"I remember you telling me that they sound a bit different. What did you mean by that Chichiri? You wanted to talk to me! Talk to me now! What is going on????" Miaka said all in one breath. She breathed a little heavily for a second after that to catch her breath.
"Calm down Miaka!" Chichiri said as he waved his hands for her to sit down. Miaka, Tasuki and Chichiri all sat down in the grass.
"I think we better tell her what is going on. Maybe you should start from the beginning Chichiri," Tasuki instructed. Chichiri nodded and agreed.
"It all started after you went back to your world Miaka. We thought we would never see you again because, you weren't allowed to come back to our world, ya know," Chichri stated," Well after the war, all the forces were killed off by Nakago's rage and they died from the heavy assault Nakago threw on them. So after he was defeated by you guys, a new ruler that believed in freedom and goodness took over. Now a peaceful ruler is leading Kutou's empire," Chichiri said as he gave a sigh.
"Well about two years later, word got around that a piece of the land broke off in Hokkan. Other strange occurrences like the smashing of the Genbu shrine and the fall of the mountain where the shinzaho was located also came around in rumors," Chichiri explained, "It was only Tasuki and I taking care of Boushin for Hotohori when this occurred."
"Explain to me about Boushin...who exactly is he?" Miaka asked.
"He's Hotohori's son of course and the next ruler of Konan. It is a shame that Hotohori died before he could see his son born," Tasuki sighed.
"Well any way, we didn't know what to do with these strange occurrences so we tried to ignore them, ya know. Then one day we heard a ghost emperor was wandering the streets in search of the palace. It sort of creeped us out, ya know!" Chichiri said.
"I'll take over," Tasuki says as Miaka turned to face him now,"After that we saw Hotohori himself walking around the palace as if he didn't even realize he was alive. We were surprised to see him and he came to us as if nothing had happened. It was creepy because, we could feel him and he could feel us. He could literally touch our skin and we would feel it. He wanted to see Boushin so we took him with us no matter we were both freaked out about it. After he saw Boushin, he had the necklace in his hands and stroked him softly while watching him. It was only a short time after that that the guards busted in and threw him outside, calling him a fake emperor. We tried to protest, but they wouldn't listen to us. They told us that he was scaring the Empress and he was intruding in the palace. So we decided to follow Hotohori until we started running into Tamahome, Chiriko, Nuriko, and Mitsukake."
"It was a real surprise to see them all alive ya know," Chichiri told her.
"Then we got word from Suzaku all about this fall of the four empires if we don't do something about it," Tasuki groaned.
"And then you arrived with Yui," Chichiri followed up.
"But what does this have to do with Tamahome being different??" Miaka asked.
"Suzaku explained to us that because, they are reborn in this desperate condition, their personality is slightly altered. They aren't meant to be here, so their original personalities will not return when they rise from death," Tasuki said sadly. Miaka remembered Hotohori being depressed a lot and drinking. She remembered Nuriko being dressed in regular men's clothing instead of cross dressing. She didn't notice too much difference in Chiriko and Mitsukake though.
"But they remember everything about the war?" Miaka wondered.
"Yes, they do. Only because, Suzaku put our memories into them, ya know," Chichiri said as he rested his head on the tree he was leaning against.
"What am I going to do?" Miaka asked as she looked down.
"I suggest you take this a little easier. Tamahome isn't the same anymore," Tasuki said as he turned away.
"But why??? Why does it have to be this way?" Miaka cried.
"No one wants it this way Miaka. Though I bet he still loves you," Chichiri said trying to cheer her up. Miaka turned away from Tasuki and Chichiri. They both frowned and watched her. Miaka sat quietly for a minute to think about this.
"Tamahome is no longer the same caring and loving person I once knew. He really isn't even here. He is like a ghost that is walking around till he accomplishes this task. The only people left are still Tasuki and Chichiri. It's like Im trapped in an illusional world where everyone is only an image of their formal self. And there is nothing I can do to change this," Miaka thought as she stared at the ground. Chichiri crawled up to her slowly and put his hand on her shoulder.
"Miaka are you o--*POW!*" Chichiri said before Miaka threw a back fist right to his face. Miaka turned around to see it was only Chichiri and then became embarrassed. Tasuki stared at her with a scared face and a sweat drop.
