Strange Journey

By Phoenix Hoshika

Part IX

It had been a couple of weeks since Ryu and Taiko had left the planet mainly inhabited by giant talking insects. As they were stepping through another portal into an open field Taiko was tightly clutching Ryu's clawed hand. Having built up more of a tolerance for the journey through the portal Ryu was still conscious, however, weakened by the trip. Taking only a single step forward he fell to his knees.

"Ryu! Are you okay?" Taiko asked panicked.

Ryu sighed heavily before answering. "Sorry, it's nothing, I'm okay."

"Are you sure?" Taiko asked releasing his hand and kneeling in front of him. "You don't look well." She said bringing the back of her hand to his forehead.

"No, it's okay." He said pushing her hand away. "I don't want to be a burden."

Taiko sighed in frustration. "Ryu, when you go through the portals it does something to you. The first time it happened I was almost certain you had died. It scares me to think that the next time we go through a portal I'll be coming out with a dead body, so like it or not I worry about you."

"Taiko, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, we're friends after all, right?" Taiko said smiling as she stood. "Let's go exploring."

"I really don't feel up to moving much right now." Ryu said as he remained seated on the ground.

"Hm, that trip really did a number on you, huh?" Taiko said kneeling down in front of him once again. "I wonder why it messes with you so badly and has no effect on me? Oh well." Taiko said standing up. "I suppose there's no point in asking that question seeing how there is no answer in sight. I'll scout ahead. Will you be okay here by yourself?" Ryu nodded in response and Taiko took off.

A half hour had past when Ryu found himself falling asleep where he sat. His chin was falling toward his chest when he heard a shrill scream not to far from where he was. Ryu immediately headed in the direction of the scream and found Taiko running around wildly as a giant butterfly chased her.

"RYU!" Taiko screamed running directly at him. Before he could process what was going on Taiko was hiding behind him on the ground clutching his leg. "Make it go away! Kill it! Do something!" She insisted as she shook from head to toe. The butterfly was the size of medium sized dog and had an equally large wing span. It fluttered in front of Ryu curiously watching him.

"What?" Ryu, uttered not understanding Taiko's obvious phobia of an apparently harmless creature. The butterfly made a slight move in Taiko's direction and she shrieked pulling on Ryu's leg so roughly he nearly fell.

"Is it dangerous?" Ryu asked just to be on the safe side.

"I don't know! Just kill it!" Taiko screamed.

"Why didn't you kill it?"

"Because I'm scared!"

"But, it seems harmless, why do you want me to kill it?"

Before Taiko could answer the butterfly lunged at her and she took off screaming once again, this time into the sky.

Panting heavily Taiko came to a stop once over the troposphere and looked around. "I lost it." Taiko thought, but then she felt something moving around on her back.

Down below Ryu could hear the blood curdling scream Taiko let out and cringed slightly. He could see a tiny white ball of light which was Taiko streaming across the sky as she quickly descended. Landing on her feet she began to run.

Some miles away Ryu found Taiko in a river nervously eyeing the insect that sat at the bank waiting for her to come out so it could pounce on her again. When it sensed Ryu it instead leaped on him giving him a hug with its long black legs. Ryu smiled and hugged it back.

"It's friendly, there's nothing to worry about."

"Say that after it bites you." Taiko said remaining where she was.

"No, I'm sure it doesn't bite." Ryu said as it snuggled against his cheek. "I'll hold it so you can get out of the water." Ryu said.

Taiko sweat dropped. "Ok." She agreed and came onto the land. Carefully she walked over to Ryu staring wearily at the butterfly then reached out to pet its head. Taiko froze when the creature's antennae purposely touched her arm.

Mistaking Taiko's silence for calmness Ryu released the butterfly and it leapt onto Taiko's face.

"MWAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Was the echoing noise Taiko made as she screamed yet again.

