and brushed 
herself off, frowning. "I don't care where it is right now, I just 
want to be home." She clapped her hands suddenly in an effort to break 
her out of her self-pitying. "But I am NOT going to get down." She got 
a fiercely determined look on her face as she looked in the direction 
they would be heading. "Yet," she added quietly.

	It got to be a maddeningly boring jungle. There was so much to 
see, but Akane and Ukyo didn't care. More than once, they had seen 
monkeys swinging in the tallest trees, and brightly colored birds 
calling out, but such wildlife didn't interest them.
	Beautiful flowers in every color of the rainbow decorated the 
jungle, but still, their eyes rested on those sights for moments 
before turning back to what lay ahead.
	And they were both on alert for the appearance of any more of 
those wild dogs. Even if they didn't show themselves in the daytime, 
there was still the night, and Ukyo and Akane had no shelter. The dogs 
would be back.

	Akane was getting tired. Not physically tired, but just... run 
down. A combination of everything just made her want to lay down and 
relax and forget about their troubles. Even if it was for only a 
little bit, she was really starting to drag her feet over it.
	She watched Ukyo move through some trees and out of her sight. 
No, things were just not working out, and that scared her more than 
anything. She should not have been so pessimistic about it all. The 
two of them should have been able to conquer anything they came 
across, and that included getting off the island.
	The sounds of the jungle all around seemed to mock her. Birds 
squawking, monkeys hooting, leaves rustling, water rushing...
	"Akane!"
	Ukyo yelling for her. Akane was immediately sprinting ahead, 
wondering what was wrong. Damn, she had let him get really far ahead 
of her. Why hadn't he waited...
	Her feet slipped out from underneath her on the wet grass, and 
she landed hard on her rump. Ukyo was grinning madly at her, and she 
couldn't help but return it. Why, she wasn't entirely sure, but this 
was definitely a very pleasant discovery.
	Towering above them, water gushed over the cliff and thundered 
down into the small lake that drained off to form the river they had 
been following.
	Akane was immediately on her feet and testing the water with 
foot. She shivered happily. "Nice and cool," she said, still grinning.
	Ukyo's eyes got wide and his face turned bright red as Akane 
started to shed her shirt.
	She stopped suddenly and looked back at him. "Could you not 
look?"
	He nodded slowly and turned around, his face still red. He 
listened to the rustle of clothing and was first hit in the head by 
her shirt. Then her pants fluttered over him and rested on his 
shoulder.
	Akane's whoop of delight was followed by a splash. "It's safe 
to turn around now," she called.
	He turned slowly and the blush kicked back into full force when 
he saw her treading water, the tops of her breasts just visible. "Come 
on in. It's great!" she said, splashing some water in his direction.
	Ukyo shook his head. "Really, I couldn't. It wouldn't be..."
	"Come on. You don't know what you're missing. It feels nice 
just to be clean for a little bit."
	"I really shouldn't. It just wouldn't be proper."
	Akane couldn't help but laugh. "You're standing there with my 
pants over your head and talking about what's proper? No one's going 
to get upset. Come on." She clapped her hands at him. "Let's go."
	Turning a deeper shade of red, Ukyo gave a little nod. "If you 
could..." He made a turning gesture with his hand.
	Akane turned and started to swim to the opposite bank, giving 
Ukyo a rather surprising glimpse of her naked rear.
	Staring wide-eyed for a moment, he quickly averted his eyes and 
began to remove his own clothing. He carefully folded Akane's 
clothing, then his own as he removed it, and set it all on a rock. He 
tested the water with his toe and started to enter it slowly. That was 
when he noticed Akane had reached the bank and was beginning to turn 
around.
	Yelping, he dove into the water before she got a look at 
anything private. The cool water sluicing over his body as he swam to 
the shallow bottom of the lake was incredibly refreshing. Ukyo hadn't 
really thought of just how hot and sweaty he had been while they had 
been walking, but he was now realizing how bad it had been.
	He broke the surface of the water and smiled. "You're right. 
This is nice."
	"Told ya. You should learn to listen me," Akane said, swimming 
in a lazy circle around him.
	Ukyo briefly ducked under the water and came back up, spitting 
out a mouthful. "Yeah, it's starting to look that way.
	She smiled at him, broad and cocky. "You're getting there." She 
swam away toward the waterfall, giving Ukyo another water distorted 
view of her body.
	"Are you... doing that on purpose?" he asked, feeling light- 
headed.
	"Doing what?" she called back, her voice being drowned out by 
the noise of the water.
	Ukyo watched her swim away and shook his head, smiling.
	Akane swam to the waterfall, the churning water pushing her 
away, and turned to her back. Floating, she rode the water as it 
carried her to the river. Arms out, she closed her eyes and relaxed, 
feeling the most relaxed since she had arrived on the island.
	"Don't let yourself go too far or you'll be down the river 
before you know it."
	Rolling over in the water, Akane began to swim powerfully back 
toward the waterfall. "I'm not going anywhere. This is way too nice." 
She noticed, but didn't mention the glances he was throwing her way as 
the water teasingly revealed her bare flesh.
	After all, it was different for guys. The naked male chest was 
nothing that needed to be hidden, but a female chest, breasts, the 
most natural things in the world were treated like important 
government secrets. Well, she had nothing to be ashamed of. Unless 
Ukyo was some sort of... freak.
	She had started to rise a little bit more out of the water, 
watching Ukyo's eyes widen, when she suddenly sank back down. Nah, it 
wasn't worth it. That didn't mean she couldn't appraise him though.
	That line of thought made her blush for some unknown reason. It 
was only natural, but it was somehow... wrong. But still... Akane 
looked up, almost shyly, and scanned Ukyo's bare chest before looking 
back to his face. And yes, he was definitely built... well enough.
	"Akane, are you..." Ukyo couldn't bring himself to finish the 
sentence. It was far too embarrassing, for himself and her.
	"Am I what?"
	"Nothing. It's nothing." He turned quickly and looked at the 
waterfall. "Pretty impressive, eh?"
	Akane looked at him suspiciously and nodded slowly. "Yeah, it 
is. How high do you think?"
	Shrugging, Ukyo shaded his eyes from the sun. "Maybe 20 or 30 
feet. High enough to hurt if you had to jump."
	Akane suddenly splashed him and chuckled. "You're so serious, 
Ukyo. I think you need to relax a little. At least for now."
	Ukyo turned and blinked the water from his eyes. His gaze 
narrowed in false menace. "Is that so?"
	"Sure is," she answered, backing away slowly. "Why? You've got 
a problem with it?"
	"Well," Ukyo answered slowly, "not really." He lunged at her, 
causing a sizable rush of water, but she was quick and twisted out of 
the way, his outstretched hands grazing her back.
	She made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a squeal of 
delight and tried to swim away from him. But she was beginning to 
laugh harder and was starting to get water in her mouth. In truth, she 
was about three seconds from choking.
	Ukyo cut through the water, completely submerged, and groped to 
get a hold on one of Akane's thrashing legs. He was moving quicker 
than he thought though and his hands slid up Akane's sides.
	Her whole body froze at the foreign touch, which only made it 
worse as one of his hands slid over her left breast. Her eyes and 
mouth were both wide with surprise, which shifted to outrage.
	Ukyo feeling the... not leg in his hand, let go and got his 
head quickly above the water. Before he had cleared the water away, he 
was already apologizing. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."
	"Pervert!" Akane yelled and slapped him hard across the cheek. 
She swam away quickly toward one shore, then altered her path and swam 
beneath the waterfall.
	Ukyo watched her go, a sick look on his face. That most 
certainly hadn't been his intention. He was only being playful and had 
accidentally... done something really dumb. Sighing, he swam back to 
shore and sat in the water, staring at where Akane had disappeared 
under the water.
	Akane sat in the little alcove behind the waterfall frowning. 
Pouting was more like it. Ukyo had grabbed her breast, and she hadn't 
liked that at all. She was having a fine enough time before that, 
but... He had really ruined the mood...
	She stopped herself. There hadn't been any sort of mood. She 
had just been having fun and things had gone a little too far. And it 
had only been an accident. Still, it had been a bit...
	Her thoughts were interrupted by a break in the water as Ukyo 
came through the powerful falls. Akane quickly covered herself as best 
she could, still frowning.
	Seeing her frown, Ukyo looked down at the water swirling around 
his waist, partly in embarrassment in seeing her nudity and partly in 
shame. "I'm sorry. I did something crude and wrong."
	Akane snarled at him. "You're damn right you did! Can you just 
leave me alone for a while?"
	Sighing, Ukyo nodded, turned and exited back through the water.
	Akane rested her elbow on her knee and put her chin in her 
hand. The look on her face was less than enthused.

