Shiro Den – Gaiden One
Chapter Eleven: A Flower
Disclaimer: Fushigi Yuugi comes from the mind of Yuu
Watase. I own the new characters, and
I'm borrowing her characters.
Author's Note: Sorry about the lack of updates. Shiro has made all sorts of arrangements,
and I hope that I set everything up just right. I've got great ideas for the new gaiden, and I can hardly contain
some of the ideas from leaking out.
I've got the cast list only and a very rough, handwritten draft of the
first chapter of Seiryuu Den. I finally
found a song that reflects this entire story, and it's a song that I keep
listening to keep me going. It's
"Hanging by a Moment" by Lifehouse. It
reflects Shiro's thoughts and the story better than anything I've heard so
far. Check it out. ^_^
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hakurou and
Renbiao rode for until they reached Eiyou in virtual silence. Renbiao was only sixteen years old and had a
great amount of admiration for his master because he was compassionate, but had
an underlying strength and power about him.
Renbiao wished that he could be able to command such respect, and Lord
Hakurou wasn't even trying to appear powerful.
'Maybe, it's because he's a Suzaku seishi. That's why people immediately respect even if they don't know about
it. It's an aura that's built up around
him,' thought Renbiao as horses galloped along. Hakurou had said nothing throughout the ride, and Renbiao didn't
want to disrupt his thoughts if he was having any.
"Where is
Wang's house, Renbiao?" asked Hakurou when they reached the entrance of the
magnificent capital of Konan, Eiyou.
"This way
Lord Hakurou,' said Renbiao. It was
already late in the afternoon, and they were tired from the long and seemingly
endless ride to Eiyou. Renbiao took the
lead because he knew the way to Wang's house.
When Lord Su was alive, he also stayed at Wang's house, and Renbiao had
accompanied him twice to the capital.
Most of the nobles had met with the Emperor of Konan at least once, but
it occurred to Renbiao that Lord Hakurou hadn't met with Emperor Boushin once
at all. Renbiao thought it was strange,
but when he found out that Hakurou was a Suzaku seishi, he had immediately
dismissed any doubts about why he didn't met the Emperor.
They
finally stopped at a large house with a spacious backyard. It wasn't as impressive as the Su Estate,
but it was a wonderful house nonetheless.
They both dismounted from their horses and stretched out their
limbs. "Not bad," was Hakurou's only
comment when he saw the house. Renbiao
sent to work unpacking and making sure that Lord Hakurou's things had made the
trip without any trouble. It took
another hour before everything settled down enough for them to have something
to eat.
"We don't
seem to have anything in the house to eat, and Lord Wang only hires a guard to
look after the house while he's awhile.
He usually brings his servants with him when he travels, and that's why
there's no staff here," reported Renbiao shamefully.
"It will be
all right. Anyway, it's better this
way. I'll make a list of things to pick
up later, but for now let's find something to eat," said Lord Hakurou. Renbiao's face brightened up to a smile as
he followed him to look for something to eat.
* * *
"We must
prepare ourselves to surround the capital and take the palace," said Mengxin
who was standing in front of all his men.
Jilun was standing next to the second-in-command behind him. "We will commence operations to take Eiyou
in three days. The first people who
must be taken down is the Suzaku seishi.
We cannot leave them for last.
One of the Suzaku is the Emperor of Konan, and if we take him down also,
we'll have the capital. We can't risk
the other five Suzaku seishi from interfering with our operations," he
continued.
"Sir, aren't
there seven Suzaku seishi?" asked the second-in-command in a whisper.
"No. One of the seven won't be coming," answered
Mengxin as the soldiers shouted out cheers for the impeding attack.
"What if he
comes, sir?" asked the second-in-command.
"Then, I'll
take care of him," answered Jilun for Mengxin.
"You'd
better because if he shows up, then your future is at stake," said Mengxin as
he waved to his cheering soldiers.
* * *
Hakurou's
heightened senses allowed him to sense things that most people couldn't
perceive with their five senses. He
could smell more fires burning around the capital than normal, and knew as he
ate his dinner that the city was surrounded.