It had taken a while for Taiko to somewhat calm down, mostly due to exhaustion. The giant insect sat comfortably perched on top of Taiko's head who was shaking slightly.

"Are you going to be okay?" Ryu asked cautiously.

"Uh-hm." Taiko answered shakily.

"That's good. He really seems to like you." Ryu said relieved.

"It has a gender?" Taiko said lifting her eyes.

"It's strange." Ryu said sitting down on the grass.

"Yeah, as much as I swatted at it and yelled you think it would have bitten or flown away or both." Taiko said the butterfly remaining on her head.

"No, that's not what I meant. You can't stand bugs or insects of any kind it seems and yet they are attracted to you. Remember the kokori children on the insect planet?"

"How can I forget them!" Taiko said shuddering. "It's not everyday you find yourself sounded by cockroaches nearly as big as you are."

"Their parents were happy you agreed to watch them for a while." Ryu said giving the slightest of smiles.

"ME? YOU WERE THE ONE WHO AGREED TO WATCH THEM THEN RAN OFF WITH A COUPLE OF MOTH BIMBOS!" Taiko raved still shaking.

"…..I was dragged away, and once I lit their fire they let me go."

"Yeah, I bet you did." Taiko grumbled.

"Ryu sweat dropped. "It was nothing like that." He said perfectly restraining the urge to fall over laughing. "Besides several kokori children weren't all that bad. If you were in my place you would have been surrounded by hundreds moth people."

"Hundreds?"

"Probably a couple thousand at the least," Ryu smiled.

"A couple thousand," Taiko repeated becoming weak in the knees and falling over. The butterfly detached itself from her head right before Taiko hit the ground.

"It will be dark soon we better find a place to rest." Ryu said standing and walking forward.

"Hey, wait for me!" Taiko said getting up and running after him, the butterfly right behind her.

That night Ryu and Taiko found themselves sleeping under the night sky in the grassy plains. Taiko slept uneasily seeing how the butterfly had decided to make her back its resting place. Finally getting accustomed to the oversized insect on top of her Taiko was about to fall asleep when it suddenly started making a loud hissing noise. When Taiko opened her eyes the butterfly had flown away and she was surrounded by a group of people wearing large masks who had spears pointed at her, but most of their attention was on Ryu who was still asleep.

"Are you friend or foe?" The leader asked.

"Friend," Taiko answered.

The leader then signaled for the two with spears pointed at Taiko to stand down, but the five surrounding Ryu remained on guard. "We will take you back to our village, but your man can not enter unless his arm is broken first." The leader said.

"What for? That's rather brutal plus I don't think Ryu would stand for it and if he hazes out things could get messy," were the thoughts that hurriedly ran through Taiko's mind. "Man? He's no more a man than the horses you're riding." Taiko said. "Now please just don't wake up saying anything, Ryu." Taiko thought with her fingers crossed.

"It looks like a man." One of them said who was standing by Taiko.

"Well, people are sometimes mistaken for animals." Taiko countered. "This one here is nothing more than a beast."

"If this creature be a beast then what are you?" The leader asked lifting one of Taiko's wings with the handle of her spear.

"Ugh, please don't do that it's annoying." Taiko thought sweatdropping. "Isn't it obvious?" Taiko answered.

"Then the legends are true?" A girl said stepping forward and leaning over into Taiko's face. "A real life fairy?" The girl said touching Taiko's head, then her lips, and then her chest.

"Great, is everyone going to feel me up before the night is over?" Taiko thought as the girls hands lingered on her chest.

"What are these?" The girl asked continuing to touch Taiko's chest. "Breasts? Are you a female?" The girl asked as she went to lift up Taiko's dress, but Taiko quickly pushed the edge of her dress down and shied away.

"Yes, I'm female," Taiko exclaimed not able to take much more the girl's poking and prodding.

"Master, the legends say fairies have no gender."

"That is correct Sasha." The leader answered.