	Ukyo swam with the vigor of a triathlete, powering himself 
around the lake over ten times. Each time he mentally berated himself 
for being so careless in his actions. It was just so stupid. What was 
expected when they were both... naked, swimming, maybe she was 
flirting with him and he was certainly enjoying it. A stupid accident, 
totally harmless. Meant to be totally harmless.
	He couldn't stay like this. He needed to resolve this between 
the two of them. Back to the waterfall he swam, breaking through the 
wall of water, expecting her to be sitting there and glaring at him. 
But she wasn't.
	He saw her pale shape in the darkness, lying in the cool sand. 
She appeared to be asleep. Well, they _had_ been in the water swimming 
for a while. He was feeling pretty close to wiped out himself.
	Approaching slowly, he stopped so he was still concealed form 
the waist down in the water. "Akane?" he asked quietly. He could see 
her side moving as she breathed, but other than that, she didn't stir.
	Daring to leave the water, Ukyo approached Akane's motionless 
form. "Akane?" he asked again. It was difficult because at the same 
time he didn't want her to respond, and he did want her to respond. If 
she was awake and turned to look at him, well... His face was turning 
red already from embarrassment.
	But she wasn't responding, wasn't moving. Getting bolder with 
sudden concern, he kneeled down next to her and looked over her 
shoulder at her face. Ignoring the shapeliness of her body, he put his 
hand on her arm. She was still warm at least. And when he actually saw 
her face, she was indeed sleeping peacefully.
	Somehow, in that way that men always curse and thank themselves 
for, she had also managed to cover herself with her arm just *so* to 
tease Ukyo's sudden wandering eyes.
	Realizing he was staring at the swell of Akane's bosom, Ukyo 
jerked his hand from her arm and tore his gaze away. If she needed 
sleep, then she should probably have it. He headed back into the 
water, planning on sunbathing a little to dry off. It might have been 
wiser to wait with Akane, but he didn't think she would take kindly to 
him seeing her naked, or him being naked with her. And it was 
impossible to get the clothes in under the waterfall without them 
getting soaked.
	As he entered the water, Akane opened one eye slowly and turned 
her head. She watched Ukyo walk away, almost clinically. She closely 
observed the way the muscles in his legs flexed as he found purchase 
on the slippery lake bottom.
	And maybe a little at his back, the way the water from the 
falls beaded on his smooth skin. Maybe there were other things she 
noticed, but this little peeping session would remain her secret.
	As Ukyo stepped under the falling water, the water up to the 
middle of his back, the sun shone through the pause in the flow, 
around his body and giving the impression that he was glowing.
	Only when the waterfall had reformed its wall did Akane sit up 
slowly. Ukyo certainly wasn't the most objectionable looking man she 
had seen. She thought. Yet, there was something holding her back, some 
little instinct that stopped her from exploring these feelings within 
her.
	Why, she didn't know, just that any overt actions directed at 
Ukyo were inexplicably reigned in. Feeling a little frustrated and a 
lot confused, Akane stood up from the sand, shivering a bit. Suddenly, 
whether she was mad at Ukyo or he was upset with her, being with 
another person in the sun was sounding very comforting.
	Plunging into the water and under the falls, she swam directly 
for the shore and her clothing. The sun sparkled magnificently off the 
water, making the lake look like it had been sprinkled with gold dust. 
Pausing to admire the coloring, Akane drifted slowly until her feet 
were able to touch bottom, then she started to make her way to shore 
purposefully.
	She smiled a little when she saw Ukyo asleep in the sand, 
covered by his clothing. He wasn't dressed, he had just covered 
himself with his shirt. "Hey, Ukyo," she called, waking him.
	He sat up slowly, scratching the side of his head and yawning. 
He looked at Akane in the water and waved hesitantly.
	"Good morning," she said, still smiling. "Truce again?" she 
offered.
	He nodded. "It's all my fault."
	Akane shrugged. "It was an honest mistake. Right?"
	"Yes. I would never, never ever..."
	"All right, I believe you. Besides, isn't it just too great 
right now to be upset. I mean, look at the lake. It's just beautiful. 
The way the sun is setting the rays are..." Akane ground to a halt and 
stared blankly at Ukyo.
	"Hm? What's wrong? The rays are what?"
	"The sun," she replied numbly. "The sun."
	Ukyo tried to get a look at the position of the sun through the 
trees. "What about the sun?"
	"It's setting, Ukyo. The sun is setting."
	"So?"
	"The sun is setting and we're just standing here!" she suddenly 
shouted at him.
	Ukyo blinked. "I don't... Night." Understanding dawned on him. 
He stood quickly, ignoring Akane's presence as he started putting his 
clothes on. "Come one, get dressed. We've got to find some place..."
	Akane hurriedly exited the water, kicking up water everywhere 
until she was standing on the narrow beach. She grabbed her clothes 
and threw them on, not bothering with her modesty. Survival was a hell 
of a lot more important than whether Ukyo saw her boobs or not.
	"Where should we go?" Ukyo asked, yanking his shirt over his 
head. "We don't have time to build any sort of shelter..."
	"I know! Maybe we..." She looked around, somewhat desperately. 
Akane slapped Ukyo on the arm. "Behind the waterfall. Bet's on that 
they won't get back there."
	Looking hesitant, eyes worriedly scanning the jungle, Ukyo 
shook his head a little. "But what about..."
	"Do you want to worry about breakfast in bed or surviving?" 
Akane had a hold of Ukyo's tattered shirt and was yanking on it.
	"If we don't have any other choice..."
	"We don't. Let's grab some fruit before it gets too late."

	It was scary. Well, a little scary. Just a bit worrying really. 
Neither one of them would admit that they were scared. Worried, yes. 
Scared, no way.
	So Ukyo and Akane sat behind the protective wall of water 
through the night, neither sleeping much. They just weren't tired. 
That's what they told each other. It had nothing to do with the sound 
of feet that even they could hear entering the water.
	Entering and exiting. Entering and exiting. Pacing at the 
shore. Waiting at the shore.
	"Are you cold?" Ukyo asked at one point in the night, his eyes 
nearly closed, but his body straight and stiff with instinctual 
alertness.
	Akane shrugged. "A little." She looked at Ukyo, feeling more 
awake than she wanted. The fatigue on Ukyo's face was clear, and she 
could almost feel the waves of tension flow from him. "It is kind of 
chilly, isn't it?"
	Ukyo nodded, and Akane shivered a little for effect. "If you're 
cold, maybe we could use our body heat to keep warm," he offered, eyes 
closing slowly and then snapping open.
	"That sounds like a good idea," Akane replied, knowing he 
needed the rest a lot worse than she did. Scooting over to sit right 
next to Ukyo, she leaned on him a little and felt him relax. Akane 
rolled her eyes at the stupid machismo Ukyo was showing. And yet, the 
warmth they shared was comforting, even as they both managed to fall 
asleep with the pounding of the water in front of them.

	Akane woke up, nestled within comforting warmth and protection. 
Dimly, she wondered where she was, though at the moment, she didn't 
much care. She felt safe, and that was the only thing that mattered.
	The sound of the water constantly pounding down less than 15 
feet away finally forced her to wake up. And that was when she 
discovered she was being held, and quite nicely, in Ukyo's arms, and 
that was all she needed after the night she had had.
	Removing herself as gently as possible, figuring Ukyo needed 
the sleep, Akane planned on fetching a little breakfast. In the 
daylight, it should have been perfectly plausible to make a fire on 
the beach and cook something up. If she could catch it.
	Stripping and doing her best to shelter her clothing under her 
body, Akane ducked under the falls until she was forced to swim. 
Holding her wet, but not quite soaked, clothing on her head with one 
hand, she did a clumsy three-quarter dog paddle to shore.
	Once out of the water, she shook as much moisture off as she 
could and redressed. She hadn't forgotten to snag a piece of flint 
from Ukyo before she had left him, and went about gathering tinder. 
And there, among the sand and soft dirt, she saw the prints, paw 
prints of dogs.
	They both had known the animals had been there, but actually 
seeing the ground covered in their prints was a completely different 
story. The sheer number of them was close to being frightening, and if 
they hadn't taken refuge behind that waterfall, Akane wasn't sure they 
would have been successful at fighting the beasts off.
	Gathering the tinder and building the base for the fire, Akane 
tried to think what she could catch and cook. The thought of more meat 
was practically making her mouth water. Fruit was fine to a point, but 
red meat, or even poultry or fish was that much better.
	The lake had seemed absent of any fish as she thought about it. 
They had seen birds in the trees, but only songbirds and nothing worth 
the effort of catching. There were monkeys, but they too were small, 
and they were fast little buggers.
	There was no way Akane planned on hunting wild dogs by herself 
either. She might actually find them. In large numbers, and that would 
most assuredly be disastrous. That left her with nothing, but again, 
that wasn't entirely true.
	The two of them hadn't really been looking for food before. She 
just knew there had to be more on the island than scrawny monkeys, 
birds and those damnable dogs. After all, what were the dogs eating 
anyway? There had been so many of them, they couldn't have been 
feeding off the very few tree-dwellers they could find or catch.
	Unfortunately, with the two of them trampling all along the 
lake's edge, whatever animals might live on the island would not 
approach the water to drink. That meant she had to go out and hunt. 
Akane had never hunted before. But there was a first time for 
everything.
	Breaking off a thick branch and crudely fashioning a point on 
it by rubbing it against a rock, Akane looked at her spear and almost 
laughed. If she could even catch a leaf on the thing, she'd count 
herself lucky.
	Shrugging, Akane headed off into the jungle to hunt.

