Chapter two
"Burn all the good things in the Eden eye, we were too dumb to run, to dead to die. This was never my world, you took the angel away. I killed myself to make everybody pay." Marilyn Manson
It wasn't until she felt a needle prick her foot that she awoke from a dream, and Takiko jerked her leg away, sitting up in an instant. She found herself in some badly lit cabin; scarves strung from window to window, partially covering the tops of some of the bookcases. Looking around in wonder, she told herself she must still be dreaming. The little woman at the foot of the bed she was on, however, seemed to break the dream-like quality of this reality.
"We-ell, ye finally decided to wake up, did ye?" Her words were sodden and heavy with a strange accent, and when Takiko's eyes adjusted, she could finally focus on the 'foreigner'.
Words were not at Takiko's disposal, so instead she sat on the bed and stared, rather rudely, at the woman. She looked as though she was only five feet tall, standing straight up, and she was the thinnest person Takiko could ever hope to meet. Pretty though, delicate, she reminded Takiko of a fairy...minus the wings. Around her neck were strung garlands of brightly colored beads, her wrists and arms littered in bangle bracelets and pieces of cloth. The woman was dressed in a flowing midnight blue skirt and a simple piece of white cloth that tied around her bust and covered her small breasts. Her hair was a dark chestnut, and pulled back in a complicated looking ponytail, her hair also riddled with a collection of jewelry.
She stood at the foot of the bed, her arms crossed and a triumphant smirk gracing her face, waiting for Takiko to say something...anything.
"Who...are you? And where am I??"
"I am Ryelie, m'lady...and you somehow landed in the middle of our camp."
"Your...camp?" Takiko blinked, and ran her fingers through her tangled hair, slipping off the bed and finding her bare feet digging into a soft woven beige rug. She didn't know why, but she felt nervous. The accents, the odd décor...where had she ended up?
"Hai...the midnights relics, given where ye are I understand that doesn't sound familiar. We are but a band of traveling gypsies, and you...are our honored guest."
With that, Ryelie lightly stepped across the room and pushed aside the cloth that served as a door. "Adei! Come! Come!"
Takiko hadn't even the time to let those few words sink in before another figure slipped into the room, lithe as Ryelie's and as fluid in movements, but definitely male. Takiko was almost taken aback by how beautiful a man could get. His cat-like eyes, with oddly pink irises, were striking, and his sandy brown hair, cut short with several longer strands in the front, framed his finely boned face perfectly. He looked to Ryelie and then to Takiko, and said.
"Is she the one?"
"Sarita-sama said she was." Ryelie nodded with a smile "And you know what that means Adei..."
"And won't you guys miss me?" the man gave a nonchalant smirk.
"We'll make do, -somehow-" Even though her accent was heavy, Takiko could fully detect the sarcasm, even if she didn't know what they were talking about. Abruptly, however, Ryelie's tone changed "I don't know about Sarita-sama though...you know she sees you as a son."
"Well she's been the only mother I can even remember. She took me in when I was...what? Nine? Ten?"
"Eight was what she guessed, and I remember the day perfectly. You were such a scruffy boy..."
"And now look." Adei spread his arms wide, several pieces of jewelry clinking together as he did so. He swept downward in a graceful bow and came up with a smile "I needn't remember my old life...this one is better by far."
"Go on ye." Ryelie ushered him out the curtain-door "Tell Sarita-sama that the priestess is awake, and then ye can help out in the kitchen. You're not going to be free loadin' just because this is yer last night."
When Adei was gone, Ryelie turned back to Takiko, who was still standing beside the bed. She read the confusion in Takiko's eyes, well who could blame the child for being confused?, and scratched her cheek in thought, before saying "I guess ye are wondering what's going on here, ne?"
Takiko nodded silently. "Well, ye see...Sarita-sama, she is everyone's grandmother here, and it's like she has special...powers, special connections with the spirits. She's been having these dreams for months, dreams of -you-...the priestess of Genbu. I'm not sure if ye've caught on yet or not, but you're a very special person." Ryelie continued.
"But why...I mean how..." Why was it all of a sudden so difficult to form complete sentences? Suddenly she felt like her dad, and she waved her hands in helpless frustration at her inability to convey the questions running through her mind. Ryelie interjected and cut her off anyway.
"I'm not really one hundred percent sure, I don't even know if Sarita-sama. You'll get to talk to her tonight...after dinner, which I need ta' be helping prepare." She twirled a finger through one string of hair and danced for the door.
