Kailor: Oh my, another twist! Dear reviewers I'll keep putting twists, some small, some huge, to keep you coming back!
Naruto: What is that?
Kailor: I don't know. Sounds like a cat being mauled.
Rikku: It's coming from the shower!
Naruto: Omg, it's Nuriko!
Kailor: Someone…kill it…please!
Kiona suddenly waved her hands in an impatient gesture. "Not here. We'll figure all this out tomorrow. I need sleep." Her eyes caught Ashlyn's and she froze again. "Oh, my dear. You look just like her."
"Like who?" Ashlyn asked, bewildered.
Realizing she had opened another unaddressed issue, Kiona hurried away. Ashlyn looked completely confused, Vaiden and Magden were staring at Setsuna, and the bystanders looked blank. Setsuna shook herself mentally, realizing she had to put the matter to rest for now. She had to take charge.
She pulled down her cowl and mask. "Pick up your jaws folks. We'll talk tomorrow night with the group. Let's go. Vaiden? Magden?" They handed over their weapons. "I expect to know by morning whether you will come with us and join the discussion tomorrow night or if we part paths here. Who's on sentry?"
"Akashi and Chao," Asakura answered immediately.
"Have these two brought to them for supervision. Kaede, Kotaro needs that leg healed. Can you wake Negi?" Kaede snapped out of her enthrallment with the moment of drama. She nodded and Asakura seized Kotaro's uninjured side. The two girls lifted the Wolf and carried him off towards the camp. Asuna took and twins and led them away, casting a questioning glance over her shoulder. Setsuna shrugged at her and sighed.
She was so confused. Her mind was spinning a thousand different directions at once. Was it a coincidence that their fathers had the same name? She shook her head again, forcing the thoughts from her mind. She could worry about that later. She turned to the remaining group members.
Ashlyn looked dazed. Konoka moved to Setsuna's side and gripped her shirt. Killik and Akira were standing on the lake edge, watching silently. Well, Akira was watching. Killik was cleaning his scales with short blasts of fire.
"Let's get to camp," Setsuna said. Akira and Killik started off, Ashlyn tailing them. Konoka pulled Setsuna back. When the dark swallowed their companions she turned and flung her arms around the black-haired swordsman. Setsuna was surprised to feel Konoka's heart pounding hard against her chest. For a minute they just held each other. Setsuna gladly accepted the distraction from the questions swirling in her mind.
Konoka felt so good in her arms…so right.
"I woke up and Kiona was sitting on your cot. I thought something had happened on your shift. I was worried even worse when she told me you had gone to Fort Kinsten to get your friend. Lord Ensu was appointed by Cairo to take Lord Tallun's place. He's a bad man with dangerous powers." Konoka shivered in her embrace. Instinctually, she stroked Konoka's hair and held her tighter.
In that moment they were back under a rocky outcropping, watching raindrops dance through the air while the moon rode the clouds across the sky.
Konoka pulled away. Setsuna pulled her back.
She covered the princess's soft gasp with her mouth. Setsuna kissed her softly, slowly. For the first time there was no anger and confusion in the meeting of their lips. Her stomach still flipped and a chill skittered across her skin but she knew what she was doing. This wasn't a confused outpouring of emotions they tried to hide and deny. It wasn't a fierce, passionate burst of rage and aggravation. It wasn't a clashing of two hearts losing control.
It was a kiss.
Konoka's knees wobbled and she gripped Setsuna's shoulders as that kiss melted into another and then another. The swordsman's hands were in Konoka's hair. Konoka was clutching her tunic. Their pulses raced in tandem, creating the sweet music of joining. Finally they broke apart. Konoka pressed her forehead to Setsuna's.
"What was that for?" she whispered.
"I'm not sure," Setsuna replied honestly. She carefully stepped away. "I never stop thinking about you. You confuse me, teach me, lead me, follow me, and aggravate the hell out of me." She smiled to show there was no anger in that statement. "I want to tell you everything. But not yet." She shuffled her feet. "There are things I have to figure out first. Do you understand?"
Konoka paused, watching her. She reached up and brushed Setsuna's bangs out of her eyes. The swordsman cocked her head to the side. A smile lit Konoka's face. "I understand. I can wait. We both have responsibilities right not. You have a group to lead."
"What?" Setsuna asked, confused all over again.