	While it seemed fortune spat on them before, this day, it 
seemed to have changed its mind and was now smiling. Akane had gone 
less than 100 meters from the lake and was wiggling her way up a tree 
to examine what looked like a bird's nest.
	A rustle in the bushes below her made her freeze in mid wiggle. 
Looking down, amidst a large, leafy bush, she saw something big and... 
bristly. Listening, she heard the sound of grunting and smiled 
predatorily. Just as she thought...
	Trying to move around so she could somehow spear the animal, 
Akane slipped a little and slid a foot down the tree. The rough bark 
against her skin made her hiss in pain and grasp the trunk more 
tightly. She fumbled with her makeshift spear and almost dropped it, 
but she recovered, and her prey hadn't seemed to notice it at all.
	It emerged from the bush, black snout directed at the ground, 
pausing to root in the soft earth. It was bigger than Akane had first 
thought, looking to weigh a good 45 kilograms, but...
	She was almost drooling at the thought of having some "real" 
meat finally. There wasn't any way dog was going to replace some nice, 
juicy pork on her list of preferred meats.
	The wild pig revealed its full, bristly back to her as it 
continued to root for food around the tree. If only she could just 
throw her spear and hit it in the neck...
	Letting go of the tree with her weapon hand, Akane hung down 
dangerously, trying to get the best angle on her future breakfast. A 
little lower she dropped as the pig moved to the left some. "Damn it, 
hold still, porky," she said quietly, ready to throw her spear.
	Legs fatigued and hand sweating, Akane felt like she was 
suspended in the air for a brief moment as her hand slipped off the 
trunk. And then the ground was rushing at her and she couldn't even 
manage to scream.
	The pig, hearing enough noise to know something was going on, 
jerked its body around and ended up taking the point of Akane's spear 
in its back, getting wedged between some ribs. Akane herself slammed 
into the rear half of the pig and drove its body to the ground, 
squealing with pain and terror.
	Rolling off the animal, Akane sat up, half of her broken spear 
still in her hand. She looked dazedly at the pig, which was at the 
moment attempting to stand and make its escape.
	Neck feeling like it was on a spring, Akane knew she couldn't 
let this golden opportunity to get away. She crawled forward and 
dumbly stared at the injured animal, wondering just how she would 
finish it off. Even if she didn't plan on killing the thing, leaving 
it in such a shape would simply be too cruel.
	Sudden sadness and frustration came over her, and she gripped 
the struggling animal's head in her hands. Closing her eyes, Akane 
twisted quickly and felt/heard the satisfying crunch of bones. The 
entire body shuddered and twitched for a few moments, then fell still.
	Akane sat on the ground, just stunned at what had happened. 
Looking down at herself, her shirt was stained with spattered blood, 
and she felt some of it on her face. Whether it was from the initial 
stabbing or what, she didn't know, but... The pig.
	She had just snapped its neck like she had broken the stick she 
had stabbed it with. Just... snap. Absently, she wiped her cheek, 
smearing the blood, the broken stick still in her hand.
	More rustling from the bushes made Akane look up, but her eyes 
were still partly glazed from the combined shock and surprise at what 
she had done. Trotting out from under the plant was a group of 
piglets, each of them plump and colored a dusky black in color. Akane 
had apparently killed their mother.
	She sat, her legs splayed out uncomfortably, blood on her 
shirt, smeared across her cheek, and stared dumbly at the little black 
piglets that had come trotting out.
	...stupid pig...
	She shook her head numbly, a feeling of nausea welling up. That 
damn, mean-spirited voice seemed to loom out of the hole in her mind, 
somehow threatening...
	A piglet squealed in fear and confusion.
	...yo, pig...
	...ranm... stop picking on p-chan...
	...stupid porker!...
	...p-chan, come back...
	Her vision blurred, and with an effort she snapped her mind 
back to the present, stomach roiling. Black piglet... she or someone 
she knew must have had one, and the terrible, mocking voice didn't 
like it... had killed it... tried to kill it?
	Biting back a scream of frustration, Akane stood, and stared at 
the bloody main course in front of her. Out of spite, or hatred or 
confusion, she booted away one of the piglets. "Little bastards," she 
said, glaring at them.
	But she had gotten what she wanted. Akane threw away the broken 
stick and bent down to lift the pig. It was heavy, heavy enough to 
stagger her momentarily when she got it across her shoulders. She 
wanted to throw it down and leave it there for the scavengers when she 
felt the warm blood trickle down her neck and into her shirt.

	It was inelegant, but it was food. It was meat. That was all 
that mattered. And when Ukyo emerged from behind the waterfall, 
clothes held as high as possible when he got into the deep water, he 
kept his eyes trained on her.
	The way she was hunched over listlessly by the fire, poking at 
the meat occasionally, looked very bad. "Akane, you caught breakfast," 
he said in an attempt to get some sort of dialogue going.
	She simply nodded.
	As the water got shallow, he waited for her to politely turn 
her head so he could exit and put on his clothing. But she never even 
glanced in his direction. All her attention was on the fire.
	Taking slow steps, Ukyo exited the water, holding his clothes 
in front of himself to maintain his modesty. Never once did she look 
at him, and that was worrying. He expected her to at least make some 
sort of comment, whether it was a joke or an insult... Something.
	Once dressed, Ukyo sat on the opposite side of the fire, facing 
Akane. "Akane, what's wrong?" he asked gently.
	"Nothing. Eat your pig."
	Ukyo recoiled slightly as Akane thrust a piece of steaming meat 
on a stick at him. Taking the stick, he held it at his side and waited 
for it to cool. His stomach wasn't even really awake yet, and Akane 
needed much more attention than himself. "Akane..."
	"It happened again, all right?"
	Drawing his eyebrows together, Ukyo tried to decipher just what 
it was she was talking about. "What happened? Were there more dogs?"
	Akane shook her head, and Ukyo was surprised to see a tear hit 
the sand at her feet. "It happened again, and they're all so awful... 
None of them are good. It's just... Ukyo," she said, finally looking 
up at him, "I'm scared. I don't know what these memories are, but 
they're not good."
	And then, Ukyo truly was frightened. Akane was getting her 
memory back? He hadn't experienced a thing. Nothing. His mind was just 
as blank as it had been before, and now... What if Akane got her 
memory back and he never did? It would be like being the last one left 
at the dock as a boat sails away. Akane would be looking back, waving 
at him.
	"Akane, does this mean... you're getting your memory back?" he 
asked, afraid to hear her answer.
	She shook her head. "Just... flashes. Voices of people, things 
I can't remember... Sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy, all the 
voices and the headaches..."
	"Headaches? You're getting headaches? Why didn't you mention 
this before? What if there's something seriously wrong, a concussion 
or..." Ukyo trailed off when he saw the tired little grin Akane was 
giving him.
	Blinking slowly, damp tracks still visible on her cheeks, Akane 
said, "Don't worry about it. I was in good enough shape to catch this 
pig, wasn't I? Besides, I think it's some weird side effect of 
whatever caused this amnesia." Her eyes grew steely. "I know it's not 
some coincidence. This was done on purpose to us."
	Ukyo nodded, and as far fetched as it might have seemed 
initially, he was coming to believe that it was the truth. Unsure of 
what to say, he began to eat.
	Akane turned and looked up at the rising mountain. "We've got 
to find somewhere to make a camp or something."
	"But what about the rest of the island? We don't want to stop 
in one place before we know what else is here. What if..."
	"What if what? What if there's some resort just over the next 
hill? Or what if there's a boat washed up on shore just waiting for us 
to sail away in it? Face it, we both know that there's nothing on this 
island but us. The only thing we can do is..."
	Ukyo looked down at the fire in defeat. Akane was right. He DID 
know that they wouldn't find any sort of miraculous rescue on the 
island. The dogs alone should have been proof enough of that, because 
if there HAD been some sort of civilization, a resort, those dogs 
would have been exterminated before anything else.
	When Akane spoke again, her voice was quiet and somber. "I 
think we should cook more of this meat and when it's done we go 
looking for a place to make a more... permanent home." She thinned her 
lips into a white line. It was about the only way she could control 
her facial expression.
	"Fine. Then later, we go." Ukyo's voice lacked emotion, and in 
his eyes, there was the look of finality. It was as if he was 
preparing to walk to his death.
	Akane had removed a large leaf from something she thought might 
be a rubber plant and wrapped it around the meat they had cooked. She 
ripped the rest of her sleeve off, tore it in half length-wise and 
used the strips to tie the bundle securely.
	"We'll continue to follow the river. In any case, we're better 
off making camp near it, and then working our way from there." And 
still, Ukyo couldn't muster any positive emotion. But he couldn't 
think of any good reason to except that they weren't dead.
	Akane seemed to understand and was quiet herself. But there had 
been no point in fooling themselves that they might be miraculously 
rescued. That would only make survival that much harder if they waited 
each day for someone to get them off the island.
	Without further words, they walked into the jungle.

***

	Ukyo sighed and looked at the scene before him. It was 
beautiful in a starkly hopeless way. If they were on vacation, he 
would have been taking pictures, but he and Akane were not on 
vacation. The scene only presented itself as the final crumbling of 
his hope.
	The two were standing on the lip of some sort of huge crater at 
the top of the largest hill on the island. It was so large it actually 
bordered on mountainous, and gave an unfortunately good view of the 
rest of the island.
	The crater was filled with clear water, which spilled over one 
edge and formed the beginnings of the river that they had been 
following. But the crater itself was a mystery.
	It was large, but not exceedingly large. It didn't look like 
any sort of volcanic leftover; the "mountain" was just too small for 
that. And too rounded. It just wasn't the geology of a volcano. The 
facts just didn't add up.
	Akane started walking around the edge of the crater, looking 
out to the jungle below them. The look on her face was probably very 
similar to the one on his own. Now they knew. Not even a faint hope 
remained. In every direction was jungle, and more jungle, and beyond 
that, beach and ocean and limitless sky.
	Ukyo almost wanted to cry, but if Akane could remain calm, then 
he would too. He turned and looked out at the jungle below him. There 
was nothing in that greenery to be happy about, nothing to even be 
positive about.
	"Hey, Ukyo, take a look at this."
	He looked up to see Akane waving him over. She was looking down 
the opposite edge of the crater, and she seemed enthusiastic about 
something. "What is it?" he asked, approaching her.
	"Look down there." Akane was pointing at something among the 
trees.
	Peering down, Ukyo was confused. "It looks like..."
	"A building of some kind." She looked at him excitedly. "Maybe 
we were wrong. Maybe there's someone there."
	Shaking his head, Ukyo slowly answered, "No. Look at that. It's 
all grown over."
	"Well, maybe we can stay there then. Either way, we have to go 
down there and check it out."
	Ukyo couldn't argue against that. "I suppose we do."

