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Morning greeted the Dewott, waking her from her slumber, still looking groggy and distraught from the night before. Kishiko wasted little time getting out of her bed, grabbing a quick meal from the kitchen to take with her, and hurried off out of the house to leave for the forest. Perhaps her training or meditation could help her relax, or if she could find Mei-Xiu even, then she could tell someone about it safely. She came up to the tree with slash marks in it, the same tree she normally practiced on for the past few years since evolving, and pulled her scalchops off her skirt, then summoned the blades of water from them again. Wasting little time she charged to slash the tree with her blades, allowing her attacks to flow with precision. It was a good way of taking her mind off things usually.

But even as she trained, the thoughts persisted in her mind. It seemed apparent that this wasn't the best idea then, as all the years Kazuo had spent raising and teaching her were coming to mind. She shook her head and dissolved the blades before replacing her shells on her skirt again, going to take a seat near the river where she always sat, legs crossed and paws on her knees. She closed her eyes and tried to relax, clear her mind, let her meditation cleanse her thoughts.

Her troubles wouldn't go away so easily, however. Kishiko did feel a bit calmer from the meditation, but the thought of it still was haunting her. Clearly she couldn't just keep this to herself after all. It would be hard for someone to believe, but she had to do it. And the only person she could possibly tell was Mei-Xiu or her brother, since they were her only friends in the world.

"Hm, I wonder where she might be then... nothing else is working right now, so perhaps she can assist me..." she groaned to herself. Kishiko picked herself up and walked off into the forest to search for her Mienfoo friend.

Eventually she came across the cream and magenta coloured weasel, finding her seated by a tree casually eating a couple berries she'd picked up. She smiled warmly to her friend as she looked up from her seat.

"Oh hey, girl, what brings you over here?" Mei-Xiu asked with a friendly tone. But Kishiko wasn't quite as cheerful, a little disappointed to see her lazing around again, but figuring that wasn't important right now as she had more pressing matters bugging her.

"Hello, Mei-Xiu, I am most glad to have found you... something terrible has befallen me and I cannot seem to shake the thought of it on my own... I hoped that perhaps you would be of assistance with this."

Mei-Xiu looked concerned, not used to seeing her so distraught, or at least, not sounding like this. Given she always kept such a serious look about her, it was hard to tell when she was actually happy or sad anyway. But her tone typically was all the hint she needed. "What's going on? What happened? Not used to seeing you like this."

"It is difficult for me, but... for some strange reason, my father raped me last night... I do not know what to make of this situation. I hoped to seek your guidance," Kishiko quietly explained, keeping her head down.

This definitely was quite the bombshell of news to receive. The Mienfoo hardly knew how to respond, only able bring herself to move closer to comfort her friend. She had never dealt with the subject before, so how to go about this was going to be difficult for sure on both of them.

"Well, girl... I'm really sorry to hear he'd do such a thing to you..." she started to say after some deliberation. It was a challenge to find words for this kind of news. "But I'm here for you anyway, and same for my brother. We'll help however we can. You're our friend after all."

"I appreciate that I am blessed with friends such as you both. If not for you, I would have no place to turn. Speaking of which..." the blue otter looked up, slowly returning to her normal self again. "I had a question for you both."

"A question? What's up?"

"I wish to leave the clan behind, I have nothing left here for me. No friends, my father has betrayed my trust so I have no family I wish to be with, and I no longer want any part of this stupid war either. I have no allegiance to the clan any longer. For that wish to be made possible, I would like to enlist in traveling with you and your brother. Is this okay with you?"

Mei-Xiu was struck with awe at what she heard. It would mean more time for the two to be around each other and help with training, and it did sound like the Dewott had never seen much more of the world around before either, so this could be a great experience. Plus she always was talking about becoming stronger and being some great warrior, so this would definitely help her out. It wasn't a very tough decision for her to consider, that's for sure.

"Well hey, if you'd really like to do it, I'm cool with letting you come," Mei-Xiu replied with a smile. "Just gotta keep in mind we're nomadic types, we don't exactly... have a home of our own, we just camp out where we please."

"What do you mean? What happened to your home then?" Kishiko asked with a puzzled tone, though her expression didn't change any.

