Part Twenty Nine

Map


Rajura rolled his head and shoulders as he rode. Sweat was trickling down every feasible body part; even the nights were boiling. The moon was low in the sky, a few vestiges of the day still lingering as they traveled. He rolled his head again, feeling several cracks down his neck. His hair was matted with sweat, and to compensate he pulled it back into a thick braid. It swished slightly in a stiff breeze.

They were going north to the Yami Forest, and were sticking close to the Lugan Mountains and its small amount of protection from the desert heat. Things were calm; there was no requisite need for speed as in past months. They moved at night and avoided the toughest nomad paths by traveling up into the mountains.

Things were quiet.

Rajura had not known the last time things were quiet. When he had met his associates, everything was training, training, training. Then there came the lectures by Arago about his plan to win the game and defeat the cursed Kaosu. After that was the trip east and their various assignments. Then the chase of the Troopers. Everything came one after another after another. It was the first time Rajura could think of where they were the one's setting the Trooper's pace.

"Rajura," Shuten said in a low voice. His hair was also pulled back, into a high ponytail.

"Yes?"

"I'd like to talk to you," he said quietly. Rajura looked ahead, noticing that Naaza and Anubisu were well ahead. Anubisu had every conceivable layer off to withstand the heat. Naaza looked right at home.

"About what?"

"Naaza," Shuten said, still keeping his voice soft.

"What about him?"

Shuten paused, his mouth opening several times and then closing again, not finding the words. Rajura wiped his damp forehead, pushing away his wayward bangs and trying to ignore the heat.

"The Troopers are a well oiled team," Shuten started. "Our singular encounters with them ended in failure, and our group encounter in Sthiss was less than successful." Rajura nodded, letting Shuten continue. "One man versus five cannot work. Four individuals against five cannot work. We must be a well oiled team in order to stand a chance against them."

"You have mentioned this before," Rajura stated.

"I know, and this statement has run over and over in my mind since the meeting with Nasutei. We may be ahead of them in terms of distance; but we are still behind on so many things. The Troopers know much more about what our roles, our destinies, are than we do. They have a firmer grasp of some massive picture that is not revealed to us. Arago-sama does not wish to reveal everything to us. That is his right. But Badamon has hidden things from us; I feel that he has even lied to us. I remember. . ." Shuten trailed off, his face suddenly far away. "I remember a man with a bluish hue to his skin when I was a child. It was he that pointed the officials to my father."

Rajura stiffened, remembering a similar man encouraging the hanging when his family was lynched. He pushed it away.

"I believe Badamon was the one who killed my family."

"You have been doing a lot of thinking," Rajura replied. He was not sure what else to say.

"I have. We cannot trust Badamon, at least I cannot trust him; and with our limited knowledge of our roles, our options are limited."

"Meaning?"

"We have to work as a team."

They traveled for a moment in silence, both absorbed in their thoughts. Rajura was following Shuten's logic, and the logic jarred him on an unknown level. He felt uncomfortable working with others, had considered himself a loner. Yet, looking back over the past year, he had become what he could only consider close friends with Shuten. The proof was with this very conversation. It was a disconcerting thought. He had not expected it, had not wanted it, yet he found himself glad that he had it.

"We have become. . . close," Shuten said slowly, reaffirming Rajura's thoughts. "I am thankful for it. I have some stepping ground with Anubisu, and I am trying to expand it. It is not easy."

"With Anubisu I do not doubt it."

Shuten grinned and grabbed his canteen, taking a long swig. "Naaza, however."

"Ah," Rajura said. "Your abuse of the Doko has hindered any chance you have at trying to become his teammate."

"I have not abused him," Shuten spat. "I used the wrong method to sober him from the heat. Everything else is him taking everything personally."

"That is your first error," Rajura said. He found perverse pleasure in pointing out the Kitsune was wrong.

"What?"

"You have done nothing but torture the Doko since the two of you have met. You constantly belittle his ideas and points and suggestions. You are always hitting him to try and get him to behave according to the Hashiban nobility etiquette, when he is obviously not from such a class. You squash anything he has to say."

Shuten blinked. "I have not done all that," he defended.