"Oh sorry! It's a natural reaction..." Miaka said trying to help Chichiri up off the ground. Chichiri rubbed his face now, lucky him he wears a mask! :D! Though it still hurt just as bad with or without it.
"That's a strong back fist you got there Miaka," Chichiri comments with a groan. Tasuki looked strangely at Miaka and tried not to laugh.
"To answer your question, I'm fine Chichiri, you don't need to worry about me," Miaka said standing up with a fake smile. Chichiri and Tasuki got up, yet with a bit of worry about how Miaka is feeling. Tasuki was about to say some words of comfort when they heard a loud explosion. It was the sound of thunder fuming in the sky, the world started to become dark, and the wind howled furiously like a mad wolf.
"What..what is going on??" Miaka asked looking up as clouds of darkness start to cover the sky.
"Its a storm..." Chichiri said, yet he was just as confused.
"NO WAY! A storm couldn't pull up that fast! It was sunny just a minute ago!" Tasuki argued. All of them then heard a scream of pain and a huge light lit up outside of the forest.
"SOME ONE GOT HIT!" Tasuki yelled as everyone started running out of the forest as fast as they could. They ran outside to view Tokaki attacking Tamahome with swift punches and bone crushing kicks. He seemed furious! Nuriko and Chiriko, in shock, instantly jumped up and attacked Tokaki with all their might. Mitsukake turned his head to view a young warrior that seemed to accompany him. The young and brave ivory haired man ran to assist Tokaki in battle, but Mitsukake intercepted him and soon they were quickly into a fight of their own. Karasuki jumped back as the fierce warrior attacked him with his punches and kicks. The young Byakko Knight blocked with pain that throbbed threw his arms like a hammer slamming down on him. He soon drew up his hand, closing it inward and then thrusted it down, sending a tool of the titans to come down from the heavens. The powerful surge of lightning struck Mitsukake with incredible force. The voltage sent his body into a frenzy of body spasms as he was lifted off the ground for a brief second with shock in his eyes. It then released him and he fell over and tried to gasp for air. Karasuki pulled out his spear and struck him threw the right side of his chest as to not to strike his heart. Chichiri grew angry and quickly attacked Karasuki with his own staff. Karasuki almost jumped in fear as he blocked Chichiri's onslaught and soon they were engaged in another battle of their own. Karasuki and Chichiri were both evenly skilled as they kept blocking and missing each other. Chichiri was so fast that Karasuki had very little time to pull off a lightning attack in the storm and tried to keep everything hand to hand if possible.
"TAMAHOME!!" Miaka screamed as she ran to try to help him, Tasuki grabbed her arm immediately and pulled her back.
"DON'T GO NEAR THEM MIAKA!" Tasuki said as he pulled her back.
"LEKKA SHINEN!" Tasuki yelled as a fiery explosion bursted from his iron fan. Yet this seemed to fail miserably because, before it got to them, the rain made it disenigrate.
"SHIT!" Tasuki roared as he gripped his fan harder, "With this rain I can't use this at all except as a club."
Tasuki was eager to battle, yet he saw that it seemed no one was in great danger. It seemed almost as if he wasn't needed and would probably be in the way if he just jumped into some one else's battle. Tasuki groaned in an impatient manner and he watched everyone, trying to see if he can jump in some time. So while he waited, he ran to pull Mitsukake out of the ring of fire and slid him under a tree so that he won't get hurt.
"Where is all this rain coming from???" Tasuki grumbled. The reddish haired bandit turned around to view something that made his jaw drop. He couldn't believe he was watching Tokaki shove Chiriko into the dirt. He then stomped on his stomach and kicked him. Tasuki's blood boiled furiously as Tokaki then slammed his elbow into Nuriko's face and flipped him over.
"WHOA..that old guy still has a lot of jolt.." Tasuki said as his face turned to a serious one. Tasuki dashed to Chiriko and Nuriko to help them. They groaned in agony as he dragged them near Mitsukake. It was now only Tamahome vs. Tokaki and Chichiri against some unknown boy with a lot of skill. Tasuki wondered why Tokaki was attacking them, he was there friend before and he helped them during the last time Miaka was here. Why is he attacking them now? Who is that other kid that is fighting Chichiri? And who caused the storm to come up? It seemed it had to be done by magic, no storm would come up in an instant like that. Tasuki watched the battle with Tamahome, he saw that Tamahome seemed slower than usual. He seemed not to be striking him as hard as he knows he could strike. Tasuki put a bit of worry on his face as he frowned at the situation.
