[center][img]https://i.gifer.com/2r5w.gif[/img]
[h3][color=fff79a]Kasugano Sakura[/color][/h3]
Level 4: 22/40
Location: Limsa, then back to the Atomos in the morning
Word Count: 1057 (5285 in collab with Multi)
Points Gained: 2 (+3 from collab with Multi)
New EXP Balance--- Level 4: 27/40 [/center]

[center] [h3]At Midnight [/h3]
	A collab with [@Multi_Media_Man][/center]
	

Sakura couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t exactly a new occurrence for her. Sleep was usually the thing her mind and body chose to sacrifice when she was busy or stressed. It must have been a little past midnight, but it was hard to tell. Sakura had left the Atomos as quietly as she could- rigging awkwardly clanking as she did so- and found her way to the pier. Standing on the wood and staring at the ocean. The moon and stars did their best, but the ocean at night was always dark. 

	Sakura rubbed her eyes. After a moment she took a stance and shot her fist out in a strike. It audibly cut through the air. In order to clear her head she went into a martial arts routine, dancing along the side of the pier with power and skill. A spinning roundhouse kick, advancing straight arms strikes. She turned and jabbed her elbow into the open air. She finished it all off with a gathering of energy between her palms. [color=fff79a][i]"Hadoken!"[/i][/color] She fired a fiery blue ball over the ocean’s surface. It travelled for a hundred yards, trailing blue light behind it, before sputtering out. Sakura paused, took a breath, and began doing the entire routine again from the start.

A pair of yellow eyes opened to the sound of the Atomos’s rigging jangling about. Geralt climbed out of his bed and stretched his arms, shoulders popping and a soft sigh escaping his mouth. “What is it now…?” He wondered, pulling on a light nightshirt to cover his chest and strapping his boots, the sheath containing his steel sword sitting beside where he laid down for the night. Grabbing the weapon just in case, he quietly made his way to the exterior of the ship, shaking his head at the sight of Sakura going through what looked to him like a practiced form. 

	Her movements were practiced, clean, and clearly the result of years of training with how automatically they seemed to flow from the girl. The Witcher merely stood there for a short while, watching a few repetitions before speaking up. “I think I underestimated you, ki-Sakura.” He cut himself off, not wanting to use the dismissive word, even if it wasn’t exactly [i]inaccurate[/i], especially when compared to his own age. “I still think your attitude is gonna come back to bite you in the ass, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t come from a place of experience.” Sighing, Geralt shrugged. “I’d also be lying if I said I wasn’t just...tired...of it never working.” 

	Sakura startled a little bit, turning around to see Geralt had joined her on the peer. She smiled at him, though, never one to turn down company. [color=fff79a]"Hey, Mr. Geralt. Sorry if I woke you up."[/color] She said. 

	She thought a moment about what he had just said, pausing her routine. [color=fff79a]"My attitude, huh?"[/color] She smirked a little, raising an eyebrow. She placed her fists on her hips. [color=fff79a]"What do you mean? Attitude how?"[/color] She asked. 

Letting out a short huff of laughter, Geralt crossed his arms. “You spared Bella. An inhuman, heartless monster hellbent on the slaughter of you, your friends, and the people of this town. And you spared her because you thought there might be something in there worth saving.” He paused for a moment. “Do you know what a werewolf is?” 
	Sakura rubbed the back of her head. But he seemed to be going somewhere with this.

	[color=fff79a]"Uh-huh."[/color] She nodded. She raised a finger though, adding an addendum. [color=fff79a]"They’re just stories where I live, though. So, it might be different for you? It’s a person who turns into a giant wolf monster when the full moon is out, right?"[/color] She gestured to the moon in the sky behind her to illustrate her point. 

Nodding, Geralt gave a half-shrug. “That’s half the truth, yes. Those who are turned only change during the full moon, but a person born a werewolf, by virtue of having a werewolf parent, can freely control the transformation. Natural-born werewolves also cannot be cured, unlike turned werewolves.” Ending the explanation there, Geralt moved on to the point.