'These people have no idea what's going on. It's better this way. To
live in blissful ignorance, rather than be disillusioned by reality. I can get in and out without any
problem. I don't care if it costs me my
life. I want nothing more, but to stop
him from hurting more people,' thought Hakurou. He wasn't good at keeping his own principles, and he was willing
to sacrifice not only his life, but his very soul to save everyone. He had sworn not to kill anymore, but he
couldn't keep that promise. He was
willing to tried his life and the life of the man who was willing to kill so
many to save all of them. Hakurou's
thoughts went in circles because he was thinking about his past, his parents,
Kanghui, Pei Pei, the Suzaku seishi, and Lei.
He thought of Lei separately from everyone else because she was
different from everyone else. Her
innocence was intact, while his innocence was gone. Hakurou looked down at his hands as he wiped them clean after the
meal with a napkin. He could see the
blood on them; blood that wasn't even there anymore.
Renbiao and he went back to the
house after the meal. Renbiao went to
bed earlier at the bidding of his master.
Hakurou decided to stay up late and make more preparations that he
couldn't do back at the Su Estate.
First, he made a list of things that Renbiao should pick up the next
morning. The next thing that he had to
do was write some letters to give to Renbiao the next morning. He was sure that Renbiao would be up before
him, so he left the list out on a table next to the door under a paper
weight.
The letters were rather
difficult to write, and he decided to write the easiest one first: the letter
to Kenren to take care of things in the valley. The next letter was to Pei Pei, and then a letter to
Kanghui. He wrote a very long letter to
Mariko and the other seishi, and told them all that he was sorry for everything
that he had done. The letter was more
to Mariko than the others. He wrote a
sentence down for each of them, except for Hono'o. The next letter he wrote was to his grandfather, Ruifu, thanking
him for the lessons he had taught him when he was younger. The letter to his parents was very difficult
to write because he didn't know how to write to them. He had crumpled several sheets of paper and kept starting over
and over until he had finished. He
apologized for not being a very good son, and told them about the things that
he thought that they would have wanted to hear. He told them nothing about the bad things that he had done
because he didn't want them to be disappointed in him. The last letter was the Lei. It took even more drafts than the letter to
his parents. He had started out by
saying how much he loved her, but decided that she wouldn't believe him and
scraped it. The final draft was the
shortest letter of all, and he thanked her for her patience and kindness. He finished off the letter apologizing for
his earlier actions and asked her for her forgiveness, even if he didn't
deserve it. He said nothing about how
much he loved her or how far he had gone to prove his love for her. There was no need to because the eloquence
of his words in the letter demonstrated his love her indirectly. Finally, he went into a dreamless sleep.
* * *
There
was a knock at the door early the next morning at Wang's house, and Renbiao was
already up and about. He went to go answer
the door, and found a young man standing at the door. He had dark brown hair, green eyes, and was tall.
"Yes,
how may I help you?" asked the young servant when he saw the man at the door.
"Hello,
my name is Kuo Tiaowo. My grandfather
is Sir Rong, and he frequently does business with Sir Wang. Anyway, my grandfather heard that the Lord
of the valley where Sir Wang is from has arrived at the house, and he would
like to extend an invitation for tea at his house," said the young man at the
door with a smile.
"I'll be
sure to inform, Lord Hakurou. When he
wakes up," said Renbiao.
"Thank
you," said Tiaowo, and he left promptly after that. Renbiao went to go see if Lord Hakurou was awake and found him
still fast asleep. Renbiao decided to go
to the market and run some errands before Lord Hakurou woke up. He thought that Lord Hakurou didn't get
enough sleep because he was so busy helping people by reading all the scrolls
and making notations of all the medicines that he concocted. Renbiao smiled when he noticed that there
were some herbs and medicines listed on the list as he had expected, he didn't
think that Lord Hakurou wouldn't be taking a break from helping people who were
sick and injured.
* * *
"I am
sorry about what happened, Mariko," said Hono'o as she spoke to Mariko in a
very soft voice. She finally had to
face the other seishi because she couldn't hide anymore, and she wasn't any
better since her returned to Eiyou.
"It's
not your fault. If Shiro doesn't want
to find, then he won't be," said Mariko shaking her head as she gave a smile of
encouragement to Hono'o. The other
seishi who were present were glad to see that most of them were assembled.
"Why
can't we be like the other groups and have all our seishi gather without any
problems?" complained Sei. Kawa and
Taki nodded in agreement.