"You're a natural leader, Setsuna. We really don't have any one leader but you could be that person. People follow you. There's something about you that just commands attention when you walk into a room. I see you get nervous, scared, hurt, but still I see Kaede turning to you, Negi turning to you, everyone else too. Kaede wants you to be a leader." Setsuna flushed. "Kotaro was telling Negi about when you were attacked. He told him how you just naturally took charge, mounted a wild horse, and took the enemies on alone to give him time to warn us. The way he talks you can hear his respect. Kotaro doesn't give respect easy. Asakura jumps to your command. Even Asuna listens to you and, between us, she doesn't listen to anyone. I saw it just now." Admiration shone in her chocolate eyes. Feeling undeserving, Setsuna blushed harder. "You can be a leader, Setsuna. People will follow you." She turned and began to walk away, casting a mischievous glance over her shoulder.
"Of course, it might just be because of the excellent view from behind you." She winked.
"Konoka!"
Setsuna was still red when they trudged into camp. Konoka was smugly skipping ahead of her. Setsuna saw Akashi and Chao, the girl with the buns, sitting a ways from the camp. Vaiden and Magden were near them, heads bent together conspiratorially. Her shoulders ached. Ashlyn her been given a cot between her own and Asakura's. Both Ashlyn and Asakura were passed out, snoring in harmony. Around them the rest of the group slept. Killik and Heart were lying next to each other. Heart lifted his head and snorted as she passed him.
Konoka climbed into her cot. Asuna looked up at her blearily.
"Sleep," Asuna grunted, dropping her face back into her pillow. Konoka giggled. Setsuna collapsed gratefully onto her furs and was asleep before she could close her eyes.
The dawn light woke her. She growled and stretched, her body aching fiercely. With a great show of will, she forced herself to sit up and yawned.
"Morning," Asuna said, also climbing out of bed. "Meeting tonight when we hit the mountains?"
"Alright," Setsuna sighed, dreading the encroaching reveal of everything. "We need to go. We should have left hours ago."
"I was only about two hours til dawn. Even in their boats it'd take them hours to cross that lake. Killik's speed earned us a few more hours of sleep." Asuna stated. She hopped to her feet and yelled, "Time to WAKE UP, you lazy bums!" She went on her way, shaking those who did not stir. Setsuna looked down as Konoka sat up.
"Hey," the princess yawned. Setsuna smiled. Konoka's eyes traveled to the still sleeping Ashlyn. "So, who is she?"
"A friend," Setsuna replied vaguely, wanting to leave the explanations for tonight. She had thought about it hard on their way back to camp and she knew she had to tell everyone everything. Konoka looked unconvinced but she simply said, "Ah." She walked off into the small crowd of stirring bodies. Setsuna pulled a fresh black tunic from her bag and was slipping it on when she noticed a collar peeking out from under the flap. It had the tell-tale chink in it where Collie had fallen out of a tree and caught it on a rock. She gazed at the notch in the metal for a moment. Her stomach clenched and tears leapt to her eyes.
Asakura stirred and grumbled as she fought to free herself from her twisted furs. Setsuna quickly pulled off the black tunic and leggings Kiona had given them and replaced them with her own, untorn black tunic and blacks pants. Her aged hiking boots felt much better on her feet. She decided to give the gorget and cowl back to the supply tent but kept the bracers. She was tightening them when Ashlyn sat up.
"Hi," she said. Setsuna's eyes dropped to her collar and chain.
"I'll have Konoka remove that."
"I'd be much obliged." Ashlyn eyed her. "Of course, I already am much obliged. How did you know I needed saving?"
"I didn't," Setsuna said. "I wasn't trying to save you. I meant to kidnap you."
"Really?"
"Yes. So I could bring you back here and explain everything," She shrugged. "You just happened to be a willing kidnapee." They laughed. With a jolt, she realized the last time she and Ashlyn had laughed like this, Collie had been there. Her smile faded. "Do you have somewhere you want us to bring you? Or will you travel with us?"
"Well I have to go with you," Ashlyn shrugged. "I have no idea where Diana is and I want to be at that meeting tonight."
"Alright, you can ride with me." Setsuna said. "I'll explain what I can while we travel." Ashlyn nodded.