"Wait! One more question." Takiko's hasty voice stopped Ryelie, and she raised her eyebrows in question as she turned around.
"Hmm?"
"You said...this was Adei's last night. Why did you say that?"
"Adei is one of your guardians, priestess...from now on his life is your life. He can't live with us anymore."
With that Ryelie turned and pushed the curtain aside, flouncing out the door.
The dinner was exquisite. Of course, more than likely anything would have been when compared to the cheap microwave dinners she had been surviving on. Takiko savored each and every bite she put into her mouth, closing her eyes as she did so as if that would enhance the taste. Occasionally, one of the members of the clan of gypsies would glance in her direction, but by now Takiko was used to it.
Or perhaps she was just too caught up in the food.
Afterward, Adei led her to Sarita-sama's tent. She had not been present at dinner, so Takiko had yet to actually meet her. She tentatively pulled apart the flaps of the tents door and stepped inside.
In here it was a much brighter place than Ryelie's cabin, or outside where the sun had set, candles lined the rather large tent and rugs were laid out on the ground, but there was no furniture. The old woman lifted her head as Takiko entered the tent, and when their eyes met, Takiko almost faltered. Her eyes...the old woman's eyes, it was like looking into a mirror, even though nothing else about her looked similar. Although the woman's face had wrinkles, it was an ageless face, she could have been anywhere from sixty to ninety years old. Sarita-sama had her fair share of jewelry, but it in no way surpassed the multitude of jewelry worn by her "children". She smiled, silent, and motioned for Takiko to come and sit beside her.
"Did you enjoy dinner?" The woman asked.
"Yes...very much so." Takiko still felt shy, but oddly comfortable, not nervous like she did around Adei or Ryelie. "Everything was delicious."
"I would have come but I wanted our first meeting to be...uninterrupted. I'm sure you have plenty of questions, Takiko."
Takiko nodded, keeping mute for the moment, although a question popped into mind instantly. 'How did you know my name?' ran through her mind, but she might as well have spoken it, because it seemed like almost all of these 'gypsies' were psychic.
"I know a lot about you Takiko, although in some ways I know very little. I know that you have been chosen by our god...Genbu, he wants you for reasons I can not say, and it is your mission now...to summon him. Until you do that, you cannot go home."
"H-how do I...?"
"There are seven guardians that you must gather, each represent a constellation...when you get them together you can summon Genbu."
"Where...?"
"One of them is here. Adei...he is one of your seishi, he will go with you to find the other six. I know not specifically where they all are...but more than likely they are all up in Hokkan, the country not far from here."
"Why do I need a...?"
"The land is dangerous, Genbu designed seven guardians because you will -need- all seven...though for different reasons. Indeed this is a dangerous land, more so for you...because you are the priestess. I am not the only one that knows of this legend, others...will surely learn of your arrival, and some of them are dangerous."
"...Oh." Takiko nodded slowly "are you...okay with Adei's leaving?"
Sarita gave a soft hand and took her hand to her forehead, brushing aside frail strands of snow-white hair. "He is like a son to me...I love him as my own. Of course I love -all- of my children, but Adei has always been special because...I raised him. But I raised him knowing fully well what he would grow up to be. I worry for him, as any mother would, but I know this has to be done...I--"
Sarita's voice was covered up by a surprised shout, and in a matter of seconds the camp erupted into a scene of chaos. Takiko glanced back at Sarita-sama and then clambered to her feet, scrambling to see what all the commotion was about. She could only hear bits of sentences "..protect Sarita-sama." "...you know what they want." But she couldn't stop anyone long enough to ask what was going on.
Takiko looked around and finally, in the midst of the forest and heading their way, she saw a line of torches. A call rang through the campsite. "Arm yourselves! The Kikuchis have found us!"
People ran back and forth, from one end of the site to the other, in a mindless panic. Takiko saw Ryelie rush past her, just as one of the first flaming arrows whizzed past her and singed a lock of hair. Takiko let out a surprised gasp, the arrow landed on one of the tents, and the cloth easily caught fire, the tent instantly ablaze in flames. She felt someone tug on her arm and she looked over to see Ryelie, her face wild with panic.
"Come on! Come on! It's not safe for you here!!" Ryelie pleaded with Takiko as she continued to pull on her arm, attempting to uproot Takiko from her spot. It took her a minute to come out of shock before she nodded and the two of them took off.