"Oh, nothing happened to it, really. Our parents are still living back in our house we have in a town, but they used to be really big explorers themselves. So naturally once Tai-Xun and I got old enough, we decided to start heading out to explore, too. Of course, he's had a head start on that since he's about 6 years older."

"Hm, I see... I had never heard about this before... though it must be nice knowing you have a home to return to," Kishiko said. "After all, it seems that shall no longer be the case for me."

Mei-Xiu wanted to give her friend a hug to comfort her on that front, but it wasn't likely she'd be allowed to without being smacked, so she held off. "Well hey, you got us now anyway, right?" She hoped that maybe that would help ease the tension a little on the situation.

"Indeed... without you two, I would be all on my own now. It is... a blessing to have you as my friend." Mei-Xiu smiled and suggested they go tell Tai-Xun the news, to which Kishiko nodded her head in agreement. The sooner they could get out of here the better. So the two friends headed off on their way back to where Tai-Xun would be found at.

Tai-Xun was standing out alone in a field on his own, training on his own, punching the air. The furry whips hanging off his arms flailing about with each punch. He was a fairly strong and lithe Mienshao, about 25 years old, with a powerful upper body but weak legs. Unlike his sister, his focus was more on punching and throwing, using his arms and body to overpower foes, leaving the dazzling kicks and leaping to his sister. His light purple ears twitched as he heard some footsteps coming his way. He threw a few more punches before stopping and glancing over to see the familiar Mienfoo and Dewott companions coming his way.

"Coming back to do more training?" he questioned curiously. The two stopped nearby before responding.

"Well, not quite. Kishiko's got something she wanted to ask you about. Not related to fighting for a change."

"Really now? Little Kishiko not worrying about training?" Tai-Xun joked, snickering a bit as he crossed his arms, allowing the whips to hang over.

Kishiko groaned a bit at the joke, not amused by it as usual. "It is a serious matter. Things have come up back home and I do not wish to stay there any longer. I wish to travel along with you two, to see the rest of what this world offers, and gain more experience."

"What? This is shocking to hear then, you seemed to enjoy it so much living here," Tai-Xun responded, a little surprised by her inquiry. "Besides, are you really sure you can handle it? We travel all over the place normally, and this could be the only place we frequent just to see you."

"I am willing to accept this challenge with full knowledge of how difficult it will be. Mei-Xiu can explain better in private if she must, as I do not wish to think about it further." Kishiko kept a stern look as she crossed her arms, hoping to get her point across to the older Mienshao. Tai-Xun glanced over to his sister, and she gave a simple nod to suggest she was fine with it as well. He looked back and spoke again.

"Alright, you're welcome to join us. After all, gives you more time to train with us, so you'll definitely improve quicker this way." Kishiko gives a nod in agreement, pleased that they were willing to accept her this way.

Finally she could feel like she had friends to depend on for the first time in her life. The years of being pushed aside, left on her own to train, and being around others who weren't as concerned with training as her were over. She wouldn't show it, but it was exciting to be hitting the open road to explore more of the world like this with her only friends, and to be escaping the pressures of joining an endless bloody war that she never fully understood beyond the framework of "Snivy are evil, don't trust any of them."

"So, where did you want to head next now that we're all set?" Mei-Xiu chimed in, interrupting Kishiko's thinking.

"Hm... that's a good question. I didn't have anywhere in mind but let's just see where the land takes us," Tai-Xun responded with a smirk.

He turned his back to lead the way, letting the girls follow after him at their own pace. Mei-Xiu smiled back to her friend as she starts to walk as well, with Kishiko not far behind. With that the group was on their way again, leaving behind the Ott Clan's village and looking forward to what may await them in the land ahead. The sense of freedom already began to wash over Kishiko, making her feel some relief to be leaving her father behind and have the chance to forget the events that had transpired as well. But little did they know, hiding in the shadows high above, someone - or something- was watching them...

"So she's leaving the clan, hm? Heh... wait until the leaders hear about this one... those two Miens will make her easy to track as well..." The shadowed figure grinned, satisfied with the efforts of their work, before moving back along on their way quietly to continue with their own business.