Later that night, Misara lay in her makeshift bed, her eyes wide open, while the others slept. She was too afraid to go to sleep after her last dream. She didn't know how late it was when she heard Miaka get out of bed, muttering something about a flute. She didn't follow Miaka, but instead rolled over and tried to think about something besides her dream. It wasn't working very well, and she was getting frustrated when she heard Miaka scream. She sat up and spun around just in time to see Hotohori and Tasuki run out the door. Nuriko slept on, oblivious to the noise, and she didn't see Mitsukake anywhere. She tried to get out of bed, but her legs were all tangled in her sheets and it took her a few moments to pull her legs free. By the time she had gotten out of bed, Miaka's screams had faded off into the distance. Misara rushed outside and followed the faint sounds of Miaka, which weren't hard to distinguish anyway. She ran as fast as she could, which wasn't fast at all, but she managed to catch up to the others just in time to see the bats attack.
Hold on a second! She thought, as she ducked behind a tree. Bats don't attack people! Before she could jump in the fray, a peculiar sound cut into the screeching off the bats. She paused, knowing she had heard this sound before. It had sounded like something from a dream...she gasped out loud. She HAD heard this before, in the dream she had last night! She vaguely remembered hearing something in the background as she was running toward Nakago, and it sounded like this! She peeked out from behind the tree again and saw that the bats were crashing into the trees around Miaka, Hotohori and Tasuki. Then she heard another scream, and a man dressed in black dropped out of a nearby tree, obviously dead, but from who knows what. Misara ran forward to her friends, but they didn't notice her as they looked off into the trees. She turned her head and saw a boy standing there, a long stick in his hand and looking very battered. He stepped forward weakly.
"I used my flute to distract the bats..." He said, then collapsed onto the ground. Miaka ran over to him, followed quickly by Hotohori and Tasuki, and more slowly by Misara, who gave the boy a suspicious look. She didn't trust him.
He told them that the Kutou army had attacked his village, and he was the only one left alive. From a tear in his clothing, a red symbol was visible. Miaka gasped and pointed to it. "What is this?" She asked, excitedly.
"It's...just a symbol..." he said. "Don't pay any attention to it."
"Who are you?" Hotohori asked, almost as excited as Miaka.
"My name is Chiriko. I'm one of the Suzaku Seven. That's what the symbol is for, miss." He said to Miaka, who all but jumped up and down.
"We found him!" She cried, over and over again, shaking Hotohori's shoulder. Suddenly, she noticed Misara standing behind them and ran over and hugged her. "We found the last one, Misara! Isn't that great?" She asked breathlessly.
Misara nodded in agreement, but continued to look at Chiriko with suspicion.
"You can touch his symbol now, right? Unless you're too tired, of course. Then your job will be done, won't it? 'Cause we can summon Suzaku and go home!" She pushed Misara at Chiriko. "Go ahead!"
Misara sidestepped Chiriko and turned back in the direction of the house. She kept on walking, ignoring their cries of surprise. She didn't look back, but after a few seconds, she heard footsteps catching up with her. A hand touched her shoulder and she stopped, out of sight and earshot of the others, and turned around angrily. About to yell at whoever it was, she stopped when she saw Tasuki. She hadn't really known him that long, but he was still one of "them" and her need to scream was so great, she wondered why she had stopped. Before she could speak he put his hand over her mouth.
"Not a word until you hear me out, ya hear?" He said, although it was more of an order. She narrowed her eyes at him but didn't speak. He sighed. "I know how you feel, Misara." She opened her mouth to say something sarcastic, but he gave her a hard look and continued. "It's kind of weird how Chiriko just showed up like this, I know. But you didn't have to do that."
This time, she did speak. "You don't understand," She said loudly, "you don't know what it's like to be me and to see the things I see and have the dreams I do and know the things I know and can't tell you about..." She trailed off, about to cry.
"Whoa whoa whoa...hold on a second!" He looked scared at the sight of her oncoming tears. "I didn't mean to upset ya, but ya gotta calm down!" His hands flopped around uselessly and he hopped from foot to foot, unsure of what to do.
Misara swallowed and forced her tears back, not because he told her to calm down but because she didn't want to cry in front of him. She cleared her throat and spoke again. "If you had any idea of what it was like to be me, you wouldn't make me out to be the bad guy here. If you had just the tiniest-" She was cut off by surprise when he threw his arms around her and held her tightly.