Vaiden, Magden, and Ashlyn were given fresh clothes and a washbin for their faces and hands. Cots were collapsed and everything was reloaded onto the horses and Killik. Asuna taught Setsuna how to tie the tents to Killik with the Drop String. Konoka removed Ashlyn's collar at Setsuna's request. Kotaro passed by to show her his cool new scar and brag about how he'd gotten it battling his way back over the wall. People kept telling Setsuna what a great job she'd done leading the invasion of Fort Kinsten to rescue her friend. Kotaro had apparently already told EVERYONE. Horses were saddled up and the group set to destroying any evidence they had been there.
As Setsuna strapped her bags to heart's back, much to the horse's distaste, Vaiden and Magden approached. Vaiden wore a black tunic that matched her own and brown pants. Magden had been given a red tunic and black pants. She had Vaiden's bow and quiver across her back and Magden's whip belt around her waist.
"Morning, boys," she said.
"Morning," Vaiden replied politely. Magden gave a jaunty salute. "We've decided to accompany you."
"Did I intrigue your fantasies, fellas?" Asakura's mare cantered up and she leaned down off it, her flirtatious, over-the-top tone matching her grin. Vaiden laughed. Magden really did look intrigued. Setsuna swatted Asakura's leg.
"Sorry about her. Be good. I think we have a lot to figure out tonight. Here." She handed over their weapons. "You can find rides with the group. All the extra horses are saddled up with supplies."
"You can ride with me, Red." Asakura winked at Magden, who happily brushed off his red tunic and grinned. He was halfway into the saddle behind her when a shovel-sized hand grabbed his collar.
"Nah, you can ride with me!" Rakan plucked Magden off the mare and plopped the boy down in the front of his own saddle. The big man shook his white hair back and galloped away, Magden squished between him and the massive horse's neck.
"That horse is huge." Vaiden said.
"That dude is huge." Asakura laughed. Vaiden glanced around and spotted Kaede saddling up. He trailed off towards her and Asakura turned back to Setsuna. "What about you, sexy? You goin' my way?" Setsuna rolled her eyes.
"Ready?" Ashlyn approached.
"Let's ride." Setsuna hopped up onto Heart's back and tugged Ashlyn up behind her. She caught an odd look from Konoka that looked like a downgraded version of the look she'd had when she saw Setsuna in the tub with Asakura.
Was she jealous? Ashlyn was her sister.
But Konoka didn't know. Hell, Ashlyn didn't know! Tonight needs to hurry, she thought.
The group marched out. Konoka stationed herself between Rakan, Magden, and Haruna, making it impossible to talk to her. Setsuna and Ashlyn rode between Asakura and Asuna.
"So where are we going?" Setsuna asked Asuna. The redhead pointed to the snow caps that were steadily looming closer.
"There's a pass over the Speaking Mountains. We'll take it to throw anyone trailing us off. The pass is a cruel way to go but it's the fastest way and the most dangerous. Truly daring merchants take it to avoid paying the cross-country toll and highwaymen. The Rani's village is not far from the other side of the pass and we won't have to face Cairo's soldiers."
"The Speaking Mountains? I thought the mountains between Mania and Kirah were the Blue Mountains." Setsuna said.
"They are, but those two mountains—see the shortest two?—are the Speaking Mountains. The passage is an ice bridge over the valley between them. It extends from the side of that mountain on the left, out over the valley. The mountain on the right is too steep for walking."
"Why can't we go through the valley?" Asakura pointed out.
"The temperature in the valley is too low. We would freeze easily. The ice bridge blocks the sun for most of the day so it is constantly frozen down there. The ice bridge is so high it can remain frozen but the sun keeps us warm enough so we can survive it."
"Why are they called the Speaking Mountains?" Ashlyn piped up.
"Because anything louder than our voices now reverberates down into the canyon, making it seem like the mountains are talking. Of course, there's also the Echo Caves." Asuna shivered.
"What are the Echo Caves?" Setsuna pressed.
The princess frowned, eyes on the looming mountains. "They were carved long ago by an evil mage. He cast some spell on it that caused the dead to be trapped there."
"What do you mean?" Asakura asked. Her voice had dropped to a whisper. Asuna leaned forward, capturing their full attention.
"If you die there, the walls capture your memories forever. You become an Echo. When a living person touches the walls they can hear and talk to the Echoes. Some of them have been Echoes for so long that they can't hold conversations because they've been consumed by their own pain. They just repeat their stories over and over, never able to escape the horrors of their past." Her mismatched eyes held them tight.
