Part Fourteen

Map

Touma stroked the feathers of his hawk, which was snoozing on his shoulder. It had been about three days since they had left Kaosu's Keep and he felt as if he were leaving home for the second time. When he had left Hashiba, escaping from the phony debt charges, partaking on this bizarre quest that made more sense than his life sometimes, he was lucky that he had worked things out with his uncle. He hadn't even had time to say good bye to his parents. But he was sure his uncle had explained things to them. Whenever he had left his place of birth before the most recent occasion, it had been to escape his . . . unique uncle and the responsibilities of the crown that had weighed so heavily on him.

But leaving this time was different. He had a purpose that wasn't a selfish one. So leaving home had been more difficult than normal. Now he was leaving what had become a second home. Kaosu's Keep had been the home he had wanted as a child. A place where you learned what you wanted because you wanted to. Where there was no political pressure to make you watch your step every moment. So it had come to feel like home. Touma hoped that when this quest was all over, he'd be able to return to both of his homes. He wanted to visit both places for as long as he lived.

A question came to his mind.

"Ryo?" he asked, looking down to the walking disciple. "Now that we have maho, will we be immortal like you?"

Ryo looked up, eyes wide in surprise. "I'm not immortal," he replied, placing his chin in his hands. "I can be killed in battle. It's almost happened a few times over the centuries." He rubbed his raven hair. "I don't know. I know that, as a Rekka, I can shift my form to that of a child and start living all over again. Other Rekka have done that before. I like the age I'm at now, so I don't really bother with that. I don't 'relive' my life over and over."

"That doesn't exactly answer my question," Touma stated. "Since we have maho now, will we live as long as you have?"

"It's not an easy question to answer," Ryo retorted. "I don't think I can answer that, since I don't know exactly what has made me survive for as long as I have. Rekka get old and die, just like humans. They can recycle life, but it doesn't last as long as I've been alive, since the inside of the body doesn't regress as much as a Rekka might want. It could be my swords, since they are one of the gifts. It could be my maho. I really don't know."

Shuu reigned up beside them. "You mean the gifts can be used to grant immortality?"

"I don't know," Ryo repeated. "Why?"

"When I was growing up in Luga, it was rumored that the Kaosan gift could grant the wielder great power, and the Aragon gift could grant great destruction. Only the Kayuran gift could be used by humans." Shuu frowned. "Does that mean we'll be fighting any old person who could get their hands on these gifts after this is all over?"

Shin shifted on his mount, turning his head to face them. "In the Kaosan texts I've studied, the three gifts of the gods are said to only have two purposes. One worldly and one godly. Only a specific human can do the worldly task required of the gift."

"Which is what's brought us here," Ryo interjected, wiping his brow from the warm summer sun. "All the worldly tasks have been accomplished. All that remains are the godly. And that will happen soon. I just wish I knew more about when."

"What were the worldly tasks?" Seiji asked.

"Well, the first worldly task was that of Arago-baka's gift, the Go Retsu Ken."

"To protect you," Shin stated.

"Yes. The second gift was Kayura-sama's. The Kikoutei mirror restored her after I brought her back from Arago-baka. That task was done by Kenbukyo. One of Kayura-sama's first followers."

"We have a lot of legends about him," Shuu nodded.

"The third gift was the Inochi no Madatama, my master's gift. It was used by Badamon. All the gods felt it, but I haven't been told what happened. With the last of the worldly things done, all that's left is the godly, which means that the endgame is coming soon."

Touma absorbed this information. How close was the endgame? What would happen during it? What would Shuten's purpose in it be, or his own? Touma's thoughts were brought back to the trial, and his head dropped, waking his hawk. The Oni mark. He had never known that such a thing even existed. And he would have the power to use it. Why? He never liked punishing people, since he would invariably see the other side of the story. Shuten had every right to hate the royal family. But couldn't the Kitsune see that Touma didn't want to deal with those negative aspects? Or even the positive ones. Touma just couldn't say that he was better than everyone else in his country simply because he was royalty.

So would he choose himself over his people? Would he be like Arago and be selfish, like he'd been for a good portion of his life, or would he choose Kaosu's way and put his people before himself?

