It had been a wake up call, knowing that things were certainly not normal here. Twice now she had encountered those things. The first time she was just bait that drew another in. A mere tool to be bargained with had been her best guess of that situation.

The other had been that man. The one that toyed with her for a bit. The one that had limited his own abilities until they were well into sparring. She was determined that she would beat him one day, supernatural strength and all. There was always more than strength, always a means to succeed unless you gave up and that was something that the warrior within her refused to do.

She had come across the aftermath of an attack once too but this was getting strange. No one seemed to remember much about her one time rescuer Makeena. She just up and vanished one day though at first most of the other girls did not remember her … then she had been pulled aside by one that remembered … it had seemed that most of the girls were made to forget these matters that did not seem to matter much.

Rebecca had been piecing things together or trying to in her mind though she ultimately left it for now at least. There were other things she needed to get to and she prepared for that now.

She didn't have a room mate yet, there was an odd number of new students and when she was assigned a room it was by herself though she assumed that it would be filled eventually. She did not think on that now but merely packed her bag, a few towels, a bottled water, extra clothes … really she had learned from her first experience that having an extra set had been handy.

When she had been ready to go she would stop downstairs at the vending machine to get a candy bar, something to give her a small boost of energy after expending so much later … one second thought she best grab a few of them.

Juniper felt each day slide by with an agonizing awareness. There wasn't a mark on her, not a single tell-tale scar, or a lingering ache from what had happened to her that day, but her body remembered. The carress of the blade as it parted flesh, the fiery spider-web of broken ribs taking another hammer blow, and the invasive tearing at her most intimate places. She wished she could believe that it was all a nightmare, a delusion, but when she'd woken up at the infirmary again, she woke up there was no sign of her piercings. A reminder. She'd bled, she'd screamed, she'd sobbed until she choked ... but she hadn't begged, hadn't broken. No, she'd traded that scrap of pride for a sinister promise. The creature that had her relented, but only so that he could come again, prepared, with a plan and the tools to take his sadistic pleasure from her all over again ... and if she could stand up to him again? Then he'd be back again, and again, until he tired of her. She had to play the role of the good, ignorant student after her clash with Rena, try and throw the hounds off the scent, but she couldn't escape the implied threat that he was watching her, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

After a week, however, she couldn't force herself to sit on the sidelines any longer. Even when she'd been flying under the radar, so to speak, she'd picked up her physical training again. Going back on her diet from the track and field day, running until her legs wanted to give out. She didn't intend to make herself an easy target for whatever other surprises this island had in store for her, even after slacking off as long as she had she'd given her pursuers a bit of trouble just be keeping quick on her feet. Now she was working on getting back to her peak. Getting back in the swing of her investigative habits had taken a bit longer ... part of her was afraid at what she'd find. That she'd turn over some new predator that would take an interest in her. Of course, that was her tormentors' intention, she was sure. Scare her so badly that she wouldn't dare to poke her head up again, surrender to circumstance instead of continuing to take a hard look at her captors, to study them, to find her way out. Juniper always had been too stubborn for such tactics.

And so it was that she'd started sifting through the data she'd managed to acquire. She reviewed the "Prey" list again and again, learned the names, the faces, the course curriculums. She looked at the way the attacks effected their grades, their course curriculums. She dug up the ones who hid, the ones who dropped classes and hid, the ones who pretended nothing had happened, the fighters, and all too often threads that lead to nothing at all. That was when she'd first found the familiar face, staring back at her as if half-remembered through a dream. Rebecca Walker, the young woman who'd found her ruined body laid out on the bathroom tile. It seemed she'd experienced the island's hospitality as well, somewhere along the way. A bit of all-too-human curiosity got a hold of her, and she decided to look in on the girl.

-- -- --

"You know," a voice spoke up behind Rebecca as she bent down to retrieve her candy bars from the vending machine, "It's really not safe to explore the island's interior on your own."

Standing in the otherwise empty hallway, Juniper was wearing her school uniform along with the dark pull-up leggings that she preferred, though with the short skirt they still left some of her toned thighs visible. Over her shoulder she wore her own backpack, filled with an impromptu survival kit of her own that she'd put together, including clothes that were better suited for tromping around in the jungle. She extended her hand for a friendly shake, giving a self-conscious smile, a pair of mirror shade resting on her forehead.

