Destinies Intertwined.
Rochelle ran as fast as her relatively long legs could take her from her attackers. Frightened out of her wits, the poor girl was frantic, heavy backpack thumping hard against her spine as she sped towards the National Library. The cold, pre-winter air burned her lungs and her muscles were sore and aching from the run, as well as with the blows she had received from her foes. Her long, waist length, black hair flapping wildly in the wind; her wide green eyes, sparking with fear and terror. All her training in various methods had fled her mind as soon as she had been pinned from two of the six assholes that thought she was a nice looking piece of ass.
One had grabbed her around her waist, pinning her arms, while the other buffoon had gripped her around her strong legs. They had beat her nearly senseless, trying to get her to submit to them, before she managed to head-butt one of them, then took the other out with her flailing fists.
After that she had made a break for it, running. And now here she was, standing outside the National Library. She flung open the door and bolted inside, not caring for the lack of people inside, concerned with only finding a place to hide until the bastards had run off. Suddenly she heard the screech of some type of eagle. Turning towards the sound, Rachelle could see a flash or crimson disappear around the corner. Curiosity pushing fear out of the way, she followed the mysterious light, feeling a warmth settle within her calming her fears.
"Relax, dear one, you are safe here. I will allow no one to harm you. Follow the red glow, dear Rochelle, and you will find your destiny." Rochelle heard the manly voice whisper in her ear in a tone that was saturated in warmth and safety. Suddenly a red light engulfed her, before her weakened legs collapsed underneath her and her world faded to black she yelled with all her strength, "MIAKA!"...
Hotohori sat in his palanquin, a bored expression on his face. He was absolutely sick of the rut his life turned out to be. Always stuck either in his office signing paper after paper, or sitting in his throne room with a sore behind from all the sitting. Today was one of the rare days he was allowed outside the palace walls and a brief reprieve from his solitude. Behind the pink veil, Hotohori looked out with searching golden eyes out at the crowd, longing for something interesting...
Suddenly, an auburn-haired girl with foreign clothing came up to the royal palanquin, prattling on about asking him for a jewel. Well, this girl was rather bold. Then he noticed a young man, about a year his senior, running after her yelling at her to stop being so foolish. Then the girl tripped over a rock and gripped the side of his palanquin for balance, which only ended in her falling flat on her tiny bum.
He really didn't blame the young girl, it was all an accident but as usual his paronoid guards were over reacting and attacked the girl and her apparent protector. Suddenly, they were all blinded as a light as crimson as the sunset shone from a spot not too far from the two trouble-makers and a shout could be heard in the most beautiful of voices yell frantically, "MIAKA!"
Then an answering light appeared from the first girl, the one who had asked him for a jewel, and engulfed them once again in the same warm red glow as this new girl. However, Hotohori's eyes stayed glued to the second girl sprawled on the ground, in what looked like unconsciousness.
Her hair was the blackest midnight, shining rays of violet in certain spots due to the afternoon sun, and haloed her head as a curtain of darkness. Her outfit, foreign as the first girl's, was very different. The lady's torso bore a form-fitting, short-sleeved shirt with longer sleeves protruding from the shorter ones, adorned with black and purple stripes. She also had on a skirt with pants underneath that clung to her long, shapely legs. Her hands were snow white and dainty looking, with long slim fingers.
He was startled from his perusal by a groan from the angelic being, "Ugh, those assholes sure did a damn-damn on me. Mental note: kick their asses later when I'm not in so much pain." Shakily getting to her feet, the girl clutched her side with a cry of pain before collapsing on her knees again. Opening two shockingly bright, green eyes outlined with long, black lashes, the young girl looked around with a look of strained confusion before settling on the couple surrounded by his guards.
"Miaka! What the hell happened? I swear I can't leave you alone for five fucking minutes before you go getting into trouble, can I?" The girl she had addressed, Miaka apparently, turned toward the being that had landed in his palanquin's path with a bright smile on her youthful face.
"Ro-chan! What are you doing here? Did you go through the book in the library too? Did you see Yui-chan there?" Sighing rather impatiently, the second female answered in a tired voice,
"I have no idea what I'm doing here. All I know is I got ambushed by a bunch of thugs on my way to your place and got the shit kicked outta me, then I ran for the library and was absorbed by this blinding red light and here I am! So I have no clue about no damn book, and I didn't see Yui in the hall I was in so- Ahh damn it!"
She crumpled face-first in agony. The girl known as Miaka, oblivious to the threatening guards surrounding her, rushed over to her fallen friend. "Ro-chan! Oh my God, what happened? Those bullies didn't hurt you too bad did they?"
