The ox cart steadily made its way through the Japanese countryside. For once, there wasn't much happening on its journey. The forest traded places with the green valley at the mountain ridge's foot, and the afternoon started to trade places with the evening. The blue sky started to show an orange lining, slowly but surely.

It had been a few hours since they left the forest. Roger was still driving, but his mind was clearly on something different. "Guys? When was the last time that we've ate something?"

Brian looked at Roger, hearing his own stomach growling like a wild animal. "Well, it's been a while, I think. Besides, I can't feel my bottom anymore from sitting for hours on a wooden bench."

John, who was still sitting in the back with the shamisen in his hands, nodded his head in unison.

"All right," Brian said. "Let's find a place where we can eat!"

"But we're in a rural, mountainous area, and I don't see any settlements around here," Roger replied, doubting his bandmate. "I don't really think that we can find a nice restaurant or something like that around here. Let alone a kind farmer who likes to share his food."

"You know what else we can do?" John said, all of a sudden. "Live off the land! We can take what Mother Nature gives us. Water, berries, fresh meat... I have been a boy scout when I was little, so I know my way around what's edible and what not."

Not soon after that, a rivulet appeared alongside the road. Salmon were jumping up and down inside of it. John looked up and called the other two to his side. "Look, guys! There are salmon trying to cross the stream - would you look at that! It means we're getting closer to the mountains!" Brian smiled at the sight. With Mount Osohai as their living place, the fish were travellers heading for the same destination.

Roger smiled too, licking his lips while he imagined the taste of fresh fish in his mouth. "So... You guys are thinking what I am thinking?"

"Ofcourse not!" Brian said. "I'm a vegetarian! I'm not going to harm an innocent animal just for the sake of eating it!"

"Perhaps you can collect some berries," John said, saving the situation again. "Just look! The river bank harbours a lot of berry bushes thanks to its fertile ground. You know what, Brian? You can collect berries, while Roger will hunt for fish. I can make a campfire - I hope I still know the tricks from my scout days..."

No sooner said than done, the three friends were sitting around the campfire, their bellies filled with fish and berries. The sun had set, the stars reappeared. Roger had fallen asleep, John was playing around with the shamisen again, and Brian looked up at the stars. As an astronomer, the stars meant so much to him, perhaps even more than to another person.

To Brian, the stars were his friends. They were there for him in any situation. The last time he had seen these little lights in the sky, Brian was hopeless. At first, there had been a lot of friction between him and his bandmates in this strange land of the past. Him and Roger quarreled continuously, the guitarist blaming everything that had happened to them on the drummer. But now he realized that Roger had been just as out of place as Brian had been. They were all in the same situation, and Brian finally felt that putting all the blame on Roger was never the right thing to do.

This was because everything changed for the better that day. The three bandmates saw themselves no longer as individuals, but as an inseperable team. They found a way out of a forest abundant with ninjas together, traveled across a strange land together, and made a good meal together. Brian realized he had argued less with Roger today. He felt more calm, more happy. 

Even if they wouldn't survive this journey, Brian was grateful to have spent some time with Roger and John. Though the three bandmates quarreled about the smallest things, the curly guitarist felt like the two others were his best friends and he couldn't imagine losing them. With that feeling of joy inside of him, he felt asleep.

The next day, the three friends left the place along the river. It wouldn't be long now until they reached the mountain.

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A/N: Lo and behold, here it is: the first update of LUCT in almost a year! Sorry for the fact that it's a chapter in which, well, nothing really happens (save for some character development on Brian's behold). It's a bit of a breather until next chapter, in which we finally get to meet... the DRAGON!