"You have, and much more." Rajura rolled his shoulders again. They had been doing nothing but riding for the last several days, and his limbs were getting stiff. "For all your expertise in social and group dynamics, of how one person's actions affect another's, you have the ultimate flaw of failing to apply it to yourself. You have only shown yourself as nothing but a superior Hashiban noble to us. Everything you did was proper, elegant, and intelligent. You constantly looked down your nose at us, sneering at our failures and sniffing at our victories. You did not let yourself open up to us until this year. Now you expect this sudden change in character to have a marvelous affect on the rest of us, making us understand the high handed knowledge you bestow on us and follow you blindly to your way of thinking. In many ways, you have not changed at all."

Shuten took the words in slowly. Rajura saw the Kitsune turn every phrase over in his mind, comparing and contrasting his memories of how something happened to how they would have looked to another. Rajura nodded and continued riding, giving Shuten his time. For once, he had the time to give.

"I had thought that I had matured," Shuten said slowly.

"You have," Rajura said slowly, picking his words carefully. "You obviously have made some conclusions and speculations that are, gods curse it, well beyond the three of us."

"You are admitting inadequacy?"

"No, I'm admitting you have a small point that should be considered," Rajura replied irritably. "You fail to realize, however, that no one is ever on exactly the same level. Not two people act exactly alike. Past experience, family, culture, and expectations all have an affect on how we act, how we react, and how we think. You are a Hashiban noble, you think like a Hashiban noble. I am a Gen, I think like an aristocrat because I was born a natural genius." Shuten did not comment. "Anubisu is an elf, he thinks like an elf. Naaza is a Doko, and he thinks like a Doko. Those are all very, very, different from one another. There are some similar threads. For example, you and I are both intellects, and we can familiarize ourselves with each other through debate. I note that we like philosophical and psychological debates, such as this. Anubisu has a very strong moral core, which is somewhat akin to your loyalty to the crown. It gives you stepping ground, as you called it."

"And you and Naaza?" Shuten asked.

"We both understand, explicitly, what it is like to not be wanted. To be cast out and hated simply because of your heritage."

There was another long silence as the two of them road. Rajura had given Shuten a lot to think of, not all of it pleasant. On one hand, Rajura felt oddly pleased that he knew something that Shuten had not. The intellectual games they played, while always entertaining and interesting, almost always were won by the Hashiba University Graduate. To have any victory was something to be savored. On the other hand, Rajura was worried that giving the Kitsune such negative information about himself would damage their friendship. It was not something Rajura enjoyed thinking about. He was thankful for the closeness with Shuten, somehow grateful that someone was there for him whenever he needed it. And now, to make things more confusing, Shuten was coming to him, and he was being there for someone. He was needed to make Shuten understand how to go about fixing the damage he had done. A small, irritating voice in Rajura's head rejoiced at having what he had always wanted. He somehow sensed that it was real. A real need. The white haired Gen was afraid to bring himself to it completely. But somewhere along the line, he found he already had.

Shuten was not the only one to have a lot to think about.

Naaza and Anubisu slowed their horses, waiting for Rajura and Shuten to catch up.

"Do either of you have an extra canteen?" Anubisu asked.

"You emptied your stock again?" Rajura questioned, his eyebrows rising in surprise.

Shuten pulled one out and tossed it to the dark elf. "We won't be going into the mountains for another two days. Try to ration it."

Anubisu stopped in the middle of a long swig, gingerly replacing the stopper and ringing the canteen around his saddle. Naaza meanwhile was looking up to the stars. The moon was well into the sky now; they had been riding for several hours. He suddenly looked to the west, off into the rolling dunes of the desert. "We'll head into the mountains tomorrow," he said, his beady eyes narrow.

Shuten opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. He was already using what he had learned. "Why?" he asked simply.

Naaza glared at him, hissing something under his breath. "Because nomads are coming."

"How do you know this?" Rajura asked, looking to the west even as he asked.

"Maho," he said simply.

Rajura cast a sideways glance, looking at Shuten through his peripheral vision. Shuten again wanted to say something scathing, but bit back the words. Instead, he nodded his head. "Alright. Let's get going then."

"What?" Naaza asked. "No University advice? No intellectual criticism? No breach in etiquette?"

