She woke up suddenly in the night, sweating despite the cool air. She shook the remains of the dream from her mind, but was unable to go back to sleep. Sitting up, she could hear Kanna's soft snores as she slept in the futon beside hers.

Maria rose from the bed, donning her uniform. The sight of Sakura and Orihime in full regalia drew the stares of almost every villager and ignited a fierce red-tinged hue to Sakura's face, but at least the uniforms were easier to move quickly in than their casuals. Once dressed, she slid open the door to the room, taking care not to wake her friend, and stepped into the night.

There were a few lanterns lit along the roadside, aiding her navigation as she walked towards the clinic. The flickering light threw lurking shadows at every corner and crevice, adding to the uneasiness she was feeling. It was enough to make her feel glad to see the lights of the clinic before her.

Orihime was in the waiting room with the nurse, both looking bored. They straightened as Maria walked in. She chuckled at the expression on Orihime's face. "Nothing, I take it," she said.

"Absolutely dull, Maria-san," the Italian confirmed.

"Sakura and Sumire...?"

"Out on patrol," Orihime replied. "They should be... Ah, there they are."

"Oh? Up so late, Maria-san?" Sumire remarked upon seeing her there, carefully leaning her naginata against the wall.

"Is something wrong?" Sakura asked.

Maria shook her head. "I just wanted to check up on you all."

"As you can see," Sumire said, amused, "we're all doing pretty well. You needn't have worried."

"No, I guess not." She looked at the nurse. "How's Tamiko?"

"The same," the woman replied. "Heartbroken. She barely ate anything at all today."

"The doctor?"

"He's asleep in the back room," she said. "Hiroshi-kun's death took a lot out of him as well."

Maria made a thoughtful noise. Seeing that everything was fine, she made to leave. As she stepped through the doorway, however, there was a piercing scream that cut through the night air. It came from one of the houses down the street.

"Sumire!" she shouted, bolting for the direction of the cries.

"Hey, what about us?" Orihime exclaimed.

"Stay there!" she told them. "Don't leave Tamiko alone!"

They ran closely, trying not to collide into the various villagers who were stumbling out of their houses to see what was going on. Almost every building on the street was lit up by the time they tore into the still-dark building from which the screams were originating from.

Shouts and screams rang throughout the entire house, drawing the two of them on. Bursting into one room and immediately skidding to a halt, they found themselves facing off against a large black creature with great snarling teeth. It whirled on them as they entered. Backed against a wall, a family of three huddled together and cried for help.

Maria gritted her teeth against the wave of blackness that seemed to emanate from the beast in front of her. A cold tingle worked its way up her spine; a response that was mostly similar to any she had experienced when facing demons. Even in the poor light, she could see the creature before them clearly. It hunched on all fours in a posture that vaguely resembled a dog readying itself to attack. Maria's hand reached for her left side only to grip air. She swore under her breath, remembering that she'd left her gun back in the room.

"Sumire...," she hissed.

"I know, Maria-san," the aristocrat whispered back. She gripped her naginata tightly. It wasn't going to be easy fighting the thing in this room. While Maria had no doubts that Sumire would be able to handle the demon, she was worried about the three civillians still trapped against the far wall.

"Is everyone okay?!" Kanna seemed to materialise out of thin air behind them, startling everybody.

Taking advantage of their momentary surprise, the demon charged.

"Get down!" Sumire yelled, bringing her blade up to meet it. The demon, however, twisted in midair, ably avoiding her weapon and flying on a course that would bring it smack into Kanna's face.

The martial artist dove to the ground just in time and the demon flew over her, crashed through the door and ran for the darkness outside.

"Damn!" Sumire snarled and ran after it.

Maria started close behind but stopped when Kanna called out her name. She whirled and caught a bundle that the martial artist tossed to her. She smiled grimly, recognising the comforting weight of her gun in her hands.

"Thanks," she called out as she followed after Sumire.

The demon led them into the forest. Unlike before, it was fairly easy to keep up with. As it entered a small clearing, though, it launched itself at a nearby tree and turned, kicking its feet against the trunk and launching itself like a rocket towards its pursuers. The two women immediately dropped, whirling about to face it once more.

It held itself like a tightly coiled spring, growling, seeming to look more doglike than ever before. Its tail was held stiffly and pointed towards them; the quivering tip of which seemed to glisten like a wickedly barbed knife. It hissed as Kanna entered the fray behind it. The large woman was keeping her distance, but held her tonfas at ready.

