[quote=SailorMoon]
"We shouldn't have to worry about him showing his face again, but... It would probably be a good idea if we get back to the others and get some rest." She addressed them both, speaking casually as if she didn't just get kidnapped. Afterward, she would lead Mizuki and Asuka back to the camp sight to meet up with everyone again.
[/quote]

She was normal again, or....at least that's what Asuka thought as she heard what may or may not be the last of foul utterances from Gankuro's accursed mouth in his cowardly retreat, his angry words that reeked of his venomous scent fading off into the shadows cast by the pale moonlight, able to shine now that the Black Serpent's ominous and foreboding presence had gone from the once sacred grounds of the weathering shrine, his shadows no longer constricting that beautiful glow of cream white, but despite the natural essence and beauty the full moon had restored, it also revealed....the ugliness. Asuka...she was covered from head to toe in the bastard's blood, even her sword, which she unsheathed again to observe the malice that had recently taken place upon its blade...that never once in its lifetime had shed blood, was bathed in viscous red liquid..... [i]Despite my victory over him....Kurohebi is the real winner...that he is.....[/i] And to make such matters worse, they had seen it all unfold. Before the very eyes of Hanami and Mizuki, they witnessed the awesome but terrifying power of the Wind of Death, with all her hatred, all her rage in full tow, and what pain it brought the ronin to reveal that side of herself....to those she wished to protect.

The return to the camp was but a short path through the forest, but to her, it felt as though the longest journey of all. She walked beside Hanami, not once speaking a word to her peaceful companion, instead keeping her eyes affixed to the road ahead...and her mind entrapped upon this very battle. What would the others consider of her now? It already appeared that the Princess noted a difference in the lowly ronin, how her demeanor, often cheery and bubbly around her guardians, seemed to shift for a moment to an apprehensive frown when her gold, honey colored eyes flashed upon that fearsome glare the warrior gave in battle, and how afterwards the young half-demon somewhat...kept her distance from Asuka. But why blame her, for even she was afraid of herself, guaranteed to have yet again an ungraceful night of sleep, haunted forever by her own venomous stare and the spattering of fresh, slaughtered blood across her hardened and grim face. "Miko-dono...." finally, she managed to whisper to the young maiden...but her eyes refused contact. "Whenever we return to our camp, I would ask if you would pray over me, that I most humbly request of you...." It was not as if she had killed again, but still...even carving off the arms off a man ever so brutally...was still seen to the ronin as a vile act against her solemn vow, and maybe just a bit of company with her more trusted companions could ease her mind.

"Ah...here we are." Finally...home...or at least the home the traveling women made of this enchanted forest for now....