Kailor: What're we watching?
Naruto: Rio. :)
Kailor: Oh, that bird was Wanda Sykes! I love her!
Nuriko: You know that from her voice?
Kailor: ...I said I love her. 0.0 By the way, Happy New Year all. :D
"That man was not ordinary." Vaiden said for the third time since they had continued their journey.
"You're just mad you missed," Setsuna rolled her eyes, nudging him. He did not smile.
"Vaiden doesn't miss." Magden appeared at her other elbow. The unscarred twin looked as serious as his brother. "He hasn't missed a shot since he was eight."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously." Magden said.
Setsuna frowned. "His head snapped back when you shot. I thought you hit him."
"No, he evaded it. Barely, but he did. That man was not ordinary."
"You've said that four times now."
"I'll keep saying it too."
"Hey," Asakura panted up beside Setsuna. "All the slaves have been fed and we've scrounged up enough blankets and such to keep them warm."
"Good. Where's Rakan?"
"Here, Captain." The white-haired man said from behind her. "If you're asking how much farther to the Echoes then don't bother. We're here." He pointed over their heads into the mist before them. As they moved closer darkness appeared and they found the entrance to the caves. The face of the mountain was cut away as if by a large hand and set back from the ice bridge was the Echo Caves. The entrance was small, only ten feet high and seven feet wide. Above the opening the alcove in the mountain continued up in a jagged pattern, disappearing into the clouds. The ice bridge ended and there was a good deal of solid land covered in snow between it and the caves. In the yawning mouth of the cave she could see only black.
"Well that looks really creepy." Asakura raised an eyebrow. Then she slapped an arm around Setsuna's shoulders and grinned. "What're we waiting for?"
"A torch perhaps, good lady?" Asuna swirled past, a torch already lit in her hand.
"Just so, my dear!" Asakura bounced after her, laughing. Setsuna could only follow, shaking her head.
The group piled into the dark cave. The single torch barely lit a five foot circle so multiple torches were made and placed around their camp in niches in the rock face. Inside the caves it was warm enough that Setsuna had to remove her cloak but a chill still hung in the air and the air was thick with humidity. They built a central fire and gathered around it, cooking soups and deer steaks. Their food supply had grown during her day out of commission and she found herself eagerly delving into a bowl of steaming soup with Kaede and Negi.
"Eva's still outside?"
Setsuna looked up at Konoka's voice and saw Rakan nod. The little vampire sat about ten feet from the entrance, bundled tight in a blanket. The swordsman quickly filled another bowl of soup and made her way out to Eva. "Hey," she greeted, offering the soup.
"Vampires drink blood, dimwit." Eva griped.
"Then stick your head in it for all I care. I just thought you could use the warmth." Setsuna plopped down beside her, nursing her own bowl. Eva glared but she took the soup and started to eat. "So why are you out here? It's much warmer inside."
"I can't go in there." Eva said.
"Why?"
"Too stuffy."
"You're lying."
"Indeed."
"It's because you're dead, isn't it?" By the shocked look on Eva's face, Setsuna knew she'd gotten it right. "You think if you go in there you'll become an Echo."
"How did you-Nevermind. You're too smart for your own good sometimes."
"I thought you had to actually die in the Echoes to become an Echo."
"Well, that's the legend but I'd rather not risk it." The vampire shrugged. "I just tell them I don't want to chance having to listen to the dead sob when we come here."
"How often have you been here?"
"Konoka visits at least once a year."
"Why?"
Evangeline opened her mouth then closed it, no sound coming out. She gave Setsuna a calculating glance. "That'd be her story to tell, I guess." She suddenly glanced up at the sky. "The blizzard will be here soon. Bring me out a tent, would you?"
Sensing she would say no more on the subject of Konoka's visits, Setsuna finished off her bowl of soup and stood. She dropped her cloak beside Eva. "You'll need it before I do." The blonde grunted and Setsuna assumed that was a thank you. The vampire kept her eyes on the ground as Setsuna left.
Inside, Setsuna employed Haruna to help carry out and set up the smallest tent for Eva. They staked it down best they could, as close as she would allow to the cave entrance. When they were finished they were both shivering and rushed back into the caves.
"Setsuna?" She turned at the sound of her princess's voice. Konoka was standing just outside the firelight, holding an unlit torch. "Would you come with me?"
Setsuna quickly made her way through the seated group members and joined the chocolate-haired girl.
Konoka led her into the darkness, pausing only long enough to light the torch with flint she pulled from her pocket. Together, they trooped deeper into the caves, rounding two corners. They stuck close to the center of the trail, careful to avoid contact with the walls.
The firelight danced eerily across the rock face and Setsuna realized the walls were coated in a fine layer of moisture, little droplets slowly climbing down to the floor. Beneath her feet the ground grew slippery and she carefully watched her step, not wanting to find out how it felt to fall here.
When Konoka finally stopped Setsuna ran into her. "Sorry," she muttered, smiling nervously. Konoka smiled back, shrugging it off.
"I wanted to show you this." The princess turned and moved a few steps deeper into the passage then bent and pointed to a space between the rock wall and the floor. A few feet below them was a slightly steaming underground river. It rushed by below their feet, trickling over the rocks deeper and deeper into the mountain. She could see it was shallow enough that she could step in it and barely get her pants wet. It had apparently found a way to carve through the mountains warmer depths without being affected by the freezing temperatures outside. Konoka led her a little ways farther, following the flow of the mountain stream. They emerged into another part of the tunnel that was even larger than the one they'd just passed through. The ceiling flung drops of water down on them. The princess stepped closer to the wall and Setsuna followed warily.