"I know a cove...we'll be safe there...the bandits don't know about it." Ryelie breathed her words heavily as she ran, keeping her grasp firmly on Takiko's wrist, a dagger in her other hand, the only weapon she had had time to grab up. She led Takiko through a maze of trees underlain with thick primary growth, a difficult terrain to cover quickly, yet somehow Ryelie managed, she had come this way many, many times with her mother when she was still alive. Finally the masses of unyielding trees gave in and dumped them out into a curve of blue grass that grew beside a weak, trickling stream.
Finally Ryelie let go of her iron grip on Takiko's arm and dipped down by the stream, splashing her face with some of the running water. When Takiko looked down to inspect her pained wrist she noticed red marks from Ryelie's fingers and shallow indents from her nails. When her heart had calmed enough so that it was no longer lodged in her throat, Takiko spoke. "What just happened?"
Ryelie wiped her hands across her cheeks and looked up from her little spot beside the water. "Those...are Kikuchi bandits, and 'officially' I suppose, we're on their territory. We were supposed to be gone a few days ago, to head to a new place, but Sarita-sama told us to stay...and I know now it's because of ye."
"So...really, this is -my- fault."
"No! Not at all!" Ryelie shook her head, regretting how her words sounded, though understanding perfectly why she had subtly laid the blame on Takiko. She was upset and angry that this had happened at all, but to not be able to fight along side her brothers and sisters...and to have to baby-sit some girl from another world who had no idea what she was doing and no way to defend herself...it was frustrating. -She- wasn't a Genbu no seishi, this wasn't -her- responsibility. Yet she said nothing to that tune. "Sarita-sama needs ye, she needs your help sh--"
Cut off in mid-word, Ryelie gave a surprised gasp of pain and fell forward, burying her face in the grass. It was then that Takiko noticed the arrow lodged in her back. But who...?
"Ne, so you're the one. The one Ketsueki spoke of."
Across the stream, with a wooden bow still in hand, stood one of the bandits. He was a large man, not husky but by no means puny, who looked to be at least thirty, by his aged face, which held a rather smug smirk. Takiko over at him, and then rushed to Ryelie's side, not knowing what she was supposed to do. Remove the arrow? That seemed the most logical, and she tried to ignore the roars of laughter from the opposite side of the stream as she laid her palm flat on Ryelie's back, near the wound, and tried to dislodge the arrowhead.
Takiko's hands became steeped in fresh blood as she worked the arrow loose. Ryelie was wincing but made very little noise, just an occasional gasp. Finally, her hands covered like bloody gloves, she freed the arrow and threw it to the ground. The arrow was gone, so why was Ryelie still withering and wreathing in pain?
"Poison...poison was on that arrow missy, your friend is still dying." He shouldered the bow and waded across the river, nearing them. Takiko was torn, not knowing whether to stay by Ryelie's side or run from the bandit. Ryelie's voice came pleading as she struggled to get up.
"Priestess! Ye have got to get out of here! Leave me! Please!!"
But Takiko refused to leave her. Finally Ryelie managed to stagger to her feet, and she unsheathed her dagger from her hip. Standing in front of Takiko to protect her, her eyes were dark, cold...the color of charcoal. To Takiko she looked menacing, but she was obviously frailer than she appeared, because one energetic shove from the bandit caused her to topple over with a yelp of surprise and pain.
Takiko tried to rush to her side, but the man's large hand shot out and grabbed a thick clump of her hair, tugging her backward and into his arms. He reeked, his breath putrid with the smell of alcohol, and Takiko gagged as he tightened his grip on her.
"Now...you're goin' back with me. You'll fetch a pretty price I'll bet."
A shadow fell over them, and the bandit barely had time to turn around before he felt a fish smack into his face, rings on possibly every finger of the hand digging into his forehead. He staggered but did not let go of Takiko, and thus, when the new aggressor dragged the bandit to the ground, she went too. She managed to scramble around while the other two were engaging in fisticuffs. Crawling back over to Ryelie, she glanced back and saw Adei pinning the man to the ground, but it was a very different looking Adei from the graceful and sarcastic man Takiko had met earlier, he looked...almost evil. No longer was he swathed in light clothes and tons of jewelry, now he was draped in a heavy black trench coat, a burning glare to his pink eyes, and only one necklace, an ankh, around his neck.