"You don't know what it's like to stand by and watch you suffer, as much as you try to hide it. We all have to stand by and see you try to act cheerful like Miaka. You just can't do it!" He cried. "Stop being so selfish and tell us what's bothering you."
She really started to cry this time. "I can't!" She wailed, as the tears ran down her face. He unexpectedly let go of her.
"I'm sorry to hear that." He said flatly. "Especially from you, Misara." With that, he turned and walked away.
Misara stood there, looking at his back as he walked farther and farther away, shaking her head in dismay and disbelief.
The next morning, the group was packing up their stuff to head back to the palace. They had a slight problem when Tamahome's youngest sister, Yuiren, began to cry when she saw that Miaka was leaving. Suddenly, Chiriko began to play a pretty song on his flute, and she fell asleep almost instantly. Misara's eyes narrowed, but no one noticed as Tasuki yelled at Chiriko for brainwashing the little girl.
As the group took off down the road, they realized that they weren't very far from the palace, and in about four hours, they walked through the gates. Suddenly, Chichiri popped out of nowhere, frightening Tasuki. Miaka introduced him to the other warriors, and then Mitsukake noticed that Hotohori had disappeared.
Nuriko laughed. "Haven't you guessed?" He asked. "He's-"
"That's enough, Nuriko." Hotohori's voice boomed out as the warriors, Miaka and Misara turned to see him descend the steps nearby, decked out in full emperor regalia. Mitsukake, Chiriko and Tasuki just stared, their mouths hanging open. Miaka and Nuriko laughed, and Misara cracked a tiny smile. Only a tiny one, because most of her attention was not on them, but Hotohori. He looks really good in that hat, she mused, then shook her head for thinking about him again.
Later that evening, after dinner, they talked about their next plan of action. Miaka was anxious to get Tamahome back, that was obvious. Misara pulled her scroll out by Chichiri's request and they read it again, to see if they had missed anything and if anything had been written in it since they had been gone. Misara had forgotten it when they left to search for the remaining warriors. She had also left behind her bow and arrows that Hotohori had made for her, but that wasn't on accident. Unfortunately, there was nothing else in the scroll, and so they concentrated their efforts on retrieving Tamahome from Kutou.
Misara felt extremely tired, so she left them to their planning and headed to her room. As she left the room, a backward glance caught the eye of Tasuki, who looked at her emotionlessly before turning away. Agitated, she shook her head in disgust and half-slammed the door behind her. Instead of going to her room, however, she stalked off in the direction of the shrine. The fire was still burning in there, and she briefly wondered who was in charge of keeping it lit. She walked up to the statue, the whole reason for her coming here instead of sleeping. Sure enough, her ring was still there. She had almost forgotten about it, but when she saw the scroll again, she remembered what she was doing here and that she had to get home as fast as possible. She thought about trying to pull her ring out again, but quickly dismissed the thought. She sat down in front of the statue and looked up at it. After a few minutes, she spoke.
"Why'd you have to go and pick me? And what is this new stuff about jumping into a fire? I didn't see any contract of job requirements stating that I had to burn myself alive..." She rolled her eyes for talking to herself, but continued. "I mean, you didn't really have to drag Taylor into this, did you? And that Nakago fellow, he just makes my job all the more difficult." She gave the statue a hard look. "You're not helping, you know." Another moment of silence and Misara shook her head again, then yawned. She put her elbows on the steps leading to the statue and continued talking to herself.
Much later that night, Tasuki was wandering worriedly around the palace. Everyone else had gone to sleep, but he had gone to check on Misara. When he opened the door to her room, he saw that she wasn't in bed, and so far he couldn't find her anywhere. He finally headed up the steps to the palace shrine to Suzaku. Peeking around the door, he saw Misara asleep on the steps in front of a huge statue of the phoenix. Sighing with exasperation, he walked over to her and picked her up, carrying her back to her room. As he left her in her bed, he thought about how much trouble she had been since he had met her. Not as much as Miaka, he noted, but still...he thought, isn't she supposed to be protecting me? I'm the one doing all the protecting around here. As he closed the door, he got one last look at her. Well, he reconsidered, I guess I don't mind it that much...she is kind of cute...