“I’ve had to hunt a few werewolves in my time, and it’s...never quite easy. But perhaps the hardest one was a man by the name of Niellen. He was a hunter who posted a contract in search of his missing wife.” Pausing, Geralt’s eyes seemed to harden in response to the memory. “I found her alright, though not after her sister tried to bribe me into telling him I’d found her killed by wolves in the woods. Now...why do you think she did that?” The way Geralt was looking at her, it was clear he wasn’t asking a rhetorical question. 

Sakura dug the toes of her sneaker into the pier as she listened. She furrowed her brow, trying to think of an explanation. [color=fff79a]"Umm..."[/color] She pursed her lips. 

[color=fff79a]"Maybe the wife was trying to fake her own death?"[/color] Sakura said after a little bit. [color=fff79a]"And the sister was in on it?"[/color] There was a bit of hope in her voice, but she could guess from Geralt’s tone that this story didn’t have a happy ending. But she didn’t know how. 

Geralt let out a short breath through his nose before shaking his head. “I wish that were the case. I really do.” He paused a moment, perhaps for emphasis, perhaps to find the right words to convey what he found without traumatizing the poor girl. “I didn’t go along with it. I may be a bastard, but even I have [i]some[/i] principles. So, I kept looking. And like I said, I found her. But it wasn’t wolves that got to her. No, it was something...much, much larger.

“It was a werewolf. I tracked it to its lair, a cavern under a hunting cabin Niellen used. It was far enough that he could transform and hunt without killing anybody. Until his sister-in-law decided she’d had enough playing second fiddle and took the woman out to see what her husband truly was.” He let it hang in the air for a moment. “You can piece together what happened, I imagine.” 


Sakura was frowning, and she blew some air through her lips. [color=fff79a]"Um...I’m sorry...second fiddle? Is that a metaphor?"[/color] She asked. [color=fff79a]"Just, y’know, before we get to the part where...everybody dies. Or whatever."[/color] She said. Sakura was holding one arm behind her back. She knew what a mentor type person telling a parable sounded like. She’d heard a lot of them. It sounded like Geralt was going to get to the part with the lesson, the moral of the story, soon. 

Geralt had to keep himself from laughing. Leave it to Sakura to ask such an innocent question in the middle of a story where ‘everybody dies’. “It’s a metaphor, yes. It meant she was tired of feeling less important than her sister. She was...obsessed with him. And we’re almost there, don’t worry.” He didn’t give a smirk, or a patronizing smile, or any of the other things he might have done with Ciri. Sakura wasn’t the same. And for her sake, he hoped it stayed that way. 

“He, in his transformed state, killed her. Her sister ran, and tried to pretend she’d just...gone missing, been killed by wolves.” Geralt sighed, voice softening a bit. “I confronted him, as it was oh so conveniently the full moon once more, and weakened him. Then, his obsessed sister-in-law tried to intervene. She confessed what she’d done, explained that she wanted her sister to see what a monster he was so she’d leave and they could be together.” 

“I told them that it was between the two of them to figure it out, and I told Niellen to leave, find somewhere to hide where he couldn’t hurt anybody, or I’d kill him the next time I laid eyes on him.” He paused, closing his eyes. “He found me. Chased me down as I was walking away, and told me to kill him.” A fist clenched at his side. “I told him to find some reins and a strong tree. He said he was too much of a coward.” A breath, one in and one out. 

“So I slayed the monster. Didn’t even get paid. Some Witcher I am.” Finally opening his eyes, Geralt shook his head. “The reason I’m telling you this is that is how things tend to go when these kinds of decisions need to be made. I could tell you the story of Sarah the Godling, who has a nice house in Novigrad all to herself that nobody will ever try to buy. I could tell you about Salma, the Succubus who got spooked and accidentally killed a city guard, but it’d just be filling you with more hope. I could even tell you about the first monster I killed and the girl I saved, but that one...well, that one’s almost worse than this story. Is, in some ways.” 