In one fluid moment, Adei slipped off the necklace and pressed the ankh against the struggling man's chest. His eyes closed, and an emerald green light began to grow from the point of contact between his hand and the man's chest. Now the bandit was howling in pain, and fighting all the more to get Adei off him, but Adei wouldn't budge. A single shudder ran down the villain's spine before his head fell back, and he stilled.
That pure evil faded from his eyes after he stayed there for a moment and panted, and finally Adei removed himself from the now dead bandit and turned toward Takiko. Shaking, and confused, she scooted away from him, but refused to move too far away from Adei's dying body. "S...stay away from me." She whispered, her eyes wide with fear as she dug her fingers into the soft dirt underneath her. She had seen evil in his eyes, and whether or not he had just killed her attacker, he frightened her.
But it seemed like Adei had no intentions of hurting Takiko, really know interest in her at all. He instead wandered to Ryelie's side and knelt down, hoisting her up into his arms. Takiko raised her hand to protest, but said nothing, until Adei put his ankh against the bared v of Ryelie's collarbone.
"NO! Adei! Don't kill her! Please!"
"Takiko...she's already dead."
That shut Takiko up, and she turned her head away, hot tears burning their way down her cheeks. She sniffled softly for a moment before curiosity gnawed at her, as to what Adei was doing, and she turned to watch him.
The green light once again grew from underneath his hand, and this time Takiko was close enough to feel the heat radiating from it. This light was a softer green however, not the glaring iridescent emerald it had been before. It deepened in color, and the heat grew, accompanied by a high-pitched, barely audible, monotone note. Then the light died away and the heat faded.
To Takiko, there seemed to have been no point to that, until she saw the thumb on Ryelie's left hand twitch. Takiko covered her mouth in shock, unbelieving of what she was seeing...but yes, Ryelie was now stirring out of her deathly slumber, and rising up slowly to a sitting position.
"What...what did you do??" Takiko gasped in astonishment.
"I cheated death, priestess." Adei informed her, rising to his feet as Ryelie did the same and placing the necklace back around his neck, so the ankh dangled freely at his chest. He kept one hand on Ryelie's shoulder to keep her steady. "It's my curse as a Genbu seishi."
"Burn all the good things in the Eden eye, we were too dumb to run, to dead to die. This was never my world, you took the angel away. I killed myself to make everybody pay." Marilyn Manson
It wasn't until she felt a needle prick her foot that she awoke from a dream, and Takiko jerked her leg away, sitting up in an instant. She found herself in some badly lit cabin; scarves strung from window to window, partially covering the tops of some of the bookcases. Looking around in wonder, she told herself she must still be dreaming. The little woman at the foot of the bed she was on, however, seemed to break the dream-like quality of this reality.
"We-ell, ye finally decided to wake up, did ye?" Her words were sodden and heavy with a strange accent, and when Takiko's eyes adjusted, she could finally focus on the 'foreigner'.
Words were not at Takiko's disposal, so instead she sat on the bed and stared, rather rudely, at the woman. She looked as though she was only five feet tall, standing straight up, and she was the thinnest person Takiko could ever hope to meet. Pretty though, delicate, she reminded Takiko of a fairy...minus the wings. Around her neck were strung garlands of brightly colored beads, her wrists and arms littered in bangle bracelets and pieces of cloth. The woman was dressed in a flowing midnight blue skirt and a simple piece of white cloth that tied around her bust and covered her small breasts. Her hair was a dark chestnut, and pulled back in a complicated looking ponytail, her hair also riddled with a collection of jewelry.
She stood at the foot of the bed, her arms crossed and a triumphant smirk gracing her face, waiting for Takiko to say something...anything.
"Who...are you? And where am I??"
"I am Ryelie, m'lady...and you somehow landed in the middle of our camp."
"Your...camp?" Takiko blinked, and ran her fingers through her tangled hair, slipping off the bed and finding her bare feet digging into a soft woven beige rug. She didn't know why, but she felt nervous. The accents, the odd décor...where had she ended up?
"Hai...the midnights relics, given where ye are I understand that doesn't sound familiar. We are but a band of traveling gypsies, and you...are our honored guest."
With that, Ryelie lightly stepped across the room and pushed aside the cloth that served as a door. "Adei! Come! Come!"