"Hey, sorry to butt in, but it just seemed like we had the same idea, so I thought I'd introduce myself. The name's Juniper, you can call me June." she blinked, faking a moment of confusion as she drew her eyebrows together, "...Wait, haven't we met before?" Of course, their apparently coincidental meeting was anything but. With her normal disrespect for boundaries, Juniper had pried into the young kendoka's habits of late. She'd recognized the other girl's preparations as mirroring some of her own, and it seemed like a good, private opportunity to compare notes with some of the school's other "prey" ... all she had to do was determine when Rebecca had intended to leave and beat he to the ground floor. It would've been easier if she'd had a room mate to interrogate, but, as ever, Juniper had her ways.

Juniper wasn't the only one with her Demons though in her case Rebecca had been far luckier. Perhaps it had been because she was less prone in stirring up a hornet's nest for finding answers, while nice, had not mattered here.

She would have believed it was all a nightmare of sorts if she had not encountered that squid before though that time she was merely the bait to draw out Makeena. Certainly something had happened to the other girl, she just vanished soon after their meeting though the odd part was that no one seemed to recall her.

She was no longer on the attendance rosters for their shared class anyway, other girls did not recall her and the few that might, she suspected, seemed afraid to speak of it. Why? She was uncertain but might have checked into it further if her pride as a warrior had not been challenged.

Siferus. That was his name and she would beat him at least once. She had four years to do so, had been an outstanding student of Kendo and even with all that knowledge it had been close she thought. If not for the sluggishness that she felt in her limbs, the waning strength there, the fact that she seemed to tire a fair bit quicker …

And that was what she had been doing everyday since. Training for the inevitable rematch though how many more of these things were there she could not say. Encountering just the two so far and focusing on that spider capable of taking human shape she sort of had tunnel vision. She had a goal, she just had to do.

Still at the dorms she had not been alarmed to hear a voice behind her though Rebecca had not known who it belonged to. It was unfamiliar to her as she retrieved her candy bars and stuffed them into her bag she peeked over her shoulder from a crouch to do so.

Big mistake. Well not so much a mistake, merely more of a distraction as her eyes settled on those legs and lifted upward. She did not take others to her “secret” training sites to keep a few arts secret but today she could use the company and after Siferus intrusion on her last spot she had to find another anyway. She'd just run some routine drills if she found one.

Standing up and turning around she took the offered hand finding that it was not totally soft and feminine, a workers hands and not some rich aristocrat or what have you though June did not strike her as being of privilege. Just a hunch there as there were no outward signs of a display of some sort, necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, nothing of a gaudy nature.

“No, it's not, but for that very reason I can't exactly ask anyone to volunteer, can I? I'd feel to responsible should something happen.” She shot her a small smile, not yet recalling that she had seen the girl before and thinking nothing of that comment just yet.

“The name's Rebecca. Rebecca Walker. You can call me Becca, never Becky though.”

She considered as her mind search her face and her own memory as she tried to put it all together, a moment later her blue eyes lit up in recognition. The girl she found in the rest room that day! She was such a bloody mess then that she did not focus on her features but rushed her off to the infirmary.

“No. We have met though briefly I think but not formally. Last week.” She glanced around making sure that the hallways were still empty. “You were the girl from the showers right?”

"Ah, that's it!" Juniper remarked cheerfully, snapping her fingers as if she'd just recalled when Rebecca pointed it out, "And that'd make you "Strong Hands", huh? Sorry I didn't recognize you sooner, I'm afraid I wasn't in the best condition at the time." Now that was interesting. After the nurse had got in the cheapshot with the needle, Juniper had expected Rebecca to have more difficulty remembering her. This worked too, however ... it could work better, even.

"I really owe you one." she smiled, bringing her other hand down to hold the kendoka's hand after their brief shake, "Because you got me to the nurse's station so quickly, I was able to make a full recovery. Much longer and ... well ... I try not to think about it." she punctuated the statement with a slightly strained smile. Of course, with the treatment she'd sustained there was no way in hell she should be up and about already. She suspected, however, that the nurse would've downplayed her injuries in the name of maintaining the school's cover.

"Well, I can hardly let you risk the wild reaches on your own now ..." she said, reluctantly letting go of her hand and glancing down and away with a bit of feigned bashfulness, "You know, assuming I wouldn't be intruding. I know my way around well enough, I wouldn't slow you down..."

It just went to show how strong she had been mentally. She recalled what was necessary, seeing something familiar and turning it over and over again until something finally clicked inside her mind. Somewhere along the line someone had messed up thinking that they had not had to be as thorough though as Siferus found she was very strong willed even battling against that aphrodisiac of his in such a way.

