JP - The Keep - Wolf Tower

Miyuki could only smile and keep walking with Lek, not sure of what else to talk about. All she knew was that she really enjoyed this man’s company. She hoped he enjoyed hers, too.

Lek kept an eye on Miyuki as they climbed up the stairs of Wolf Tower. She said she could handle them, but he was concerned. They were steep and hard for most people to climb.

Miyuki followed at her own pace, only stopping a few times before they reached the top, never complaining. “Quite steep, huh?” She said with a soft chuckle. “I’ll have to make sure I walk the walls with you daily once my little one is born. Can’t get out of shape just because of my kit.”

“Not many people bother coming up this high, even the guards rarely come up here, figuring that the other towers are high enough.” Lek shrugged when they finally reached the top and took in the view. “My mother joked about getting back in shape chasing us after we got big enough to run and get into trouble.”

"Oh?" Miyuki asked with a smile as she went to the edge to look at the world around them. "Wow, amazing!"

“Yeah, you aren’t going to get out of shape.” Lek said, leaning his elbows on the stone to admire the view.

“If this is what I get to see every day, I will gladly climb those stairs!” Miyuki chimed, that smile never leaving her face as she looked at everything. “Thank you for showing me this, Lek!”

Lek shrugged. “You probably would have found it by yourself eventually.”

“I doubt it,” Miyuki admitted as she turned to face him. “I assumed this was only for soldiers to go to.”

“Maybe if we were under more threat they wouldn’t want civilians up here. But for now it’s okay.” Lek said.

Nodding, Miyuki gave Lek a kind smile and looked out over the place again. “It’s beautiful…”

“Yeah.” Lek turned to look inside the keep, his eyes going to the dormitory building. He wondered how Pinja was doing now.

Following his gaze, Miyuki smiled sadly. “Worried about her again?” She asked. “I gave her some of my tea and medicines, so she will be resting and healing well.”

“You saw her?” Lek asked. “Is she okay? How was she?”

“She is physically healing, but mentally…” Miyuki shook her head. “She’s not well, Lek. I don’t know if she ever will be well after what has happened to her. All I know is she’s going to heal physically and there will…there will be a lot of scars.”

“I know… I saw her after they brought her to the Keep.” Lek said softly. “I don’t care about how she looks. What they did… It wasn’t her fault.”

Miyuki was silent for a moment as she took a step back. “...just because you say that doesn’t mean she’ll believe it.” Even she still felt it was her fault for being so gullible and easily pinned to the ground by the magic those men had used. “I…I should go.” Turning, she started to make her way down the stairs.

Lek stared towards the dormitory for a moment before gathering himself and following Miyuki. “It wasn’t her fault. She just wanted to live. That bastard Jack just wouldn’t leave her alone… She thought it was over when he was arrested. It should have been over then.”

Miyuki stopped and looked up at Lek. “It’s not that simple for a woman, Lek…not even for men that…” She looked away, thinking of her family - of their deaths - and had to take a deep breath. “I’m going to go check on things…it’s probably best if you don’t try to get close to her. She won’t even let me see her unless she’s fully covered.” Starting her walk again, she made her way down. Despite the pinch of jealousy, she still felt horrible for Pinja, for having to go through whatever kind of hell this Jack bastard did to her. No woman or man should ever go through such suffering.

Of course there was only one way down from the tower (that one could survive without wings) so Lek wound up following Miyuki down the spiral staircase. “I know, I haven’t been in the same room as her since I proposed to her. I know she’s afraid of me.” He said softly with a sigh.

Miyuki’s ears flattened against her head as she kept going. On the way down she didn’t speak or stop once. Even when her breathing became labored, she did not stop - she just wanted to get the frustration running around in her head to go away. She also didn’t want to interrupt Lek because he probably had no one to really talk to about these things.

When they finally reached the bottom, she began to make her way back so that she could check on Pinja, but was very unaware of how much energy she had used. So, without realizing it, she fell to the ground as her body finally gave up, making her pass out.

Lek was going to go see if anyone wanted to spar to help work off his energy when he saw Miyuki faint. He was too far back to catch her but at least it did not look like she had hit her head. “Miyuki!” He shouted and ran up to her. He spotted a passerby. “Get Difyr!”

The passerby nodded and rushed off to get Difyr.

Miyuki let out a soft moan of pain and started to open her eyes, but had to close them again as the world around her began to spin. “What…?” She choked out the word, unable to actually focus on anything but exhaustion.

“Hey, Miyuki, what happened?” Lek asked, kneeling next to her.

Miyuki slowly pressed a hand over her eyes, trying to block out the sun. “Just…tired…” She moaned, trying to calm herself.