Takiko hadn't even the time to let those few words sink in before another figure slipped into the room, lithe as Ryelie's and as fluid in movements, but definitely male. Takiko was almost taken aback by how beautiful a man could get. His cat-like eyes, with oddly pink irises, were striking, and his sandy brown hair, cut short with several longer strands in the front, framed his finely boned face perfectly. He looked to Ryelie and then to Takiko, and said.
"Is she the one?"
"Sarita-sama said she was." Ryelie nodded with a smile "And you know what that means Adei..."
"And won't you guys miss me?" the man gave a nonchalant smirk.
"We'll make do, -somehow-" Even though her accent was heavy, Takiko could fully detect the sarcasm, even if she didn't know what they were talking about. Abruptly, however, Ryelie's tone changed "I don't know about Sarita-sama though...you know she sees you as a son."
"Well she's been the only mother I can even remember. She took me in when I was...what? Nine? Ten?"
"Eight was what she guessed, and I remember the day perfectly. You were such a scruffy boy..."
"And now look." Adei spread his arms wide, several pieces of jewelry clinking together as he did so. He swept downward in a graceful bow and came up with a smile "I needn't remember my old life...this one is better by far."
"Go on ye." Ryelie ushered him out the curtain-door "Tell Sarita-sama that the priestess is awake, and then ye can help out in the kitchen. You're not going to be free loadin' just because this is yer last night."
When Adei was gone, Ryelie turned back to Takiko, who was still standing beside the bed. She read the confusion in Takiko's eyes, well who could blame the child for being confused?, and scratched her cheek in thought, before saying "I guess ye are wondering what's going on here, ne?"
Takiko nodded silently. "Well, ye see...Sarita-sama, she is everyone's grandmother here, and it's like she has special...powers, special connections with the spirits. She's been having these dreams for months, dreams of -you-...the priestess of Genbu. I'm not sure if ye've caught on yet or not, but you're a very special person." Ryelie continued.
"But why...I mean how..." Why was it all of a sudden so difficult to form complete sentences? Suddenly she felt like her dad, and she waved her hands in helpless frustration at her inability to convey the questions running through her mind. Ryelie interjected and cut her off anyway.
"I'm not really one hundred percent sure, I don't even know if Sarita-sama. You'll get to talk to her tonight...after dinner, which I need ta' be helping prepare." She twirled a finger through one string of hair and danced for the door.
"Wait! One more question." Takiko's hasty voice stopped Ryelie, and she raised her eyebrows in question as she turned around.
"Hmm?"
"You said...this was Adei's last night. Why did you say that?"
"Adei is one of your guardians, priestess...from now on his life is your life. He can't live with us anymore."
With that Ryelie turned and pushed the curtain aside, flouncing out the door.
The dinner was exquisite. Of course, more than likely anything would have been when compared to the cheap microwave dinners she had been surviving on. Takiko savored each and every bite she put into her mouth, closing her eyes as she did so as if that would enhance the taste. Occasionally, one of the members of the clan of gypsies would glance in her direction, but by now Takiko was used to it.
Or perhaps she was just too caught up in the food.
Afterward, Adei led her to Sarita-sama's tent. She had not been present at dinner, so Takiko had yet to actually meet her. She tentatively pulled apart the flaps of the tents door and stepped inside.
In here it was a much brighter place than Ryelie's cabin, or outside where the sun had set, candles lined the rather large tent and rugs were laid out on the ground, but there was no furniture. The old woman lifted her head as Takiko entered the tent, and when their eyes met, Takiko almost faltered. Her eyes...the old woman's eyes, it was like looking into a mirror, even though nothing else about her looked similar. Although the woman's face had wrinkles, it was an ageless face, she could have been anywhere from sixty to ninety years old. Sarita-sama had her fair share of jewelry, but it in no way surpassed the multitude of jewelry worn by her "children". She smiled, silent, and motioned for Takiko to come and sit beside her.
"Did you enjoy dinner?" The woman asked.
"Yes...very much so." Takiko still felt shy, but oddly comfortable, not nervous like she did around Adei or Ryelie. "Everything was delicious."
"I would have come but I wanted our first meeting to be...uninterrupted. I'm sure you have plenty of questions, Takiko."
Takiko nodded, keeping mute for the moment, although a question popped into mind instantly. 'How did you know my name?' ran through her mind, but she might as well have spoken it, because it seemed like almost all of these 'gypsies' were psychic.
