"Please?"
"No!"
"Come on. We hafta have two."
"No! You can have one for both of you!"
Tasuki feigned a lip tremble and gave his best puppy-dog eyes. He was not very famous for them, but they usually worked when he did it.
The empress sighed. "No! Who will bring the other back when he dropps you off?" Tasuki hung his head. "Exactly! You will get one horse for the two of you, or you will walk. What would Chichiri think?" Then she answered her own question with, "I don't think he'd mind walking. He's quite used to it. But you, on the other hand, are lazy. Which is another reason you only need one horse."
"And if we run into danger...?" Tasuki asked, dreading the answer.
The empress smiled slightly. "You will have to share the horse, ride together." Tasuki whimpered. "I know." She patted his back as she led him out of the thrown room. "Be patient with him; he may surprise you." She closed the door behind him.
Tasuki was on his way to the stables with his head down. "One horse," he said saddly, his heart racing faster with each step he took.. "Danger. Share. Surprise. Oh, Suzaku, I can't do this!" He put his face in his hands, spun around, and ran into someone.
"Da!" said that someone. "What is wrong, Tasuki? No da?" Tasuki shook his head. Chichiri grabbed a shoulder. "Tasuki, were you able to get us two horses?" Another head shake. Chichiri backed away. "We'll be walking. No da."
Tasuki growled, but it was barely heard, and shoved past Chichiri.
Hoki crossed her arms. "I already said no to Tasuki. What makes you think I'll say yes to you?"
"Because I'm more trusting,? No da?" Chichiri said, hoping to sway her.
She shook her head. "If you don't accept one horse, there's no way for me to help." She shrugged. Chichiri nodded, stood up, and walked out of the room.
Once the door had closed behind him, one of the ladies turned to Hoki. "Why would you not trust Houjun, Lady?" she asked, kneeling beside the throne.
Hoki laughed. "We must wait and watch. I know what must happen between them, but they do not. They need a little push. If they take the one horse it will happen quickly. If not, it won't click-" she sapped her fingers, "-until they get to the mountain. Koji will make sure of that; you know how blunt he is. Either way, it will happen this trip, and it won't be the last time we see the two together. Do not worry about the horses."
She clapped her hands twice sharply. Two men stepped forward from either side of the door. "You two will get the horse ready. They will need food, water, and shelter." The two men bowed and left. Hoki smiled to herself. "They will not turn the horse down, even if they do not ride."
"No. Way."
Chichiri stared at the horse that was prepared for them and was being led to the East Wall. He turned to Tasuki. "Did you tell her you wanted a horse? No da?"
"Nah. You?"
One of the two men with the horse ran to them. "You two order a horse?" The two boys shook their heads. "Well, we didn't go through all that for nothing. Her majesty insists you take the horse. She's carying all of your food and stuff. The horse, that is."
After a bit more convincing from the empress through the man, the boys gave in.
"Fine. We'll take the damned horse."
"Yes," Chichiri sighed. "You ride, Tasuki-kun. I'll walk. No da." Tasuki nodded, mounted, and they left. The gates to the palace closed behind them.
Back at the palace, the empress' smile never left her face. The two men she sent to prepate the horse returned to her with good news. "They have taken the horse."
"Very good." The two men bowed and were dismissed. "They may not ride together yet," she mused. She sighed in defeat, allowing her smile to falter a bit.
Then she suddenly had an idea. "Ladies!" she called. "Bring my son to me."
Tasuki yawned. "I'm tired. Can we stop?"
"No. I'm tired too. No da."
"You are?"
"Yes, I'm tired of your complaining! No da!"
Tasuki took a step back, but stood his ground. "The horse needs to rest; we all need to! She's panting, you're panting, I can hardly keep my eyes open!"
"I am not out of breath! No da!" Chichiri argued back. Though he wasn't lying, he was tired; his steps were slowing. They had traveled for a day and a half without stopping. "We should find shelter. No da." Chichiri was desperately trying to find an excuse to keep going.
"Houki-sama took care'a that." Tasuki pointed to the tents on the horse's saddle.
"To the river, then!" Chichiri was panicking now, though he had no idea why.
"We have water, too!"
"I want to fi-" He stopped suddenly. He felt something.
"Fish?!" Tasuki, who didn't feel it or heard what Chichiri felt, yelled. "Ya wanna-?!"
"Shh." Chichiri clapped his hand to Tasuki's mouth. "First I felt it," he whispered. "Then I heard it. You didn't, no da?" Tasuki shook his head. Chichiri slowly let his mouth go. "Listen."
And there it was. Something moved behind a tree. Something alse moved up a different tree. Both were human, Chichiri confirmed.
"There's two of them?"
"No. Just one. They're using immaging. No da." He looked up in time to see a boy jump down from a tree.
"Hiya!" he shouted. His foot was about to make contact with Tasuki's face, but Chichiri cought him in mid-air. "Whoa. Put me down."
"Fiesty little thing, aren't ya?"
"Don't be mean. No da." Chichiri dropped the boy, who landed on his butt. "What were you doing? No da?"
"Watching. I was told to. 'Course, I wasn't supposed to be found." He scratched his head.
"Who sent ya?!"
"I ain't tellin' ya. I can't. Then I won't get paid."
"What's your name? No da?" Chichiri asked kindly.
The boy laughed a high pitched laugh. "Fine, that I can tell you. Li"
Chichiri gasped. "Wanna stay with us?"
"Tasuki-kun, no! Li can't stay with us! No da!"
"What?"
"He's right," Li answered. "We can't be seen together. I'd get into a lot of trouble." He jumped and was gone. Chichiri couldn't feel his chi at all any more.