	Ukyo didn't like leaving the river and told Akane as much.
	"I don't know what to say other than if we never leave the 
sight of the river, we'll never explore the entire island. We may not 
find anyone else here, but it's still important that we know the 
layout of the island. We can't be content to just sit in one spot for 
the rest of our time." She refused to say that they would be there the 
rest of their lives. She refused to accept that they would be. Even if 
it looked that way at the time.
	But only at the time. They would find a way to get to some 
other island, something inhabited, or they would get themselves 
rescued. They simply couldn't let themselves not believe that.
	Ukyo followed Akane as they descended the almost mountainous 
hill toward the strange ruins they had seen emerging from the jungle. 
True, part of it was leaving the river, which he didn't want to do, 
but it was the strange ruin as well.
	Yes, they needed to explore it, but he really didn't want to. 
Seeing it at first had been a small spark of hope. Maybe, however 
improbable it might be, there was someone in that ruin. Maybe there 
was someone that could get them off the island. But something bothered 
him about that mysterious ruin. Something, just something, he didn't 
like at all.
	"Just as long as you know I'm not sure this is a good idea," he 
said, frowning.
	Akane looked back at him. "What? It's some sort of ruin or 
temple. What could be wrong? At worst, maybe it's where those dogs are 
hiding out, but we can fight them off. I really don't see what the big 
deal is."
	"It may be nothing, but I just don't like it."
	Akane shrugged and picked up her pace. It should have been a 
straight walk down to the ruin, and not too far by the looks of it, 
but distances were deceiving.
	They walked through the heat and the plants and the insects for 
an amount of time they didn't know, sweating and tiring themselves 
out. They didn't have the luxury of the river to draw water from when 
they got too warm or too thirsty this time, and they were starting to 
feel it.
	Hell, both of them looked ready to melt, and several times they 
stopped and rested under the canopy of the jungle. Even though it was 
all downhill, their legs were burning with the effort of moving.
	"A... Akane, I have to rest," Ukyo said, panting. "It's too 
hot. I can't breathe."
	Akane was doubled over, sucking in air. "Just... just relax, 
Ukyo. Take deep breaths, don't talk. It's not as bad as you think it 
is."
	Ukyo leaned back against a tree and slid down so he was sitting 
on the ground, his forehead resting on his knees. "I didn't think it 
would be so hot if we got away from the river."
	Akane nodded, sweat dripping from her shorn off hair. "Neither 
did I. Maybe..." Maybe this and maybe that. Maybe a golden horse would 
gallop out of the trees and give them ride. Or maybe a talking lion 
would give them a wish.
	Ukyo waved his hand absently at her, and she stopped speaking. 
There wasn't much to say.
	"Ukyo, we can't wait until dark."
	He nodded. "I know." He stood slowly, his face looking haggard 
and drained of strength. His entire body felt like a rusty gate, stiff 
and creaking, like it might fall apart at any moment. "Let's go then."
	That small amount of movement, standing, had him sweating and 
short of breath already. And when Akane stood, he could see she wasn't 
any better. "Quicker we get this over with, the quicker we can rest, 
right?" he asked.
	Akane nodded, her eyes looking almost glassy. She wasn't sure 
she could keep it up. "It can't be much further, right?" she asked. 
"Not much further. It can't be." She wasn't sure she could make it, 
but it was something more than that. She was mentally unfocused, 
unable to concentrate on her breathing or her pace, which had tired 
her out immensely.
	The entire time down, she had been huffing and puffing, her 
footing shaky, legs feeling like they were about to give out. It was 
almost like she was in a complete fog, mentally and physically. "Ukyo, 
this is bad..."
	"It's not that bad, Akane. It's only a little bit more and then 
we'll be there. We can take this heat, just until we get there, and 
then we'll rest. Even if we have to sleep in trees, we'll be fine."
	He extended his hand to her, and Akane couldn't even remember 
when she had decided to sit down. "It's not that," she said, taking 
his hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet."
	"What is it then?"
	Akane shook her head. "I just don't think... I've changed my 
mind. This is a bad idea. We should go back, or around, or something. 
I just don't think it's a good idea to investigate this place."
	Ukyo laughed tiredly. "Come on. We've come this far. It's too 
far to quit."
	They stumbled away from the spot they had stopped, looking like 
the living dead.
	Thankfully, they had only a little longer to travel before they 
reached their destination. Even though they couldn't see it through 
the trees, they knew they had made it.
	The multitudes of living inhabitants that had been around them 
at all times before, so noisy, so ever-present, were suddenly quiet. 
It was like they had entered some dead zone, no sound, no movement, 
nothing.
	Even the plant life was much subdued, and nearly non-existent 
when they got within four meters of the immense structure, and all but 
the most basic plant life refused to grow. The grass was short and 
scraggly, thick blades grew in erratic clumps all over.
	A few trees had braved the closer proximity to the walls, and 
they paid a price for their hardiness. Ukyo and Akane looked at the 
stunted and twisted trunks, almost black in color. The leaves, what 
few there were, were green and yellow, mottled with black and 
something that might have been purple, or maybe silver, but didn't 
have any name they could describe it with.
	"Ukyo," Akane whispered, "do you feel a breeze?"
	Ukyo shook his head. "Why?"
	"Then why are those branches moving?" she asked. She pointed to 
a tree at the corner of the structure that was waving slightly, almost 
as if it were greeting them.
	"Um..." was all Ukyo said in response. "Why... why don't we 
take a look around the outside first?" he suggested, looking away from 
the tree.
	"Good idea," Akane replied, and turned away from the waving 
tree. She began walking briskly in the opposite direction, quite eager 
to be away from it. That was just another one of those things that 
Akane was beginning to really dislike about the island.
	She knew Ukyo was just as disturbed by it as she was. The look 
of revulsion on his face had been quite clear. Or maybe it hadn't been 
revulsion at all, but horror. And fear. Those were two things she 
could readily agree with.
	They followed along one outer wall, idly looking at it, 
sometimes looking at the surrounding greenery. There just wasn't a 
whole lot to say about the wall because it was smooth and featureless. 
Just a smooth, solid expanse of white, pushing back the jungle, 
staking its claim.
	 At one point, after they had turned one corner, Ukyo thought 
he had spotted another wild pig and had gone after it into the jungle. 
That left Akane alone, and she wasn't exactly happy with it. Hell, she 
didn't think she'd be afraid of much of anything the island could 
throw at her, but it was just... creepy.
	The lack of any noise, birds, animals, insects even, was so 
disturbing that she found herself involuntarily shivering. Suddenly 
getting a look of distaste on her face, she forced her body to stop 
the worthless shaking and stand still. She wasn't a child. It was 
unnecessary for her to act as one.
	No, she could explore on her own. Ukyo would find her as long 
as she didn't wander into the jungle. That she could handle. She would 
handle it, childish fears be damned.
	Walking, it was actually a small shape huddled against the wall 
that caught her attention. It looked to be a log or something leaning 
against the wall, and on it, she saw something that looked familiar to 
her.
	"Ukyo!" she called out as she walked on. "I think I found a 
little something!"
	Ukyo came bursting from the jungle, panting and sweating. He 
had not found any trace of the pig he had thought he had seen. "You 
found something?" he asked.
	"Yeah. Up here." Akane pointed to the shape as they approached 
it. "Do those look like shitaki mushrooms to you?"
	Ukyo looked at the mushrooms growing on the log Akane had 
pointed out. He was still too far away to tell clearly, and he wasn't 
quite sure what those looked like anyway, but it couldn't hurt to 
investigate.
	They approached the mushrooms, and Akane squatted down to look 
at them closer. "I think they look like shitaki, but if neither of us 
can be sure, then we shouldn't..." She reached out to pluck one of the 
enlarged caps.
	"Akane, don't!" Ukyo said sharply. He was standing on the other 
side of the log and prodding it with his stick. "Don't touch those," 
he warned, his voice deadly serious.
	Akane looked up at him, surprised. "Why? What's wrong?"
	He gestured with his stick and what he had found.
	Rising and walking to stand next to him, Akane looked down at 
what he was staring darkly at. Her face twisted into a look of 
disgust. "Thanks for warning me."
	"Think nothing of it," he replied. They looked at for a few 
moments longer, as if taking in the sight as a warning to themselves, 
then walked on.
	They had left behind, not a log, but the corpse of a large 
monkey, huddled against the wall. The strange pitch black mushrooms 
sprouted from its body, a healthy cluster protruding forth from one 
empty eye socket. A slimy white fungus seemed to pour from its open 
mouth, like it was a rabid beast. The overall effect was disturbing, 
the animal seeming to clutch itself with its arms, its face locked in 
a silent scream of anguish.
	Akane and Ukyo continued to walk, wondering when this funhouse 
of illusions would end. First the tree, then the monkey... What could 
be next? And could it be any worse? Then they reached the entrance, 
and a feeling of loathing washed over them. They both knew that it 
could get worse, and deep inside, they knew it would.
	They paused at the "gates" to the immense structure, temple, 
palace, whatever it was and looked at each other. It was raising 
doubts in each of them, and the silence was beyond deafening. The two 
huge pillars of stone, what appeared to be a sort of marble, flanked 
them.
	There were no obvious spots where any sort of doors might have 
been connected, but it seemed absurd that such a... pristine place 
would have been left open to the wilderness.
	Akane looked at the "floor", composed of blocks of the same 
marble the pillars were. Indeed, the entire thing seemed to be made of 
the stone. But... where had it all come from? It was obvious that it 
hadn't come from the island itself.
