Her waist-length violet hair with one thick, long bang that acted independently from her other hairs, dangling in front of her left eye and swayed about. Her orange feline eyes held more maturity to it, but also a soft, gentle will within.

"Come, lookit! Look at that!" The boy tried to reach out impatiently, but his legs seemed to have failed him.

"Oooaa! Oooaaah!!" He exerted some effort before his body leaned too far forward and tipped the scales of fate, forcing him to plummet towards the pond.

Splas.h.!.+

"Akio!" The young woman called out urgently. Her footsteps hastened as she arrived at the pond in a hurry. "Akio! Akio!"

"Gasp!" A small head emerged from the pond, drenched and smiling. A toothy smile and a triumphant expression surfaced along with him. "I got it!" He held the lotus in his palm preciously as he floated in the pond. A pa.s.sionate and curious light effused from his eyes, "what is that?"

"Are you alright?!" The young girl panickedly approached the pond, looking ready to jump in at a moments notice forgoing her clothes and safety.

"I'm fine, sis!" The boy absentmindedly replied, as if he had to say those words quite often in his short life. He lifted up the lotus and swam towards his sister. Lifting it to his sister's face, he asked with intense curiosity, "Sis, what is it?"

She didn't seem to care much about the lotus as her eyes surveyed Akio intensely ensuring nothing was out of place. "Come out and dry yourself before you catch a cold."

"Okay…" Akio softly replied. He got out, but his eyes were focused on the inside of the lotus.

"Akane!" An elderly voice sounded behind them. Akane turned to see an old man who wobbled forward with a cane. He seemed to be coming in quite a rush.

Akane smiled gently, "I'm here, Elder Hiroji." Her call-out immediately elicited a sigh of relief.

The old man arrived next to her after some time; he had a wary expression. "You can't just be traveling outside the Border so carelessly. There's no patrols this far out."

"I'm sorry if I had you worried. I just wanted to let Akio see the outside world a little. Forgive me for my impulsiveness," she bowed softly, apologizing directly.

Hiroji could only sigh once more. He wiped the sweat off his brow and calmly chuckled, "It's fine. It is good to have some impulsiveness in your youth."

"Sis! Sis!" Akio rushed up to Akane, his clothes still drenched. He gave an awkward greeting to Hiroji and ignored him soon after. "Look."

Akane was about to scold Akio for his rudeness when he eyes caught sight to the color silver. She seemed to be drawn by its s.h.i.+ne. Even Hiroji glanced towards the lotus and seemed enraptured by what he saw.

A silver object, no larger than a fist, smoother than jade, and inscribed with various patterns that followed along some profound esoteric laws.

Akane couldn't help but reach out. When her hand touched the surface, she couldn't help but caress it with her dainty fingers.

"Sis, what is it?" Akio asked incessantly.

"I…" unsure of how to answer, she picked it up and inspected it. The eyes of all were glued to it. She touched the small part that seemed to be protruding from it. Instinctually, she pressed lightly on that part.

Pop!

They gasped.

"A...compa.s.s?" Hiroji a.s.sumed. However, it was different than a standard compa.s.s, having three directional arrows pointing in six of the eight cardinal directions, lacking east to west.

"What's a compa.s.s?" Akio asked curiously. He had never heard of what this was, so his child-filled curiosity was piqued to a peak.

"..." Akane was silent for a while and only her brother's light touch awoke her from her reverie. She smiled softly, "it's a tool used to find your way home." A compa.s.s was not what she expected to find, but it fascinated her to no end.

"Home? It can do that? How?!" He was already jumping at his sister's words, unwilling to leave the subject until this new found discovery was deeply embedded into his memory. Akane and Akio wasn't the only one fascinated, even Hiroji was drawn to this, but his eyes contained a worried light, glancing about to see anything out there.

"We...should return," Hiroji suggested. He didn't particularly liked being outside the village's border. As an old man, it could be understood, but there was also unknown danger out there he rather avoid.

"Yes, Elder Hiroji. I'll explain it to your on the way back, okay?" Akane said before grabbing Akio's wet hand and bringing him away. Akio was a little dissatisfied that they were leaving, but he knew not to argue with his sister, so he relented and let her guide him back.

Hiroji sighed, inwardly happy that the situation didn't require more convincing. He happily carried his tired and old body back to the safety of home.

In a shadow, not too far away from the three, a pair of eyes floated within. These eyes were pitch black, but even still, it contrasted heavily to the shadowy background. As long as one paid attention, they would spot those terrifyingly cold and observant eyes.

"We finally found them!" A ill-filled voice resounded softly. A cold chuckle and a swis.h.i.+ng sound was all that occurred before the eyes in the shadows vanished.