"IS THIS ALL YOU GOT?" Tokaki yelled as he slammed a side kick right into his stomach, he then followed up with a spinning back fist, and then a punch to his face. Tamahome was trying to block and keep from hurting Tokaki. He just couldn't hit him, Tokaki was his master and like a second father to him. He didn't want to kill him, but he was running out of choices in the heat of battle. Tamahome kept blocking to the best of his abilities and only attacked when he got the chance, yet Tokaki was so fast that it was hard to do anything. Soon Tamahome grew tired and kept slipping as he received punches that threw back his head in a snapping motion. He then got slammed with Tokaki's knee right in the stomach, this made Tamahome spit out blood furiously. After he was keeling over, the last of the blows were sent as Tokaki threw a conquering ax kick to the head and Tamahome instantly fell to the ground. Tamahome was on his knees and coughing blood all over the ground. Tokaki kicked him hard in the face as he flew backwards. Miaka screamed for them to stop, yet Tasuki grabbed her to keep her away.
"STOP IT! LET ME GO!" Miaka demanded in a fit.
"IM NOT GOING TO LET YOU GET YOURSELF KILLED!" Tasuki revolted. Miaka muttered and yanked her hand away from Tasuki as she stood there and stared at the battle. It seemed that Tamahome was now slammed into a tree, Miaka watched in horror as he slid down slowly, leaving a trail of blood that trickled down on the bark. Tamahome groaned in pain as he tried to open his eyes.
"Master...why?" he could barely say as his voice could get no louder
than a whisper now. Tamahome tried to keep his eyes open as they kept flickering
in and out of consciousness. He watched Tokaki get closer and closer to
him with a stern face. Tasuki's eyes grew wide as he ran as fast as could,"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"
While the battle was occurring, Hotohori dashes threw the forest as fast as he could with his stallion. The horse snorted loudly as he tries not to tire out on the desperate Emperor. It runs and runs till Hotohori recognizes the stream in the forest. He yanked the reigns to change directions and the horse turned quickly as it bucked wildly towards the right. It sprung into the clearing where the house was. Hotohori then stopped the massive beast to a dead halt. He observed the large grass patch with nothing, but a solemn face.
"Where is it.....DAMN IT!!!! WHERE IS IT???" He roared. The horse trotted backwards a bit from the yell, he sways his head back and forth in a frightened manner. Hotohori grabbed the reigns tightly, he knew something was wrong now.
"The house...it was here..I remember the stream, yet the house is now gone. It must of been some illusional trick. That illusionist must of took my only keep sake of Boushin. Shit...this is my fault for thinking so foolish. What am I talking about? This must be a trick! Who knows what kind of dangers Tamahome and the others are in while I am away looking foolishly for a trinket," Hotohori thought as he looked towards the stream.
"I must return to Miaka and the others as quickly as possible," Hotohori
decided as he turned the horse around and rushed out back to the plains.
As the foot steps moved closer to Tamahome's weakened body, Miaka gave a shriek of terror. Tasuki growled between his teeth as he watched Tokaki carefully. The young white haired Byakko grabbed the green haired warrior by his hair, yanked his head up as he bended over in anger. This is so he could get ruthlessly in his face to show his dominance.
"YOU DISGUST ME! YOU CAN'T EVEN BEAT ME UP.....BUT YOU CERTAINLY CAN BEAT UP WEAK AND INNOCENT YOUNG GIRLS CAN'T YOU? YOU BASTARD!" Tokaki shouted in anger. Tamahome winced at the extreme pain he was feeling at the moment and gave out a short grunt of growing unhappiness. Miaka watched as she started to shake. She couldn't take it anymore! She ran towards the dueling pair immediately! Tasuki took off after her as soon as he noticed her take a step, but she seemed to have gained more speed than he realized. Soon she was too far ahead of him as the red headed bandit watched her grab at Tokaki's arm quickly to prevent him from hurting Tamahome any further.
"TOKAKI!! Please!! Stop this!! Why are you hurting Tamahome???" Miaka wailed towards him as floods of tears came rushing out of her eyes. Tokaki growled at her and knocked her over with one swift push.
"THIS IS NONE OF YOUR BUISNESS MIAKA! STAY OUT OF IT!" Tokaki roared in a nasty tone.