"I
suppose we'll have to make do without him," said Odayaka.
"I
didn't have time to check the border," said Hono'o because she had suddenly
remembered that was what she was supposed to do, and she had forgotten all
about it.
"We need
everyone here, so I had some extra scouts take a look around. They reported back and said there was a huge
army encroaching towards here," said Odayaka.
"What
are we going to do?" asked Mariko.
"We'll
have to prepare. We need to know how
close they are," said Sei.
The
other seishi talked about the impeding attack on the capital as Hono'o barely
listened to everyone else. She didn't
say a word because she was thinking about Shiro again. She thought about talking to Mariko about
it, but she was so happy because of her impeding marriage that Hono'o didn't
want to bother her. Kawa and Lei
weren't very close, and she didn't want to talk to her about Shiro because she
didn't think she would understand. Sei
was so close to Mariko that Hono'o knew that he would tell her. Odayaka was like an older brother and would
probably be angry at Shiro for hurting her feeling. Taki was a man and would give an oversimplified answer to her
problems. Shitsu was also talking, but
she looked at Hono'o's direction because she wasn't talking much. 'If she's not going to say anything, then
she shouldn't be here. I wonder what's
wrong…' she thought. Hono'o left when
the conversation was still going on because she couldn't care less about the
topic at hand. She looked up at the sky
and noticed that the sky was overcast; there was also a little breeze in the
air. She walked away from the palace
without saying a word, and no one seemed to notice.
Hono'o
kept walking aimlessly through the streets of Eiyou until she reached a
familiar place. It was a little cottage
a short distance away from the house, and it was a place that Hono'o had come
to often ever since she was ten years old.
It was Miss Zhang's house, and she was Hono'o instructor for five years
until Mariko's arrival. She had trained
Hono'o in the martial arts and mediation.
Hono'o needed the disciplining because of her powers' strength and
destructiveness. Her family never knew
about it, but she had told Shiro about it a long time ago. When the truth came out, he still kept it
quiet, and pretended to know nothing about it.
She wanted someone to talk to who knew her and wouldn't judge her. The two people in the world who could do
that was Miss Zhang and Shiro, but neither were available. 'So, this is when you're really an
adult…it's when there's no one to help you but you're self,' thought
Hono'o. "Get used to disappoint. Life's full of it," those were the words
that Shiro had used. Maybe, he was right. Life was full of disappointments, and if
that were true, then what was the reason for living in the first place. 'I think that I'm starting to understand,'
she thought.
"You
don't look too happy," said a voice behind her softly.
"Uh?" asked
Hono'o as she turned around to see Shitsu standing behind her a few feet away
from her.
"I
thought that there was something wrong with you. You seem to come here when you need to think," said Shitsu with a
smile.
"Yes,
there is something wrong," said Hono'o without any hesitation because Shitsu
was a good enough to come after her.
"You
found Shiro, didn't you?" asked Shitsu with the blanant honesty that she was
known for. Hono'o gulped and nodded
slightly as she shut her eyes. She
raised up her hand up to her head and took out the hair clip. Her hair was now loose, and the breeze was
whipping it around. Shitsu looked a
little surprised. "What happened? Tell me everything," said Shitsu in a calm
and comforting voice. Hono'o sighed and
told her everything that happened, and Shitsu listened to her without any
interruptions as she tried to analysis the situation. Shitsu noticed that Hono'o was unknowingly revealing her
feelings. 'She's really an innocent
person. Blind to a fault,' she thought. She could let that Hono'o's heart and spirit
were broken by Shiro, but she let Hono'o finish.
"So, you
found him, but he's not the same person he once was. It sounds like something happened to him while he was traveling
because I've noticed that pattern as well.
There are a lot of things that he did," said Shitsu when Hono'o was done
talking. Shitsu knew about some of
Shiro's activities in the ring when he was fighting. She knew that he had killed some men with his bare hands, but she
decided not to say anything about that.
Hono'o was so innocent that she wouldn't understand, and Shitsu wanted
her to stay the way she was.
"You
should see his eyes, Shitsu. Remember,
he's eyes used to have that spark in them?
Now they're just dull…it's like he's dead inside," whispered
Hono'o.