	Ukyo touched his hand to the smooth stone and ran his fingers 
across it. "It's one whole piece."
	Akane looked at him strangely. "What?"
	"This pillar, it's one huge unbroken piece of stone. Something 
this large... it should be in sections, but it's not." He looked at 
the outside of the pillar, where it was connected with the exterior 
walls. Again, there was no seam, no crack, no joint. The pillar and 
the wall were one huge, solid piece of rock.
	"Did you see this?" Akane asked. She was down on one knee, 
looking with fascination at the marble "tiling" that begin just on the 
other side of the pillars.
	Akane looked up at Ukyo, then back down at the floor. "It's 
amazing..." She touched it with her fingertips and wiped it lightly. 
It was smooth, almost greasy to the touch, and she couldn't help but 
bring her fingers together, rubbing them against one another. "This is 
weird," she said reverently.
	Ukyo watched her, then took a big breath and stepped on to that 
strange, slippery surface. He expected his foot to slide on the smooth 
stone, but his footing was as solid as it had been on the dirt. He 
braced himself against the upright and stepped completely onto the 
floor of the ruined...
	But he couldn't really call it a ruin of any sort. It was in 
pristine condition when it should have been nothing more than a 
crumbling pile of rubble. The slightly off-white marble with veins of 
gray running through it looked like it had been cleaned and polished 
just the other day, and was cool on his feet, even through his 
sandals.
	"What is this? It sure doesn't feel like any sort of rock I 
know," Akane said, stepping gingerly from the dirt to the floor. It 
was hard to concentrate on one aspect of the... temple because it was 
just so weird in all ways.
	There was the weird stone, and the way it was cut, and the 
perfect condition, and it was just so... eerily perfect. Words just 
didn't do it justice. Nothing she could say could accurately describe 
what she was feeling. Awe and fear and amazement and disbelief, but 
not any of them. It was all those things and more.
	"Akane, are you..."
	Ukyo's hand on her shoulder made her jump and realize she had 
been staring at the smallish structure in the middle of the... place. 
She didn't even know what she was standing in the middle of. "I'm 
fine, Ukyo," she replied, her voice strangely devoid of all emotion, a 
fact that bothered even her.
	"Well, if you say so." He looked at her more, getting the 
distinct feeling that there was something very wrong, but not knowing 
what or why, then went back to his exploration. He decided he would 
try what they had done with the outside and follow the interior wall. 
It all seemed obvious enough, a big, wide open space surrounded by 
walls, but it was hard to say.
	"I don't think this is any sort of temple or anything," he said 
as he walked. "The walls are all completely blank. Wouldn't there be 
reliefs or something? Engravings? Sta..."
	Akane had been walking ever so slowly to the building in the 
middle of the space, darkly fascinated by its appearance, like that of 
a tomb. Could it be? But then Ukyo had suddenly stopped speaking. 
"What is it, Ukyo?"
	Akane waited for his reply. There wasn't one. "Ukyo?" she said 
loudly, and began walking to where he had been along the wall. She got 
around the intimidating presence of the little building and saw Ukyo 
standing, frozen in place, staring at something. Frowning slightly, 
she approached him carefully. "Ukyo?" she asked again. "What's the..."
	She saw what he was looking at, and something in her told her 
to stand perfectly still and not move. The survival instinct in Akane 
was quite powerful, and what she saw was something she couldn't punch 
and break, or something Ukyo could fend off with his stick. What she 
saw was... an abomination of nature.
	A statue made of dark gray stone, in complete contrast to the 
white beauty around them, sat in the midst of a stagnant fountain. It 
was completely, wholly, disgustingly unnatural, with limbs all 
twisted, and a body perverted against everything natural.
	A faceless stub of a head, masked by tentacles and claws and 
great wings casting a dark shadow across the still water in the 
fountain basin.
	"Ukyo, what..."
	...she screamed in fear and rage as the razored pincers slashed 
down towards her...
	"Akane?"
	..."AKANE! NO!" the male voice, screaming in rage and grief...
	"Akane?"
	...ukyo! no! no! my fault! my fault! no! NO!...
	Waves of nausea surged through her, and she turned away and 
retched. For a few seconds she bent and panted, dry heaving, and then 
Ukyo helped her to straighten. She felt like hell, and her mind felt 
like something was rattling around inside it, and her head ached like 
mad...
	"Are you okay? What's wrong?"
	"The statue," she finally said. "I've seen it before. It was 
something horrible, and you..."
	...he leapt in front of her, weapon ready, and then it was upon 
them...
	"...and you were there..."
	...ukyo! no, god, please no, my fault! my fault!...
	"...and something horrible happened to you." She looked away, 
shaking. "I don't know what."
	Ukyo frowned, and stared at the ugly thing, the lurking 
familiarity rising up as he did. A low throbbing began at the base of 
his skull.
	Remember, he told himself. Remember. Look at the statue. Note 
the claws...
	...akane! it hurt akane!....
	...it killed...warrior's death...avenge...
	...you will not hurt her!...
	Pain blossomed in his head, and a sudden flash of ripping 
talons, whip-like arms, and rending jaws filled his mind. And a girl, 
falling apart in a fountain of crimson blood.
	"Something horrible happened," he repeated dully. 
"Something..." He stared at the statue, this time with sickness and 
loathing.
	Akane stood, trembling, looking down at the floor, her hand 
clenched into a fist. It was the only way she could regain control of 
her emotions, the only she could stop herself from breaking the statue 
into a thousand pieces. She wouldn't do that. It wouldn't accomplish 
anything.
	"Something," she said quietly, her voice little more than a 
hiss, "hurt people I cared about, and I think that something dumped us 
on this island without memory." She looked up at Ukyo, tears at the 
corners of her eyes. Her eyes narrowed as the glanced sideways at the 
statue. "There had better be something here worth these damned 
flashbacks."
	With a great effort of her will, Akane approached the fountain 
and statue. She glared at the water, trying to avoid looking at the 
remnant of some twisted person that would ever deem it worthy of being 
displayed. Her reflection only made her angrier, the person staring 
back at her looking worn and bedraggled, her hair just looked awful...
	"Ukyo, I look terrible, and I feel awful, and it was all 
because of this thing. And I want to see my family." She closed her 
eyes tightly. "I want to KNOW who my family is, damn it!" she yelled.
	Ukyo gently put his hand on her shoulder, only to have her 
shrug it off. "Akane, you don't look terrible," Ukyo said quietly. 
"And I want to get out of here as much as you do, but I don't think 
getting all upset at this is going to help."
	"I don't care! Whatever happened, I couldn't do anything about 
it, and look what happened! Look at us!" She turned and glared at 
Ukyo.
	"We are so utterly pathetic, we might as well just sit down and 
wait to die! We can't survive here anyway, in a stupid jungle, with no 
food or water, no place to live, no nothing! So if breaking this ugly 
statue makes me feel better, then I will get as upset as I damn well 
please! Hear me?" Akane could feel her chest heaving from the anger 
and self-pity working their way to escape.
	"Akane, you... you... Akane, you're beautiful." He paid no mind 
to her stunned face at his comment. "We will survive on this island as 
long as it takes for us to get rescued from it. We will." He gazed at 
her evenly, none of his own fear showing. "I don't even remember if I 
have a family, so I'm going to do my best to survive so I can go back 
and see whoever might have missed me.
	"Akane, I know you want to do the same. The both of us, we have 
to."
	She stopped and listened to him, his eyes transfixing her own. 
He was so... mysterious, but then, she was a mystery to herself, so 
that wasn't too surprising. But still, there was something about the 
way he spoke that convinced her that he was right. She gave the 
tiniest of nods.
	Ukyo did not smile. He did not even acknowledge her nod. "And 
if ever I feel I must simply give myself up to this forsaken island, 
this jungle, it will not be in this... unnatural place," he said, 
still looking at her intently.
	Akane turned her head and looked at the statue long enough to 
know he was right. The sweetest revenge on any stupid monster would be 
to go back home and show everyone she wasn't dead. Show them that the 
monster had been beaten, that it hadn't been able to erase her from 
life just because it wished to.
	She was made of stronger stuff than that, and she knew it. She 
looked at Ukyo and gave him the beginnings of a cocky grin. He knew it 
too. "Okay," she said quietly, but forcefully. "We finish checking 
this place out and then we leave. I get a very strange feeling that 
we're not exactly welcome."
	Ukyo nodded. "I as well. Should we split up, or..."
	Akane shook her head. "No splitting up. I don't think it's big 
enough that we need to. Besides, I... I don't feel as bad if I get 
those flashbacks when I'm around you. It's like you're my anchor to 
the real world. Even if I get mad at you, you're all I've got that's 
real flesh and blood, and not some nightmare flashback torturing me."
	She was quite surprised at how good she felt confessing that to 
Ukyo. It was like it had all been bottled up inside for some strange 
reason, that she hadn't been willing to reveal such a silly weakness 
to him.
	"I don't think my flashbacks are as numerous as yours. It... it 
frightens me a little." Ukyo frowned and looked at the fountain of 
blackish water. "They scare me, because I know something terrible, 
something really awful happened, but... What if I never remember who I 
am?"
	"Then when we get back home, I guess we have someone fill you 
in. I'm sure, positive, there'll be someone waiting for us. Someone 
must know we're not dead." Akane nodded, assuring herself as much as 
Ukyo.
	Hesitantly, Ukyo reached out and slipped his hand into Akane's.
	For a moment, Akane didn't do anything, then she closed her 
hand on his in a show of solidarity. The two it them would make it. 
They would make sure of it.
	They walked away from the statue, the water bubbling gently at 
their backs, reflecting dully the sun's rays back as something not 
wholly of this world.
	The pair walked across the open space to the back wall, hand in 