"How do you know they're horrors?" Asakura asked, breaking the silence. Asuna looked annoyed that the other redhead had spoiled the mood.
"If you died in a cave, surrounded by the voices of the dead, thousands of feet up a mountain, in freezing cold conditions, while trying to cross an extremely dangerous ice bridge I think it would be safe to assume you had horrors." Her annoyance faded back to the quiet, eerie tone. The other girls listened with bated breath. "Besides, why do you think there are so many Echoes?" Nobody answered, all waiting in breathless excitement. "The evil mage killed them. He tortured them for fun or for info about whatever he desired. They say he died there himself and became an Echo. His magic, however, lived on. They even say it gave birth to a beast that would continue the mage's torture on anyone who entered the cave. It's a creature that was dragged up from the deepest level of Hell. A creature that can break bone with its littlest finger."
Asuna's voice dropped lower. The very air around them seemed to thicken. They leaned even closer, breath now completely stopped. "It is a thing of evil, born to kill, born to hate. The bards write songs of its infamy but none can truly describe it, for they have never braved the caves themselves and those who have did not see it." Blood pounded in their ears. "Of it they have…they never returned—"
"RAWR!" They all four jumped, Asakura cursing mightily. The sudden roar had come from Rakan. They hadn't noticed him riding up.
"You son of a—"
"Oooh, be nice, little lady!" Rakan laughed as Asakura cursed him. "I couldn't resist. I even scared Asuna and she's the one that was pulling your leg!" The other three girls rounded on Asuna. She laughed.
"I was starting to scare myself!" Noticing their glares, she laughed harder.
"It's not that bad," Rakan said. "The dead talk to you normally. It's difficult to hold a conversation because there are so many voices talking at once, but it's possible. It's true some voices have been Echoes for so long though that they only tell their stories repeatedly. And that it was an evil mage who did all that. The creature is legend."
"You've been there?" Setsuna asked.
"I have. I've escorted Konoka there many times. The caves fascinate her." Setsuna looked ahead at the young princess's flowing chocolate braid. "Asuna has, too."
"Yep," Asuna chirped. "We've all gone together: Me, Konoka, Rakan, Kaede, Negi, Kotaro, and Akashi. And we've never seen the beast of legend."
"Eva didn't go with you?"
"She did but she never came inside. She said the living already talk too much, she doesn't want to listen to the dead boohoo about their sorry lives." Asuna replied, looking back at where the blonde rode beside Negi and Kotaro. "Oh, look. It's a trio of tykes!"
Everyone looked. It was true. Rakan and Setsuna joined Asuna's laughter. Asakura, Ashlyn, and Magden looked lost. Setsuna quickly explained that Eva was actually a centuries old vampire.
"Find something back here amusing, you oafs?" Eva snapped. They laughed harder.
"Oh yeah," Setsuna turned to Ashlyn and Asakura. "That redheaded kid, Negi? That's Brace!"
"The captain you beat?" Ashlyn asked, incredulous.
"The one who turned all red when I got naked?" Asakura blurted. Rakan, Magden, and Ashlyn gaped at her. "Long story."
"Yeah," Setsuna laughed. "He was always a ten year old with a spell to make him look like an older man."
"No way!" Ashlyn said.
"Yes way!"
"No wonder you beat him!" Setsuna glared playfully at the brunette. Ashlyn laughed heartily.
Setsuna turned and excused them from the others. She rode outside the lineup, Heart happily tossing his mane. Once they were out of earshot, Setsuna told Ashlyn everything up to the night Kiona had told her they were sisters. She didn't tell Ashlyn that yet, preferring to leave that to Kiona. When she was done Ashlyn was speechless.
"I know it's a lot to take in."
"A demon king, a vampire, and a dragon…No, I think that's fine." They laughed. "So Collie saved you, huh?"
"Yeah, but she won't be there to save me again." Setsuna sighed, remembering her friend's words.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Ashlyn patted her back. "Friends have a way of sticking with us."
Setsuna smiled sadly and looked up at the mountains. They rose from the plains, guardians between the two countries. Their snow-capped peaks punctured the heavens, almost like a connection between her little world and the gods.
Ashlyn was right. Collie was gone but Setsuna would never stop feeling her presence. She breathed deep as wind rushed through her hair, chilling the slightly lighter circle around her neck where her collar had once sat.
Somewhere in the distance a hawk called.