Shaking his head again, Geralt continued. “But I didn’t, because the last thing I want is for you to get killed trying something like that again. It worked, and I’m glad it did. I am. But I can’t help but worry that if it doesn’t, and you’re in that same miserable condition when you inevitably try it again, it’ll be you on the losing end of the fight. And you know they won’t just take you back under Galeem’s control.” He let out a breath, annoyed at himself. 

“And if I were you? I’d tell me off. Tell me that killing somebody who maybe doesn’t need to die, who has a chance at a new life, is wrong. And you’d be right. But I don’t give a damn,” Geralt unclenched his fist, “I’m tired, Sakura. I am...so...so tired. I try to do the right thing, and it just never seems to work out.” Turning out to the ocean, he sighed again. “But I don’t want you to end up tired like me, either. Bitter, angry, desperately clinging onto the last good things I have left. And if Vesemir is any indicator, I’m going to be tired for a very, very long time.” 

Sakura listened, quiet, wincing at the story’s tragic ending. She turned away. It seemed like Mister Geralt had lived a very long, very sad life. Sakura sat down on the pier, and her legs dangled over the ocean. She felt like...she felt like Mister Geralt had misunderstood, something, though. About her.

[color=fff79a]"You wanna know something, [i]Geralt-san?[/i]”[/color] Sakura said. [color=fff79a]"You said it was because I thought there was something in there worth saving. And, I guess that’s a little true. I mean, look at her now. She’s really nice."[/color]

She shrugged her shoulders. [color=fff79a]"But the real reason was that I didn’t want to kill her because I would feel bad about it. I didn’t want to be a killer. I’ve never killed anyone or anything before."[/color] She twiddled her thumbers. [color=fff79a]"Unless you count indirectly killing animals by buying meat. Then I’ve killed lots of cows. And whatever goes into hotdogs."[/color] The ridiculous statement was earnest. [color=fff79a]"But with my own two hands?"[/color] She clenched and unclenched her fists, examining them. [color=fff79a]"No."[/color]

[color=fff79a]"I mean- I’m not gonna tell you off. If I were you I would have just ran away. I can’t make choices like that. I never have."[/color] Sakura said, looking over her shoulder at him. 

Geralt couldn’t help but chuckle a little at Sakura’s comment about killing a lot of cows indirectly, but he stopped quickly. “Honestly? That’s fine. Not wanting to kill people because you’d feel bad,” he clarified. He kept looking out at the water, talking a little away from Sakura, but still loudly enough to hear. “It’s fucking miserable. If you lot never have to bloody your hands like that, you won’t hear me complain that you have it too easy. It’s not a choice people should have to make. It turns innocent little girls into angry, bitter women. It turns naive boys into hardened, drunken men. It haunts the dreams and nightmares of all but the most stone-hearted.” 

Turning his head towards the girl sitting on the dock, he continued. “War is...bad. Tomorrow isn’t going to be like anything you’ve seen before, I think. If we’re lucky, the Navy will do its part and we’ll be able to rush past most of everything. But...well, just be ready. Don’t hesitate. If you can’t bring yourself to kill one of them, just beat them unconscious, though I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that.” 

“Gods, I sound like Vesemir fussing over us when we left for the Path at the end of winter. I know I’m old, but has it really been that long?” Chuckling, he slowly sat down like Sakura did, legs hanging from the pier. “What’s it like? Where you’re from, aside from the food, that is? It seems...more peaceful.” It seemed nice, is what he wanted to say. 

Sakura was glad that  Geralt understood. She didn’t want to kill anything. She perked up a little, as she asked him about her home. She smiled and turned to face the ocean again. Now she kicked her legs, leaning back and setting her palms on the pier. 
[color=fff79a]”It is. At least, where I’m from. There’s no monsters or anything like that. Only people."[/color] She tried to think of things that would contrast from the place he was from. A fantasy hero from medieval times, with lots of magic. 

[color=fff79a]"There’s a lot of people, actually. About six billion, I think. And the world is big, there’s a lot more than one continent. There’s seven, but one of them is just pretending to be a continent because they’re the guys who made all the maps and they wanted to feel special."[/color] She smiled.

