There was a light click as the door unlocked and Natalie slowly stepped inside of Darren's apartment. She gently closed the door behind her.

His apartment was modestly furnished; it wasn't run-down, nor was it extravagant. A simple wooden table and pair of chairs sat in the middle of the floor of the main room besides a small kitchen. From her position, Natalie could see an oven, along with a device that she had come across a few times during her traveling -a 'refrigerator', if she recalled correctly.

Her boots gave a slight echo as she began to walk across the wooden floor. The sound was soon muffled as she stepped on a throw rug some distance away from the table. Natalie idly glanced about the room, her eyes taking in several things -a simple wooden shelf in a corner in particular. Upon it rested several trophies, and on the wall above it hung a number of rectangular objects, encased in glass frames. Natalie had also come across those in her travels -'photographs', they were called.

Natalie first took a look at the trophies. There were three of the light bronze depiction, each with facsimile of a man in a martial arts stance. She knew that Darren had practiced a little back on Sukata, but had no idea that he was into tournament fighting -from the engraved plates on the trophies, it also seemed that he was quite good at it. 

The photographs were of Darren standing next to several other young men and women, each in martial arts garb. Most were human, but she could make out an individual with a light green complexion, standing next to a reptilian female. One picture was of Darren standing alone, a large trophy in his hands.

Natalie continued to make her way through the apartment, eventually coming to his bedroom. It was simple, like the rest of the abode -there was a bed in one corner, a desk in another, and not much else. What caught Natalie's attention was a large white wall scroll hanging over the bed. There were three black foreign symbols upon it ('Kanji', she believed), of which she could not read. As she continued to look about the room, she noticed several drawings on the desktop -it was a fairly disorganized setup, with the drawings being strewn about here and there. On top was a simple charcoal sketch, a line drawing of a smiling young lady. Natalie took a second look. The female looked quite familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she had seen her. It was only after she had seen a name written under the face that she remembered.

Simone.

The sister Darren had lost when Kari was attacked those years ago.

Natalie sighed deeply as she recalled for a moment the events back on Sukata; one of the things she admired about her friends was their strength, but seeing them break down in tears was enough to shatter even her stony demeanor. She remembered it vividly, no matter how hard she wanted to forget. She and her friends had been playing in the woods against their parents wishes, which wasn't anything new; being the daughter of the village elders and all, Natalie had a profound effect on her friends. Then came the bright flash and the heat as a pillar of flame engulfed what used to be their home. Those visions usually returned to her in her nightmares, often times waking her in a cold sweat and in tears...

She shook her head in an effort to dismiss the thoughts, slowly making her way to Darren's bed. She then undressed, and slid underneath the covers. Curling herself up into a tight ball, she soon fell into what she prayed would be tearless, uninterupted sleep.