"AHHHHHH!!! TOKAKI!! HELP!" Karasuki yelped in fear as he was snatched by Nuriko. The dashing purple haired cross dresser, seemed to recover well enough to get up and help Chichiri win his fight. Nuriko had him shaking in a head lock, while he was down on the ground gasping for air. After a while, he quit struggling Nuriko's tough hold as he realized it was futile to have a slight chance escaping it. Tokaki turned instantly in a quick manner to view Karasuki's current state, only to turn back to receive a fist of iron that swiftly lodged into his face. Tokaki was so caught off guard, he stumbled backwards to catch himself. Tamahome's rage ignited into an explosion of violent energy. It was a miracle he could get up! Tasuki was about to jump in, but stopped immediately, his face almost turning white in shock.
"What the freaken hell???" Tasuki exclaimed as he froze in his position.
"GRRrrrrrr...NO ONE.....NO ONE...EVER...PUSHES MIAKA DOWN AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!" Tamahome roared as a slap of energy slammed down near Tokaki's feet. Tokaki regained his balance and wiped the blood that was dripping from his lip.
"Lucky shot you little shit," Tokaki shouted as he glared at him. Miaka realized now she was in the middle of a war brewing between the master and his disciple. She pushed herself away from the ring of fire in order to stay out of the way. She shouldn't have gotten into it, now something bad will happen for sure!
"DIE!" Tamahome yelled as he rammed Tokaki with incredible speed. Tokaki tried to move out of the way, but before he knew it a sharp pain was slammed into his stomach by Tamahome's ramming head and was instantly knocked over. Hands flew everywhere as Tokaki was trying to keep Tamahome away from his face with the quick fists he was pulling out. Finally Tamahome grabbed Tokaki in the neck. He starts to choke him ferociously, ready to kill him if necessary. Tokaki tried punching him in the chest as he was becoming faint and weak from losing air. Soon his punches became nothing, but soft taps as he finally gave up and realized he was going to die if he didn't try to get out of the choke hold. Though trying to remove Tamahome's hands were like trying to remove a bear trap.
"NO! TOKAKI!!" Karasuki yelled as he tried to struggle in Nuriko's arms.
"LET ME GO!! HE IS GOING TO KILL HIM!! LET ME GO!!" Karasuki yelled. He began to cry for his companion, ready to die to a Suzaku.
"DARN IT!! IF YOU ARE A VALIANT WARRIOR YOU WOULDN'T LET THIS HAPPEN!! PLEASE LET HIM GO!!" Karasuki begged as he kept on crying, his voice was becoming shaky with the growing fear that Tokaki might die.
"Grrr...if you really are a man...just kill me darn it," Tokaki said weakily, trying to gasp for air. Tamahome tried to increase the strength of his hold even more.
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ATTACKED ME FOR! BUT YOU BETTER LEAVE MIAKA OUT OF THIS! HOW DARE YOU STRIKE HER!" Tamahome yelled in his face.
"I DIDNT STRIKE HER! GET YOUR HEAD ON STRAIGHT! YOUR BLEEDING ALL OVER ME!" Tokaki yelled back. The struggling warrior was trying to push his finger inbetween him and Tamahome's hands. Tamahome sneered at him as blood dripped down his face and forehead, his hair was extremely wet, so was the rest of his body from the rain.
"TAMAHOME!!! STOP THIS! Please stop this!" Miaka shouted as she looked towards poor Tokaki. He was nearing death rapidly and there was little Miaka could do, but try to talk Tamahome out of it. Though she wasn't sure if he was even listening now....that he is no longer the same Tamahome she once knew.
"Please....don't kill him..." she whispered softly.
Tamahome became frustrated as he was starting to have a mixed judgment between killing Tokaki or listening to Miaka. His mind swirled into a whirlpool of doubt and confusion. Who was the real enemy here??? What just happened? Why was he now in this position, ready to kill? Was he a disappointment to everyone? He didn't know what to do, he was so confused and hurt. How could his master hit him the way he did? Why was he attacking him? Such confusion fell into his lap!
"Don't do it Tamahome!" Nuriko yelled.
"Tamahome..." Chichiri whispered softly.
It seemed all hope was lost till the sound of galloping swiftly stormed onto the scene. Everyone turned quickly to the sound of a tired horse coming to an abrupt halt. To their surprise, it was Hotohori! He had returned from his journey!