"Hmm…I
supposed it has something to do with what happened in Kutou," said Shitsu.
"Yes,
but I think it's deeper than that, Shitsu.
It was only one loss, and it shouldn't have been enough to kill him
inside like that,' said Hono'o.
"You
know him pretty well, don't you?" asked Shitsu. The only seishi who knew Shiro at all was Hono'o because he
wasn't close to any of the other seishi.
"Yes…and
he hates me," answered Hono'o as she choked on a sob. The way she had said it was so childlike that it had almost
broken Shitsu's heart to hear her say it.
"No, he
doesn't. I don't know him as well as
you do, but I do know that he's not capable of hating anyone," whispered Shitsu
in a comforting tone.
"Yes, he
does. When we were little, our fathers
made him watch over me, and he couldn't play with anyone else because I was
with him all the time. I was really
annoying, and I kept pestering him by asking too many questions about
everything. He wouldn't say that he was
annoyed, but I knew that he was, and he never told my father or mother about it
because he was only being polite. I
would follow him around when I visited Mt. Leikaku. I thought we were friends…I thought that we trusted each other,
but I was wrong. He was never my
friend. He hates me," said Hono'o desperately as she wiped a tear
that had escaped and was running down her cheek. Shitsu shook her head because she still didn't believe that Shiro
could hate anyone. She embraced Hono'o
until she stopped crying wondering the entire time where in the world Shiro was
and what he was doing. And how could he
hurt someone who loved him as much as Hono'o did? And why and for what reason?
* * *
Hakurou
had received the message that Sir Rong wanted to meet with him and decided to
accept the invitation. He knew that
Rong was Lei's maternal grandfather, and he wanted to meet the man because he
had never meet him before. Renbiao was
going to join Lord Hakurou for the tea.
Tiaowo and Hono'o were at the main shop away from the house, while Ling
and Shumi were still at the Kuo House.
Therefore, Hakurou wasn't worried about getting caught by anyone who
knew him. He walked up to the
illustrious home of Sir Rong who had greeted him warmly when a servant had
shown him the way to a sitting room.
"Hello,
Lord Hakurou. I must say it is a
pleasure to finally meet you," said Sir Rong as he bowed slightly, and Hakurou
did the same.
"Hello,
Sir Rong. Wang has said that he does business
with you often, and he must have told you that I was staying at his home in
Eiyou," said Hakurou as he took a seat because Sir Rong had gestured for him to
sit. Renbiao also took a seat because
Hakurou looked at him.
"Yes,
would you like some tea or sake?" asked Rong when he signaled a servant to
bring some refreshments.
"Well,
since you invited me for tea, I would like some tea, please. I've never developed a taste for sake,"
Hakurou informed him.
"Ah. I'm sorry if it looks like I'm staring at
you. Sir Wang has said so many good
things about you, Lord Hakurou, but he didn't mention how old you were…I do
declare you're around my grandsons age or the Emperor's age, but younger," said
Rong as he studied Hakurou with his green eyes. Hakurou noticed that Rong's eyes were identical to Lei's mother's
eyes, but he didn't possess the soft, delicate features that Lei and her mother
had.
"I'm
younger than the Emperor. I believe
he's twenty-one," said Hakurou. He knew
how old the Wangshi, Lingsu, and Tiaowo were, but as far as Rong knew Hakurou
had never met them. "I'm eighteen years
old," he added.
"My, my,
my…everyone is getting younger and younger these day. Or am I getting older?" Rong laughed.
"No, I
don't think that, Sir Rong. Not at all,
you're mind is sharper than most people my age, Sir," said Hakurou
respectfully.
They
continued their conversation as Renbiao watched and observed everything. Hakurou and Renbiao stood up to leave, and
Renbiao accidentally bumped into an end table knocking a vase over, but Hakurou
caught it. Renbiao and Rong marveled at
his reflexes.
"One of
my son-in-laws has that kind of speed, but he's a Suzaku seishi," commented
Rong.
"It's
not a problem, Sir Rong, just good timing," said Hakurou.
"Thank
you very much, Lord Hakurou. And you,
Renbiao, it's not a problem. Don't
worry about it," said Rong in a friendly tone as he clapped Renbiao on the
shoulder.
"I'm
still very sorry, Sir Rong. I almost
knocked over your vase," said Renbiao.