"Then it's a trick!" One of the women declared. "I bet there's absolutely nothing under that dress besides its legs." And before Taiko could blink she found herself being stripped down.

"Is this how they treat friends? Oh, please don't wake up, especially now." Taiko thought looking over her back at Ryu.

"It's acting strange." Sasha said as she observed Taiko who was sitting with her arms across chest.

"What are you ashamed of? We're all women here, aren't we? The leader said looking over at the still sleeping Ryu.

"I'm not an 'it' and I'm cold!" Taiko said looking at the strips of cloth on the ground that were her clothes.

"The legends also said fairies can make objects appear out of thin air. Are you really a fairy?" The leader asked her.

"I really don't know what I am. Jon could make things appear and disappear, so maybe I am a fairy, but I have now idea how to do that. All I can do is electrocute things and I really don't have a handle on that." Taiko thought shivering. "You are taking me back to your village right? At least give me something to cover up with, I don't know what I'll do if a man sees me naked."

"You'll get some clothes when we get to our village and don't worry about the men. They should all be in bed now." The leader sternly assured then signaled her followers to put a cape over Taiko. She was then put on a horse with Ryu who was starting to wake up. Ever so slightly Taiko signaled him not to talk as they traveled to the women's village.

"Welcome the Amazon settlement 72." Sasha said as they entered a short wooden fence and everyone removed their masks. Inside the fences were large tents spread here and there. It's not much to look at but it's our home."

Coming to what seemed to be the back of the village the horse came to a stop and an Amazon helped Taiko off the horse. Looking back Taiko could see the leader talking to another woman. You can sleep in this tent as long as you are in our village. A woman said as she came from inside. Looking in Taiko could see that the woman had lit a small fire and laid out a sleeping mat and blanket for her.

"Poor Ryu. He'll have to sleep on the floor like an animal while we're here. Hopefully we'll be able to make a break for it soon. Something about these people just isn't right." Taiko thought.

"Is something wrong?" The woman asked.

"No, nothing. I'm just thankful that you went through the trouble." Taiko said.

"Sleep well." The Amazon said who had prepared the tent for Taiko as everyone went to their own tents.

Taiko nodded and entered the tent.

Once inside Ryu opened his mouth to speak but Taiko silently hushed him again.

"Excuse me." A timid voice said from just outside the tent. When the flap opened Taiko could see it was the woman the leader was speaking to a few moments ago. She had returned with a small bundle and at the moment was suspiciously eyeing Ryu.

"Don't worry he doesn't bite unless I tell him to. Ryu is a very obedient pet." Taiko said patting Ryu on the head.

"This is for you." The woman said handing the bundle to Taiko before running off.

"Great, clothes, now I can finally get dressed," Taiko said which was Ryu's signal to turn his back. Once he was facing the opposite direction Taiko removed the cape she had tightly wrapped around her body and got dressed. "Okay, I'm dressed now so why do I still feel naked?" Taiko thought pulling at the dark brown shorts that hugged her hips. The asymmetric tank was also too tight for comfort. Both items of clothing were made out of a thick cloth that felt like suede and left her mid section completely exposed. "Ooooh, this is embarrassing. None of them dress like this. Why are they making where this?" Taiko mentally complained then tapped Ryu on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry about this but they seem kind of violent." If I didn't make them think you were some kind of strange beast they would have tried to break your arm." Taiko said kneeling down and whispering so low only Ryu could hear her voice.

Ryu nodded. "They didn't trust men. I wonder if they're all locked up someplace." Ryu wondered as he laid down on the straw mat covered floor.

Taiko gasped. "Ryu!" She hissed shaking him awake. "What are you doing? We have to get away from here." She whispered.

"That's right we should go, but I'm so sleepy." Ryu thought his squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head.

"Ryu? Taiko said leaning forward.

Ryu opened his eyes giving her a frightening stare.

Taiko bolted back giving a small gasp. "What's that look about?" Taiko thought as her first encounter with the dragon came to mind. "Uh-oh."