Seiji's ears twitched. They were about two weeks ride from Peace and he was feeling very odd. Normally, an elf would not spend much time brooding about things. An elf felt what he needed, then observed and thought about the information and then take action. Upon meeting someone to deal with, an elf would both form a base opinion there and then later learn what they could about the person in question. At a recurring meeting with that person, an elf would call up the information that they knew and treat the person accordingly. This manner of dealing with people prevented elves from being bogged down by analyzing confrontations after the fact.

Yet Seiji was not following those guidelines. In fact, he was following them less and less. Since starting this journey with his companions--his friends--he has thought a lot about various conversations and incidents he had with them. He also thought of how he might have improved things in Daasa Laska. Ryo's advice the days before entering his home reviewed themselves over and over in his head and how things might have turned out differently if he had done things differently. It was very unlike him.

He was also, when dealing with his friends, not acting based on his knowledge of them. Instead he was acting more based on his feelings. None of his schooling had prepared him for something like this. He didn't know if he should be worried about how he was starting to think and act, or if he was becoming more like himself by acting in this manner.

Seiji looked up to the hot summer sun, asking its gentle rays for guidance. It was a habit he had started to form once he became connected to his maho. The sun was no longer so bright that he could not look. When he was growing up he had often tried to stare at the sun when he was troubled, but now he could actually do it.

The light merely continued to shine. Seiji looked down to his horse. This train of thought was getting him nowhere. He should pursue something else in his thinking. However, his mind betrayed him. So he should instead try talking with his friends. It would probably be the best way to distract him.

"Ryo," he started, "You went to the University of Hashiba, correct?"

"Yes," Ryo replied. "You've all been full of questions lately . . ."

"What did you study while you were there?"

Ryo fell face first into the dirt road. Touma wasn't that far behind, though his horse didn't let him reach the ground.

"Come to think of it," Touma muttered from his saddle, "my uncle searched the enrollment files of the university. Your name never came up. And how did you even get into our university?"

Ryo peeled his face out of the road. "Will you guys ever run out of questions??" Ryo stood up again and started to walk along the horses again. "Well, I was at the university about two centuries ago. In fact, I studied there for almost a full century."

"I would think that your various sensei would notice someone there longer than they have been . . ."

Seiji watched Ryo smile, then chuckle. As Ryo laughed, his form shifted to that of an older man, bearded and in the clothes of a professor. His voice lowered and deepened to that of a burly mercenary, though his appearance was more like a retired professor. "You all seem to forget that I'm a Rekka," Ryo's new deep voice resonated. "I was one of several retired professors who chose to study different subjects. It took almost a century to learn everything I needed in order to enter the university and graduate like a normal student would do."

Seiji's ears twitched as he watched the old professor shuffling by his side sift back into the form of Ryo. It was still unnerving to see him shift his shape, though he had done so more frequently. A thought occurred to him.

"Ryo, you know who our adversaries are, correct?"

"Yes."

"Can you take their form?"

Ryo stopped in his tracks.

"What did you ask of me?"

"We know what Shuten looks like, but what of the other three? One was in some sort of disguise and we have not encountered the other two yet."

"He has a point," Shuu added. "If we knew who our opponents were, we might have an easier time spotting them in the crowd and taking appropriate measures."

"True," Touma agreed. "Knowing what our enemies look like might be the edge we need. They already know what we look like, obviously, so it would put us on even ground."

"That's right," Shin replied. "If we have to fight Arago, we'll have to fight his scum."

The four reigned in their horses, awaiting Ryo's reply. Seiji noted, however, that Ryo's head was down, his shoulders shaking. This was very different from what they normally saw of their cheerful friend. His chi was very different from how it normally was. Seiji normally identified Ryo's chi by its gentle warm glow, but right now, it was an inferno sparking around the fiery disciple.

"Well?" Shuu asked. "What do our opponents look like?"

"I refuse," Ryo replied quietly.

"What?" Touma asked, leaning down to hear.

"I REFUSE!" Ryo looked up, his blue eyes aflame with anger. "Haven't you listened to anything I've been telling you at all since this all started?"

Not accustomed to such anger from the always-smiling disciple, everyone sat back, their horses retreating a few steps from the angry figure.