hand until Akane, with a sudden rush of discomforting feelings, pulled 
free. She stayed at the same distance, but let her arm swing free at 
her side. Occasionally, their hands would touch, but this was not 
acknowledged by either of them.
	"I just don't get it." Akane ran her hand over the smooth, 
blank wall. "This can't be a temple. Wouldn't there be something here 
then?"
	Ukyo nodded. "Yes, I would think so, but what about that 
statue?" He jerked his thumb back over his shoulder toward the statue. 
He didn't really feel like looking at it any more than he had to.
	"I don't know," answered Akane. "None of this makes any sense." 
She leaned against the wall, getting fed up with the annoyingly 
strange construct. She was about to start complaining again when she 
felt the wall behind her shift slightly. "What the..."
	Meaning to push off and investigate, Akane ended up putting the 
needed force on the wall to push it back, revealing a flight of stairs 
that went down into the ground. She let out a strangled yelp as she 
slipped backwards into the darkness.
	"Akane!" Ukyo yelled, and without further thought, he went down 
the stairs after her.
	Akane tucked her body into as small a space she could manage as 
she tumbled down what seemed like the world's longest staircase. She 
covered the back of her head and neck with her hands and arms, saving 
herself from serious injury. Her body came to a jarring rest as she 
reached the bottom of the stairs and crash-landed on hard stone.
	Slowly sitting up, blinking rapidly, Akane heard Ukyo calling 
to her. His voice echoed eerily and sounded like it was very far away. 
"Ukyo?" she answered back. Her own voice sounded strange and alien, 
echoing in whatever chamber she had ended up in.
	"Akane, are you hurt?" he called.
	"I... I think so." She could hear his footsteps as he descended 
the stairs and stood up slowly. "Watch out, it's really dark."
	His footsteps slowed with her warning. "You're right. Can you 
see anything down there?"
	Akane looked around, faced with only blackness and shook her 
head. "I can't see anything." She looked up where she thought the way 
out should have been, but still there was no light. "Ukyo, how... what 
happened to the wall that opened?"
	"I think it shut automatically. Just wait there and I'll be 
right down. We can figure out what to do from there."
	Figure out.. She couldn't even figure out where her butt was it 
was so dark. How would they be able to figure anything else out? "You 
shouldn't have come down here, Ukyo," she called out.
	"Why not?" he said, standing almost next to her.
	Akane jumped a little with surprise. "Don't do that. You almost 
gave me a heart attack. Besides, it's pitch black down here, and we 
have no way out." She looked up at him and scowled. "So how are we 
supposed to get out of here?"
	"Well, I must admit, I'm not totally sure. It is rather dark, 
isn't it?"
	"Thank you very much." Akane was really annoyed at this point. 
"So how are we..." She blinked. There was a noticeable difference. 
Akane blinked again. "Hey, Ukyo, I think there's light coming from 
somewhere."
	"Why do you say that? It's still pitch..." He stopped and 
squinted, looking down at Akane. Sure enough, he could see her. So 
very vaguely, but he could see her pale skin faintly luminescent in 
the darkness.
	"I have to say, as much as I appreciate this light, wherever 
it's coming from, I really want to get out of here. I think it'd be a 
good idea to check out the wall back at the top of the stairs." Akane 
pushed Ukyo aside and began climbing the stairs slowly.
	Ukyo planned on exploring the cavernous room a little, 
beginning by following the wall around. He touched his fingertips to 
the wall lightly, and feeling only cold stone, began to walk. Maybe 
there was a tunnel or something similar they could use to escape.
	He got only six paces before the texture of the wall changed 
from slightly rough-hewn rock to something slick and greasy. Ukyo 
jerked his fingers away and began wiping them furiously on his pants. 
Whatever that was, and he could tell it wasn't simply the smooth, oily 
illusion of the strange marble; this was a physical substance.
	Deciding he'd had enough of exploration, at least while he was 
by himself, Ukyo backed up and went to the base of the stairs. Getting 
off whatever had been on the wall from his hand was now an obsession, 
and he spent the entire time wiping his hands off on his pants. 
"Akane?" he called out.
	"I'm at the top, Ukyo. Come up here. I think I've got 
something," she answered, and again there was that feeling that he was 
a hundred miles away. Her voice was oddly distorted like he was 
underwater or something.
	Not waiting for, or needing, another invitation, Ukyo started 
up the stairs as quickly as he dared. It would be just his luck to 
slip and fall and end up being stuck at the bottom of this seemingly 
limitless pit.
	Several times, for no discernible reason, he looked behind 
himself, down into the black emptiness. He just knew all was not as it 
seemed and there was something down there, waiting for the two of 
them. But then again, the mind had the tendency to play tricks on a 
person, especially considering the situation.
	After what seemed to be hours of speeding up the stairs, the 
hairs on the back of his neck standing on end, Ukyo ended up slamming 
into Akane and smashing her against what had been the way in.
	"Hey, watch it, you moron! You could have gotten us killed!" 
she admonished, pushing him away.
	"I'm sorry," he answered, panting. "I just... Something on the 
walls..."
	Akane definitely did not want to know and turned her attention 
back to the wall. "Here, help me push. I think we can tilt this thing 
if we try together." She leaned her shoulder up against the wall and 
felt Ukyo do the same next to her. "Ready? One, two, three."
	The two of them put all their weight against the stone, and 
little by little, they felt it move. Soon enough, with both of them 
grunting from exertion, the slab slowly swung upwards, impossibly 
defying gravity.
	Not waiting for it to open any more than necessary, the pair 
tumbled out into the bright afternoon sunlight. They watched their 
door swing continue to swing upward, until it was wide open, at which 
time it stopped.
	"Whoa. That is... too weird for words," Akane said, looking in 
awe at the opening.
	Ukyo nodded, still gasping for breath. His attention was on his 
hand though, his fingers where they had brushed through whatever had 
been on the wall. They were black and green, like they had been 
severely bruised, and they tingled ominously. He set his stick down, 
then proceeded to scrub at his fingers with his shirt.
	After a few moments, the fungus began to rub off, and after a 
minute of hard scrubbing, his fingers were clean once again. Ukyo felt 
intensely relieved, more even than escaping their temporary prison had 
left him.
	He picked up his stick again and suddenly stopped. He looked at 
it strangely, then at Akane. "Akane?"
	"Yeah?"
	"You know, we could have just..." He waved his stick around a 
little and gestured to Akane's hands.
	Akane immediately understood what he was implying and smacked 
herself in the forehead. "You're right. We could have just blasted our 
way through there instead of forcing it open."
	Ukyo stood in the doorway and looked down the stairs. The sun's 
light only penetrated a little way down, making the surrounding 
darkness that much more intimidating. It then became obvious why they 
had been able to see so faintly in what should have been complete 
darkness.
	The darkness beyond the light was lit up, just barely, by some 
pale glow that seemed to emanate from the walls themselves. True, it 
was faint, but it was enough to reveal the cyclopean room they had 
been imprisoned in.
	He was currently standing at the level of the ceiling, but the 
stairs, he could barely make them out, seemed to go on and on, down 
deeper than he had ever imagined. Whatever the room had been used for, 
was still being used for, it was something immense.
	And in that glow, using the near darkness, he could almost 
imagine the shadowy thing that had chased him up the stairs sitting at 
the edge of that light...
	He shuddered involuntarily, and for a moment, he thought he did 
see something twisting, curling just out of the light, something dark 
and wet, connected to something larger... "Here," he said quickly, 
"let's close this. That way, neither of us will slip down those 
stairs."
	He reached up and grabbed the stone, meaning to pull it back 
down. "Help me out with this, Akane." He pulled with all his strength, 
even lifting his feet and letting gravity try its hand, but still the 
stone would not move.
	Akane stood on her tip-toes and took hold, pulling down as 
well. "The thing practically floated up there," she said, her arms 
straining with the effort. "And now it won't come down..."
	Ukyo spared a glance into the darkness, and this time, he was 
sure there was something down there, making its way slowly up so that 
it could...
	At that point the door started to slide back down into place, 
and Ukyo dropped to the ground. He scrambled backwards as the door 
slowly closed, feeling a rush of cold, clammy wind on his face.
	Akane stepped back calmly and watched the door gently shut. As 
the last of the air was blown out and the rock fell completely back 
into place, there was a sound, almost like a frustrated sigh. Then the 
faint seams that indicated where the opening had been seemed to just 
disappear before their eyes.
	"Well," Akane said, wiping her hands together, "glad to be done 
with that."
	"Akane, I... I don't think we need to look around here much 
more. I mean," Ukyo stuttered when Akane looked at him curiously, "we 
don't want to take the chance that we'll do something like that again. 
We might not be so lucky next time and we could get hurt."
	She shrugged in response and looked around. "Yeah, I suppose 
there's not really much more here to see." Not any more that she 
wanted to see at any rate. Akane reached down and helped Ukyo to his 
feet. "Yeah, I guess... This just isn't the right place for a shelter. 
I bet we could make better use of trees and stuff than whatever's 
here."
	It felt pathetic, a weak, sorry excuse, but it was better than 
actually spending time in the creepy place. "Let's go. We've got to 
find some place to stay before it gets too dark."
	Ukyo nodded and immediately began walking back to the entry to 
the ruin, not waiting at all for Akane. That feeling that something 
was waiting in the dark for them clung to him like a thick fog. The 
horrible, vile statue did nothing to allay that feeling either.
	Akane followed, moving slightly slower. She averted her eyes 