"Oh lord..what is going on here?" Hotohori asked softly as he looked at the battle scene that was waged on this peaceful, fertile land. No one answered him, they were too afraid Tamahome would snap and kill Tokaki instantly.
"What is going on??" Hotohori asked a little louder; his soft, long, and luscious brown hair getting soaked in the rain. Hotohori looked towards Tamahome, bleeding on the ground, soaking wet, dirty. He looked like he went through hell and back. The bold emperor got off of his horse and slowly walked towards Tamahome which still fixed his eyes on Tokaki, not even noticing Hotohori's arrival.
"NOOOOO!! NOO!! DON'T HURT HIM!! DON'T KILL HIM! PLEASE!!" Karasuki screamed as he tried to get out of Nuriko's hold. Chichiri ran to his assistance to stop him from slamming his elbow in Nuriko's chest. Hotohori frowned at this dark scene, he looked up at the sky as rain kept pouring down. He then stopped at Tamahome's aggressive position. Hotohori put a hand gently on Tamahome's shoulder. The angry warrior almost flinched as he snapped his attention upwards, ready to attack what was bothering him.
"Whoa..whoa...Tamahome. Its ok, its me! Now listen to me carefully, you can not hurt this man. He is your master, he is like a father to you," Hotohori said in a soft tone.
"THEN WHY DID HE ATTACK ME?? WHY??" Tamahome demanded, Hotohori backed up a little in a bit of fear. Tamahome seemed really edgy at this point, Hotohori didn't blame him for it though.
"Maybe he is confused himself. We don't know till you release him. Please, if you won't let him go for yourself, at least let him go for Miaka," Hotohori whispered. Tamahome started to think of Miaka and looked towards the scared teenage girl that was standing before him. He became so embarrassed that he instantly released Tokaki from his grasp.Tokaki coughed and sputtered from the relieve of being able to breathe again. He curled over to his side and got up slowly, putting a hand softly on his dark pink neck. He then got up slowly and looked at Hotohori with a tired look. The Byakko member then leaned over to cough some more. Tamahome turned away from everyone and looked out into the distance. The embarrassed Suzaku looked at his hands and shook his head in shame. What was he thinking? How dare he even think of such a thing as killing his own master? Tokaki gathered himself back up again and stopped coughing. He gave a slight grump and turned away in the opposite direction. Hotohori was relieved, but this wasn't over just yet.
Karasuki was finally released from Nuriko's tight grasp, now that the world was back in order. The young teen then dashed to his companion to see how he was doing, Tokaki pushed him away. He was sort of angry at himself for losing. Karasuki frowned and looked worried. Tokaki began to walk away from the Suzaku Seven, he had failed at his mission. Karasuki followed him like a lonely puppy, he was worried about Tokaki. He hoped he wasn't beaten that badly. Chichiri, Nuriko, and Tasuki ran to Hotohori and gathered around him.
"Thank goodness you are back ya know. We don't know why Tokaki was fighting Tamahome, he just came and attacked him without reason, ya know," Chichiri said happily.
"We were too busy holding down that younger guy to get to Tamahome," Nuriko explained.
"Wow..I can't believe you got him to stop! I was going to jump in, but I don't think I would of been much use at that point," Tasuki said with a relieved look on his face. The group then looked up as the rain stopped and the clouds cleared to reveal a peaceful sky. The sun shined and started to warm up the warriors that were drenched to the bone in rain.
"Well what do you know...its sunny again," Nuriko commented as he looked towards Tokaki and Karasuki.
Miaka got up and ran towards the pair that was walking away from them. She rushed as fast as she could to catch up to the pair. Poor Miaka was soaking wet like everyone else and tried not to slip on the wet grass below her feet as she ran.
"Wait! Wait! Tokaki!!" Miaka yelled. Tokaki stopped and turned around slowly.
"What do you want?" Tokaki asked with a sigh.
"Why did you attack Tamahome?? Why?" Miaka asked him. Tokaki didn't answer, he just looked down, ashamed to look up at her. Miaka went around him and got into his face.
"Answer me!" Miaka forced firmly.
"Excuse me..what's your name?" Karasuki asked peacefully as he turned to her. Miaka was started at the young man's sweet tone of voice.
"Umm.. it's Miaka.." she answered.
"Are you the Priestess of Suzaku?" Karasuki wondered. Miaka nodded, yet she didn't know who he was.
