Koji bowed to the rider as she passed, but upon seeing her eyes, did not take his own eyes off them, and only bowed his head to one side slightly.

He watched her antics as she rode out of sight. "Could it be....so soon?" he thought as he turned back in the direction he was walking. It certainly wasn't impossible....a couple of times the criminals he was hired to catch have walked right into their camp. The silly horseplay...yes, that was all to familiar to him...the arrogance, the belief that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, to whoever they want. And of course the eyes...a trick of the moonlight? "Not likely..."

He tought of sprinting after her, or of just getting on his horse and following, just to observe, possibly stop her and question her. "No, not yet..." he thought. He had just got here, and here was a land more different from his own than he could have imagined. He could find himself at a big disadvantage in a big hurry.

But as he walked on he heard the same hoofbeats again growing stronger behind him. A strong feeling came over him that the perfect moment he was in was rapidly coming to an end...