There was not much for her to remember though, just finding her in pretty bad shape and getting her to the nurses office. It all seemed like a dream, however. She smile.

“Yup. I don't recall too many details of that day but that sort of stuck out."

A faint blush, Rebecca gazed down at that hand but did not pull away. She sort of liked the feel and other than Siferus only Makeena had really touched her. That squid thing did but it was incidental contact as he moved her about. It felt sorta good.

“Really, I didn't do much. I saw that you were hurt and took you to the infirmy. I don't remember what the nurse said to me … details are blurry about that day, real blurry. But I … well … I sort of forgot about it until now. I just remember lots of blood. Did you slip and hit your head? Head wounds bleed a lot. I'm just glad you're OK.”

Rebecca considers for a quick moment. “I normally don't do much training with an audience, no more than basic stuff but I had to search for a new spot and probably wouldn't get to more advanced stuff today anyway. It's fine, no intrusion and I could use a bit of company today.”

"Don't worry about it, I wouldn't have wanted to dwell on it either. I imagine I was quite a sight." Juniper chuckled good naturedly, reaching releasing the other woman's hand as she scratched the back of her head, "Yeah, something like that. Someone was horsing around in the showers and ended up hitting me from behind, I banged my head on the faucet on the way down." she shrugged helplessly, blowing a bang out of her face, "I guess they must have run off when they saw I was hurt." That was probably as close to the truth as she was going to be able to get without invoking the troubling truth of her encounter that day. If she didn't clearly remember, it'd probably be best if she didn't invoke her tormentor just yet.

"Great!" Juniper said with some enthusiasm, clapping her hands, "This works out pretty well. You want to find a new training ground, and I was going to explore a bit, so I'm sure we'll find a good spot for you." she brushed gently by Rebecca to make her own selection from the vending machine, swiping her ID card through the reader before selecting a package of peanuts and sliding it into the side-pocket of her backpack. She mostly wanted to make sure that she seemed like she had a reason for heading by the vending machines, but she wasn't averse to having something to nibble on while on the trail either.

"So, what're you training for?" she asked, gesturing down the hall to indicate they could go whenever she was ready, "Or, I guess more specifically, what're you looking for in a training ground?"

What she remembered had been a little foggy. She remembered the girl, though she had never caught her name then, getting her treatment was a bigger concern. She recalled a lot of blood, that you shouldn't move an injured person but she did so anyway. She seemed to by the explanation, at least in part.

“That whole matter was rather alarming to say the least. Still I am glad that you recovered from it.”

There was nothing alarming about a klutz incident. She suspected there was more to it then that but she had no reason to call her out on it. But Juniper passed by close, the scent of perfume had been strong in the air, yes, definitely a distraction she thought though she didn't think that much training would be done.

Though how to answer the next question? She practiced often though now she practiced with a greater purpose. She smiles, a sly little smile that indicates that she's holding back something.

“Practice makes perfect. The more work I put in the greater my technique will be.” They begin walking down the hall though with Juniper.

“What I'm looking for isn't anything too special, a place that doesn't take too long to get too but is secluded from the other students were I can practice my techniques.

“A professor found my last spot and well … it's sort of known know so I have to find another?”

"Ah, the old "Mastery is a journey, not a destination" approach, eh?" June said, lightly stroking her chin. The desire for privacy was interesting though, Juniper hardly would've thought that there'd be enough competition within the school's kendo club to necessitate secret training. Of course, she supposed, there were other opponents to be found on this far off island, she could hardly blame Becca for wanting to keep a few surprises up her sleeve for them, "I follow you."

"Okay, let's see ..." Juniper murmured under her breath, shifting her bag to the other shoulder as the two of them moved through the lounge that seperated the dorm from the world outside, "Something close enough that you can sneak off to it for practice without making anyone suspicious, but private enough that no one else will trip over you...hmn..."

"Well, you could head down to the beach." she started, "No one would really think twice about a student heading down there, though the school grounds only cover a short stretch of it. It gets kind of rocky in places, but you could circle the perimeter of the island easily enough until you were out of sight, that'd let you train against the raging sea, as they say, or you could cut back inland to cut down on the chances of anyone observing you unnoticed." she paused a moment and tapped her chin, shouldering open the door as she went.

"On the other hand, it might be better just to get out of sight as soon as possible." she stopped tapping her chin and pointed in the rough direction of the sports field, "There's a cross country track that cuts into the wilderness. That'd get you out of sight lickety split, though it's a little better trafficked. All we've gotta do then is find you a landmark so you'll know when to get off the track and then pick our way through the wilderness." finally, she shrugged.