Ryu stood up pulling Taiko to her feet. In the blink of an eye the tent they were in went up in flames and was nothing more than ash. It didn't take long for the Amazons to react. Taiko clung to Ryu as poisonous arrows flew toward them.

"This is it I'm going to die." Taiko thought as she closing her eyes. When she didn't feel anything cutting her flesh Taiko opened her eyes to see that everything in the immediate area was turned to ash. "Oh no, Ryu."

All of the soldiers that had come out to attack them had been decimated. The remaining people were most men who had no fighting ability whatsoever and were too shocked by the sight before them to do anything except stare in fearful awe.

Ryu blinked suddenly becoming aware of what had happened and sighed. "We should go." Ryu said stepping forward.

Taiko grabbed his hand. Ryu turned to face in surprised by the action. For that moment he decided not to say anything. Taiko couldn't help, but stare at the black smears on the ground. The site sent shivers up her spine but she couldn't take her eyes off of them.

It was nearly sunrise before they stopped to rest. As they traveled through the night the open field became speckled with trees and the sound of water could be heard in the distance.

"A river maybe?" Taiko thought as she heard the rushing water. "After what just happened why would he go anywhere near where people might be?"

Ryu sat with his eyes closed on a fallen tree. "It can't help, but be this way." Ryu thought as he recalled the sight at the village. It was like waking up to a nightmare.

"Ryu are you awake?" Taiko asked as she came to stand in front of him.

Ryu opened his eyes and looked away. "Leave me alone."

"What!" Taiko uttered in disbelief.

"You saw what happened. It's best we part ways now." Ryu said not bothering to look at her.

"Yes, but-"

"Are you…" Ryu started unsure of his words at first then continued. "Are you trying to get murdered?"

Ryu's words hit Taiko like a brick. "You can't be serious. You haven't done anything to me all this time.

"That is irrelevant."

"Ryu." Taiko said sitting next to him and reaching for his hand but he snatched it away before she could even touch him.

"You must be suicidal. That's the only explanation."

"You jerk! How could say something like that!" Taiko said rising to her feet.

"You know I can't control when it happens and you've even seen the end result twice yet, yet you keep hanging around me." Ryu said coldly. "They don't even dare come anywhere near when I'm like this because I'm dangerous. It makes no sense for you to be this close. It makes me nervous."

"Ryu, you saved my life." Taiko said then fell silent. "The pain and loneliness in your voice… I just can't leave you alone." Taiko thought closing her eyes as tears filled them. "Do you mean to tell me that you have had thoughts of hurting me?"

"That doesn't mean anything."

"Ryu!" Taiko said hopping over the log and leaning into his face.

Feeling her breath on his face his eyes fluttered open. "What is she doing!" He thought as he took in the fierce expression on his face. Ryu almost fell over backward when Taiko sudden hugged him. "Let go!" Ryu demanded.

"No!" Taiko said just as forcefully tightening her grip.

"Taiko." Ryu said motioning to push her away, but ended up hazing out instead.

"No, it can't be true. You wouldn't just murder a friend hazed out or not." Taiko thought holding on to him. After a moment she felt his arms around her waist. Looking up to meet his eyes she could see that person she was talking to before was no longer present.

After a few minutes Ryu came out of his haze his heart racing. "Stupid." He said embracing her, the beating of his heart slowing.

"Maybe so." Taiko thought as she rested her head on his shoulder.

Ryu still thought Taiko should take her leave of him, but at the same time he really didn't want that to happen. It felt good to be so close to someone. Often he was called a monster a sentiment he never took offense to since he honestly perceived himself as such as well. Holding Taiko reminded Ryu of his humanity which he was certain he had lost. The tension in his body dissipated as he breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes. He didn't realize he was crying; a single tear fell from his eye crystallizing just before it hit the ground unnoticed.

To Be Continued