"But,
your master caught it, and even if he didn't, I know it was an accident. I must say you have excellent manners, Lord
Hakurou. They are the manners of the
old court. I haven't seen manners like
yours in a while, and it's a very comforting to see someone who has those kinds
of manners," said Rong.
"Thank
you. My mother insisted that I learn
good manners," said Hakurou.
"Your
mother must be a very good noblewoman," said Rong.
"She is,
Sir Rong. Good day to you, Sir," said Hakurou
as he bowed to him, and Renbiao followed suit.
"Good
day to you, Lord Hakurou," said Rong as he gave a bow of respect to the young
nobleman.
* * *
Hakurou
and Renbiao returned to the house, so that Hakurou could do some work. He needed to plan and see where the attack
would happened, but Renbiao came back about an hour later with another
message. "Lord Hakurou, this was
delivered here by a palace messenger," said Renbiao as he handed a scroll to
Hakurou with a royal seal on it.
Hakurou was working at a large table with maps, scrolls, quills, and an
ink pot on it. He sighed as he broke
the seal on the scroll and unrolled it.
He read the message, "The Emperor of Konan has invited me to the palace
for a meeting," he said out loud.
"What are
you going to do, Milord?" asked Renbiao.
"I'm
declining. I don't have the time to
meet with the Emperor. I honestly don't
know why Odayaka would be thinking about meeting with visiting lords when the
city could be attacked at any moment," said Hakurou in an exasperated
voice. Renbiao decided not to look
directly at his master because he was sure that he was frowning. He knew that Lord Hakurou wanted to get in
and out of Eiyou before anyone would notice him. "Of course, this was because I've met with Rong. Rong has connections to the Emperor. He must have been the one who told him about
my arrival…indirectly, of course," added Hakurou.
"I'll
send you message back to the palace, Milord," said Renbiao with a nod.
"While
you're gone, I'll go out to find some gifts for Kanghui and Pei Pei," said
Hakurou.
"I could
do that for you, Milord, if you wish," offered Renbiao.
"It's
alright…I would rather do it myself.
Besides, I need to stretch out for a while, and get a feel for what's
going on around here by looking around," declined Hakurou.
"As you
wish, Milord. I'll leave for the palace
right now," said Renbiao as he made a quiet exit. As soon as Hakurou finished reorganizing the scrolls and maps on
his table, he decided to go out to the market.
He looked at the busy marketplace around him as he tried to stay hidden
as he traveled through the market. He
found something for Pei Pei at a little stall next to a fountain. It was a red fan with white cranes and
different colored flowers on it. Now he
had to find something for his brother, but it was difficult because he realized
that he didn't know his own brother well enough to know what Kanghui would
like. He wandered around until he was
across the street from the large shops that belong to Wang, and he couldn't
help, but smile slightly when he saw it.
He was about to walk away when he heard a familiar.
"It's
alright, sir. My grandfather will
return from the port, but he had tea with someone today, so he's a little
behind," said Lei who was just standing across the street talking to a middle
aged customer. Hakurou stepped back to
hid himself and watched her from the distance.
She was smiling calmly as she helped customers, and there were people
who were asking questions to which she had responded to kindly. It seemed like an eternity was passing by as
Hakurou watched Lei from the shadows.
"Sir,
would you like to buy some flowers?" asked a small girl who looked less than
ten years old as she tugged on the sleeve of Hakurou's silk shirt.
"Um…I
really have no need for flowers. I'm
sorry," answered Hakurou shaking his head.
"Oh…that's
okay," said the girl as she started to walk off, but Hakurou changed his mind
because he had a sudden idea.
"Wait…how
much for that flower?" asked Hakurou, pointing at a delicate peach colored
blossom.
"One
piece," answered the little girl.
"Here's
five, but could you give it to the lady over there for me?" requested Hakurou
as he pointed out Lei to the little girl.
"Lei-sama? Um…sure," agreed the little girl. Hakurou nodded and paid her for the
flower. He watched as the little girl
ran across the street to give Lei the flower, but he carefully backed away at
the same time.
"This is
for you, Lei-sama," said the little girl.
"I'm
sorry, Peony, but I've got to sell things, not buy them," said Lei.