"Either of those sound good to you?" she asked, since ultimately Rebecca was going to be the one to use the grounds.

“something like that,” she smiled at the other girl as they made their way along. It was for those same reasons that Juniper thought why she had practiced in secret, well her new stuff anyway. It wasn't as if she had been worried about the other students that had been on this island. She was not aware of anyone at her level though given her secret training rather than training with the other girls there might have been some.

“Nice suggestions.” The beach was open and the fact that people could not sneak up on her unnoticed had been great though the track area was probably better. It was a little closer and while she hated admitting it she was still in training for that rematch with Siferus but might have to … run … if she encountered him too soon.

Even the thought of running was distasteful though if it came down to it she would probably fight a running battle and hope she could get far enough this time. Last time she was deeper in the woods and had to navigate trapped terrain.

“The track works. It's a little closer and since I've lost my official Kendo stick in flight I have to make due with branches and the like. Provided they have the right size and about the right weight.”

The sky above had been as blue as her eyes, though there were a few clouds there and there was a breeze it had been a nice one.

“You know, I don't interact with too many people her. Not since ...” she gave something a thought and decided that it had not mattered. “Well, that's not important. So June, what Major did you take? And have you ever done Kendo before?”

"Heh." Juniper preened under the faint praise, straightening her back and pressing a hand to her chest with a smile, "I pride myself on being able to provide top quality information. I may not have been here long, but something like this just requires a little observation." she paused at the top of the short flight of stairs that lead up to the dorm before clearing them with one good hop, holding down the front of her skirt with a hand before she landed, turning on her heel and walking backwards as Rebecca made the descent.

"That's no good!" she complained as Rebecca mentioned the state of her kendo stick, "A craftsman is only as good as her tools, right? Having to contend with awkward balance, dry rot, or green wood that just doesn't have the necessary heft ... " she shook her head, "You at least need something reliable..." she ran her fingers up through her hair, grabbing a handful and scratching the top of her head with a finger as she rummaged through her memory for a student with some experience in wood working. A kendo stick might be expecting too much, but surely a bokken or the like should be manageable, right?

She blinked as she heard Rebecca's voice speak up again, meeting her clear blue eyes with her own warm brown and smiling a bit. Of course, she'd known that Ms. Walker had become somewhat withdrawn recently, all part of the research. In a way, it was part of why she'd sought her out. She was sure of it more than anything, those who knew the truth of this place needed to stick together, to form a support network if they were ever going to endure. The fact that Rebecca was a fighter only made her a more attractive contact to cultivate. Which was not at all to imply she wasn't attractive wholly on her own merits.

"Ah, I'm a journalism major with minors in political science and psychology." she said with an easy smile, "What can I say, I want to much rack and help people understand what's happening in the halls of power and how it affects them." she added with a shrug. She stopped scratching the top of her head when Rebecca asked if she'd ever done kendo before, shrugging her shoulders, "I haven't had the pleasure. The kind of fighting I was taught was ... different."

She walk along with June considering the possibilities that were open to her as far as training went. Today was just going to be a bit of light work nothing too strenuous though her attention shifted as June hoped down the three meager stairs present. She might not have been here long but she would admit that she seemed pretty observant.

Rebecca smiles as June spins about in her direction as she descends the same stair case. “A bokken would be great. It's a little shorter than what I usually train with but I've used them a fair bit. It seems that my Kendo stick got misplaced and the crude practice tools I made keep disappearing on me.” Or getting broken she thought back to her match with Siferus. Was he that strong? Even so, strength wasn't everything but still …

“Journalism, hm, well I'm an English Major. I thought of teaching in Japan, starting up my own Kendo dojo and the like but we'll see. But I think journalism is fantastic.”

She pauses though and thinks over what June just revealed. Kendo was well and good, a competitive sport but could she really hope that these things would always play fair especially when it put them at a disadvantage. Siferus played by the rules until it was evident that he had grown bored and displayed his true strength.

“Like street fighting?” She was interested, the simply question getting her to consider different avenues.

"I'll see what I can do." she said with a bit of a smile, she rubbed her chin in thought, "We'll need to figure out someplace dry to store it too ... the school tends to frown on things that can be used as weapons being outside of their control. We'll want to make sure that you'll have access to it whenever you want to train." she started running through the possibilities in her head. Figuring this out was just good practice for her own plans, she figured, and doing this favor should put her in Rebecca's good books for a while.