[color=fff79a]"My home, though, Japan? Most people have houses. I live in a house that’s combined with our sushi restaurant. I go to school for five days a week for free. When I get home I train, or talk to my friends, or play video games or watch shows on TV.  My home town is a little cramped because the island is so small. It’s kind of an old, small town, but it has a lot of charm. There’s no crime, really. No war at all for fifty years. There’s lots of cool toys, places, and people. We have a prime minister, not a king or anything like that. If bad things do happen, we usually just call the police. And the police show up for free, because they’re paid by the government. And if someone gets hurt, they get taken care of in a hospital, and usually that’s free, too."[/color] Sakura explained, wistfulness creeping into her voice. 

Geralt’s face scrunched up. That...was a lot that got done just as a matter of course. Education, low crime, free medicine, no war, it seemed like a utopia. “That...sounds too good to be true.” Geralt admitted. It was just so different from what he knew. “I assume your government pays for this through taxes, as opposed to building more castles or throwing lavish feasts for nobles?” 

[color=fff79a]”Yep."[/color] Sakura said simply.

[color=fff79a]"If it sounds like it’s too good to be true, it wasn’t always like that. Some places in the world are still struggling. And well, the last war that happened fifty years ago? It was a bad one. It was called World War 2. Because just like twenty years before that, everyone had World War 1. A war with the whole world in it. Two of them. Can you imagine? I can’t."[/color] Sakura shook her head.

[color=fff79a]"And way before that, there were mean kings and rich bullies, probably like where you live."[/color] Sakura said a little bitterly, crossing her arms.

[color=fff79a]"But after all that...things got better. So maybe something like that will happen where you live, Geralt. In a really, really long time."[/color] Sakura said. 

[color=fff79a]"Yeah, it is nice, where I live, though."[/color] She added. She drew her knees into her chest. [color=fff79a]"I miss it a lot."[/color]

[color=fff79a]”Or.... the people in it. I have a pretty cool family."[/color] She said this last part quietly. [color=fff79a]"I haven’t seen them. Since we got here."[/color] The words hurt to say.
[color=fff79a]"I always left them, you know? I never spent enough time with them. I was always off chasing some…”[/color] She trailed off. She turned to face Geralt.

 [color=fff79a]"Why do you think I started learning how to fight, [i]Geralt-san?[/i]"[/color] She asked. She wanted to see what kind of person he thought she was.

Geralt’s eyes widened at the revelation of not one, but [i]two[/i] worldwide conflicts in the past century from Sakura’s world. He couldn’t even begin to imagine a war with six billion people involved, on the sidelines or not. “That’s...horrible.” He said. He couldn’t come up with anything more. It was just...horrible. Unthinkable, really. The Nilfgaardian invasion was bad, but the scale was nothing compared to that. And Sakura said her world had seven continents. What would that even look like? The implications were too much to even consider. 

Her question, though, took him by surprise. He couldn’t be sure. Why [i]would[/i] somebody from a world like that choose to learn how to fight? It didn’t seem quite as necessary based on her idyllic description of her home. “Normally I’d say to protect yourself and your family, but...something tells me that wasn’t necessary. Your forms seemed very disciplined, practiced, so you obviously had formal training. I’d say military, but...well, does Japan, was it? Does Japan allow female soldiers? It’s certainly not common on the Continent. Only Skelligers really have fighting women, and they’re usually considered backwards barbarians.”

He couldn’t tell, frankly. “If I had to guess, I’d say...somebody you know got hurt. And you learned how to fight to either protect them, or yourself.” Geralt felt like he was missing something. Her demeanor never really gave him that impression, but he just had no idea. All the ‘normal’ reasons somebody would take up the blade, so to speak, didn’t seem to apply to the bubbly, positive-seeming girl. 

Sakura giggled. She shifted her entire body to face Geralt, crossing her legs and leaning forward. [color=fff79a]”Nope. It was because I had a crush on a boy."[/color] She admitted.