"Go ahead," Konoka nodded to the wall. "Just touch it softly at first. Let your mind get used to it. This deep into the caves you'll mostly only find Echoes who don't remember how to talk to you anymore. They'll just repeat their stories over and over. If you focus on a single one you can pull it to the forefront of your mind and listen but it takes a couple practices." The fire reflected on the stones as Setsuna reached forward moved away as if scared of her touch. She hesitated only briefly before pressing her fingertips to the wall.
Whispers began to thread their way into her. They filled her ears slowly, almost comprehensible but there were so many crawling over each other that she could only hear a droning cacaphony. She pressed farther until her palm met the chilly, wet surface.
Like she'd been hit by a small piece of lightning, her mind jolted. The whispers became voices, all speaking at once as if clamoring for her attention. She didn't even know how it was possibly to choose just one to focus on. Her mind was so full of their voices she couldn't hear her own thoughts. Grasping for some sturdy mental ground she focused on finding a single voice. A sweet, soft feminine voice rose above the others for just a moment and she latched onto it. The other voices were still there but now she could make out the woman's words, as if they were written on her mind.
"We've heard too much of that before. Right now I only want to be with you."
Wrenching her hand from the wall she fell back a few steps, stumbling and gasping for air. She realized she must have stopped breathing for a moment. Konoka's worried face swam into view as her world settled back into place. The torch flickered in her hand.
"Are you all right?" Konoka asked, grabbing her arm like she thought Setsuna looked ready to collapse. Setsuna didn't doubt that was exactly what she did look like.
"I'm fine. Just a little shaken. That was intense."
"It always is. I wish I could tell you it gets better each time but it doesn't. You just learn to deal with it." Konoka pulled her back to the wall, just close enough to reach out and touch it.
"Why do you come here every year?" Setsuna asked the thing she'd been yearning to know since Rakan's comment on the plains.
The princess's gaze dropped from hers and traveled down the wall, following a water drop. "I've always wanted to be able to record some of the stories here. Some of these people did amazing things that the world will never know because they died in this hole in the world that nobody visits. I bring ink and plenty of parchment and write all I can. I never find the same voice twice and I get a surprise each time." Her voice suddenly dropped to a near whisper. "But I never find the voice I want to hear most."
Something about the way she said it, with such longing and pain, made Setsuna move closer to her. She wanted to offer some bit of comfort best she could. Konoka leaned a shoulder into her, smiling gratefully.
"My mother died here." Her soft admission was nearly lost in the trickling of the river below them. Setsuna's jaw dropped.
"Your mother is an Echo?"
"Well, I believe so...but I've been back over and over these past years. As soon as I got old enough to climb the mountain I started coming out here and I've searched through the voices but never found her. She should still be able to talk back to me. I've called for her and asked the others Echoes but none of them know her. They seem to talk to each other when no one is here to listen to them but not a hint of my mother. Sometimes I-well, I sometimes think she...doesn't want to talk to me." Konoka's voice caught on a sob and she turned her face into Setsuna's neck, her tiny fists clutching at the swordsman's tunic.
Setsuna felt like her stomach was full of lead. Unsure if she should say something or just hold Konoka close she licked her lips and her hands fluttered up to hug the princess then back down to her sides, and up again.
Then Konoka decided for her.
The princess pulled back and then pushed up onto her toes, pressing her lips to Setsuna's. Momentarily caught off-guard, Setsuna gathered her wits and kissed back, tasting the salty tears that had caught on Konoka's soft lips. Her stomach was doing flips and she felt a shiver run down her body. She reached up to run her fingers into the princess's long chocolate locks.
And the back of her knuckle brushed against the wall for just a moment.
"RUN!"
With a gasp she yanked her hand away from the wall and jerked back from Konoka.
"Setsuna, what-?"
"We've got to go." Her pulse had immediately started to throb faster and she fought to calm the blood rushing in her ears so she could listen. Something was wrong. Every hair on her arms and neck stood up and the voice continued sounding in her head despite the fact that she was no longer in contact with the wall. "Something's here."
For a moment Konoka half-smiled, bemused. "Are you really scared of that monster legend? I've never seen it and I've been here multiple times." Then she saw the way Setsuna's eyes flickered back and forth and her smile disappeared. Immediately she moved back towards the way they'd come.
From farther in something growled. Setsuna's skin crawled and she bit her tongue to keep from screaming at the immediate terror that coursed through her veins. Konoka had frozen in step and her eyes were large and round with terror. The swordsman reacted by pure instinct as another growl sounded-much closer this time.
She seized the torch from Konoka's hand and ran back to the hole in the floor where they could see the river. Reaching back, she grabbed the princess's arm and then threw the torch into the river, not waiting to watch the flame die. She and Konoka were already running before the light was gone and darkness consumed them. They ran as quickly as they could on the damp ground, slipping a few times, hurting both of them. As soon as they hit the floor, they were back on their feet, moving. They ran smack into the wall a few times and each time her skin met the cold clammy surface she heard that single male voice, filled with terror repeating it's command. No other Echoes spoke to them and she pushed on faster. If whatever was behind them scared long dead people she did NOT want to meet it in the dark. Beside her racing heart her mind was running rampant. What if they had gotten turned around one of the times they'd fallen? Why weren't they back to the entrance yet? Had they really gone this far? Was there a branch off in the tunnel that she hadn't noticed on the way in but they had accidently run down? Where did the growling go? Was Konoka all right? Where the hell was the camp?
Finally a speck of light caught her eye. Just ahead was a bend in the tunnel and the light beyond it flickered.
Like firelight.
Like at camp.
She sped up, her lungs burning as she sucked in gasp after gasp of frigid air. Her muscles screamed in protest but the only screams she could hear were the Echo's spine-tingling, "RUN!"
Suddenly a growl sounded again.
And a breath fluttered across her neck.