"Thought I recognized you. I'm Karasuki of the Byakko Seven," Karasuki introduced as he bowed towards Miaka's.
"I'm sorry, I have never met you in my life," Miaka said nervously as she watched him bow. He then swiftly took her hand and kissed it softly. As he released her with his token of greetings, he smiled softly at Miaka and then stood straight up.
"You probably havn't, but Iv always been on the Byakko team," Karasuki explained. Miaka nodded, blushing slightly from the kiss on her hand. She then turned back to Tokaki, which was still ignoring her purposely.
"Why did you attack Tamahome?" Miaka asked again.
"Its a long story..." Tokaki groaned.
"I'm willing to sit and listen to it," Miaka told him as she stood in front with her fists clenched.
"I'm very sorry for our behavior Priestess, we just had a recent death," Karasuki jumped in.
"Recent death? Who?" Miaka asked curiously as her mood lighten up.
"Xia Fang, the adopted daughter of Tokaki and Subaru," Karasuki answered, he flipped his gleaming white hair back and let out a sigh of disappointment. Karasuki picked up his staff and started tying it back across his chest. Miaka let out a gasp at the sudden news of the death of the young purple haired girl she once had to compete with. She remembered when she was staying at their house. Tokaki told Tamahome to stop loving Miaka, for it will be easier when they couldn't be together in the when it was time for Miaka to leave their world. So he offered Xia Fang to him, though Tamahome seemed to try to start over, he couldn't and they were reunited once again later.
"But Why??..... How??" Miaka asked quickly covering her mouth.
"There was a guy in the trees this morning, he left when we tried to get a good look at him...Tokaki got a better look at the killer more than we did. He said Tamahome did it," Karasuki explained.
"Thats...That's impossible! Tamahome was with us the whole time!" Miaka defended.
"I SAW WHAT I SAW!" Tokaki growled.
"But he was helping us pack in the morning! He couldn't rush all the way to Sairo and back to us at the same time Xia Fang died," Miaka told him.
"We really don't know what else to say," Karasuki told her as he watched Miaka put her head down to think. While she was thinking, Hotohori walks cautiously up to the small group. He nods to them and turns his view to Miaka. Chichiri was close behind him and stared angrily towards Karasuki, which in return, the young warrior gave a nervous expression towards his enemy. Karasuki backed away behind Tokaki for save keeping.
"Miaka," Hotohori said softly as he touched her shoulder with the warmest of touches," Not to disturb your conversation, but I must inform you that I found out the house that we slept in yesterday is no longer there."
The sound from his lips made Miaka shake as if she had something in her hands, it would surely drop and shatter. Miaka stared at Hotohori for a short while till she got the courage to speak up and ask him about it.
"What do you mean?" Miaka asked, she almost felt stupid for demanding a repeat. Yet the auburn haired girl was in so much shock, that she couldn't help asking for a better explanation to clear some air.
"The house that we slept in the other night, its gone. It no longer exists is what Im trying to say. Maybe it never did exist period," Hotohori suggested as he gave a long sigh and looked towards Chichiri for comfort. No comfort was offered from the light blue haired man that stood before him. Chichiri then heard the stomping of foot steps and groans that seem to belong to an aching creature. He turned around to view Tamahome swiftly, yet not rushing over, to talk to the rest. He must of over heard what they were saying and had something important to add.
"You said you never found the house?" Tamahome asked silently.
"Yes that is what I mentioned," Hotohori confirmed as he turned to him in a peculiar manner.
"There is only one guy who can do such an atrocity," Tamahome suggested. Now all of them, including the stubborn master Tokaki, were listening to Tamahome speak.
"Who would that be?" Karasuki asked kindly.
"Tomo from the Seiryuu Seven. Think about it....he's the only one with illusion magic," Tamahome revealed, Everyone swayed opinions to this theory that was laid out in plain english. After everything was cleared, everyone then shook their heads in solemn agreement to the proposed thought.
"That sounds about right ya know," Chichiri said, understanding Tamahome in this instance.
"But there is one person on the Genbu group that can do illusion magic as well," Tokaki added.
"But all of the Genbu are not here in this realm," Karasuki mentioned softly. Tokaki sighed and decided to agree with the theory along with the others.
"He's the only one with that capability..yes I remember," Miaka said as she remembered the shadow of Tomo messing with her friends in the desert, as well as making Soi look like her in front of Tamahome so he can cheat on Miaka.