"No. Someone bought the flower for you, and he
told me to deliver it to you," answered Peony as she handed the blossom to
her. Lei looked at the flower and smiled
because it was beautiful, and the scent of it was heavenly. She smelled the flower, and her amber eyes
lit up.
"Who
bought this for me? I'd like to thank
him," said Lei with a smile.
"He's
over there," said Peony as she pointed across the street only to find that
Hakuou was gone. "Well, he was
there. I guess he left," she said.
"That's
all right. Thank you for delivering it,
Peony," said Lei. Peony waved and ran
off to sell more flowers, and Lei waved back to her as she left. Tiaowo was getting tired of sitting in one
position for too long, so he was up to stretch his muscles. He found Lei standing outside still looking
around the street and holding a peach colored blossom in her hand.
"What's
goin' on? Where'd ya get that?" asked
Tiaowo with a look of surprise on his face.
"Uh? Oh, you mean the flower?" asked Lei.
"Yeah! That flower!" exclaimed Tiaowo as he pointed
at it in a superdeformed mode.
"Someone
bought for me. I don't know who," said Lei
simply, and she left to go a find a vase for it, so that she could take it home
later.
"WHAT?!"
Tiaowo shouted at the top of lungs as he started zipping from stall to stall
looking for the man who would dare give his baby sister a flower without his approval
first.
* * *
Hakurou
practically ran back to Wang's house for some reason that he couldn't
completely understand. 'Stupid! Why the Hell don't you just admit that you
care already?! It would be easier on
both you than this torture!" said a voice in Hakurou's head. He looked around the house and realized that
he was alone, so he went back to work.
He didn't have to waste, and he worked continuously for six hours on end
without any breaks. He worked like that
for two reason: first, he knew time was not on his side, and second, he didn't
want to think about Lei, so he busied himself until dinner. Renbiao served dinner promptly at sundown,
and he reported what the Emperor had said about Hakurou's rejection of his
invitation. Apparently, Odayaka wanted
to meet with him because he had heard all the good things he had done in the
region that he ruled over. After that,
Renbiao cleaned up went to bed. Hakurou
was feel restless, but he did more work.
Around midnight, he decided to look at Wang's simple garden in the
backyard. He slipped off his outer
robes, and he went out in just his pants, boots, and shirt. The night air felt cool against his skin,
and the lotus blossoms that Wang had were giving off a lovely scent.
'I
wonder what Lei is doing right now,' he thought, and then he realized that he
was thinking about her again; he shook his head to get rid of his thoughts of
her. He turned arount when he heard
soft footsteps behind him. "Jilun."
"Hello,
Shiro. How are you tonight?" asked Jilun
with a soft smile on her face. She was
dressed in a royal blue cloak and underneath it was chain mail.
"What
are you doing here?" demanded Shiro in a cold, dangerous voice.
"What do
you think?" asked Jilun innocently.
"You're
part of the army that's encroaching around Eiyou. How could you serve a cold, heartless bastard like him?" asked
Shiro with disgust in his voice.
"So, you
know who I serve," stated Jilun.
"Yes. I'm telling you to stop, while you can,"
warned Shiro.
"HA! At least, there's someone strong enough to
do things because he wants to, not because someone doesn't love them back!"
sneered Jilun. Shiro's face remained
expressionless.
"You
have no idea what it means to really love someone. To love someone, you can't be selfish…you have to be willing to
give. And I'm not talking about love
only. You will never understand,
Jilun," he said in a sad voice because he felt sorry for her.
"Oh, I
don't understand? Love makes you
weak. And I mean you, Shiro. You pine away for something you'll never
have. You are weak. If only that little girl knew how she's
brought the most powerful warrior in all of Konan to his knees. She'd probably laugh," spat Jilun bitterly
with a laugh.
"It is
because of her that I am as strong as I am.
I've made myself strong for her.
I love her enough to give her everything I have without her knowing
it. I love her enough to want her to be
happy and carefree, even if it means I can't be with her. She is the reason why I did all the things
I've done. The good and the bad. Everything.