Again, Shuten bit back a reply. He glared at Naaza for a long moment, and Rajura wondered what he would do. Finally, the energy drained out of Shuten and he replied, "No."

"No?" Naaza asked lightly. "Are you sure there isn't something you want to say?"

"NO," he repeated forcefully. "Let's get going."

Shuten dug his heels into his horse, and trotted east into the mountains. Rajura sighed audibly and followed, knowing the other two would do the same.


Shin felt horrible. Nasutei was right when she said the lack of water would have an affect on him. He had always been close to water for as long as he could remember. Even in the Outlet, there had been streams and rainstorms. Here, though, the sun beat down on them and even with their white cloaks to guard them from serious damage, Shin felt as though the sun were sucking every drop of moisture he had. He glanced over at Seiji and saw that his friend was fairing little better. After only the first day of travel, the skin of his face, hands, and feet were an unhealthy shade of red. The next day began the peeling and itching. Shin could feel, even through the thought link they had, that Seiji was suffering just as much as Shin was.

Not wanting to dwell on his misfortune, Shin looked over to Touma and Shuu. The pair rode together as they shared maps back and forth, Touma determining their location and Shuu marking where his maho felt the nomads were sleeping the day away. Ahead of them were Ryo and Nasutei, the two of them talking and giggling as though they were in a schoolyard. Shin felt a pang of self pity as a trickle of sweat rolled down the side of his face. It was so dry out here!

Ryo stopped, waiting for Shin and his horse to pace with him. "Is it really that bad?" he asked.

"You're not dying out here?" Shin exclaimed.

"No, my maho is fire, remember? That includes heat. This is a warm summer day in my book."

Shin muttered something darkly.

"I'm sorry," Ryo apologized. "It's hard for me to relate to things like this. I haven't felt really hot since before I received my maho, and my maho protects me from feeling really cold. Is there anything I can do?"

Shin scowled, but then an idea came to him. "If your body doesn't feel the temperature, can you make it so that we can't feel the temperature either?"

Ryo frowned as he thought about it. "So En Zan."

Shin felt as though he were wrapped in a blanket of additional heat. It pressed upon him, sapping the last of his sweat and making him feel as though he were on fire.

"Stop, stop!"

The maho immediately retreated and Shin slumped in his saddle, breathing heavily. The strength drained from him and the next thing the monk-sir knew, he was on the ground. Someone called out for water. A canteen was held to his lips, and he drank the water greedily.

"What happened?" Touma's voice demanded.

"Shin was feeling the heat too keenly," Ryo explained quickly. "He asked if there was anything I could do about it. I wasn't sure, so I experimented and," he left the sentence hanging. "I'm sorry."

"I was the one who asked," Shin managed to croak. He took another long gulp from the canteen. "It's just so dry out here that the heat is affecting me more. I keep trying to find water, but there isn't any for miles."

Nasutei knelt down by Shin, locks of her red hair spilling out over her white cloak. Examining him carefully, Nasutei started to give instructions. "Ryo, I think you did the reverse of what you were supposed to. Try to take away the heat, the same as you've been doing for Seiji's burns. Touma, see if you can call up a breeze from the mountains without turning it into a dust storm. Shin, can you make water yet?"

The monk-sir shook his head absently. "I'm not ready for that yet."

Nasutei knelt back, pondering. She gestured to the canteen. "Can you focus on filling that?"

Shin frowned, looking at the canteen. His brow knitted, and he concentrated. "Cho Ryu Ha." For a moment the air was thick with humidity, and the canteen was suddenly heavy in Shin's hand. He took an experimental sip. "It's the best water I've ever tasted!" he exclaimed. No sooner had he made the proclamation than a cool breeze drifted by them.

Touma let out a sigh. "That was hard. I wonder if it would be easier to pull from the higher atmosphere. The proximity to space makes the air cooler, and it's significantly easier to reach and pull it down than it is to grab from the mountains and bring it over all that terrain. Hmm." Touma absently muttered his magical phrase and lifted into the air, pondering.

Ryo grinned at Touma's trailing off and turned to Shin. "Here, So En Zan." The heat seemed to pull away from Shin.