from the statue, but she made no move to hide her curiosity in the 
innocent looking building. It was larger than a tool shed, and it had 
a faint design carved into the front of it. It was like a star, with 
an eye in the center. It was odd, the only sort of decoration in the 
entire place, and there it was.
	She had an irrational urge to reach out and run her hands over 
it, see what was behind it, but Ukyo snapped her out of it.
	"I don't know how much longer we have. They'll be out soon, I 
think."
	They. Akane knew what he meant. She had no desire to battle 
another pack of wild dogs. She looked away from the engraving and 
joined Ukyo in exiting the "ruin".
	Neither looked back.
	Leaving the monolithic leftover of some civilization neither 
Akane or Ukyo ever wanted to know anything about, it was like a huge 
weight was suddenly lifted from their shoulders. Or maybe some heavy 
veil removed from their heads.
	Either way, the hot, steamy jungle was a welcome environment 
after being in that desert of white stone. The natural formation of 
the plants and animals, all the sounds, that was so much more 
preferable than the mock representations.
	Ukyo looked back once as they traveled north. He shivered a 
little and said, "I'm glad to be out of there. That is most definitely 
a place I don't wish to ever return to."
	"And I agree. Whatever is going on in that place is not 
something I want to deal with." Sure they had escaped from that big 
pit, but it wasn't just that that bothered Akane so. There was an 
incredible air of foreboding, the smell of decay and impurity was too 
much.
	Not finding the urge to look back herself, Akane continued 
walking. After all, they had far more important things to worry about. 
Namely, finding a relatively safe place to spend the night and not get 
mauled by dogs or irate pigs.
	"Hey, Akane, do you still have that meat? I think I'm hungry," 
Ukyo said suddenly as they pushed through the jungle. His stomach was 
churning and grumbling, which he attributed to hunger, but could have 
been his body's way of protesting what he had just gone through.
	Akane fumbled with her shirt, the package of meat wrapped in 
leaves bundled clumsily in it. Somehow, it hadn't fallen out when she 
had tumbled down the stairs, and that was a minor blessing. She sighed 
a little as she unwrapped it and saw that it looked fine, but she 
wasn't sure exactly what she had expected to be wrong with it.
	The idea came to her suddenly. Why she was worried about the 
meat going bad for no reason was that the entire island was "bad" in 
some way. It was beautiful, but there was something corrupt about it, 
deep down in the soil where they couldn't see.
	She handed a piece of meat to Ukyo, then started to eat some 
herself. She hadn't been overly hungry, but there was a strange 
weakness in her legs and a dizziness that accompanied her that she 
hoped would be cured with a little food.
	And Ukyo walking as fast as he was wasn't helping much. "Hey, 
slow down a little. I'm not feeling so good," she said. It was the 
dizziness that did it. She just couldn't get things around her 
properly in focus. Even when Akane stopped and leaned against a tree, 
her entire body seemed to rock back and forth.
	"Akane, what's wrong? Are you going to be sick?" Ukyo asked and 
placed his hand gently on her shoulder.
	"No, I'm just... just dizzy," she responded and closed her 
eyes. That was even stranger because she still felt the sensation of 
rocking, but without seeing the jungle around her, it felt more like 
she was floating.
	Ukyo looked at her. Her face was a little pale, but otherwise, 
she appeared perfectly fine. "Do you need water? More food? What?"
	Akane shook her head. "I don't know. I just feel..." She tried 
to stand, letting go of the tree, and started to fall over.
	Ukyo was there though, and he caught her in his arms. He felt 
her forehead while she continued to mumble about being dizzy. He 
couldn't tell if she had a fever, and it was possible that it was just 
heat related... Either way, they still had to get to some sort of 
shelter and their precious daylight was running out.
	"I don't know where, Akane, but we have to go," he said and 
lifted her. Cradling her against him, he walked at as brisk a pace 
that he could manage, trying hard not to trip over any treacherous 
vines and roots.
	The problem was, he wasn't in really that much better shape 
than Akane. If they couldn't find a place... Ukyo didn't really want 
to have to spend the night in a tree, huddled against the trunk, not 
sleeping at all...
	But he wouldn't stop, not until he had to. That was one thing, 
he refused to give in. There could be shelter or something just past 
the next group of trees. Or through the next thorny bushes. Or... Ukyo 
was on his last bit of willpower, and Akane was a dead weight in his 
arms, making his entire body feel like lead.
	The sun dipping lower in the sky, turning what was visible over 
head a dusky orange, bordered with purple, couldn't make him go any 
faster. Ukyo was simply exhausted.
	And that was when he was answered. Indeed, past a group of 
trees adorned with vines that acted almost like a curtain, it was 
their sanctuary from the wild dogs. Up in a massive tree before him, 
supported by surrounding smaller trees, there was an old Zero.
	The metal was dull with age and a good portion of the paint had 
come off, but the rising sun was still visible just behind the cockpit 
on the side and on the single intact wing. And it was rather 
surprisingly nestled in the tree, looking like it had actually landed 
there, instead of crashed.
	Ukyo gently set Akane down and tried to rouse her. "Akane, I 
need your help. I can't get you up there alone." He patted her cheek 
as she fluttered her eyelids.
	"What, Ukyo? What's going on?" she asked, obviously very 
confused.
	"I found a place for us to spend the night, but I need you to 
help." He took her arm and tried to pull her to her feet. "Come on. 
The sooner we get up there, the sooner we can rest."
	Akane looked where Ukyo was leading her. "Is that a..."
	"Yeah, it's a plane." They were at the base of the tree. While 
it looked daunting, the tree seemed rather well equipped for climbing 
with nicely spaced limbs for them to grab and step on. "Come on. Climb 
up."
	Akane looked confused. "Ukyo, how did a plane get in a tree?" 
she asked, slowly starting to climb.
	"Right now, Akane, it matters not to me. I only know that if we 
wait too much longer, those furry little devils will come after us 
again, and I rather like my skin where it is." He let her use his 
shoulder as a step as they climbed together.
	They got up to the plane's level at the nose and stopped. The 
engine looked... serviceable for being as old as it was, but it was 
missing all the blades of the propeller. From underneath, they could 
see where it was seated in the tree, which had, to both their 
amazement, accommodated the Zero and grown around it.
	The other wing was completely gone, ripped off and gone to 
wherever. Not that any of that mattered because they wouldn't be 
flying off the island even if they had a 747 ready to go at a moment's 
notice.
	Ukyo tested the stability of it, putting his hand on the smooth 
metal skin and pushing it a little. It was rock solid, the body not 
moving at all, and that was good enough for him. "We can sit in the 
cockpit, Akane. That should keep us fairly safe. Maybe we can even get 
the canopy working."
	Walking like he was on egg shells, Ukyo climbed up and on to 
the nose of the plane. He looked at the cockpit and was relieved that 
the pilot was missing and the canopy open. Whatever had happened, the 
pilot obviously had better sense than to get stuck on the island. Even 
Ukyo couldn't fault him for that.
	"I'll help you up," he offered, extending his hand for Akane to 
take. "The pilot's gone, so..."
	Nodding, looking better than before they had started the climb, 
Akane took Ukyo's offered hand and joined him on the nose. The two 
inched back to the cockpit, careful of the footing on the metal body.
	Akane got in first and looked at the small space. "There's not 
room for two people in here, Ukyo." She looked at the instrument panel 
in front of her and frowned.
	"Of course there is. Scoot forward a bit," Ukyo urged.
	Akane continued frowning, but moved forward as much as she 
could. This wasn't going to work; they'd be smashed in like obese 
sardines.
	Ukyo stepped over her and prepared to sit when he looked over 
the side of the plane. A dark shape on the ground below them moved 
stealthily back and forth. It was as he feared. "They have arrived. We 
shall be stuck here until morning," he said quietly.
	Akane nodded. Had she expected anything less? She grunted as he 
sat down behind her, trying in vain to ignore the feel of his body 
behind her. It was important to keep this purely... professional 
between them, and that meant not thinking about the man sitting very 
closely behind her.
	And true, they were quite cozy, but not nearly as crammed in to 
the cockpit as she thought they'd be.
	"Um..." he said quietly, obviously uncomfortable with the 
situation as well.
	Akane adjusted the position she was in, wriggling dangerously.
	"Akane," Ukyo whispered, "please stop." He had his eyes closed 
and was thinking desperately of things most mundane.
	Akane stopped moving and turned her head. "Stop? I was just 
trying to..." When she saw the like on his face, him exerting extreme 
amounts of effort, she wanted to shrink away. "Sorry," she said, 
feeling about a foot tall. If she thought it was wise at all, she 
would have gotten out of the cockpit and slept on the wing.
	It just didn't feel... right to be so close to each other like 
that. Not that Ukyo wasn't good looking and all, but she just didn't 
think they should ever get into such a relationship.
	And he was attracted to her, that much was plainly obvious, and 
possibly under different circumstances she might have considered 
seeing him. Possibly, but she didn't really think so. He didn't seem 
to be her type.
	"Do you think we should close the canopy?" he whispered, eyes 
still closed.
	"I'm not sure. What if it gets stuck?" she replied.
	"Good point. We should be safe here without. Let's just try and 
get some sleep." Try was the operative word for him. With Akane 
pressed so close to him, the feel of her body against his... What man 
wouldn't be thinking of anything BUT the soft curves molded against 
his...
	Ukyo grit his teeth and tore his mind away from that line of 
thinking. He needed to think of something... 'Miyazaki' floated into 
his consciousness, accompanied by cute animals, children with round 
faces and innocence. That seemed to do the trick for him, and soon 
enough, he was able to enter a light sleep with most thoughts of Akane 
pushed aside.