"What do you mean?" asked Shin, his voice soft. "I don't understand."

"Obviously," Ryo retorted. "I will not under any circumstances show you what the other four look like as long as you continue to act this way. I thought all four of you understood, but clearly you don't."

"Where's all this coming from?" Shuu demanded. "What are you so mad about? We're risking our skins! Yes, we want to, but we have a right to know what we're up against. You keep saying you've been watching over them for years; same way you've been watching us! What are their weak points, their strong points? How do we best attack them?"

"That's the wrong assumption!!" Ryo shouted, his voice spooking the horses. Seiji and Shin were thrown from their mounts, while Touma and Shuu struggled to control their own. The pack horses skittered away, dragging Shin's mount with them since he had been leading them that day. "Haven't you heard anything that my master and I have been saying? Those four are not the enemy!" Once more the horses spooked.

"Excuse me," Touma yelled, trying to calm his stallion, "but Shuten did a fairly good job of acting like an enemy when he put us all on trial!!"

"And so'd the partner who was in disguise," Shuu added. "What the curses are you talking about?"

"Don't you get it?" Ryo shouted, barely reigning in his fury. "I thought you understood that the reason they are under Arago-baka is because their lives have been hard! So difficult that it was easy for Badamon to snatch them up and take them to that fraud of a god! Arago-baka is the enemy, not the four who follow him!"

Seiji's blood boiled. "A dark spawn is always the enemy," he retorted. "Of course a Yami would follow Arago; they are ripe for the darkness."

Shin sat up from the ground. "Sthissians are said to be violent. Violence would lead to Arago's line of thinking."

With speed that Seiji had not seen before, Ryo swiftly punched Shin and himself, then tackled Shuu and Touma, throwing them from their horses and landing a fist on their faces as well.

Seiji held his cheek, too stunned to even heal it. All of them stared in shock at Ryo.

"Don't be so judgmental," he stated coldly. "Back when I was a kid, there was a very good proverb. 'Don't judge a person until you've walked a mile in their boots.' None of you know what sort of lives the other four have had. You think you've had it rough? Ha!" Ryo glared at them all. "Touma, you think it's rough just having the crown? You have your family. Shuten watched as his entire family was wiped out by the order of your grandfather. He barely survived. Seiji, if you think it's bad that you've been dishonored, you're wrong. That 'dark spawn' was a border elf. When his family tried to take him away from the fighting, they were labeled as dishonored and cast out into a long and cold winter. Shuu, you want justice for what happened in Hashiba? The illusionist watched his tribe get decimated simply because they were different. He's never had an ounce of justice in his entire life. Shin, you've never seen how Sthissians are treated. This one was conceived because a priest raped his mother, so he's half and half. He grew up hated by both humans and Sthissians alike."

Ryo let out a long breath, his eyes still bright with anger. "You all should realize that just because they follow Arago-baka, doesn't mean that they are the enemy." He walked over to the skittish pack horses, calmed them quickly, and started down the road again.

The four left behind stared at each other as Ryo's words sunk in. Each sat for a long time as Ryo continued down the road until he was out of sight. Finally, under a silent agreement, the four got up, remounted, and trotted after the disciple that had just thrown their unknown ignorance into their faces.

Shin went through the mechanics of cooking that night, deep in his own thoughts as they all had been throughout the day. Nobody had spoken since the argument from that morning. Dinner was covered by a heavy silence that weighed on everyone's shoulders. Once the food was eaten, Seiji pulled away from the fire and started to meditate. Ryo went to the still-skittish horses. Shuu and Touma went out hunting. Shin was left by himself by the fire. The cooking utensils needed to be cleaned, but he decided to leave that for the morning. Instead, he sat back and looked into the flames, hoping that they might offer some insight to Ryo's outburst.

He had had a point. The four of them didn't know what their opposing four had been through. Ryo had given bits and pieces, but he'd never given entire histories on each of their opponents. Not that "opponents" was really the word that Shin should be using, but he didn't know what else to call them. They would fight them. Yet Ryo had been rather adamant that they were not the enemy. Shin didn't know how to categorize them otherwise. The four under Arago were against them. By definition, didn't that make them the enemy?