"Wow, that feels really good." Shin got up, feeling better than he had in days, and adjusted his cloak before mounting his mare again. "Thank you, guys, thank you." He cast his thank you mentally to Touma, who was too high up to hear. His reply was only some strange equations. "Thank you," he said again.

"Thank Nasutei," Ryo said, relieved to see Shin was okay.

"I hardly did that much," Nasutei said as she mounted her horse. It was a brown and white Appalachian mare. The spotted horse shook its head and began walking again, Ryo by its bridle.

"You're very down to earth," Shuu commented to Nasutei, taking the reins of Touma's empty stallion and pulling it along with them. Seiji took the pack horses.

"My grandfather was very down to earth," the redhead explained conversationally. Ryo looked away, still feeling guilty. "He told me that when things happen, the best thing to do is to just do it. Vacillating and indecision just prolong the event, so go with your instinct and don't look back. It's served me very well."

"Oh?" Shuu asked. Another, cooler breeze filtered from somewhere. Touma was experimenting again.

"Well, for one, I realize that my intelligence puts me in a class of my own. Even the people in the village don't quite match me. I know that I'm meant to have a large role in the endgame. So I decided to go against the grain, as it were, and didn't even bother looking for a man."

"You are not one who needs one," Seiji said slowly. His hand rose to scratch his burned face, but he exerted willpower and forced it back to the reins of the pack horses.

Nasutei laughed. "That's one way of looking at it. I wasn't groomed to be kept weak and needy and dependent, like most women are in Yuuki. My status doesn't come from my husband but from myself. It's very empowering."

"I'm glad to hear it," Ryo said. "This world needs more girls, er, women like you. We'd come a lot farther if we did."

"You're flattering me, Ryo," Nasutei playfully admonished. The Rekka blushed and put a hand behind his head sheepishly. He muttered a "sorry," to which Nasutei admonished again. "You've been doing nothing but apologizing since we started traveling. Don't tell me you're falling back into that 'everything is my fault' phase."

Ryo blinked, surprised. "That's a very big part of my character, Tei-chan. It's hard for me to part with it."

"You get annoying when you do that," Nasutei said lightly. "The world does not fall on your shoulders alone." Nasutei grinned. "Only mostly."

Ryo hung his head, giving up.

"What is life in Yuuki like?" Shin asked. He tried to pull his matted hair away from his face with little success.

"Well, hot for one," Nasutei said. "This isn't nearly as bad as it is in the summer." Shin and Seiji both made faces. "The marshes aren't all that bad. It gets humid from time to time, and it's not uncommon to get flooded. The nomads move in during the summer, to get away from the worst of the heat. Leaders here in Yuuki are determined by how loud you are, or how bad you beat up your competitor."

"Typical Arago-baka," Ryo spat.

Nasutei ahemed and continued. "Obviously, a nomadic life in this desert doesn't produce much, so it's not uncommon for the different bands to raid each other for whatever they have. That's why we're traveling by day, because the raids usually happen during the day while the nomads are asleep. Traveling can be tricky, so if you're not a nomad, you tend to stay put."

"It sounds very dangerous," Shin said. Another cool breeze drifted down, followed by Touma. He landed almost gracefully onto his saddle and took the reins.

"Not really," Nasutei said. "It's really very quiet for the most part, and after growing up here, you learn when and how to travel, making life very easy."

"I see," Shin said, not sure whether to believe her or not.

"What about you?" she asked. "What is life in the west like?"

"Eh," Touma replied. "It depends on where you're talking about."

"Yeah," Shuu said. "The land there isn't all desert; you have forests up north and plains to the south. The people are a lot nicer -- well except for Yang Shi, but they're nomadic, too. I guess it's a custom or something. Anyway, people have a lot more there, so stealing isn't as necessary or as blatant. The thing to have in the west is usually power. If you don't have friends in high places, or if you aren't in a high place yourself, you can't do all that much."

"There are a lot of temples," Shin continued. "Most people have Kaosu-sama in their homes and follow his teachings. The people are much nicer and more giving."

"That again depends on where you are," Seiji interjected. "The Korin Forest is not as giving as we should be, and Sthiss is far from nice."

"It's all one big mix," Ryo summed up, still walking by Nasutei's horse. "There's a little bit of everything to keep your interest."