Maria gripped the butt of her gun tightly and shifted slowly to her right. Focussing power into her weapon, she threw a glance to each of her comrades. They nodded.

Quick as lightning, she brought the barrel of her gun to bear upon the demon and fired. The bullet streaked through the air like a miniature comet. The demon was quick and moved smoothly, but it was still staggered when the bullet hit one of its protruding spines.

The other two closed in on it, but it dropped low to the ground and evaded their attacks. With a strange scrabbling run, it headed for Maria, who aimed and fired another shot. This time, she missed. She barely had enough time to leap back and avoid the thing's talons as it swiped at her legs.

Determined not to let her go unharmed, the demon whirled its body about, snapping its long tail like a whip. The jagged tip whistled as it slashed its way into her arm, throwing her sideways in the air and driving her uncontrollably into the ground with a crash. Stunned, the Russian couldn't even bring herself to move after that.

Sumire shouted a wordless battle cry and brought her naginata down into the demon as it attempted to recover from its strike. Her weapon was glowing a bright violet and went through the monster's hard shell like a hot knife through butter. The demon shrieked and struggled wildly, buffeting Sumire around as the woman held on grimly to the haft of her naginata. Kanna came up and took hold of the weapon as well, their combined strength just enough to keep the skewered demon to the ground as it shuddered and slowly died.

When it finally lay inert, the two heaved a sigh of relief, yanked the blade out and sank to the ground. Thick fumes rose lazily from the blade, sending up a terrible smell into their nostrils.

"Geez," Kanna panted. "That was bad." Sumire wheezed her agreement. Then, both did a double take.

"Maria!"

"Maria-san?!"

They ran to the downed woman. The blonde was breathing heavily as she lay on the ground.

"You okay?" Kanna asked, kneeling beside her.

"Her arm's bleeding badly," Sumire said, clasping both hands about the wound tightly. "Quicky, Kanna-san," she bit out, "we've got to wrap it up." They tied a makeshift bandage using Maria's scarf.

It didn't seem as though Maria was even aware of them there. As they raised her from the ground, though, she groaned.

"Hang in there," Kanna said, turning around so that Sumire could drape her over the martial artist's back.

"The... the demon...?" Maria muttered, dazed.

"It's dead," they told her simply. "We took care of it," Kanna went on, "no problems."

Maria nodded. Then, "My gun. I think I dropped it."

"I've got it," Sumire assured her. "Now let's get you to the doctor."

The village was swarming with activity as they moved swiftly for the clinic. Dozens of people were streaming in and out of houses, making their journey difficult. By the time they reached the door to the clinic, Maria had already drifted into unconsciousness.

She woke up as Yamaguchi finished treating her arm. Watching silently as he tied off the stitches and then tightly wrapped the wound with gauze and bandage, she ran the events that had just happened in her mind.

"That's that," Yamaguchi said, once he was done with the sling. "Keep the wrapping dry and don't disturb the stitches, Tachibana-san. Don't strain your arm too much, as well."

"Thank you, doctor." She sat up slowly and flexed her arm a little. The resultant sensations made her wince.

"Don't worry," Yamaguchi said, "it hurts a bit for now, but it shouldn't hamper any use of your limb. You don't really need the sling, but I think it's better to keep it there for a while. I want you to come back and see me in a couple of days so I can check on the stitches. I've cleaned the wound up as best as I can and I don't think that the demon infected you with anything, but..." He shrugged. "Just keep an eye on yourself and let me know if there's anything wrong."

Maria nodded, looking closely at him. His eyes were red and his hair a mess. There was quite a bit of blood on his white coat. She indicated the spots. "I didn't bleed that much, did I?"

He glanced down. "No, you didn't." He made as if to wipe the stains off, but stopped.

A little feeling of dread crept over her. "What happened here?" she demanded.

He paused, as if trying to decide something, then said, "I'll call your friends in. They've been worried about you." He got to his feet and was out the door before she could protest.

Seconds later, Sakura and Orihime came in. Both were pale, but glad to see her. "How do you feel, Maria-san?" asked Sakura.

"I've felt better," she replied, smiling. "Where are Kanna and Sumire?"

"They've gone back to where you fought the demon," Orihime replied. "It seems that the body is still there and they want to keep people away from it until they can get it safely kept somewhere for Kohran to examine."

Maria frowned. "It's still there?" she asked. "It didn't disintegrate?"

The Italian shook her head. Then, she exchanged uneasy looks with Sakura and softly cleared her throat. "I'm afraid that there's more, Maria-san," she started.