[color=fff79a]"I saw a handsome, cool guy fighting, and I thought I wanted to be like him, and I wanted him to like me."[/color] She rested her cheek in her palm. [color=fff79a]"I was 11. He’s like, 15 years older than me."[/color]

Geralt’s face betrayed no emotion as he tried to process the absolutely inane reasoning. In a way, it actually reminded him of Ciri. Sure, the two were wildly different, but Ciri was so enamored with the idea of becoming a Witcher as a little girl that he couldn’t help but compare the two. “I...see. Well, I won’t pretend I haven’t done crazy things for a woman.” Geralt smirked with this confession, a number of dirty stories coming to mind before he banished them. “Becoming a Witcher wasn’t one of them, though.”

	Sakura smirked. [color=fff79a]"Yeah. I mean, I develop a real passion for it. The improvement. The competition. The lows and highs of victory and defeat. The excuses and opportunities it gave me to travel the world. But it all started because I saw [i]Ryu-san[/i] do it on TV."[/color] She sighed.

	[color=fff79a]"But when I finally got to him, talked to him, fought him, it changed me. How I felt. He taught me that with strength, came a responsibility. That I had to use it correctly. That it could twist people, hurt people. He let me realise that I had the power to seriously hurt others. That it wasn’t just a game. I like fighting people. I don’t like violence."[/color] She tilted her head sadly to the side.

	[color=fff79a]"Sometimes I feel like it could have been anything. What if I saw a handsome competitive football player? Or...knitter? Or chef? But no. I had to pick fighting. And it turns out when you’re capable of defeating 99.99% of the human population in single combat, people are gonna ask you to fight for them. And how could I say no? [i]Ryu-san[/i] did it, too. So I followed him."[/color] Sakura shrugged. [color=fff79a]”I don’t want to be a hero, you know? I didn’t get into this to save or protect anyone. I did it because it was fun, and I was bored, and I had a crush."[/color] She cast her eyes down, examining the wooden boards of the pier. 

	Geralt sat there for a moment, taking in what Sakura had just said. That...was a lot to process. She was just a girl who got into something for the fun of it, and wound up way in over her head. He could sympathize with the second part, though he’d almost gotten used to the sheer pressure it caused. Hunting a wraith was one thing. Tracking a Fiend wasn’t a problem. Leading a band of people who hardly interacted with one another save for their bonds to him in a war against the Wild Hunt was another thing altogether. He imagined Sakura was feeling like he did during those times. 

	He didn’t envy her, especially since she had a lot less experience to fall back on, and was stuck here, with no longtime friends or allies either. “Well...he was right that it comes with a lot of responsibility. I can’t tell you how many times I had to beat some sense into somebody who thought that just because they were tougher than the person next to them, that they could make them obey their every whim. People who flaunted their power, took advantage of people in need.”

	He sighed. “I did want to be a hero. Witchers were heroes once, to some. We slayed monsters, protected villages, we kept our noses out of people’s business. Some charged too much. Sometimes people pretended to be Witchers to take advantage of those in need. Sometimes Witchers were the ones taking advantage. We killed so many monsters that they started seeing humans as a threat and just left on their own. There were a lot of reasons, but eventually, people started getting tired of Witchers. They stopped hiring us as often, they hurled abuse at us, a few schools were even attacked, including my own. It was enough to cause a lot of Witchers to abandon our teachings, start doing what they could for gold. Some became assassins, some murderers and brigands.” 
	
	“That’s not really important, though. What is, is that life has a tendency of just...going along without caring whether you want it to happen the way it does or not. It doesn’t care that you don’t want to be a hero, or that I just wanted to hunt monsters and have my little family. We ended up here. Away from everything we knew. It doesn’t matter what your plans were. You’re here now, we both are. And tomorrow, we have to go out, fight the next Guardian, and free this place from under Galeem’s thumb.” He let out a long, slow breath. “And that has to be the most important thing until we can relax again, unfortunately. I’d gotten used to the endless fighting, the constant worrying, the need to plan your next move carefully. Guess I’ll be putting that experience to good use.” 

	Sakura nodded. He was right, of course. He had lots of experience. He wanted to be a hero, and things didn’t turn out the way he expected, but Sakura knew he was still a hero. But she was really worried about something that had been digging at her.