"I see." Nasutei paused, her face far away for a moment. "If everything is so different there, then do any of you remember meeting Ryo?"

"Yes, we all do," Shin answered.

"Badamon too, I suppose."

Shin, Touma, and Shuu face faulted. Seiji would have face faulted, except that would have aggravated his sunburns.

"We met Badamon too?" Touma called up from the sand dune he had landed in.

"But I though we met Ryo and the Masho met Badamon!" Shuu exclaimed.

"I completely forgot about that," Ryo said, sending everyone back into the sand. "I wanted to tell you when we got into my master's Keep; but things kept distracting me. No, all eight of you have met both Badamon and I. Do you remember?"

Shin paused, thinking back. A memory edged around his mind until it suddenly rammed the forefront of his thoughts. "That was him?!" he exclaimed.

"Who?" Nasutei asked.

"During my apprenticeship, before I became a full monk-sir, I was put in charge of looking after and tending to a Sthissian priest. He had concluded his term and was retiring from the blues. He was rude, insulting, and did everything shy of accusing me that I was weak, that monks needed to be fighters and watch their backs. I was appalled at him." Shin huffed as he relived the memory. "He had a bluish skin tone. I thought it was because of the climate in Sthiss."

"Blue skin?" Shuu asked; his eyes far away. "I met a guy with blue skin once. Before I became a mercenary, I'd won a lot of the winter competitions. Luga has to pass time somehow during the long winters, and we have a lot of athletic competitions. I was fast becoming a champ. After winning, oh, I think it was the white medal in fighting; this guy with blue skin came and pulled me aside. He asked if I was such a great fighter, then what my purpose for fighting was. What reason did I have to keep me going? Really put a mind job on me, that guy. After that I left the competition and joined the local mercenary training camp. It was during the training that I figured out how I was going to be a good merc."

"There was a guy that snuck me out of the castle once," Touma said. "He showed me the slums of Tou Hashiba and told me that it was the price the kings pay for being king. Scared me so much that I ran away for the first time. Blue bastard," he spat.

"He drew a blade on my people," Seiji said; suddenly straightening as he remembered. "He posed as a lost human. He had such hatred when he saw us; he drew his sword and fought. He injured my father. My grandfather used it as a lesson; a Korin must approach a human slowly before leading them out of the forest."

"I reiterate," Touma said hotly. "Blue bastard."

Nasutei sighed, "That's just the way he is. He shows you the down side of things that you can hope for the light side. He'll become a demon if it will get you to see what he wants."

"But look at the good that does!" Ryo said below Nasutei. "Look at what he's done in order to get us to 'see'! Touma is petrified of the throne, Seiji's father was hurt, Rajura's and Anubisu's families are dead! He killed people to 'get people to see'!"

"He didn't kill them," Nasutei defended.

"He may not have put the noose around their necks, he may not have used a blade, but he's just as responsible for those who did! They all suffered because of him!"

"Which makes them able to see Arago-san's point of view!" Nasutei shouted over Ryo's voice. Shin wondered how they had the energy to fight in such heat. "You don't like it, Ryo, neither do I. I'm not condoning his actions in the slightest. But I can't make that kind of judgment. He did what he had to in order to prepare them, the same way you did everything you had to. It's all part of the game."

"But this is so much more than some stupid game my master plays," Ryo said hotly. "People's lives are affected by this. People DIED because of this! It could have been prevented! It -- "

Nasutei narrowed her eyes and glared at Ryo. Her words were even and pronounced. "You. Can't. Control. That. Arago-san and Badamon are not Kaosu-san and you. They. Are. Not. You. You can't expect them to act exactly as you do. You don't want them to act exactly as you do, because then this world wouldn't be in existence in the first place. Arago-san would never have challenged Kaosu-san if they were exactly the same. This entire war with the gods wouldn't be happening if they were exactly the same. We would not be here if they were exactly the same. It's ugly, it's brutal, but it's the way they are. We're here to determine whether they'll have an influence on this world, whether YOU'LL have an influence on this world. They," Nasutei jabbed her finger at the other four, "have to see both sides of the equation."

Ryo opened and closed his mouth, trying to reword his point, to get her to see, but Nasutei just glared him down. Finally, the Rekka shifted his form into that of a giant bird, and he flew off, presumably to calm down.