I'm done I'm done I'm done!!! Thank goodness! I know this one took extra long, but I didn't start on it until a few days ago. I have a good reason, though! I had to take the college board AP US History exam on Friday, and I think I lost a few hundred brain cells just trying to remember the answers. It should go faster, now that spring sports are almost over and only 15 1/2 more days of school! Yay!!! Anyway, new plot twist here...Ooooeeeeeooooo...yeah, whatever, you're saying. It should come as no surprise to you, since Tasuki IS my favorite character...or maybe it should because you didn't know that...oh well. Be prepared, the next chapter is gonna be good! I promise! (Like the previous aren't good, right?)
Hold on a second! She thought, as she ducked behind a tree. Bats don't attack people! Before she could jump in the fray, a peculiar sound cut into the screeching off the bats. She paused, knowing she had heard this sound before. It had sounded like something from a dream...she gasped out loud. She HAD heard this before, in the dream she had last night! She vaguely remembered hearing something in the background as she was running toward Nakago, and it sounded like this! She peeked out from behind the tree again and saw that the bats were crashing into the trees around Miaka, Hotohori and Tasuki. Then she heard another scream, and a man dressed in black dropped out of a nearby tree, obviously dead, but from who knows what. Misara ran forward to her friends, but they didn't notice her as they looked off into the trees. She turned her head and saw a boy standing there, a long stick in his hand and looking very battered. He stepped forward weakly.
"I used my flute to distract the bats..." He said, then collapsed onto the ground. Miaka ran over to him, followed quickly by Hotohori and Tasuki, and more slowly by Misara, who gave the boy a suspicious look. She didn't trust him.
He told them that the Kutou army had attacked his village, and he was the only one left alive. From a tear in his clothing, a red symbol was visible. Miaka gasped and pointed to it. "What is this?" She asked, excitedly.
"It's...just a symbol..." he said. "Don't pay any attention to it."
"Who are you?" Hotohori asked, almost as excited as Miaka.
"My name is Chiriko. I'm one of the Suzaku Seven. That's what the symbol is for, miss." He said to Miaka, who all but jumped up and down.
"We found him!" She cried, over and over again, shaking Hotohori's shoulder. Suddenly, she noticed Misara standing behind them and ran over and hugged her. "We found the last one, Misara! Isn't that great?" She asked breathlessly.
Misara nodded in agreement, but continued to look at Chiriko with suspicion.
"You can touch his symbol now, right? Unless you're too tired, of course. Then your job will be done, won't it? 'Cause we can summon Suzaku and go home!" She pushed Misara at Chiriko. "Go ahead!"
Misara sidestepped Chiriko and turned back in the direction of the house. She kept on walking, ignoring their cries of surprise. She didn't look back, but after a few seconds, she heard footsteps catching up with her. A hand touched her shoulder and she stopped, out of sight and earshot of the others, and turned around angrily. About to yell at whoever it was, she stopped when she saw Tasuki. She hadn't really known him that long, but he was still one of "them" and her need to scream was so great, she wondered why she had stopped. Before she could speak he put his hand over her mouth.
"Not a word until you hear me out, ya hear?" He said, although it was more of an order. She narrowed her eyes at him but didn't speak. He sighed. "I know how you feel, Misara." She opened her mouth to say something sarcastic, but he gave her a hard look and continued. "It's kind of weird how Chiriko just showed up like this, I know. But you didn't have to do that."
This time, she did speak. "You don't understand," She said loudly, "you don't know what it's like to be me and to see the things I see and have the dreams I do and know the things I know and can't tell you about..." She trailed off, about to cry.
"Whoa whoa whoa...hold on a second!" He looked scared at the sight of her oncoming tears. "I didn't mean to upset ya, but ya gotta calm down!" His hands flopped around uselessly and he hopped from foot to foot, unsure of what to do.
Misara swallowed and forced her tears back, not because he told her to calm down but because she didn't want to cry in front of him. She cleared her throat and spoke again. "If you had any idea of what it was like to be me, you wouldn't make me out to be the bad guy here. If you had just the tiniest-" She was cut off by surprise when he threw his arms around her and held her tightly.
"You don't know what it's like to stand by and watch you suffer, as much as you try to hide it. We all have to stand by and see you try to act cheerful like Miaka. You just can't do it!" He cried. "Stop being so selfish and tell us what's bothering you."
She really started to cry this time. "I can't!" She wailed, as the tears ran down her face. He unexpectedly let go of her.
"I'm sorry to hear that." He said flatly. "Especially from you, Misara." With that, he turned and walked away.