The black-haired girl smiled though her pain and said, "Don't worry Mia, if you remember I've been though worse before. I'll pull through. In fact, I could probably give you guys a big enough diversion so ya can get the hell outta here. But let me tell you somethin'" She motioned the auburn-haired girl closer and when Miaka was close enough, yelled in the girl's ear,
"AND WHEN YOU DO GET OUTTA HERE, I'LL FIND YOU, BEND YOU OVER MY KNEE AND SPANK YOUR ASS UNTIL IT'S AS RED AS THAT MOP OF HAIR ON YOUR HEAD YOU IMPULSIVE LITTLE BRAT!" Miaka pulled away rubbing here ear and chuckling nervously.
Having had enough nonsense, no matter how amusing, Hotohori decided that until he knew what their purposes in Konan were, he would have to lock them up. He didn't particularly wish too but he had no choice. "Guards! Arrest these three at once!" His commanding voice spurred the bewildered soldiers into action...
Waking up to a brutal pain all over, Rochelle noticed that she was on a cold stone floor. Lifting herself up with a groan, she heard an unfamiliar voice somewhere on her left
"Well, looks like someone's finally awake. Now how bout you start spilling the beans on who you two really are, huh?" Turning towards the sudden noise, Rochelle leveled her famous glare that turned her privately warm and friendly green orbs into cold, emerald ice. The boy, who had teal blue hair and lilac eyes backed up a bit at her cold glare.
"Last time I checked, I have no obligation to tell you anything. Hell, I don't even know who the hell ya are. If this is what I think it is, then you're supposed to be a proper gentleman, and proper gentleman observe formalities with people they just meet. So be polite and ask the correct way, or did your mother raise you differently?" Seeing the boy flinch before they dropped to the floor, Rochelle's eyes softened as she knew she hit a sensitive nerve with the boy.
She moved closer to him and lifted his chin up and offered him a small, apologetic smile before saying in a much softer tone. "I'm sorry if that's a sensitive subject for you. It's just that I'm in a lot of pain and on top of that me and my best friend have been sucked into a whole new world. It's my instinct to lash out, so I apologize."
The young man smiled slightly and nodded, "It's ok. I probably would've done the same thing. My mother did raise me to be a proper gentleman. My name is Sou Kishuku, but you can call me Tamahome if you'd like."
Rochelle's eyebrows raised and a slight smile appeared on her face. "It's good that your mom brought ya up right. Men I've run into wouldn't know genteelism if it smacked them upside the head. My name is Rochelle Carlyle, but please call me Rochelle, and my unconscious friend over there," She said pointing to the girl laying in Tamahome's lap, "Is my friend Miaka Yuuki. I hope she's ok., she looked like she at least bruised her cocsyx" At the boy's bewildered look she elaborated, "Your tail-bone or basically the top part of ur ass. Right below your lower back."
"You do realize that women really shouldn't curse, right?" Unable to help herself, Rochelle started laughing. "I know that, ya dummy! I just don't care. I mean hell I've been cursing since I was 7." About that time Miaka started to wake up, and with Miaka's help, they accidently found their way out of the dungeon.
Hotohori sat in his throne room, contemplating what had happened outside the palace earlier that day. With the reddish light that had come out of both the girls, The Emporer was left with little doubt that these new beings were the girls of legend. However, he was now forced to listen to his advisors' claims against the poor foreigners.
"Sire! We should execute those girls and that fellow right away!"
"I heard that both girls gave off a strange light and both almost vanished, they might be witches or worse!"
"We're waiting for your judgement, sire, and and your command-!"
His highness had had just about enough of this foolishness. "Calm down, please! The clothing those two lasses wear are foreign. Are you not curious about their origins? Or their purposes here?"
"But sire-"
"Please listen, it may or it may not be so, but I believe that thiose girls are the ones from the ancient legend, the Priestess and Prophetess of Suzaku!" Even announcing his beliefs, he felt the spot where his mark resided burn with a comforting and invigorating warmth, proving his suspiscions even more.
"What-?"
"Are you saying sire, that they are the saviors of this country?"
His Majesty smiled softly, unseen by the two disbelieving men in front of him as he whispered, "Yes..."
After escaping that godforsaken jail-cell, Miaka, Tamahome, and Rochelle snuck their way through the palace. Rochelle had quickly deduced that the both of them, Miaka and herself, had been transported to Ancient China, however ridiculous and crazy that sounds. Luckily, Yui wasn't the only one with brains in their group of three. And Rochelle was especially astute in manners of history, even more specifically Chinese history.
As they gazed on the wonderous form of a statue of Suzaku, a warmth began to flood Rocelle's entire being, and the voice she had heard from earlier spoke now in her head, "My dear Rochelle, you are home now. You will be a wonderful leader, Rochelle, and your destiny shall await here in this realm." Snapping out of her trance the warmth had induced, she noticed that Miaka had disappeared from the room and Tamahome was still prattling on obliviously.