Nasutei watched him fly away and gave a heavy sigh. "I'm trying, Kayura-sama. But he is so stubborn," she murmured. Slowly she turned to the other four. "Come on, we still have a long way to go before we can stop."


Anubisu felt significantly cooler now that he was a few hundred feet above the desert. Naaza shivered next to him, and the dark elf felt guilty that he was feeling so much better.

They had traveled though the night and into the day in order to get to the mountains before the nomads found them, and now they had set up a small camp under a clump of bare trees. It was mid afternoon, and they would rest.

Anubisu stood, stretching his legs and moved away from camp. He needed some alone time, and he had not had much of it since leaving Sthiss. He walked several feet away, out from the shade of the trees, and drew his sword. Within minutes he was deep into his katas, and he felt his internal chi relax and cool. The Yami whispered his maho phrase, and cloaked himself in his darkness, letting himself cool even further, becoming one with the snow higher up on the mountain, with the frigid air of the heights.

How long he remained like that, he did not know, but when he finished, he felt much, much better. Exiting his final kata, he released his magic and sat down on the hard earth, breathing slowly and deeply. The crisp air filled his lungs and he expanded with them, his senses becoming sharper, his mind becoming clearer.

Shuten was approaching him from behind; not a clever move. Anubisu debated about knocking the Kitsune down, but decided against it. He let him approach.

"Anubisu," Shuten said softly. "I do not wish to interrupt, but I want to talk with you."

"Then do not come at me from behind," Anubisu said. He turned around, but remained seated. Shuten hesitantly sat down as well, obviously not comfortable on sitting on the hard earth. It was not long before he was squirming. Anubisu did not move. If Shuten was so desperate as to speak with him, then he would have to endure the discomfort.

"I want to clear the air with Naaza," Shuten dove right into the point. "I have. . . not treated the Doko well. I have not realized it until recently. It is. . . something I must work on."

"To further your own goals," Anubisu accused.

"On some levels, yes," Shuten answered after a short pause. "I do not believe we can defeat the Troopers unless we work as a team, and we cannot be a team if certain members are distrustful of others. But," he added quickly, heading off Anubisu's retort. "on some levels this is a sincere wish. Despite what you may think of me, I do know what it is like to be outcast. It is something I would not wish on anyone, and I have unknowingly done this to Naaza. I want to make up for that."

Anubisu took this in, sizing up Shuten. "To ease your conscience."

"Well, yes, but also to right a wrong."

"Again to ease your conscience," Anubisu repeated. "All things you do are to either ease your conscience or to make yourself better than us. You go on and on about the need to work as a team, because it is a logical deduction based on your University education that must be obvious to everyone around you. To further this goal you want to get along with Naaza. You also want to get along with him to ease your guilty conscience. You may know what it is like to be an outcast, but you do not know what it is like to LIVE it; and that is your fatal mistake."

Shuten looked hurt at the harsh words, not expecting such venom from Anubisu. The Yami elf knew this. He also knew that he had to be harsh in order to the Kitsune to hear his words. It was only when one was talking down to Shuten that he listened. It was something that he had observed between him and Rajura. He pressed on.

"You ran away when you were marked as an Oni. You do not know what it is like to walk down a street and have people openly shun you, to turn away when you look at them, to ignore you when you try to speak to them. To pretend that you do not exist. You do now know what it is like to be beaten because of the shame you carry, to be mistrusted because of it. You ran away from it, just to benefit yourself."

"I paid my own price for that," Shuten said darkly, glaring at Anubisu. "When I was safe, I spent many weeks soaked in liquor."

"Which is again another escape. You never dealt with your problems. Your refusal to deal with them has made the rift between you and Naaza. It is you who has made this problem."

"And I am trying to fix it now!" Shuten all but shouted. Naaza looked over, catching Anubisu's eye. The snake wanted to come over, but the dark elf shook his head ever so slightly. Not now. Not yet.

"Are you sincere in that?" Anubisu asked.

"YES!" the Kitsune cried out in frustration.