***

	The sun's light fought its way through the trees to shine down 
on the sleeping couple. Ukyo was listing to one side, his mouth 
hanging open. Akane was turned expertly, fitting her body into the 
small space to lean up against Ukyo's chest.
	She stirred slightly, the remembrances of another dark dream 
finally rousing her. Finding herself nearly clinging to Ukyo, and with 
the sun risen, she quickly removed herself from the cockpit.
	Standing gingerly in the tree, the mammoth trunk easily able to 
support her on its oddly flattened top, Akane began to do some 
stretches to get her blood flowing. This also had the consequence of 
waking her stomach up, and she soon realized she was starving.
	The strange dizziness having passed, Akane figured she could go 
off and find some fruit or something. They had no water, but there was 
no way of telling how far away that would be.
	She climbed out of the tree, not completely trusting her 
equilibrium, and felt the ground solidly under her feet for the first 
time since they had arrived at the forsaken temple the day before. 
Whatever HAD caused that dizziness, Akane could only guess it was the 
heat and lack of water because nothing else made any sense.
	Not that what had happened to them made any sense, just that 
she preferred to stick with rational explanations for the time being. 
As long as they found food and clean water before they walked too much 
in the heat, she counted that it would not return.

	Ukyo woke up and wondered why his neck was so incredibly stiff. 
When he figured out how he was folded into the plane's cockpit with 
his head tilted to one side and his arm along the edge... It was easy 
enough to know why he had a stiff neck, but why he wasn't cramped to 
high heaven in the rest of his body was unknown.
	Akane was gone, but that wasn't his concern at the moment. 
Until he managed to remove himself from the cockpit without falling 
from the tree, Akane would just have to take care of herself. She was 
plenty capable of that anyway.
	Daring the pain, Ukyo moved his head around slowly, trying to 
gently work out the stiffness. The one thing he wished he had was a 
good massage right then. The two of them had been safe though, and 
that was the truly important thing. When they got settled, there would 
be no need to hide in a tree. They would adapt.
	A somehow forgotten thought pierced his mind then. But they 
could be rescued... And as much as Ukyo hated to do it, he shoved the 
thought away. No, they could not rely on a rescue; they had to rely on 
themselves.
	After some self-applied therapy on his neck, digging his thumbs 
into the muscle and declaring it good enough, Ukyo stood up in the 
cockpit and looked out.
	Jungle stared back at him.
	Sighing, Ukyo got out of the plane and climbed down out of the 
tree. He was rather amused in a grim way to find that the bloodthirsty 
canines had not touched his other companion, the stick. He had left it 
on the ground when he had helped Akane climb the tree, and he was 
feeling vulnerable without it. Just because the dogs attacked at night 
didn't mean they weren't out during the day.
	He lifted it gently and smiled. It still wasn't the weapon he 
was used to, but it was more right than nothing at all. Now it was 
time to locate Akane.
	"Akane!" he called out, receiving only the replies of birds. He 
waited a few more moments before calling out again.
	This time, he was answered. "I'm right here!" Akane answered 
back, though Ukyo could tell she was a distance away. "I'm on my way 
back!"
	Ukyo nodded to himself and investigated the area in more detail 
this time. He wasn't expecting to find much, but it was hard to say. 
And as expected, he found nothing in the trampled vegetation, 
flattened by the feet of the circling dogs in the night. For some 
reason, it wouldn't have surprised him at all to find out he had ended 
up in some strange video game, and that food and prizes could be 
looted from an odd looking rock.
	That probably would have made things too easy though, and that 
certainly could never be. Even the tiniest break, no matter how 
insignificant, was too much.
	Yet, the plane had been a lucky break, a safe place for them to 
spend the night in relative comfort. There was the pig Akane had 
caught, and the waterfall... Yes, Ukyo supposed things could have been 
much worse. Not that he didn't wish them to get much better...
	"Here, found some fruit," Akane said as she emerged from some 
trees with an armful of brightly colored fruit. She was smiling 
widely, very pleased with her haul. "No water, but this should tide us 
over for a bit."
	She sat with her back against the trunk of the tree and waved 
Ukyo over. She started peeling a large reddish fruit with dark nodules 
inside. "These seed things are good, real juicy, but the skin is 
bitter," Akane said as Ukyo watched her pick out the individual seeds 
and eat them.
	He picked up a ruddy pear-shaped fruit and began to eat it, 
attention turning back to, well, nothing in particular. They needed 
some sort of plan to survive on the island, but they had no means of 
forming that plan. They didn't know what the island looked like, what 
kind of resources were available, they hadn't established a base of 
any sort even. They were basically flying blind.
	"What do you think we should do next, Ukyo?" Akane asked, 
taking another big bite of a banana.
	"I have no idea. Keep exploring, I guess." He shrugged. "Maybe 
we'll find something I else on this island worth taking a look at."
	Akane nodded. "Maybe."
	Then again, maybe they wouldn't.
	"We should probably get going... North?" Ukyo said uncertainly. 
He really wasn't up for eating more sickly sweet fruit. He needed 
something more than meat or fruit.
	Akane looked around from her seat on the ground. "North. Sure, 
sounds good to me." She stood up, finishing off another piece of fruit 
and wiping her hands on her shirt.
	Ukyo stood slower, tossing away a half-eaten banana, and began 
walking without saying a word. He felt rather grouchy, and small talk 
was about the last thing he wanted to do right then. If there was a 
convenient way to remember the location of this tree, that might not 
be so bad.
	It might, in fact, be a pretty good place to build some sort of 
home base around. They could probably dislodge the plane, maybe use it 
in some way, then work in making a make-shift tree house. That would 
keep them up from the ground at night, away from the dogs.
	Well, it was a big tree. They'd probably run across it again. 
If they managed to survive that long. "We'll come back later," he said 
as they passed the tree.
	They pushed through some strangely thick branches, tangled by 
vines, leaves obscuring their vision until Ukyo and Akane had to 
finally yank on one vine together. Tugging didn't work, so they pulled 
with all their strength together.
	The vine broke free and brought down a hail of leaves and small 
branches. Pushing aside a loose hanging branch, the two jerked back in 
surprise.
	Hanging amongst the branches was one skeletal Zero pilot, still 
dressed in his pilot's suit and parachute. It had apparently gotten 
caught in the tree on descent, and he had ended up trapped there...
	Ukyo grimaced, looking at the pilot's lower legs. They were 
mere remembrances. Jagged bone protruded out of the shredded pant 
legs, feet and most of the two lower leg bones gone.
	"What do you think..." Akane started to ask, but she knew how 
it had happened.
	Ukyo could make the logical, and gruesome conclusions. The 
pilot had escaped the airplane, come down and gotten the parachute 
caught in the tree. He had either been unconscious or it had been 
night, and the dogs had come. Apparently unable to get out of the 
harness, or never having the chance to do so, the pilot hung there 
while he was ripped apart from below.
	"Ew," was the only thing Akane said, grimacing at the sight.
	"I agree."
	The two, eyeing the corpse, moved around it slowly through the 
hanging branches. Once it was behind them, they both breathed a little 
easier.
	"Out of sight, out of mind," Akane mumbled as they moved off 
into the jungle. Hopefully it would stay that way.

	"Akane?" Ukyo asked after they had been walking in relative 
silence for over two hours.
	"Yeah?"
	"Those flashbacks you had... What were they like?" he asked 
hesitantly. He was prepared for her response to be not good at all and 
put a distance between them.
	Akane tightened up, her jaw clenching, but said nothing. Eyes 
focused on the vegetation in front of her, she made no effort to 
answer, but the question was definitely stewing in her mind. How to 
answer, if she even wanted to, was the issue plaguing her.
	"You don't have to answer," Ukyo added, but it was an 
afterthought.
	Akane looked at him angrily, ready to tell him in no uncertain 
terms to go to hell, but the strange look on his face prevented her 
from doing so. It was obvious he knew that she would react 
unfavorably, but there was also some desperation there, like a 
cornered animal.
	And in fact, weren't they both cornered animals, trapped with 
no foreseeable escape? If their end came as an accident or disease, 
who could they run to? There was no one. They were alone, and any 
memory at all was better than the frightening blankness.
	Akane sighed. "I don't know," she said in a voice that seemed 
small compared to the sounds of the jungle around her. "It hurts. 
There are things..." She stopped walking and closed her eyes. "Mostly 
feelings. A lot of pain. Misery. Anger."
	Ukyo nodded, cutting through some bushes. "No... no faces? More 
names?" Anything at all. Anything because there was that bubble inside 
him that kept threatening to burst. A bubble that held all his 
memories, and things on the just below the surface of that bubble 
niggled at his brain.
	The name, his name, Ukyo was one of those things, but it didn't 
quite feel right either. Like wearing two different kinds of socks. 
They fit and served their purpose, but they were still... wrong.
	Ukyo was wrong. Maybe. Or he could just be lying to himself, 
trying to make sense of things when it just wasn't possible. But 
Ukyo... That just didn't sit right with him.
	He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Akane. I just..."
	She laughed roughly. "Yeah, I bet. You're welcome to them, but 
I don't think that's going to happen any time soon." To bear the 
weight alone of those memories... Akane would have given her right arm 
to share that pain with Ukyo. She was already giving up her sanity.
	"I really am sorry."
	"So am I, Ukyo."

	After everything, their sudden emergence into a relatively wide 
open space was refreshing. And this time, there was no creepy pillar. 
There was something else entirely.
	On the other hand, there were no flashbacks associated with 
this, just confusion.
	"What is that? It looks like a... a..." Akane shook her head. 
"It looks like a big mound of crap."
	Ukyo approached the massive mound slowly, as if he was 
expecting it to come to life and attack. From the looks of it, that 
was a distinct possibility. "I think it's just dirt," he said as he 
got closer.
	Akane shrugged and walked up next to Ukyo with no hesitation. 
"I'm glad it is just dirt. I'd hate to see the thing that left of pile 
of shit that big. It'd have to be a monst..." Her face paled as she 
thought of the statue. "Never mind," she added.
	Nodding, Ukyo looked away from the mound. "Agreed." Str