The wind blew. Softly. It whispered as it blew through the green leaves of the forest. A bird chirped in the distance. Here was tranquility... and in it, the essence of nature. But as is so characteristic of stark reality, tranquility only exists so it may one day be shattered.

Suddenly, the chirping turned into panicked squawkings as birds of various kinds took to the air in unision, blotting out the sun. The whisperings of the wind turned into a crazed howl as the wind picked up, and became a gale, swaying the trees and causing their branches to crack and snap with loud noises that were eventually punctuated by rolling thunder, and the crackling of massive fires started by malevolent bolts of lightning that struck the vulnerable foliage.The storm raged... seemingly crying out in anger at the knowledge that even it would soon end.

And end it did, as the gale died down, the birds fell silent, and the sun peeked out, tentatively, from the cloud behind which it hid. Steam rose, hissing, as the pattering rain put out the raging fires.Peace was returning to the forest... but it was far from recovered from the torture of the storm. And, were it human, it would have dreaded its return to it's former tranquility... for then that would once more foretell the storm. It would have mourned the storm as much as it welcomed the peace, as did the Miko Hokuto, forcefully and without her choosing, ripped from her innocent concern for her brother and plunged into insanity as she was Released From the Seal Of Blood, only to finally become her present self.

Others, beholding the splendour and beauty of the Miko would envy her, and probably aspire to become Miko themselves and gain a purity such as hers. None but Hokuto herself would be able to understand how freedom from the madness of darkness could bring sadness.

None but Hokuto... as she reflects on life, reality, and yearns for the days of innocence, when she had lived for justice, family, friends, and love.

When she had lived as she pleased,

Carried by the wind.