Shin stoked the fire and pulled out his teapot and tea leaves. He had gotten fresh water from a nearby stream, so tea seemed like the best thing to do. He needed it.

Running through the various texts he'd read about Sthissians, Shin could not see how a Kaosan priest could be the one who violated a woman. Any monk-sir that he had known had always been an honest and caring person, man or woman. However, to think a follower of Kaosu would deliberately hurt someone, Sthissian or not, was a little hard to swallow. The texts stated that Sthiss was set up as a theocracy because the snake people who inhabited the jungles were drug-loving, immoral, cheats who had no compunction over killing a man for a few coins. Since Kaosan sirs were benevolent, the person who first contacted the Sthissians became the High Kamek. Shortly thereafter, Sthiss ended up in political upheaval and had been in that situation ever since. The Sthissians refused the Kaosan way and revolted.

However, that was all according to the ancient texts of monk-sirs. After everything Shin had been seeing, he was forced to admit that his texts were hardly ever accurate, or even close to the truth. So he wondered about Sthiss. He had never been there before. Monks in Sthiss were said to use their training in fighting the most there. From Shin's experience, it was always the delinquents in his priest-sir apprenticeship that were sent to the jungle country.

Shin sighed and sipped his tea. Ryo walked by, still radiating tension and slid into his bedroll. Not liking the overwhelming silence, Shin poured another cup of tea. Getting up, he brought it over to the red-clad disciple.

"Some tea will help calm you down," he offered. "It will also help you sleep."

Ryo sat up. He accepted the tea and drank it quietly, the anger seeming to drain out of him.

"That was very good tea," he stated. "I'm very tired. Thank you, Shin." He gave the Peace-born monk the empty cup and slid back down into his bedroll. Shin took the cup and put it with the rest of the dishes he would have to wash the following morning. He, too, was drained and wished to sleep. However, even when in his bedroll, rest eluded him. Thoughts of Sthissians and the priesthood that ruled over them dominated his thoughts too much. He listened as Shuu and Touma returned, empty-handed, and went to bed. Not long afterward, Seiji retired as well. However, Shin doubted that any of them really got any sleep that night.

Shuu didn't bother asking Touma why they were even bothering to go out hunting in the middle of farmland. He understood that they needed to get away from the nigh-on explosive tension that had settled around the five of them. So they went off walking, Touma with his bow handy and Shuu with his staff and hunting knife.

Shuu pondered what Ryo had said in his outburst earlier. He hadn't wanted to know what their opponents looked like because of wanting justice or revenge over what had happened thus far. It was the simple fact that they were wrong. They made a choice and it was wrong. So they needed to face the consequences. Shuten had already learned the consequences of betraying the O-sama of Hashiba. However, the deceiver who worked with the Kitsune didn't know the consequences of his actions. The illusionist could hide anywhere and never face the results of his dishonest actions unless he chose to.

That, ultimately, was why Shuu saw their opponents as opponents. It wasn't about looking for justice, it was for understanding. The misguided people who worked for Arago had to understand that there were consequences for every action, be it negative or positive. Arago's point of view was about doing everything for one's self. Shuu disagreed with that strongly. The weak couldn't do things for themselves, so they needed to be protected from the selfish people who would hurt the weak to make themselves happy.

"Shuu, be quiet," Touma muttered.

Shuu blinked, looking to the misplaced prince. "Huh?"

"You feel very strongly about being fair," Touma replied. "I understand that, but I can't think with you shouting that in my head."

The mercenary chuckled, twirling his staff in an embarrassed manner. "Sorry," he apologized. "I'm still trying to get the hang of this mind-link thing."

"It's very simple actually," Touma answered quietly. "If you feel strongly about something, you project it. That's how you talk. If you want to listen, you feel strongly about one of the others. It's like reaching out to who you want to listen to."

So I talk to you like this? Shuu tried to emulate the strong feelings he had before.

Yup, but not quite so strong, Touma responded. You're shouting at me. Etiquette first.

"Now you sound like Seiji," Shuu muttered.

"Not really," the Tenkuu descendant replied. "The louder you talk, the harder it is for me to concentrate on my own head. I haven't gotten the hang of blocking yet."

The conversation trailed off into silence.