"But if he was at the house tricking you guys...how could he be with us as well?" Karasuki asked in a confused manner.
"Wait..I remember that he made Soi appear as Miaka the last time she was over here," Tamahome continued.
"So he must of made one of the warriors look like Tamahome," Miaka cheered in. She was so relieved that the explanation was very much correct and made total sense.
"So it was one of the Seiryuu warriors who killed Xia Fang," Tokaki grumbled. His spiking white hair was not drying out from the constant rain that was going on during the fight. His black and red outfit was also drying nicely in the sun.
"That must be it then," Karasuki nodded.
"But how do we know this is the truth?" Tokaki said, going back into the subject. Karasuki groaned, he didn't want to talk about this anymore. He closed his eyes for a second when he heard the sounds of rough beatings upon the soil. Karasuki looked around Tokaki to see a good size group of horses come towards their way. He tried to squint as he noticed something familiar about the lead. It was a beautiful women with pink hair. It must be Subaru!! Karasuki rejoiced that they had followed them here. Yet they stopped a little back before they spotted Tokaki and Karasuki standing around. They saw half the meadow was gone in a flame and turned into dust as well as blood splattered all over the trees and grasses in a wild painted manner. Subaru unmounted her horse and ran to join the small gathering. She quickly hugged Tokaki, thanking Byakko he was all right. She noticed he took a good beating too and smiled at him happily that he was still at least walking. The rest went to gather around Tokaki and Karasuki asking what happened all at once. This split Karasuki's mind into random confusion.
"Im so glad both of you are all right," Subaru mentions as she looked at Tokaki and then smiled towards Tamahome. Tamahome nodded towards her and then looked down with a soft smile. It was nice to see Subaru again. Miaka looked around, she wondered how long its been since they left, she looked indirectly where the position of the sun was and her watch that she still had on. The time was between late afternoon in transition with early evening. Miaka frowned at the thought of them wasting so much time in a futile argument.
"We wasted a lot of time fighting," Miaka whispered. Hotohori turned to her and nodded with the same sentiments.
"We did waste a lot of time, doing unnecessary things. I propose we
forgive and forget, then travel to Hokkan together," Hotohori told them.
The Byakko seven greatly agreed and appreciated the extra company and protection
on their journey to Hokkan. They all nodded and smiled towards Hotohori
and the rest. They then agreed on a truce and helped the Suzaku seven recover
the rest of their group that was currently unconscious. After treating
them, they then helped them on their horses and everyone took off together
for Hokkan's borders. With new hope in hand, they were praying to make
good time since they lost so much already.
As the sun tired behind the blackened mountains, Nakago stares softly out his window in the carriage. He was riding with Lady Yui inside to protect her. The iron armored fighter heard on and on the clip clopping of the horses that were moving along with the rustling sound of the carriage wheels turning moderately. He turned to Yui which was viewing outside the opposite window, her chin rested softly on the face of her palm. She looked so elegant and alluring to him in that pose. Yet he decided not to make a move. Any suggestion of temptation might scare her into not trusting him now. As he viewed Lady Yui's presence, he heard the quick and steady beat of a fast horse storming across the dusty pathway. He viewed outside his window to see a young painted faced man with a gold crown and soft long clothing, slowing down to a trot beside the lower edge of the right side of the carriage. Nakago smirked and stuck his head out just slightly to exchange expressions with Tomo. Tomo nodded and smirked back at him. The long blond haired seishi nodded and then put his head back in. Lady Yui now became suspicious and stared at him in a nervous way. He smiled softly at her to reassure he was up to nothing.
"Why did you stick your head out? What was that noise I heard a minute ago?" Yui asked him swiftly before he could talk smoothly to her. She tried to demand it right on the spot, yet the crafty Nakago was even quicker.
"It was nothing much Lady Yui, I stuck my head out to find out what the sound was about and I saw one of our men coming across to us," He repeated honestly. Lady Yui shifted towards the right window and stuck her head out to view Tomo on the right end of the carriage. She then turned back to Nakago suspiciously again. Before Yui could ask anymore Nakago jumped up in enthusiasm at when he saw snow on the ground. His grin only gotten wider into an impish smile with a pint of mischief in it.
"We are here...finally at the Borders of Hokkan," Nakago said snakishly.