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The Mystic Ring - Part Four
By: Lady Genrou

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Disclaimers: Usual disclaimers apply.

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The first day or so of their journey was quite pleasant. The sun was constantly shining, the sky was clear, and the whole land had a happy atmosphere which managed to clear Sadako's mind for a little bit. She kept her horse at a slow trot a few feet behind Tasuki's. He didn't speak much to her and always seemed a little ... annoyed most of the time, so she decided that staying silent was the best. But that day was so beautiful, that even Tasuki couldn't be grumpy.

She steered her horse up beside him and smiled lightly. "Nice day, isn't it?"

Tasuki looked at her a moment, having thought that she was going to stay silent the whole trip. "Yeah. We've had some pretty rotten weather lately. Hopefully it will stay this way until we get to Konan."

"Do you think it will?"

Tasuki simply shrugged. "I have no idea."

Suddenly Tasuki jerked the reins if his horse and stopped, cocking his head to the side to listen. Sadako stopped as well and looked at him curiously. "What is it?"

He was silent a moment, then replied. "Some ones coming this way."

Sadako began to panic. "Genrou! What if its Mashou?"

"Then we don't have to go all the way to Konan to find him," he replied, waiting another moment before snapping the reins and moving forward again.

Sadako held back, not at all comfortable with the present situation. Tasuki obviously had no idea just how powerful Mashou was. Not to mention that his powers probably were tripled now that he had the ring. She bit her bottom lip and continued forward as well, not wanting to get left behind.

Suddenly, out of no where, a giant, winged beast swooped out before them with an ear piercing screech, knocking Tasuki off his horse and soaring straight for the princess.

"Genrou!!" Sadako screamed as the creatures claws caught her clothing and plucked her easily from the saddle.

Tasuki forced himself up despite the pain that wracked his body and ran after them, drawing his tessen from its sling and taking careful aim so not to hit the princess.

"REKKA SHIEN!"

The ball of fire struck the beast in the leg, causing him to let out another cry and release the princess. Sadako screamed as she fell towards the ground, and was taken completely by surprise when she landed in Tasuki's arms. "Genrou!" she breathed, tears flowing down her face.

"Don't thank me yet! That things not-"

His words were cut off as the beat flew back around and hit him with it's giant foot in the back. Tasuki cried out as he fell forward, dropping Sadako to the ground. Stunned, she turned back around to see the monster diving straight down at him. "Genrou!!" she screamed again, her mind reeling with thoughts of the worst. "Look out!"

Tasuki rolled onto his back and weakly picked his tessen up, trying desperately to gather his strength. Then, at the very last moment, he managed to get it aimed at the rabid dragon. "REKKA SHIEN!!"

The even bigger blast of fire hit the creature in the face, blinding it. Wounded, and very angry, the beast swooped back into the air and flew a clumsy retreat back into the sky from where it had come from.

Tasuki closed his eyes and collapsed back onto the ground, dropping his tessen at his side, grimacing with pain. Sadako could only stare at his body there, immobile for what seemed to her to be an eternity, but was in reality, but a moment before she swiftly crawled to his side. "Genrou!?" she shrieked, gently putting her hands to his shoulders and shaking him. "Are you all right!?"

Tasuki opened his eyes half way and gazed wearily into her worried eyes. "Don't shake me. I hurt enough as it is."

"Oh, thank God you're all right!" she sobbed, leaning down and hugging him.

"Gah! Don't get all mushy on me! I'm fine, okay!? Now get the hell off me!" he demanded, feebly pushing her away and sitting up, trying to hide the pain he was in.

Sadako fell silent and let her gaze fall to her hands and started slightly when she saw a stain of red on them. She snapped her head up and looked him over and gasped when she caught sight of the red spot that was spreading on his torn shirt where the monsters claws had ripped through and slashed his back. "You're bleeding!"

Tasuki bowed his head for a moment to hide another grimace of pain, then pulled himself to his feet. "Dammit," he cursed. "That thing scared our horses away! We lost our stuff!"

Sadako stood as well and grabbed his arms, shocked at his words. "We almost lost more than that, Genrou! What good would our stuff do us if we were dead?"

"But were not dead, are we? Now, come one. We have a longer way to go now that we lost our mode of transportation.

"At least let me treat your wounds so you don't faint from loss of blood!"

"How are you going to "treat my wounds" when all our damn supplies are gone!?" he yelled, whirling around to face her, more frustrated at himself for getting hurt in the battle. She had made him drop his guard, and the thought of a *girl* being able to do that caused a small twinge of fear within him. He quickly avoided meeting her gaze when she looked to him with those blue eyes of hers. For some reason, the thought of seeing her cry bothered him. He turned back around and started down the path, silent, expecting her to follow on her own.

Sadako stood and looked after her for a moment before following. She angrily swiped at a tear the fell down her face, upset that he was so cold and stubborn and because she was the reason why he was hurt. She never should have asked him for his help. If she would have just gone alone like she had planned, he wouldn't be hurt now. She furrowed her brow in confusion. Why did she care so much about him when he hated her with a vengeance? She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to try and stop her tears, but failed drastically as Tasuki's cold look of raw contempt became fresh in her memory. She was beginning to dread the rest of the quest for the ring, thinking that the only reason why he even bother to save her was because he was that greedy for the reward she had promised.

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To be continued...