"It's Tamiko-san," Sakura blurted out. "She... She started screaming after you and Sumire-san went after the demon."

"She was convulsing severely when we rushed in. We tried to help her but she threw us off," Orihime said. "Dr. Yamaguchi was going to give her something to put her to sleep but..."

They were quiet for a while. "But...," Maria prompted.

Orihime took a deep breath. "Something tore its way out from her, Maria-san," she said finally. Seeing her leader's absolutely expressionless face, she went on. "It came out from her chest. A small demon. White, but very recognisable."

"What exactly did it look like?" Maria asked.

Orihime blinked. "Like any other demon we've seen," she said slowly, "only smaller. Why?"

Maria waved it off. "Never mind. What happened after that?" she asked softly.

"It escaped through the window before we could stop it," Orihime told her. "There... um, there wasn't anything we could do for Tamiko."

"I see." There was a lot of noise coming from outside. She listened. "What's going on?"

"Everyone's getting ready to leave," Sakura said. "They're frightened about what happened to both Tamiko-san and Hiroshi-san and that family just now. Ootani-san's been trying to calm them down, but nobody's staying around long enough to listen."

Maria nodded, not really surprised by that turn of events. She swung her legs off the bed, ignoring the others' protests and stood, slightly unsteady. "Has Kohran arrived here yet?"

Orihime, coming up beside her, said no. "Kohran-san's still at the training grounds with Iris and Leni. Sumire-san spoke to her on the communicator just as soon as you were put in here. After she was done, she and Kanna-san went back to check up on the demon's remains."

Maria chewed on her lower lip for a moment. "Can you bring the communicator here?" she asked Sakura. "I think I need to speak to Kohran myself."

She was seated outside the clinic, the radio held close to her ear. She casually watched the goings-on around her as she waited. Villagers were quickly packing whatever stuff they could carry and loading them on carts, ready to get the hell out of there. Ootani scurried around, trying to argue for order, but -- as Sakura had said -- nobody was even bothering to listen. Even though she was under the impression that things had calmed down a little since she and the others had gone after the demon, it was still somewhat chaotic. The people knew a bad thing when they saw it. Underneath all the frenzied activity, she was well aware of this solid, deadly serious, collective determination to be somewhere else.

"Yahho!" Kohran's voice crackled from the radio. "Kohran here. Are you feeling better now, Maria-han?"

"Yes," Maria replied. "I take it that Colonel Yoneda's reinforcements haven't arrived yet."

"No. I called them up just a while ago, and found out that they're still on the road," Kohran said. "They've been... slightly delayed, it seems."

"How are your experiments going?" Maria asked, tuning out the rest of the noise around her. "Leni couldn't tell me anything much when I spoke to her just now."

"Just a couple of new tidbits, Maria-han. Frankly, I'm starting to doubt that we're dealing with demons here, but I'll get to this later."

"Sumire told you what happened here."

"Yeah, she did." There was a slight pause. "Maria-han, I'm really worried."

"I know," Maria said. "There's another one of them out there now."

"I've been thinking a bit since Sumire-han's call. I think that this problem's just a little more serious than we first thought."

Maria sighed. "I'm all ears, Kohran."

"First of all," Kohran started, "what I'm about to tell you is based on the assumption that both Hiroshi and Tamiko went through the same experiences when they were each taken captive."

"Reasonable," Maria said.

"All right. The first thing we hear about them is that they're both missing and we find out later that they had been kidnapped by something. Later, we find a cocoon that Hiroshi had been held in during his captivity. Next to that, we find an egg.

"Based on our observations of the site, something hatched from the egg and headed straight for the cocoon and its captive."

"Go on."

"Exactly what happens next with Hiroshi and the thing that hatched is unknown, but Hiroshi later wakes up and manages to free himself to return to the village. For all intents and purposes, he's fine. Next day, we find the girl in more or less the same condition. Both have obviously been through some ordeal, but they're okay for the time being.

"Hiroshi's then well enough to be let out of the clinic, but something kills him soon after he gets out. The girl is also killed later the same day." Kohran took a deep breath. "You agree with everything so far?"

"Yes," Maria said, glancing up as several people walked past her, Ootani following closely, pleading with them to wait.

"Sakura-han told me about the doctor's remarks on his early examination of Hiroshi's body," Kohran said, "that something was lodged in the young man's chest. When Tamiko died, witnesses confirm that something had ripped its way out of her chest. In view of our earlier assumption, we can say that this is the same type of thing that caused Hiroshi's death."