Ugh that little twit! Can't she learn to stay put for longer than 5 minutes? Sighing, Rochelle snuck out of the shrine and sped as quietly as she could down the hallway.
Corridor upon corridor, hallway upon hallway, twists and turns were all that met Rochelle. She was starting to get frantic, and instead of sneaking, she started running in her worry. What if Miaka was captured again? What if she ended up just as lost as Rochelle was? Fighting back tears, Rochelle burst out the door into a courtyard. Unbeknownst to her, a lone tear had managed to make its way down her cheek and it was evident in her voice she was struggling with her frayed nerves.
"Ok if I don't find Miaka soon, she'll probably get captured again. Goddamn it, why can't that little idiot stay put?" Seeing no one in the courtyard (yet she forgets the railing behind her) she lets her tears flow free, "Oh God, this is just my day! First I have to deal with a gang of thugs who beat the living shit outta me, then I hear voices in my head, get arrested, and now my best friend is missing in a dangerous situation and I can't find her to save her!"
Crumpling to her knees, she hid her face in her hands and wept as quietly as she could manage. Suddenly, she felt big, warm hands pull her hands away and heard a deep, gentle voice filled with concern say, "Please don't cry. Fair maidens such as yourself, musn't have tears soiling their faces." Looking up, Rochelle stared into twin honey-golden eyes as bright and as warm as the sun, belonging to the most beautiful man she had ever seen...
Hotohori sat on the railing, enjoying the view of the courtyard, when suddenly, the girl that had appeared in front of his palanquin earlier burst through the doors to his courtyard at a dead run and breathing rather erratically. Many words ran through his head, yet they all held the same meaning: Beautiful.
Then her melodius voice carried to his ears and Hotohori was startled to hear it shake, "Ok, if I don't find Miaka soon, she'll probably get captured again. Goddamn it, why can't that little idiot stay put?" Then he winces as he hears her weep. "Oh God, this is just my day! First I deal with a gang of thugs who beat the shit outta me, then I hear voices in my head, get arrested, and now my best friend is missing in a dangerous situation and I cant find her to save her!" The fallen angel fell to her knees and began to weep freely.
It tore at Hotohori's heart to see this beautiful and frightened girl sob as wretchedly as she was, and he could bear it no more. He stood gracefully and silently made his way over to the raven-haired girl and crouched down to her level. Seeing as she was covering her face, he pried her hands away from and cooed, "Please don't cry. Fair maidens such as yourself, musn't have tears soiling their faces."
When she looked up at him, he was startled to see emerald green orbs staring back at him, framed with long, black lashes under thick, black, well-sculpted eyebrows. She had a lot of contrasting features: Her long, thick, black hair with her short, yet slender and pale neck; her small, cute nose and tiny, yet full mouth with her large, wide green eyes; her high, aristocratic, and slender cheeks with the roundness of her entire head; her softly curved shoulders, and her round, full breasts; her tiny waist leading down to wide and rounded hips, giving her an hour-glass figure; her long and well-shaped legs ending in two tiny feet encased in weird-looking shoes.
He looked back at her soft, pale face and noticed she had stopped crying and was staring up at him with a blush dusting her cheeks. He smiled warmly and tried to calm her even more, "I take it you are one of the ones they arrested earlier?" At her nod and the way her eyes hardned slightly and her slight form tensed he continued in a gentle voice , "Do not worry, I am on your side. I will not summon the guards, if that is what you're thinking. You have my word of honor."
She looked at him warily a moment, as if debating she should trust him. Then she responded in a soft voice that spoke of her nervousness, "I'll hold you to that, and if ya go back on that promise, I'm gonna kick the shit outta ya so damn bad, you'll wanna be crawlin' back into your momma's womb instead of being born."
His eyes widened at the use of cursing from a woman, to which she rolled her eyes and said with an exasperated sigh, "And yes I know that women aren't supposed to curse, ya aren't the first guy I've run into here to scold me for it and I'll tell ya the same thing I told him: I could give two hells and damns, alright?" Chuckling at her response, Hotohori stood and offered his hand to the girl, who took it with a small smile.
Pulling her to her feet, he gestured back to the railing he had been relaxing on earlier, "Would you like to sit and talk with me for awhile? To soothe your obviously frazzled nerves a bit?" She nodded and her blush progressed. He couldn't help but notice the slight sway of her hips as she walked and he, very reluctantly, averted his gaze for the sake of remaining a gentleman.
She sat down and leaned her back on the wide piller, but grimaced in pain. She raised one hand to her torso, and rubbed soothingly over the spot. Curious as to why she was in pain, Hotohori asked.
"Are you alright? You seem to be in pain. What happened?"