Shuu and Touma walked farther into the farmland. Shuu didn't really feel like continuing to rehash everything about the argument. He disagreed with Ryo. If he learned otherwise, fine. But for now, he disagreed and there was no point in holding onto any anger he may feel for Ryo being wrong. Holding onto anger only caused more harm than good. All they had to do was agree to disagree. They could get around this one disagreement for now. If it needed to be addressed later on, so be it.

They continued to walk in silence, before Touma finally stopped.

Shuu turned, raising an eyebrow. He said nothing, since he didn't really think it a good idea at the moment. Rather than breaking the silence, he decided to see if he could graze the prince's thoughts to see if the argument was bugging him as much as it was Shuu.

He wasn't prepared for what he got.

Doesn't that Kitsune understand that I don't want the throne because of things like that! If the king has the power to wipe out a family and take away the lives that make the country, then I don't want to be a part of it! Life is too precious to just destroy because someone disagrees with you. Did my family try to kill his? Yes, but I am not the same as my family!

"Whoa! Calm down!" Shuu put a tender hand on Touma's shoulder. The Tenkuu glared at him before turning away.

"Hey," the mercenary softly called. "Do you really hate your family that much?"

Touma sat down on the path, finding the dirt very interesting to look at.

"Touma?"

"I don't hate my family."

"Coulda fooled me."

Touma shot a look to the mercenary, but Shuu just shrugged it off. Instead, he set down his staff and sat beside the prince who was so far from home. "So," he continued. "Why do you run away from your family if you don't hate them?"

The blue-haired young man let out a long sigh. "My family . . . is hard to describe."

"Your uncle wasn't all that bad."

"Do you have any idea what he was talking about all the time?"

"Yeah. He didn't try anything though."

"Doesn't that bother you? That he feels that way?"

Shuu chuckled. "Na. Back in Luga, during long winters, girls would get fed up of giving it to guys all the time. So usually, right before spring, some guys were so desperate to get some, they'd go to other guys. I've been asked lots of times before since I'm so well known. They never get anywhere, so there's no harm."

"But my uncle feels that way all year round. That's why he's never married." The prince chuckled as well. "Much to the consternation of his advisors. It's his choice, and I'm okay with that. But other people often don't understand. But he continues to make jokes about it in public. Especially if I'm around. I've always asked him to stop, but he never seems to listen. I honestly don't see how any woman would be able to put up with him."

"I'd imagine."

"It's not just my uncle," Touma continued. "My mother is quite the socialite. After all, she's the sister of the king. But she always had to leave because of that. She was always traveling to different parts of Hashiba and then reporting back to her brother any ills the people might feel."

"And your dad?"

"My father is a professor at the university. He was never around all that much."

"So you were usually left with your . . . unique . . . uncle," Shuu summed up.

Touma looked up to the stars. "It wasn't as bad as I tend to make it out. I didn't know just how different he was until I was old enough to understand a few facts. He was sort of like the father I couldn't have." He looked back down to the ground again. "Growing up, I knew that I didn't want to be king, even though I'm the first in line. My uncle humored me for a while. But once I was old enough to understand a few things, he started to push me to the throne. I don't like to be pushed, but I would never hurt my family. So I ran. I didn't see any other option."

"Do you think that was best?"

There was a long pause. "Not any more. Since I've been traveling with you guys, I've grown up a bit. By running, all I did was make my family worry."

Shuu stood up, brushing the dirt off his pants.

"Shall we head back to camp?"

"Sure."

Shuten kept a running stream of observations to his other teammates. He wondered absently when he started considering them teammates, but didn't have the time to deal with such a question. Things had certainly been interesting since that morning. The mighty unknown, the slayer of armies, Sanada Ryo could get mad enough to fight his allies. Good show. He wondered what in the gods' names they had done to get him that mad. All he knew was that there was a sudden spike of fiery energy, followed by a steady crackle and some interesting color changes to the other four.

