Heavy snow, a bamboo forest. An emaciated figure dives in, staggering; this is where she's concealed herself the whole way. She thinks to dig out some winter bamboo shoots to stave off her hunger, to take a few mouthfuls of snow to allay her thirst. The bamboo forest is a fine place to hide, but she's not the only one who knows that. A dozen or so shinobi are in cover here, tasked with ensuring that this girl, the last survivor to escape from the purge of her family, does not remain so. The bamboo leaves rustle, and the branches up high drift up and down in the wind. Their tips shudder, shaking free small clumps of snow, which scatter in a slicing gust before they ever touch the ground, becoming a fine wintry mist and disappearing into the air. A few fowlbeasts on another stalk retract their necks, stuck out moments prior, and fold their wings up again, relaxing and continuing to huddle close. All is still. The bony girl lifts her head. Suddenly, a white glint. A dart at odds with her build flies from her hand, snowflakes and wind whirling alongside. This weapon has seen plenty of use thus far; now, it makes a clean cut yet smashes to pieces a bamboo leaf big enough to conceal someone. The struck shinobi lets out a short cry, and powdery snow explodes off the layers of leaves. A trap prepared long in advance cuts off the girl's retreat. She leaps atop a branch, before being forced back by the flash of a descending blade. Her weakness from days without food catching up to her, she loses her grip on the branch, and drops like a stone. But undeterred, she looses one final arrow from her sleeve in midair. It finds itself with no target to hit, but both her and the shinobi crash to the ground at practically the same time, with a dull thud. She lifts her head, and before her is a Lung dressed in black, brandishing a naginata right behind the shinobi. 'So this is where you were, girl?' The girl stares blankly, not knowing how to respond. 'I am Fumizuki,' she says, patting the girl's head. 'Can you use a blade?' The girl comes to her senses, and nods. She grasps a handful of snow from the ground, stuffs it in her mouth and swallows, draws a spare tantou from Fumizuki's waist, and charges at her enemy within the forest. Fumizuki watches this frail girl leave, and quickly follows behind. One, then two. From sun overhead to horizon-laid, the shadows amidst the bamboo fall without even a chance to signal their backup. When the final shinobi uses the last of their strength to charge the girl, aiming a hidden shot straight at her stomach, Fumizuki pushes her down to avoid this fatal blow. Once it's all over, a tiny body collapses in the great bamboo thicket, holding her wounds and letting out a long, slow breath. Sunshine's rays filter through the leaves and shine on her face, the sound of fowlbeasts flapping by in her ears. Before exhaustion brings her to sleep, her parents' lifelong teachings come back to her. The girl must offer her loyalty to the princess before her.