Maria waited patiently, having already come to the same conclusion earlier. "I've been thinking of that. Sakura and Orihime said that it was a demonlike thing that emerged from Tamiko. Is it possible that what we finished off earlier tonight might be the demon thing that killed Hiroshi?"

"That may be." Kohran went on: "Going back to the stuff we found at the site where Hiroshi had been, I think that the things that had come out from the two victims are the very things that hatched from the eggs that had been placed near them when they were in their cocoons."

"The demons hatched from their eggs and then went and hid themselves inside Hiroshi and Tamiko...," Maria said slowly.

"I don't think they're...," Kohran started, but Maria interrupted. "I know, I know, but 'demons' is a good enough way to refer to them. Let's just stick to that until we can figure out a better name to call them."

"Yes, I see."

"But why?" the Russian asked. "I mean, why did they bother to hide inside a human body?"

"There's lots of instances of insects laying their eggs near a still-living organism so that their larvae can live on something once they hatch," Kohran told her. "I think it's more or less the same thing here."

"But the demons didn't live on both Hiroshi and Tamiko," Maria pointed out. "In fact, they left their hosts pretty much alone until they tore their way out."

"They kept themselves inside a warm, living body long enough to mature," Kohran elaborated.

Maria was silent for a while. "Incubation."

"Correct, Maria-han."

The older woman's arm throbbed, compounding the heaviness she felt inside. "Have you told Colonel Yoneda about this?"

"Yes," Kohran replied. "He wasn't very happy about it either."

"I imagine not," Maria said wearily. "You said you had doubts that this is demonic. Was this why you asked Sumire to check up on the body?"

"Kinda," Kohran said. "I wanted to make sure. Sumire-han's story about the... er... demon body not disintegrating when it died is a good sign for my hypothesis."

Maria smiled slightly in spite of herself. While she knew that Kohran was just as concerned about the situation as she was, it was amusing to hear the excitement in the Chinese girl's voice as she pondered this new unknown.

"Anyway," Kohran went on, "I also wanted her to make sure the body would remain undisturbed until I got a chance to get a good look at it."

"When will you get here, though?" she asked, keeping her voice low. "We've still got the two victims here for you to examine as well."

"I'll move out as soon as I can, Maria-han." Kohran sounded apologetic. There was a pause, then Kohran said, "Sorry, Maria-han. There's another call for me from Yoneda-han. I've got to go now."

"You watch yourselves over there," Maria told her.

"Iris and Leni are both taking care of that angle. They've been wonderful at setting up sentry and all," Kohran assured her. "I think Iris is getting a little sore at having to stay here all the time, though."

"Well, just make sure that she doesn't go on any sudden unsupervised walks out into the forest," Maria said sternly before signing off. She leaned back against the wall, inhaling deeply.

A slight commotion -- different from the commotion of rapidly packing villagers -- drew her attention down the street. Peering into the night, she make out the dark shapes of several people hauling in a covered bundle into the village. She recognised Kanna's large bulk and Sumire's gleaming naginata and realised that they were bringing in the demon's remains. Seeing that both Hanagumi had matters under control, she waited where she was, watching.

A low rumbling coming from the dark alley beside her caused her to tense. The recent experience with the demon fresh in mind, she carefully got to her feet, her left hand reaching for her gun. Cautiously, she stepped forward, keeping her eyes peeled for anything. The rumbling continued as she approached. She concentrated and half-pulled her gun out from its holster.

Immediately, the sound broke off, only to be replaced by a loud yelping as a distinctly canine shape burst from the alley. Maria jumped back, startled, barely able to restrain herself from drawing her gun and firing off a shot. The dog halted just in front of her, as if waiting for her next move.

With a weak chuckle, Maria reholstered her weapon. I'm letting my mind play too many tricks on me, she thought, backing away from the animal.

Once sure that she wasn't going to do anything, the dog turned back to the mass of people who were bearing their demonic burden. The growling resumed, gaining in ferocity and volume as the corpse bore down closer and closer. Finally, just as they were mere metres apart, the dog bolted and ran down the opposite direction.

Maria watched it all silently, barely acknowledging the fact that Sumire and Kanna threw her a quick greeting as they passed. An idea was tumbling in her mind.

When the whole procession had gone, she turned and entered the clinic. Placing the communicator on the table, she went to look for Yamaguchi.

The doctor was in what used to be Tamiko's room, supervising the clean-up. Though he, the nurse and Sakura had been working at it for a while now, there was still a lot of blood to clean up. Yamaguchi looked up as Maria waited by the door.