Now the group dynamics reverberated as the other four tried to amend, ignore, or fix the situation that had befallen them. Ryo refused to even talk to the others, too mad to say anything civil. Seiji, the light long ear, isolated himself. It was an elfin thing, apparently. Anubisu was almost perpetually isolated, the anger was so much. Seiji was merely more subtle in his isolation. He did not go off on his own or glare at anyone who tried to talk to him. He was instead merely distant, his mind far away on whatever he was thinking. Shuu did not seem to care. He was certainly upset at what happened, his leaving the camp was proof of that, but he seemed to just accept things as out of his reach and moved onto whatever was next. Shin by contrast tried to minimize the damage. He talked to all four, trying to bring about an apology from somebody or at least enough of an understanding to put the argument aside. Touma didn't even acknowledge the argument. He just used it as an excuse to whine about his own petty problems. Well, that wasn't entirely true. He was complaining to avoid the issue of the argument.

Everyone's energy patterns were disturbed, to say the least.

Shuten debated on what to do as he set up his own camp.

There was always the option of just absorbing all their energy. They were so distracted by whatever the heck they had fought about that it would be easy. He had thought about the option very seriously when at Kaosu's Keep; but he wanted to keep his life while he still had it, thank you.

He also had to be very careful if he were to do that. The unknown, Ryo, obviously could sense such actions. No doubt now that they all had maho, they could all sense it as well. Shuten didn't want to risk being spotted, even if only in suspicions.

Another option was to rearrange the energy to try and make it work to his advantage. It was a much more subtle art, more difficult to detect. It also took a lot more concentration power.

Shuten puzzled over that as he pulled out some rice to boil. He was running low on food. He would have to stop off at the next farm he came across.

With all the various dynamics and levels of different types of energy that the five were exerting, he could do a number of things. The question was what. The first and obvious choice was to make sure that Ryo stayed angry. Shuten found himself hesitant to do anything with the shape shifter, though. The unknown was just that, unknown.

None of the others were really angry, and one could not produce an energy that was not there. They were all rather turned inward, actually. That left little for Shuten to turn to his advantage. In fact, as Shuten sent out his perceptions more methodically, none of them felt anything more negative than annoyance. Even Ryo, crackling with anger as he was, understood that whatever they had done was out of. . . ignorance from what Shuten could tell.

Curse it. There was nothing to use! So many games but no money to play with.

Hmphing, Shuten checked his rice. It had boiled nicely while he had spent his time observing the Troopers. Eating it gratefully, he called up a firmer link with Rajura, wondering if he had any ideas.

You mean you can't even come up with an idea on your own? he asked.

Forgive his lowly and unintelligent Hashiba University Honors Graduate that cannot see an answer through his narrow and dimwitted perspective. I need another set of eyes for this.

Don't you mean "eye"? Rajura commented bitterly.

Oh, get off yourself. It's been years, now. Hasn't it? You already killed the mercenary who took your eye, get over it and move on.

Easy for you to say.

Shuten scoffed. I did it, didn't I? I've moved on enough to do something about it. Now, do you have any ideas?

There was a long pause and Rajura mulled over the possibilities. You're obviously too scared to do anything overt.

You would be too.

Whatever. Can you at least keep the tension up? Make little things happen to keep everybody frustrated? If they're distracted by your precious "dynamics" to worry about what kind of ship to buy, it makes my job easier.

Shuten rolled his eyes. Anything to make you look better.

Hey, you offered, Rajura reminded him.

You even make this my fault, Shuten quipped. Finally, he added, I make no guarantees. I'll see what can and can't be done without being spotted.

There came what sounded like a laugh from Rajura. What whole hearted promises. So reassuring and gratifying.

Shuten said nothing and cut the link.

"Ko Rai Sei," he murmured.

This would take a while.

Shin had not slept well the previous night, since there was still a heavy amount of tension going around. He was irritated with it all. He still had to clean the dishes. That was his own fault for leaving that for now. Thankfully it was still early. He had time before everyone else woke up.

Not really wishing to go to the stream and draw water, he muttered, "Chou Ryu Ha." With the water he called forth, he focused on cleaning the dishes and filling the teapot for some more tea. Chances were they'd need it for their journey today. Shin didn't think that anyone got much sleep last night.

"What are you doing?"

Shin was so focused on the water and the cleaning and cooking, that he was surprised by the voice. Acting out of reflex from training and his lack of sleep, he lashed out, sending small lines of water outward toward the source that had startled him.

"Shin!"