Juniper looked out across the sports field as the two of them approached, shifting the bag off of her shoulder and holding it to the side. The metallic >PANK< of an aluminum bat catching the meat of a fast pitch caught her ear, shifting her eye to where a student was moving to get under a high fly ball that was cradling the foul line. Another class was busy going through their morning stretches, dressed in the characteristic light shirts and bloomers to running the track today. June shifted her angle a bit to skirt the edge of the field, walking close to the treeline as she tried to avoid garnering any unwanted attention.

"Basically." she admitted when Rebecca asked point blank about what experience she had with fighting, bobbing her head to the side as if she was reluctant to admit it, "I mean, I'm not a brawler, it's more of a self-defense thing. Tom always used to say that if you find yourself in a fight, you have to treat it like the other guy is after your life. You either kill him first, or you mess him up too badly to follow you while you make a break for it." she shrugged her shoulders a bit, "We don't really have the gun problem you have in the States, but when you hang out with a rough crowd, knife attacks are a reality you need to prepare for." She hadn't really appreciated that as much as she should have at first, but at least she'd survived to learn that. Lots of people didn't get that kind of second chance.

“Thank you for that,” Rebecca smiles back. The hang up she was having at the gym was that she was unable to train in secret though she had all the tools and equipment at her disposal. It was a trade off, though she liked having the element of surprise against these things. Granted, she had only encountered two of them and one did little more than detain her for a bit.

She was unaware of how many more of these things there were and she would beat Siferus. She had four years to do just that but she would best that arachnid.

She glanced to the baseball game given the pull of sounds that only momentarily drew her attention in that direction before coming back to June.

“I know a little Judo. They teach more or less the same thing, run when you can get out of a situation but if you have to then here's how …

“I'm not too great at it though. Japan doesn't have too much of a gun problem when you look at all the trouble in the States and I know ...” She paused and hoped she was getting the accent right. “I know in Australia they don't have much of one either so I always assumed England was the same. Where are you from? What part of England?”

Knife fighting. That training she was sorely lacking in though. Live and learn was right she supposed.

"Japan does have a bit of a problem with violent street gangs though, and they tend to react poorly to foreigners. At least, that's what I hear." she said with a bit of a shrug, admitting she was no expert. She watched as the student caught the ball and threw it to second base for a quick double, a wave of groans and complaints coming from the diamond. "Still, you've got the judo to fall back on. Tom's lessons can be boiled down to "be aware of your surroundings" and "never, ever fight fair."

Lessons which could be applied to all manner of things in life, she wagered with a bit of a self-conscious smirk. Of course, the unspoken rule was that everyone was trying to do much the same to you. It paid to plan your moves out in advance, to act rather than react, but one also had to be flexible enough to improvise on the fly when unexpected complications arose. That was when all the little resources and favors you'd squirreled away came into play.

"Oh, I grew up in Bristol, along the south western bit of England." she said with a bit of a smile, "Sixth biggest city on the isle, lots of old buildings full of character." she tucked her hands in her pockets, her feet finally finding the dirt path that lead into the forest.

"How about you? You've got an American accent, but I don't know my regional dialects. Where about are you from, 'Becca?"

“Street thugs are another problem entirely. Of course if you live there you sort of learn here all the bad neighborhoods are. It's like any other nation in that sense and well, I'm considered a Gaijan … a barbarian in your language … it refers to a term of all foreigners but with a name like Rebecca Walker and being of mixed heritage I don't really fit in. That sucks but yeah, there's nothing that can be done about that.”

She brought her attention to the baseball field. With the double play the sides were changing. She had never been a huge fan of baseball despite how big it was in Japan and the U.S being so immersed in Kendo to worry about much else.

“True, I do have Judo to fall back on but I'm probably just good enough to deal with those untrained types and one on one rather than large groups.”

She was good at improvising though she did not use he Tanto too often. She carried one, well not know obviously but had one. Some girls had jewelry, she had her quirks. She enjoyed her weapons better than fine jewelery. It was not as if she dressed up and went out often.

“Oh, yeah. Some would say it's pretty big though I don't think it's too bad, then again I think I just hit that stage where I've stopped hearing the American accent, at least the West Coast one. I've spent the last four years in Los Angles but I grew up in Japan, Okinawa to be specific though I left when my father past, I was too young to look after myself though I was going to move back, got this brochure to Shokushu and came here instead. Hopeful after I finish up here I'll be certified to teach and go back to Japan then to get back on track with my plans to teach.”