I live for her because loving her has made my existence worth while. My heart has gone through depths that I
didn't think were possible. I didn't
think it was possible for me to fall in love with her even more than I was
before. I live for her…and I would
suffer through all my pain for her," said Shiro as his voice became lost in a
whisper. There was a stark truth that
he hadn't been able to say out loud until that moment. Jilun looked at him with wide eyes because
she couldn't believe that he had admitted as much as he did. There was a spark that had returned in his
eyes for a moment when he spoke of her.
Jilun could feel her heart breaking again just like when they were
younger, and she had first confessed her love to him. She turned around to hide the hurt look on her face.
"You are
a fool. She'll never accept you. She'll be dead before this is all over,"
promised Jilun, and before she could say anymore, he grabbed her from behind and
in very fierce whisper he said:
"I've
already threatened one man for even thinking about harming her. I won't let you do the same without any
consequences. You're the fool, Jilun. What's the name of the man you're serving
under? What's the name of the warlord?"
"I
thought you knew. Besides, you've never
killed a woman before," she said with a soft laugh.
"And I
don't want to…but, if you in any way harm Lei again…you won't live to regret
it," he said in a deadly tone. She
looked up at him and noticed that his features were dark and serious. "Also, you don't know who you're
serving. Ask him about the Suzaku
seishi he met in Kutou," he added as he turned and walked away from her. Jilun stood there totally and utterly
speechless as Shiro left her victorious because he had one the argument.
* * *
The army
had divided itself into different sections and into further groups to surround
Eiyou. The particular group that was
near the marketplace on the outside perimeter near Miss Zhang's house was made
up of about two dozen men. It was
raining that particular night, and it had been exactly three days since Shiro's
arrival in Eiyou. The rain was pounding
on the ground as the men walked on the field attached to Miss Zhang's
house. The soldiers stopped all at once
when they saw a statue of the god, Suzaku.
It was a massive marble statue near a temple in beast god form, and
there was someone sitting at the base.
"You
will not be going any further," said the young man at the claws of the
statue. The raining was pouring down on
the solitary figure. He wore a loose,
black shirt, black pants, and his feet where bare. His legs were folded Indian style, and he had a sword in his
hands. The soldiers couldn't see his
face because it was too dark, and his dark hair obscured his face. The lightning flashed in the sky, but the
figure still didn't move from his spot.
"Who the
Hell?!" shouted the lead scout.
"No one
of great importance," said the figure without moving.
"He's a
scout for the Emperor!" suggested someone.
"We have
to stop him," someone else screamed.
One of
the men fired an arrow, but it was stopped by the figure: he had caught it in
his right hand before it could even touch.
He looked at them with amusement as he threw the arrow aside. The men backed away from him out of sheer
terror. It as impossible to catch an
arrow traveling at that speed. The
figure didn't bother to straight up from his sitting position. The lead scout was the first to see
something, and in a gasp he said, "It's a seishi! It's a Suzaku seishi!"
The red aura was surrounding the figure. He closed his eyes and focused his chi. The energy permeated outward away from his body. "May the pain you have inflicted on others
may return to you," he said in a whisper.
The chi wave swept the soldiers.
"AAAAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAA!"
they shrieked in pain as they feel on the ground withering and twisting their
bodies.
"My
leg! I can't feel my leg!" someone
shouted at the top of his lungs.
"I can't
breath!" someone else screamed.
"Stop
the pain!" pleaded another.
The pain
for them continued until all of them passed out, but none of them were
dead. They were forced to feel the pain
that they had inflicted on others. When
the figure was finally satisfied with the results, he stood up from the
statue's base without stretching. His
sword was still in its scabbard, and he looked at it without any expression his
face. What he just did was merely a
test of his powers. "Such a shame. They didn't even give me time to draw my
sword," he said in a cold whispered as he left the bodies where they laid.
~*~ClareBear's
Omake~*~
Tamahome: What
the Hell was that at the end?
Hotohori: I
don't know, but I think he's on our side.
Chiriko: I
think it's my counterpart.
Mitsukake: I
hope that those men are all right.
Miaka: He can't
really kill anyone because he would feel it.
Tamahome: He
finally was able to say how he felt about her.
Chiriko
(giggling): That was funny when Tiaowo went nuts.
Miaka (also
giggling): YES! He's so much like his
father.
Nuriko: I was
just thinking about that claw.
Tamahome: What
about it?
Nuriko:
Nothing. Just bad memories, I guess.