Misara stood there, looking at his back as he walked farther and farther away, shaking her head in dismay and disbelief.
The next morning, the group was packing up their stuff to head back to the palace. They had a slight problem when Tamahome's youngest sister, Yuiren, began to cry when she saw that Miaka was leaving. Suddenly, Chiriko began to play a pretty song on his flute, and she fell asleep almost instantly. Misara's eyes narrowed, but no one noticed as Tasuki yelled at Chiriko for brainwashing the little girl.
As the group took off down the road, they realized that they weren't very far from the palace, and in about four hours, they walked through the gates. Suddenly, Chichiri popped out of nowhere, frightening Tasuki. Miaka introduced him to the other warriors, and then Mitsukake noticed that Hotohori had disappeared.
Nuriko laughed. "Haven't you guessed?" He asked. "He's-"
"That's enough, Nuriko." Hotohori's voice boomed out as the warriors, Miaka and Misara turned to see him descend the steps nearby, decked out in full emperor regalia. Mitsukake, Chiriko and Tasuki just stared, their mouths hanging open. Miaka and Nuriko laughed, and Misara cracked a tiny smile. Only a tiny one, because most of her attention was not on them, but Hotohori. He looks really good in that hat, she mused, then shook her head for thinking about him again.
Later that evening, after dinner, they talked about their next plan of action. Miaka was anxious to get Tamahome back, that was obvious. Misara pulled her scroll out by Chichiri's request and they read it again, to see if they had missed anything and if anything had been written in it since they had been gone. Misara had forgotten it when they left to search for the remaining warriors. She had also left behind her bow and arrows that Hotohori had made for her, but that wasn't on accident. Unfortunately, there was nothing else in the scroll, and so they concentrated their efforts on retrieving Tamahome from Kutou.
Misara felt extremely tired, so she left them to their planning and headed to her room. As she left the room, a backward glance caught the eye of Tasuki, who looked at her emotionlessly before turning away. Agitated, she shook her head in disgust and half-slammed the door behind her. Instead of going to her room, however, she stalked off in the direction of the shrine. The fire was still burning in there, and she briefly wondered who was in charge of keeping it lit. She walked up to the statue, the whole reason for her coming here instead of sleeping. Sure enough, her ring was still there. She had almost forgotten about it, but when she saw the scroll again, she remembered what she was doing here and that she had to get home as fast as possible. She thought about trying to pull her ring out again, but quickly dismissed the thought. She sat down in front of the statue and looked up at it. After a few minutes, she spoke.
"Why'd you have to go and pick me? And what is this new stuff about jumping into a fire? I didn't see any contract of job requirements stating that I had to burn myself alive..." She rolled her eyes for talking to herself, but continued. "I mean, you didn't really have to drag Taylor into this, did you? And that Nakago fellow, he just makes my job all the more difficult." She gave the statue a hard look. "You're not helping, you know." Another moment of silence and Misara shook her head again, then yawned. She put her elbows on the steps leading to the statue and continued talking to herself.
Much later that night, Tasuki was wandering worriedly around the palace. Everyone else had gone to sleep, but he had gone to check on Misara. When he opened the door to her room, he saw that she wasn't in bed, and so far he couldn't find her anywhere. He finally headed up the steps to the palace shrine to Suzaku. Peeking around the door, he saw Misara asleep on the steps in front of a huge statue of the phoenix. Sighing with exasperation, he walked over to her and picked her up, carrying her back to her room. As he left her in her bed, he thought about how much trouble she had been since he had met her. Not as much as Miaka, he noted, but still...he thought, isn't she supposed to be protecting me? I'm the one doing all the protecting around here. As he closed the door, he got one last look at her. Well, he reconsidered, I guess I don't mind it that much...she is kind of cute...
I'm done I'm done I'm done!!! Thank goodness! I know this one took extra long, but I didn't start on it until a few days ago. I have a good reason, though! I had to take the college board AP US History exam on Friday, and I think I lost a few hundred brain cells just trying to remember the answers. It should go faster, now that spring sports are almost over and only 15 1/2 more days of school! Yay!!! Anyway, new plot twist here...Ooooeeeeeooooo...yeah, whatever, you're saying. It should come as no surprise to you, since Tasuki IS my favorite character...or maybe it should because you didn't know that...oh well. Be prepared, the next chapter is gonna be good! I promise! (Like the previous aren't good, right?)
