Chapter 7 - 7. Perseverance

The impact of the great beast on the snow was almost silent, though the forest was still in uproar from the sounds of the clash for mochizuki and Yamamura there was only a silence that deafened their minds.

Titanoboas, these creatures existed in a far away time though it seems their appearance and attributes have been altered. When both men snap out of the trance that they had been in because of the shock caused by the Titanoboa's appearance, mochizuki realizes he is in a horrible shape, he clenches his fist and the silence continued.

After a period of time both men had decided to move forward. The two had surely developed a bond but Yamamura couldn't figure out how to help Mochizuki. Mochizuki's wounds pained him like daggers embedded in his skin, he moved forward because he couldn't admit that he had nothing left in him to protect Yamamura a second time, if the situation arrived.

Finally Yamamura spoke "H..hey mochizuki.. I know I'm not very useful to you right now, but I I want to stop grim as much as you do!" Mochizuki stopped, leaning against a tree to hold his balance he turned his head to Yamamura. Mochizuki's face showed the pain he was holding back, yet he still managed to force a smile for his friend "Yama...., I'm sorry". These words echoed through Yamamura's mind as he watched his friend slowly fall to the snow, it was almost as if time itself was coming to a halt.

Yamamura had begun to carry Mochizuki through the snow towards the direction they were headed before Mochizuki collapsed. Yamamura was maintaining warmth do the exertion of energy from carrying Mochizuki yet he was still under strain, not only from the heavier frame of Mochizuki but from his wounds that were festering from frostbite.

"I.. c...can't give up y..yet, Mochizuki is counting on me. I f...feel so dizzy" Yamamura is beginning to grow unconscious from the pain of his wounds, "I.. I'm slip—" Yamamura falls to the snow, losing consciousness.

Yamamura blinking his eyes at a slow pace was beginning to regain consciousness, but had no idea where he was he grew more and more confused and began to look for Mochizuki. He noticed that he was in a fairly large tent with only military grade cots and a lamp hanging from the ceiling. As much as he looked around Yamamura could not find Mochizuki. From a distance he heard a voice speak "so. Your finally awake huh?" Yamamura quickly turned toward the voice and his eyes meet a man about six feet tall brandishing a scar across his face from left to right. "The names Azuma Kibari, my team and I rescued you and your friend a few miles away from the camp." Yamamura's face showed concern "My friend?!" He yelled while ignoring the pain of his injuries. Azuma answered while calming Yamamura down "yes your friend is being evaluated in another tent his injuries are quiet severe, any longer and he wouldn't have made it. He's a lucky guys to have such a good friend." Yamamura let out a sigh of relief.

Azuma extended his hand to Yamamura. "What's your name? Come on I'll give you a tour." Yamamura grew wary but felt no malice so extended his hand and accepted Azuma's invitation. Yamamura gave his name to Azuma and they began to walk out of the tent and as the light was blinding Yamamura's eyes Azuma spoke, "welcome to the resistance Yamamura. Yamamura's face showed surprise there were hundreds of people willing to help take down grim, he only needed to convince a few to help him. Yamamura knew he needed to see Mochizuki but as Azuma was giving him the tour he raised a question rather "Yamamura. Tell me about your aura..." Yamamura's face showed complete surprise.

"How does he know about my aura?!". "There's no point in hiding it I can see it, like a warm winter cloak wrapping your body." Yamamura's surprise turned into curiosity.

"So he can see auras?". "My aura allows me to see if someone has an aura but not what it is. I can also read minds as well.. but not only humans, it's rather frightening sometimes". Yamamura felt he could trust Azuma so he told him about his time travel and only the travel as they made their way to a tent that was being treated as an office for Azuma. "You can travel through time?!!!. That's unheard of!!". Yamanura smiled and laughed showing modesty "yeah haha, apparently it ran in the family". "Ahh I see, well who was your father?". Yamamura's expression changed and so did the atmosphere of the room, "I don't know myself. He died when I was a young age, my mother never spoke of him", This would be the first lie Yamamura told since arriving in the present time.

After a time of trading stories Yamamura was taken to see mochizuki, who was in good health thanks to Azuma's team of gifted doctors with auras that helped them excel at their jobs. "It seems everyone has auras these days mom.. It seems wrong but. Maybe this is a good thing.." Yamamura sunk into his thoughts and upon sitting next to his friend he dozed off by his side.

Yamamura was later woken up by the sound of loud screams form outside the tent, "FIRE!!" Gunshots were sounding in the distance Yamamura raced to the tent's opening to see what was going on. What he saw was frightening, the camp on fire, men rushing to check on the wounded and Azuma was fighting off what looked like intruders. Yamamura then turned with worry and excitement at the sound of Mochizuki's voice coming from behind him "Yama! What's going on? Who are these bastards attacking the camp?!" A loud "BANG" interrupted the twos conversation. Mochizuki's eyes widened and his face showed anger and worry as he rushed to Yamamura, Yamamura not realizing what had just happened yet looked down, ears ringing, he had been shot. Yamamura looked up to see Mochizuki grabbing him to brace him up, while he could see his lips moving he could not hear what his friend was saying and his world turned black as he faded out of consciousness.