Anubisu stared at him for a long time. Shuten, braggart and aristocrat that he was, was not one to lie. Especially lately. If anything, he had tried very hard to become close to Anubisu and Rajura. He kept his distance from Naaza, but it was obvious that he was trying to make things work. Anubisu looked to himself. He also had personal reasons for winning this fight. He supposed that everything he did was to reach that personal goal. He made deliberate moves for his own personal gain, had been doing so since he had left the Yami forest. And yet, certain movements he had made were not out of personal gain. Much of what he did for Naaza, his friend, was not out of personal gain, but the gain of Naaza, or both of them. He supposed Shuten could be doing the same thing. But then he could not.

Anubisu weighed it all in his head, and finally sighed.

"For reasons beyond me, I believe you."

Shuten looked very relieved and leaned back slightly, still constantly shifting his weight on the hard earth.

"You must first work through your own problems that you have run away from. Then try to think about Naaza's problems, and how they are similar to your own. When you realize that, it will be clear how you are to approach him."

Shuten absorbed the information. Many emotions played across the Kitsune's face as he mulled it over and accepted it. Finally, he fixed his gaze to Naaza. "Is that how you were able to approach him? Through seeing how you were similar?"

"No," Anubisu said. "I was simply, there; and so was he."

"It is much like myself and Rajura. We were simply there for each other, berating each other with advice, and somewhere along the way, we have become. . . friends. I have not had a friend like this in years. It scares me."

Anubisu blinked, not expecting to hear such personal information. He found his mouth opened before he even thought. "Opening up to someone after being hurt so greatly is always scary. But then you see how fulfilling it is."

"Yes," Shuten said; a small grin on his face. "It is indeed. I did not think I deserved a close friend, but I have found one, and am making another."

With that, Shuten gave up on sitting and stood. He bowed slightly to Anubisu and walked back to camp, leaving Anubisu confused.

Naaza quickly slithered over. "What was all that about?"

Anubisu blinked. "I think I just gave him advice on how to become friends with you."

Naaza hissed something and rolled his eyes. "Who would be friends with him?"

Anubisu did not answer.


Shuu looked down to Ryo, who was currently in the form of a camel, leading the packhorses. To say that the Lugan was confused on why Ryo was a camel was an understatement. All he knew for sure was that it had something to do with the hushed argument that Nasutei had with the Rekka the previous night. All four of them had heard it. Nasutei had pulled Ryo away for a conversation that started out silently and ended in harsh whispers. Because of the argument, Shuu and the others felt rather awkward for the day. When Ryo was angry previously, he'd been quiet and appeared to be a spark ready to ignite at any second. For Ryo to simply be in a form that could not communicate with them was different, so Shuu wasn't entirely sure that Ryo's new choice of form didn't have something to do with something else.

"Uh, Nasutei?" he asked, uncertain how to breech what might be a very touchy subject.

"Yes, Shuu?" she replied, no hint of anger in her voice.

"Why is Ryo a camel today?"

"He agreed to."

Shuu glanced over at Ryo's hairy form.

"But why?"

"Because he can't communicate," Touma answered, making everyone turn to him.

"Run that by me again," Shuu requested. "That doesn't exactly make sense to me."

"In a different form, Ryo can't speak with us," the prince explained, "and since animals think differently than us, we can't speak in our mental communication either."

Shuu let out an exasperated sigh. "I know that Touma, I want to know why he won't communicate with us."

"Oh," Touma replied, embarrassed.

"Because he does not wish to influence us," Seiji offered, his skin finally healing from his burns. Nasutei's cream certainly seemed to be helping.

"What makes you say that," she asked, an eyebrow raised.

"When we were in Luga," Seiji hesitated briefly. "When we first arrived in Luga, all of us were in a very bad state." He did not elaborate. "I was meditating on particular matters that had happened in Suissis when I was pulled out of my meditation. It was Ryo. He was extremely worried about us. He was concerned that we were following a path that led to Arago-dono's door, but he felt unable to do anything because he could not interfere. He understands that we must ultimately make a choice, and that if we choose Arago-dono, there is nothing he can do about it."

Nasutei raised an eyebrow. "You are four grown men. You can think for yourselves. How could he influence you?" she asked; her face unreadable.

"Because of who he is," Shin replied.

"Oh?"

