They left at dawn.
Haruka was waiting by the gate when Jin came out of the main house. She'd changed into traveling clothes, plain and dark, with a small pack on her back and the glowing blade wrapped in cloth and tied across her shoulders. Her eyes were red, like she hadn't slept much. She didn't mention it, so neither did he.
She closed the heavy gate behind them and stood with her hand on it for a moment, looking at the pale walls of the only home she'd ever known.
Then she let go and turned away.
"North first," she said. "To the pass."
They walked.
The plain stretched out around them, wide and empty, the tall grass silver with dew. The sun came up slowly on their right, turning the sky from grey to pink to gold. Neither of them talked much. Haruka walked fast, a step ahead of him, her eyes fixed on the hills rising up in the distance.
It took them most of the morning to reach them.