"I know a lot about you Takiko, although in some ways I know very little. I know that you have been chosen by our god...Genbu, he wants you for reasons I can not say, and it is your mission now...to summon him. Until you do that, you cannot go home."
"H-how do I...?"
"There are seven guardians that you must gather, each represent a constellation...when you get them together you can summon Genbu."
"Where...?"
"One of them is here. Adei...he is one of your seishi, he will go with you to find the other six. I know not specifically where they all are...but more than likely they are all up in Hokkan, the country not far from here."
"Why do I need a...?"
"The land is dangerous, Genbu designed seven guardians because you will -need- all seven...though for different reasons. Indeed this is a dangerous land, more so for you...because you are the priestess. I am not the only one that knows of this legend, others...will surely learn of your arrival, and some of them are dangerous."
"...Oh." Takiko nodded slowly "are you...okay with Adei's leaving?"
Sarita gave a soft hand and took her hand to her forehead, brushing aside frail strands of snow-white hair. "He is like a son to me...I love him as my own. Of course I love -all- of my children, but Adei has always been special because...I raised him. But I raised him knowing fully well what he would grow up to be. I worry for him, as any mother would, but I know this has to be done...I--"
Sarita's voice was covered up by a surprised shout, and in a matter of seconds the camp erupted into a scene of chaos. Takiko glanced back at Sarita-sama and then clambered to her feet, scrambling to see what all the commotion was about. She could only hear bits of sentences "..protect Sarita-sama." "...you know what they want." But she couldn't stop anyone long enough to ask what was going on.
Takiko looked around and finally, in the midst of the forest and heading their way, she saw a line of torches. A call rang through the campsite. "Arm yourselves! The Kikuchis have found us!"
People ran back and forth, from one end of the site to the other, in a mindless panic. Takiko saw Ryelie rush past her, just as one of the first flaming arrows whizzed past her and singed a lock of hair. Takiko let out a surprised gasp, the arrow landed on one of the tents, and the cloth easily caught fire, the tent instantly ablaze in flames. She felt someone tug on her arm and she looked over to see Ryelie, her face wild with panic.
"Come on! Come on! It's not safe for you here!!" Ryelie pleaded with Takiko as she continued to pull on her arm, attempting to uproot Takiko from her spot. It took her a minute to come out of shock before she nodded and the two of them took off.
"I know a cove...we'll be safe there...the bandits don't know about it." Ryelie breathed her words heavily as she ran, keeping her grasp firmly on Takiko's wrist, a dagger in her other hand, the only weapon she had had time to grab up. She led Takiko through a maze of trees underlain with thick primary growth, a difficult terrain to cover quickly, yet somehow Ryelie managed, she had come this way many, many times with her mother when she was still alive. Finally the masses of unyielding trees gave in and dumped them out into a curve of blue grass that grew beside a weak, trickling stream.
Finally Ryelie let go of her iron grip on Takiko's arm and dipped down by the stream, splashing her face with some of the running water. When Takiko looked down to inspect her pained wrist she noticed red marks from Ryelie's fingers and shallow indents from her nails. When her heart had calmed enough so that it was no longer lodged in her throat, Takiko spoke. "What just happened?"
Ryelie wiped her hands across her cheeks and looked up from her little spot beside the water. "Those...are Kikuchi bandits, and 'officially' I suppose, we're on their territory. We were supposed to be gone a few days ago, to head to a new place, but Sarita-sama told us to stay...and I know now it's because of ye."
"So...really, this is -my- fault."
"No! Not at all!" Ryelie shook her head, regretting how her words sounded, though understanding perfectly why she had subtly laid the blame on Takiko. She was upset and angry that this had happened at all, but to not be able to fight along side her brothers and sisters...and to have to baby-sit some girl from another world who had no idea what she was doing and no way to defend herself...it was frustrating. -She- wasn't a Genbu no seishi, this wasn't -her- responsibility. Yet she said nothing to that tune. "Sarita-sama needs ye, she needs your help sh--"
Cut off in mid-word, Ryelie gave a surprised gasp of pain and fell forward, burying her face in the grass. It was then that Takiko noticed the arrow lodged in her back. But who...?
"Ne, so you're the one. The one Ketsueki spoke of."