"Ryo is our close friend. The five of us over the past year have gotten much closer than many of the friends I had from before our first encounter. He can't not influence us. Everything Ryo does has an effect on us, the same way that anything we do has an effect him. Anything I do affects the five of us. We are a unit. While we are still our own individual people, we work together as a team. Not because of some great purpose, even though we have one. We work together because we want to. If we met under different circumstances, I think that we'd still be close friends. This isn't because of a plan or purpose. It's because we want it to be. It's because we believe in one another." Shin paused, looking down, almost embarrassed. "Whatever god we believe in doesn't matter. We have each other. If Arago becomes the god of this world, I think we will still choose to work together. Not because of what Kayura destined us to be, but because we genuinely want to help one another and be friends. Ryo can't help it. He's an integral part of our group."

Shuu glanced sideways to camel form in question and inwardly chuckled. Ryo's head was down and facing away, clearly embarrassed and very shy about such an acute display of affection. "There's also the fact that he loves us too much," he added.

Several eyebrows rose.

"Well isn't it obvious?"

The eyebrows remained raised.

"Look," Shuu continued, "from what you guys have been saying, Ryo's being a camel because he doesn't want to be that big of an influence because of the choice we'll have to make at the end of all this. But the problem is, Ryo hasn't really had anyone other than Kaosu. He's outlived any friend he's ever had and felt the grief for each one. I doubt he's ever been overly close with anyone because of that. But when we came along, he ended up closer to us than he has been with anyone other than Kaosu. He doesn't know how to back away after getting so close. After being friends with us for so long, he loves us as much as we love him. He hasn't had to deal with this in his overly long life. So he's doing the only thing he can think of. He's not communicating. He loves us so much, that he's willing to deprive himself of us in order to do what is probably best for us in the long run."

Shuu looked down to the camel. "Even if we don't agree at all."

Shuu was rather certain that Ryo was blushing through his fur.

Nasutei smiled broadly. "Ryo," she said to the camel. "I see the point you were trying to make last night. You should be very proud of them. They've come a very long way. But I still think that you should remain as a camel for now."

"Pardon?" Shin asked.

"When Ryo and I were arguing last night, it was merely on how to do something. The fundamental point," she stated, "we agreed upon. We are getting very close to the end of the game, and Ryo can't afford to be influencing you more towards Kaosu-san than Arago-san. However, we both had different ideas on how to prevent him from influencing you further. I insisted he take animal form so that he could not communicate with you."

"And Ryo's counterpoint?" Touma asked.

Nasutei smiled. "He was quite adamant that you four were far more understanding that I was giving you credit for. He was correct."

Shuu and the others glanced at each other, then to camel-Ryo, and finally back to Nasutei.

"So that's a good thing?" Shuu asked.

"Yes," Nasutei agreed. "A very good thing. However, I still need to discuss Arago-san and Badamon-san with you over the next few days. You are all currently leaning towards Kaosu-san and have had a taste of Arago-san. However, your views of Arago-san are slightly skewed. I'll need to see if I can adjust that view."

"If you need to fix our view of things, then what about the Masho?" Seiji asked. "Certainly, their view of Kaosu-dono is 'skewed' as well."

"Actually," the young Yagyu replied, "they're not all that far off. And they are unknowingly fixing their misconceptions as they continue to travel together as a unit."

Shuu absorbed that piece of information and raised his eyebrows before filing it away for later thought. "That still doesn't answer my earlier question, though," Shuu observed.

"Oh?"

"Why does Ryo have to be a camel for this?"

Nasutei gave an unreadable smile. "Because Ryo is very loyal to Kaosu-san. While he has stated that the four of you are very perceptive, he still has an influence, even in camel-form. However, as a camel, he can't start arguing with me as I start to explain Arago-san's viewpoints."

"And Ryo agreed to this?" Shin asked, looking to the camel. "Somehow, I don't see Ryo agreeing to take animal form like this very easily. He's very stubborn and would have fought with you a great deal more on the subject."

"He would have," Nasutei smiled. "But Kayura-sama gave him the final word."

Several people ended up in the sand.

"When the blazes was Kayura-sama here last night?" Shuu demanded, spitting out a mouthful of sand.

"Kayura-sama can be very subtle when she wants to be," Nasutei replied enigmatically.


Go to Part Thirty