	[color=fff79a]"I’m self taught, by the way. No formal training."[/color] She blurted. No. That wasn’t it, she was just trying to dodge her own feelings. Because saying this next part was gonna hurt. It was going to be like ripping off a bandaid- but she had to do it because otherwise it would keep building in her heart until it exploded.

	[color=fff79a]"Do you wanna know why I was knocked out earlier today?"[/color] She asked. Her voice broke a little bit. This was a lead up question to something else.

	Geralt just shook his head. “Not a clue. Though I have to assume you did something silly and hit your head.” He replied honestly, completely unashamed of his assumption.

	Sakura seemed offended. [color=fff79a]"No, that’s not it. I don’t just hit my head and pass out."[/color] She sighed.

	[color=fff79a]"I met a friend of mine, Karin Kanzuki. Back home. She recognized me and everything. But she was all...Galeemified.”[/color] She said sadly. [color=fff79a]"We fight each other usually, whenever we see each other. It’s how we improve. Normally, it’s fun..."[/color] She looked down at her hands again. [color=fff79a]"Not so much, this time. I had to beat her, so I could Friend Heart her. I tried to Friend Heart her, but I lost. I kept pushing the fight, until she had to hit me really, really hard."[/color]

	Sakura clenched her fists. [color=fff79a]"I lost her, [i]Geralt-san.[/i] I don’t know where she is, now. But...at least...at least she can take care of herself."[/color] Her eyes began to well up.

	[color=fff79a]"I- I have a family. Two parents, a little brother, and a dog. My best friend, Kei. They’re not like Karin, or me, or you. They’re just normal people. They can’t p-protect themselves. What if- what if something...I don’t..."[/color] The words wouldn’t come out. 

[color=fff79a]"...I’ve been scared to think about it..."[/color] She admitted aloud to herself, quietly.

Geralt frowned at the revelation. “Well, I [i]was[/i] going to say I was a little right, what with pushing the fight further than you could handle, but…” He sighed. “I know I’ve mentioned having my own family, here and there, but...well, it’s not quite the same. We’re all, in our own way, gifted. Powerful. It’s made us targets in its own right, but we’ve been able to protect ourselves.” The closest thing he had to that was Dandelion, and as much as he genuinely cared for his friend, he was somewhat reluctant to label him the same as Yen and Ciri. 

“I honestly have no idea what to tell you. If you want me to make you feel better, at least from what I’ve seen in Lumbridge, the local monsters didn’t seem to make much headway in the hurting people department, what with a few dozen different legendary heroes running around and killing them all. I don’t know what Galeem’s playing at with this place he’s created, but wanton slaughter doesn’t seem to be it.” By the gods he was bad at this. 

Screwing up his face, he said as much. “Frankly, I was never much for cheering people up unless it was with news about killing a monster. It’s actually almost funny how you chose the single worst person to open up to about this.” The hollow, empty laugh he gave echoed for a moment. “I can’t cry. Don’t know how. Not even after Vesemir died. I won’t give empty words and say they’re fine. But even compared to where I’m from, this place is...more fair. Less miserable. I barely had to walk twenty feet after we got to Alcamoth to find Yennefer, even. But it’s a big world out there. I’m sure they’re plenty worried for you, wondering where you’ve gone. Might’ve even put up a sign on a town board somewhere. You’ll have to look, but...well, there’s only so many places they could be.” That was...better than he expected it to come out, even if it was hardly reassuring. 

Sakura laughed a little, rubbing her eyes. [color=fff79a]"I just need to talk to someone about these things. Karin probably would have said something like what you said, if she was here. But...you probably wouldn’t like her very much. Most people don’t."[/color]

[color=fff79a]"Let’s be honest. It’s not like I’m...a closed book. "[/color] The tears were falling; Sakura was an emotional person. [color=fff79a]"They probably aren’t that worried about me. They let me go jetting around the world pretty often by myself."[/color] She smiled. 

[color=fff79a]"Maybe they were more worried than I thought and just didn’t tell me? I guess I’m feeling guilty. All I ever wanted to do was get away from home and now all I want to do is go back, now that I can’t."[/color] She buried her palms into her face, chuckling.