Across the stream, with a wooden bow still in hand, stood one of the bandits. He was a large man, not husky but by no means puny, who looked to be at least thirty, by his aged face, which held a rather smug smirk. Takiko over at him, and then rushed to Ryelie's side, not knowing what she was supposed to do. Remove the arrow? That seemed the most logical, and she tried to ignore the roars of laughter from the opposite side of the stream as she laid her palm flat on Ryelie's back, near the wound, and tried to dislodge the arrowhead.
Takiko's hands became steeped in fresh blood as she worked the arrow loose. Ryelie was wincing but made very little noise, just an occasional gasp. Finally, her hands covered like bloody gloves, she freed the arrow and threw it to the ground. The arrow was gone, so why was Ryelie still withering and wreathing in pain?
"Poison...poison was on that arrow missy, your friend is still dying." He shouldered the bow and waded across the river, nearing them. Takiko was torn, not knowing whether to stay by Ryelie's side or run from the bandit. Ryelie's voice came pleading as she struggled to get up.
"Priestess! Ye have got to get out of here! Leave me! Please!!"
But Takiko refused to leave her. Finally Ryelie managed to stagger to her feet, and she unsheathed her dagger from her hip. Standing in front of Takiko to protect her, her eyes were dark, cold...the color of charcoal. To Takiko she looked menacing, but she was obviously frailer than she appeared, because one energetic shove from the bandit caused her to topple over with a yelp of surprise and pain.
Takiko tried to rush to her side, but the man's large hand shot out and grabbed a thick clump of her hair, tugging her backward and into his arms. He reeked, his breath putrid with the smell of alcohol, and Takiko gagged as he tightened his grip on her.
"Now...you're goin' back with me. You'll fetch a pretty price I'll bet."
A shadow fell over them, and the bandit barely had time to turn around before he felt a fish smack into his face, rings on possibly every finger of the hand digging into his forehead. He staggered but did not let go of Takiko, and thus, when the new aggressor dragged the bandit to the ground, she went too. She managed to scramble around while the other two were engaging in fisticuffs. Crawling back over to Ryelie, she glanced back and saw Adei pinning the man to the ground, but it was a very different looking Adei from the graceful and sarcastic man Takiko had met earlier, he looked...almost evil. No longer was he swathed in light clothes and tons of jewelry, now he was draped in a heavy black trench coat, a burning glare to his pink eyes, and only one necklace, an ankh, around his neck.
In one fluid moment, Adei slipped off the necklace and pressed the ankh against the struggling man's chest. His eyes closed, and an emerald green light began to grow from the point of contact between his hand and the man's chest. Now the bandit was howling in pain, and fighting all the more to get Adei off him, but Adei wouldn't budge. A single shudder ran down the villain's spine before his head fell back, and he stilled.
That pure evil faded from his eyes after he stayed there for a moment and panted, and finally Adei removed himself from the now dead bandit and turned toward Takiko. Shaking, and confused, she scooted away from him, but refused to move too far away from Adei's dying body. "S...stay away from me." She whispered, her eyes wide with fear as she dug her fingers into the soft dirt underneath her. She had seen evil in his eyes, and whether or not he had just killed her attacker, he frightened her.
But it seemed like Adei had no intentions of hurting Takiko, really know interest in her at all. He instead wandered to Ryelie's side and knelt down, hoisting her up into his arms. Takiko raised her hand to protest, but said nothing, until Adei put his ankh against the bared v of Ryelie's collarbone.
"NO! Adei! Don't kill her! Please!"
"Takiko...she's already dead."
That shut Takiko up, and she turned her head away, hot tears burning their way down her cheeks. She sniffled softly for a moment before curiosity gnawed at her, as to what Adei was doing, and she turned to watch him.
The green light once again grew from underneath his hand, and this time Takiko was close enough to feel the heat radiating from it. This light was a softer green however, not the glaring iridescent emerald it had been before. It deepened in color, and the heat grew, accompanied by a high-pitched, barely audible, monotone note. Then the light died away and the heat faded.
To Takiko, there seemed to have been no point to that, until she saw the thumb on Ryelie's left hand twitch. Takiko covered her mouth in shock, unbelieving of what she was seeing...but yes, Ryelie was now stirring out of her deathly slumber, and rising up slowly to a sitting position.
"What...what did you do??" Takiko gasped in astonishment.
"I cheated death, priestess." Adei informed her, rising to his feet as Ryelie did the same and placing the necklace back around his neck, so the ankh dangled freely at his chest. He kept one hand on Ryelie's shoulder to keep her steady. "It's my curse as a Genbu seishi."