CHAPTER 4: TRUST

Sunlight beams onto the forest, Star watches over the unconscious Ikari, who's still covered in blood but with no wounds.

Star looks around at the little campsite she made, she begins to reflect on what happened.

"After he passed out, I made sure to get away from the area so that no search carriages could trace it back to us. But did I go far enough?" She stresses herself.

She looks back at Ikari.

"It looked like he caused a bloodbath there..." She continues to say to herself.

"That aura around him, his hair, his eyes, his tone... It was like he was just a completely different person..." Still thinking to herself.

"He's been unconscious for a while now, whatever he did, it clearly exhausted him..." She says.

The girl sits down near the boy and begins to examine him for wounds.

"He still has no wounds, did he just, demolish them?" She mumbles to herself.

She gets closer to Ikari's face to examine his breathing.

The boy slowly stirs awake only to be met with Star's face right next to his. The pair stare at each other before Star blushes and quickly pulls away.

"I-I was just checking your breathing!" She yells, clearly embarrassed. The boy sits up and gives her a baffled look.

"What happened?" He asks.

Star, still embarrassed continues on rambling on how she was examining him for any wounds.

Ikari disregards her and sighs.

"All I remember was you stopping me whenever I was in bloodlust..." He says to himself.

"Oh, you passed out after that aura you went away, then I just tried to find somewhere safe so you could recover." Star says; suddenly snapping back into reality.

"What even was that aura anyways?" She asks with concern.

"Later." Ikari replies.

Star sighs and looks at him.

"Can you at least get yourself cleaned up?" She says with a serious tone.

Ikari looks down at his clothes and skin, he finally noticed that he's engulfed in blood.

"And how am I supposed to clean off?" He asks.

"There's a lake nearby; I already checked it, it's clear. Just clean your clothes and yourself." She says.

Ikari sighs and gets up; he angrily walks to the lake she was talking about. He makes certain that the lake is clean and nobody is around before quickly cleaning his clothes and himself.

Before leaving the lake he looks in the water and sees his own reflection, he stares at it for a while before shaking his head and walking away from the pond.

He walks back into the modest campsite.

"Better." Star says with a smile.

"Now tell me what that aura meant." Star commands.

"Not right no-" Ikari is interrupted by the girl,

"I won't take no for an answer." The girl says with a determined face.

"Please, have some trust in me Ikari. I know we've haven't known each other for even two days but please, we can help each other!" Star yells.

Ikari stays silent and thinks about it.

"The aura only comes out when my rage reaches its peak. After that I go into a trance called bloodlust, theres three stages, stage one being the weakest allows me to unlock certain abilities and it greatly increases my strength and speed." The boy says.

"I can only control the first and barley restrain the second although I never resorted to it before. It really uses up a lot of energy, and I can sometimes go a bit berserk." Ikari says with a straight face.

"What about the third stage?" Star asks.

"I don't know how to open it..." The boy says.

"So, you were in the first stage whenever I stopped you?" She asks.

The boy nods.

"Strange... I never even heard of that power before." The girl says.

"No one in my clan possessed it either, and I still don't know why I have it..." Ikari says.

"That's right, your apart of the Phoenix clan." Star says with a smile.

"Well was, before they were all slaughtered..." he says with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"They never killed the people who did it; did they?" The girl says sadly.

Ikari sways his head and says.

"No, thats why I'll take it into my own hands and find the bastards who took everything away from me." Ikari says, he grips his fist in anger.

"So that's your mission huh?" Star asks.

Ikari nods.

"I've trained every day since that happened, I promised my family that I'll revenge them; even if it costs me my life." Ikari says with rage in his voice.

"Very well, I'll try my best to aid you then!" Star says with a smile.

Ikari shakes his head at her.

"I don't want you to get involved." He says while staring at her.

"Too bad, I'm coming with you." She says stubbornly.

Ikari tries to argue back, but Star is too stubborn. After a minute of constant back and forth, silence hits the area again.

"If you don't mind, but could, you describe the men who did it?" She says in a comforting tone.

Ikari is a bit bugged by the question but he answers anyways.

"It was four men, the man who I have my eye on was the leader. He was tall and muscular, he also looked like had a little bit of dragon in him. He was the bastard that killed my parents in front of me and spared me..."He closes his eyes and grips his fist.

"I'm... Sorry Ikari, I shouldn't have asked that." She says sadly.

Ikari neglects her and silence arrives once again.

"Cmon, follow me I know a town we can go to." Star says, finally disturbing the silence.

"Why would we go into another town?" The boy asks.

"There's a place that could maybe give us some info on the men." She says with a grin.

"How do you know that?" He continues to ask.

"Well, it was the first time I went into when I lost my memory, so I sort of trust them." She replies with a nervous chuckle.

Ikari gives her an unsure look before he sighs.

"Fine. Lead the way." He says under his breath.

Star gives him a smile and begins to walk to the town that she knows. Ikari puts his hands in his pockets and follows the girl.

"So what are we doing at this town?" Ikari asks.

"Well first off, I would like to visit the blacksmith, then visit a pub so we can gather information." She replies.

"The blacksmith?" The boy creaks his head while asking.

"So maybe we can get you a new dagger. The one you have right now seems a little dull and old." She replies with a smile.

The boy is a little offended by that, he unsheathes his dagger and examines it, but to his surprise, it is dull. Defeated, he sheathes his dagger and sighs.

"Do you know anybody there?" Ikari continues asking.

"I only know the blacksmith, his daughter, and the owner of the pub." She claims.

"So maybe the blacksmith will cut us a deal for the new dagger? Because I'm completely broke." He says while sighing.

"Hm, maybe they're having a good day." She says.

"H-hey what is that supposed to mean?" The boy asks.

The girl smiles but doesn't resolve his question.

"You've got to be kidding me..." the boy says to himself.

The walk is uneventful, the pair continues to talk to each other on the way there.

"Almost there!" Star says with the same smile on her face.

"I should really get a horse..." the boy sighs.

Star stops and turns to Ikari.

"When we get to the town, you've got to behave." Star says.

"So no robbing, getting into fights or going berserk, got it?" She asks with a serious tone.

"Excuse me?" Ikari says with surprise in his voice.

"You heard what I said, just follow me." She says.

Ikari gets pissed, but he groans and nods his head. Star smiles, turns back around and continues on. The boy crosses his arms and follows her.

The two continue to walk until they're met with a enormous wall that looks similar to the one that guards Lancaster's Rest.

"Here we are." says Star.

Ikari examines the wall. The words "SEBASTIAN'S OMEN." Are engraved into to material.

"Sounds a lot like, Lancaster's Rest..." Ikari says.

"Well both were named after knights who fought in the first war." Star says, turning her head to look at Ikari.

"If I remember correctly, Sebastian and Lancaster were brothers. They both fought for the same nation until Sebastian went rogue and decided to fight against his own brother." She continues.

"Then one day, whenever Lancaster found him, they had a massive fight which Lancaster won. He was deemed a hero and is now worshipped as if he was a god." Star finishes.

"What happened to Sebastian then?" Ikari asks.

"It's assumed that he killed himself here, it's said that he couldn't live with the guilt of betraying and losing to his brother." She says.

"So that explains the town's name..." Ikari says silently.

The boy continues to examine the area.

"There's no guard?" He says.

"Nope, you don't need to sign in here." Star says. She begins to walk towards the gate as it gradually opens.

Ikari follows her as they slowly walk into the town.

The town is just like Lancaster's Rest, crowded, chaotic and busy.

"Here we go again..." Ikari says under his breath, clearly not happy to be in another chaotic town.