[color=fff79a]"Ugh. I’m so stupid."[/color]

“As a parent, I can tell you that they were probably beside themselves with worry any time you were so much as out of line of sight.” He sighed. “Ciri...well, Ciri’s what we call a Source. A person with a direct connection to immense magical power that puts sorcerors to shame. She was [i]also[/i] a child of Elder Blood, a line that was also known for immense magical power. Put the two together, and she’s more than capable of taking care of herself, at least when she can control the magic.” 

“And yet, I waged a [i]war[/i] to get her back. Sure, she was being hunted by some of the worst monsters elvenkind had to offer, but the point remains. Just because they don’t say it directly, doesn’t mean they don’t worry.” He sighed. “And don’t feel too guilty. You can’t just...stay at home with them forever either. Maybe if there was some family farm or...huh, what do you people even do for work?” He mused, before moving on. “Either way, children are supposed to grow into their own people. They can’t coddle you forever, even if letting a teenager galavant around the world getting into fights with people is a little irresponsible.” 

Shrugging, he laid his hands on his legs, looking back out over the ocean. “I’m looking for her again, actually. Once this business with the Abyssals is cleared up, I plan to look around the city. Ask the Moogle creatures if anybody else has an idea, as well. You could do the same.” It wasn’t much, but...he figured any idea could be of use. 

Sakura nodded slowly, watching and listening to the waves lap up against the artificial shores of the ocean town. [color=fff79a]"Well… I hope you find your daughter. She sounds cool."[/color] She really hoped her parents weren’t that worried. But now that she thought about it, could they not be? Didn’t exactly assuage her guilt, but it made her feel like she had more insight into the situation. Like she understood the world a little more. There was some relief to be found in that.

[color=fff79a]"...I think I’m going to stay out here and meditate until morning. It’s beautiful out here."[/color] Sakura said, taking in the sight of both the ocean, the night sky, and the town itself. 

Geralt nodded. “That it is. I’d offer to join you, but I haven’t slept a full night in quite some time. Even Witchers need to rest.” Standing, he turned back towards the Atomos. “If you do decide to look for them, Lumbridge is a bad place to start. Nobody looking quite like you lived there, assuming you take after your parents.” It was funny, Ciri being unrelated to him by blood but looking exactly like one would expect his daughter to look. 

Sakura waved to the Witcher. [color=fff79a]"Thanks for talking with me. I don’t think they’re in Lumbridge, either. [i]Ryu-san[/i] is hanging out around there, so...he would have noticed them."[/color] She reasoned.

With that, he returned to the ship, leaving her to meditate. Or brood, if she so decided. 

Sakura exhaled and turned back to the ocean, crossing her legs and setting her palms on her knees. Her face was still a little red, but whatever. Closing her eyes she let her worried thoughts drift away. She didn’t want to know what her dreams would be about, anyway. 



[hr]

	Hours passed, and Sakura hardly moved a muscle. Her breathing was regular and rhythmic, in through the nose, out through the mouth. The martial artist felt the morning sun warm her face and eyelids. That was relaxing and restful. She opened her eyes, the sky just beginning to turn orange and blue. 

	[color=fff79a][i](These alien vistas and strange places...even in a world as unnatural as this one, there is still beauty to be found. I wonder if my family stares at the same moon, basks in the same sun?)[/i][/color]

	Sakura expected an uptick of guilt and fear in her heart when she thought of her lost family. But after thinking on it, she found only resolve. She [i]would[/i] find them. But there was good to be done here, and now. People needed her help. And it's not like she could just turn her back on the friends she had made thus far. They were travelling the entire world on their quest to defeat Galeem. They would find them, eventually. Everything here seemed to be themed- Sakura was looking for a landlocked, some-what modern place. With lots of land around. Places here were busy and somewhat small. Limsa was a huge, bustling down, but even it was smaller than her small home town if land area was taken into accont. With it's iconic, sprawling canals and underpass gatherings. Good times. She would see it again. Sakura steeled herself and rose to her feet. From what Geralt had said yesterday, the time for battle was upon them.