"There you are," he said, wiping away the sweat from his forehead, incidentally leaving a streak of bright red all across his head. "Since you're so determined not to get any rest, would you mind helping us out here?"

"Doctor, may I speak with you for a minute?" Maria asked.

The man looked slightly irritated, but then shrugged and nodded. "Make it quick," he said, coming over.

"Just out of curiousity," Maria began, "are there any people here in the village who hunt regularly?"

Yamaguchi frowned. "A few," he replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Do they have any hunting dogs?"

He stared at her for a long time, his expression carefully neutral. Finally, he said, "There aren't any dogs here that've been trained for hunting. However," he continued, "I do know someone here who might help you out." Maria waited. "He's a trapper, and he does like to claim that his dog can track just about anything. Nobody in their right minds will believe him, though. Especially not after seeing that mutt of his."

"That'll do just fine," Maria said.

Yamaguchi smirked. "I rest my case," he muttered. He told her the man's name and where to find him. "Tachibana-san. I know you're all fired up to go off and do something heroic, but I think it's better that you just take it easy a little for tonight. Doctor's orders," he said firmly when she opened her mouth to reply. "You don't want me to sic my nurse on you, do you?" The nurse in question gave a weak smile.

"If you're worried that Watanabe might get it in his head to leave this village with everyone else, I'll have someone go over there right now and tell him that you want to speak to him in the morning when it's light." He gave her a reassuring look. "Although, if I know him as well as I think I do," he said, "Watanabe's not going anywhere."

Maria paused, then shrugged. "All right."

Yamaguchi smiled. "Good. Now, you have a choice of either going to bed, or giving us a hand here."

Maria looked over his shoulder to take in the state of the room and the amount of work it would take to get it cleaned up. "I thought you said that I should be taking it easy tonight."

The doctor made a face. "Well, your helping us here would make things easier for me, at least."

Maria chuckled softly. "What can I do?"

The streets were finally quiet. Most of the villagers were safely locked in their homes, awaiting the coming morning before making off. Maria and Sakura walked slowly back to their lodgings. Both were dishevelled and tired. They'd cleaned themselves up as best as they could after the doctor had told them to stop for the night but their faces and clothes still bore the stains of dirt and blood.

Before they arrived at the house, Sakura stopped suddenly, prompting Maria to give her a curious glance. "Maria-san?" she asked hesitantly.

"What is it, Sakura?"

"About Tamiko-san..." Sakura paused, then said quickly, "I'm sorry."

Maria's look changed to one of astonishment. "Sorry? For what?"

Sakura's hands clenched. "I... I should have been able to do something."

"Sakura," Maria said. "There wasn't anything you could have done to save Tamiko."

"I know that!" the girl said, pained. "But I should have at least tried to stop that... that thing from getting away." She looked down. "I was scared. I saw what it did to her, and I froze. I just couldn't move. All I could do was watch as it made its escape."

"Sakura...," she started, but it was like the swordswoman wasn't even listening.

"I did nothing to stop it," she said again. "I was too scared to... I was afraid that if I tried anything, it would come inside me, too." She flinched as she said that.

Maria was quiet for a while, watching the other as they stood in the middle of the street. Not for the first time since she had to face this sort of thing, the Russian couldn't think of anything to say. Sakura avoided her gaze, her expression one of dismay.

At last, Maria raised her uninjured arm and placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Sakura," she said, gently, "nothing in the world could have prepared you for what you saw earlier tonight. I don't think I would have reacted any differently if I had been there as well."

Sakura wilted slightly. "But I didn't do anything to stop it," she repeated. "It got away..."

"It got away," Maria agreed. "We can't change that fact now." She leaned in closer. "But we can make sure that it won't do this to anyone else again."

When the younger woman didn't answer, Maria asked, "Feeling lost?"

Sakura brought her eyes up, surprised. Maria had asked her that same question years ago in very much the same tone of voice and with the same piercing look. She remembered what she said back then and the resultant cold reply from the Russian after that. Now, held in place by the other's hand, she nodded her answer.

Maria held her gaze for several moments, then smiled slightly. "Then just trust me," she said.

Sakura flushed, taken off guard yet again. She had clearly been expecting a different response. "I do, Maria-san," she said.

Maria took comfort in the reply. "We'll stop this thing," she told her. "All of us." Sakura took a tremulous breath. "Let's go," Maria said, stepping back. "It's going to be a busy day tomorrow."

Starting point | Chapter 3 | Chapter 5