Rochelle looked up at him and smiled brightly at him, before smirking mischievously, "Oh, it's nothing. I just ran into a buch of idiots who thought I'd be a 'nice piece of ass' as one of them put it. It was more opponents then I'm used to facing, so they managed to pin me to the ground. I headbutted the one holding my torso, and punched the one holding my legs in the jaw. Of course that was after they'd gotton a few good kicks at me. Hence my ribs splitting in agony."
Hotohori was feeling such anger, that he was glad to hear her chuckling snap him out of his unexplained rage before he did or said something drastic, "Then again the one who kicked my ribs wasn't expecting my to grab his balls through his pants and crush them, before flipping him over to crash into a few of his buddies. Oooh, you have no idea, how good that felt to beat the shit outta most of them before making my escape."
Laughing he asked the second question that had been bugging him, "And how exactly did you figure out that I am indeed a man? Most confuse me with a woman. Ridiculous, of course, since my etheral beauty is obviously masculine, but you are the first one to recognize me as a man on first meeting. I wonder how this is."
Giving him a blank 'are you dense?' expression she elaborated, "Well then everyone you've met is either ignorant or retarded. Your face and eyes are obviously masculine, your voice is too deep to be a woman's, and I can easily see that you have no breasts even with the baggy-looking attire. If you were a woman, I'm sorry, but I would be ashamed that any woman would look that manly."
Before Hotohori could make a retort on whether he should take that as a compliment or not, the sounds of guards yelling met their ears. Hotohori gently grabbed the girl's arms and held her to his chest protectively. She felt so warm and soft, she fit perfectly in his arms as he dragged her to safety. "Hurry, hide!" he whispered softly in her ear.
Pushing his back up against the side of the next building over he panted, "Ok, we should be well-hidden. After those guards leave we should be able to find your-" He looked down to find his arms empty. Frantically, he looked around to find her running towards the crowd of soldiers at full speed.
"Oh for Suzaku's sake, and she complains about her friend Miaka's inability to stay still!" He began to run after her, about to yell for her to come back, when he saw her deliver a roundhouse kick to the side of the guard holding Miaka hostage. With a grunt he fell, while the others quickly surrounded Rochelle.
Smirking and shifting into a defensive stance, she scoffed, "Oh wow, deja vuu. I just beat some limp noodles like you guys before I even came here. Well, at least I get some good practice-oh shit!" Taking in her surroundings, she didn't notice the guard behind her that made to grab her.
Seeing Rochelle and Miaka captured, Rochelle being the only one managing to actually fight while Miaka was screaming "Tamahome!", the boy that had been tied up let out a battle cry as the symbol on his forehead lit a bright red. Breaking his binds he zoomed towards the two girls, kicking and punching any guards in his way.
Standing in front of both of them he growled out, "Listen to me, if you even touch them I'll kick your ass! All of ya at once I swear!"
"Stop! I command you, leave them be!"
Turning towards the shout, Rochelle was surprised to find the guards trembling with fear as Hotohori leveled them a cold, stern glance as his voice rung with authority, "No one is to touch these three without my permission. Do you understand me?"
Everyone, including Rochelle looked on in awe at the being that stood before them. Tamahome managed to stutter, "W-who the hell are you?" Rochelle could guess but one of the soldiers behind her answered the confirmation, "It's...It's the emporer!"
Not needing anything else, Rochelle fell to her knees along with the guards, who bowed humbly. Rochelle, however, was frozen on her knees, looking up at the awesome being before her. "I had a feeling that's what you were, but I wasn't so sure before. Only the Emporer would be that elegant and graceful, even in an informal setting." Hotohori smiled at them as he nodded, before looking down upon Rochelle with a warm gaze and smile. Those golden orbs were her undoing, as she felt warmth course through her as His Majesty's eyes seemed to scorch her very soul.
Falling forward, she heard the screech of some type of bird before everything faded to black...
Hotohori rushed forward to catch Rochelle before she fell on her face as a blinding red light seemed to sucrete from her limp form before everything faded to normal.
If there was any doubt in his mind that she was indeed in any connection to the legend of the Prophetess of Suzaku, there was no doubt now.
The legend explained that the Priestess was to summon Suzaku and allow the god to use her body as a medium. The Prophetess however, was the guiding light that would act according to Suzaku's will and help the Priestess in any way possible. She would also keep hope beaming in Konan and also be an easy way to help locate the celestial warriors in some significant way.
Hotohori looked down at the girl in his arms with tenderness seeping from his every fibre. He strode into the palace, yelling for rooms to be prepared and told a nearby servant to summon the palace healer. He knew that this was the girl from the myth, as well as Miaka and Tamahome.
Inside his head, he could hear the assurance that these two women would fulfill the prophecy, "These girls will save my country and one will remain here to find her destiny..."
AN: Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoyed this as much as I have, please review. Constructive criticism is welcomed, but outright flames will be reported. Arigatou gozaimasu :D