	This made Sakura a little nervous, she had to admit. She'd never been in a war before. But now she was a ship girl, wearing a sailor's uniform. Sakura took a stance and striked against the sunrise. 

	[color=fff79a]"You got this. Just focus on defending people."[/color] She reassured herself. She really wasn't comfortable participating in the killing of others. She braced herself for the inevitability that she would see people die. As best as she could, anyway. Both members of the Limsa navy, and people like Rika and Bella. Was this going to change her? She really hoped it didn't. She didn't want to be some sad soldier person; she liked who she was. Mostly. For better or for worse, she was herself. The last thing she wanted to be was traumatized. That sounded horrible. Guile and Cammy were both soldiers. But they were both super serious all the time. Chun-Li was a police officer, but she had probably seen people die, too. But she was still super nice!

	This was such a morbid train of thought. Sakura swallowed dryly. She felt like she was going to be stepping over a line that couldn't be taken back. Was she really ready for this? She had to be. It would be even worse if she stayed here and someone died because of that. Or even worse, the battle was lost entirely. So she didn't have a choice; she would just have to hope her spirit was strong. But she felt like she would probably have to sit down and have a cry after all this was over. This was going to suck.

	Sakura ran her fingers over her ship girl rigging and her cat ears. 

	[color=fff79a][i](Arashio...I'll do us proud. You were a brave soldier. Together we can make it through this. I'll bring your spirit home, I promise.)[/i][/color] She brought her hand down into a fist.

	The navy of Limsa was gathering. Sakura figured she should join them. Arashio would have- it felt right. She didn't know exactly how much of herself was Arashio, but she imagined it wasn't 50/50. Maybe she and Arashio were just in-sync. Both of them wanted to defend this town and the people in it. She felt like she knew Arashio quite well. Sakura wasn't sure exactly how this Spirit system worked. She felt like if it really was just body modifications, she would have been more skeeved out by the cat ears and cat tail. Now, they felt normal, like she had lived her entire life with them. That must be Arashio. When she saw the navy, she felt familiar with them, even though she'd never seen them before. Sometimes these thoughts felt dissonant...but in a good way. Like she had a friend with her who knew the area better than she did. Other times, she thought of Arashio's friend and family; though now sadness had been superceded by resolve. It was just like Geralt had said. They had a mission.

	Sakura prepared herself for the day mostly by herself, refreshing herself. So she wasn't hungry and she didn't smell terrible. Now that she was used to interacting with Galeemified people, she could put her solo-navigation skills to good use. Knowing how to handle herself in an urban environment was just as important as learning how to survive and forage in nature. She was good at both, and was proud of that.

	Sakura had ended up gathering with the other ship girls, mingling with them easily. She then trailed behind Peach, the recognizable leader of the Seekers of Light. Sakura, too, wondered briefly about the ethicacy of child soldiers. As far as she knew, that was a bad thing. But also, they were ship girls? It certainly felt weird. Making it so the kids didn't fight was just another reason to ensure the bad guys never reached the shores of Limsa Lominsa. When Captain Merlwyb began her speech, Sakura didn't exactly get inspired or excited. She was too nervous and somber for that kind of thing. She couldn't muster up the desire to destroy her enemies, which is what Merlwyb's speech was all about. Being in the army definitely wasn't her style, though with all the training drills and marching and singing, she could see how it could be fun. 

	[color=fff79a][i](I hope Ranger will be okay...I doubt she'll stay on the Atomos when she already has a squad. Still, I wouldn't complain if she stuck around.)[/i][/color]

	Sakura went by water and found the Atomos, hoping to meet up with Geralt, Junior, Bowser, Kamek, Bella, and Rika. It seemed like a natural evolution of that first scouting team mission that happened yesterday. 
	
	[color=fff79a]"Okay, everyone."[/color] She said to whoever was there, shaking some nervous energy from her hands. [color=fff79a]"It's happening. Are we...are we ready? What's the plan? I won't jump out of the ship this time without warning, I promise."[/color]