Misara dropped her duffel bag in the snow and ran toward them. Suddenly, she felt Nuriko get hit with something, and she lost control. Nuriko's symbol burned on her chest as she ran toward Nuriko's attacker, faster than humanly possible. Her eyes clouded over with red as rage overtook her, and her mind didn't have a chance to think as she attacked.
Misara's eyes flew open to see the smiling faces of her friends around her, Nuriko included. She sat up quickly and hugged the purple-haired warrior.
"Nuriko!" She cried. "You're alive!"
"Thanks to you!" Nuriko laughed.
"What do you mean?" Misara asked, suddenly confused. She didn't remember anything except landing on top of the mountain in the snow and seeing Nuriko being attacked. Everything else after that was a blur.
"You fought that guy that was attacking Nuriko, no da!" Chichiri said happily, as she took turns hugging each of them.
"I don't remember a thing!" Misara laughed, happy to be back. "But if you say so, I guess I'll have to believe you!"
"You were bleeding and all cut up when we found you two. Nuriko didn't have a scratch on him, but he was going crazy waiting for Mitsukake to come." Tamahome said.
Misara smiled at Nuriko, then gasped. "Where is your hair?" She cried, and everyone laughed again as Nuriko shrugged.
"I cut it off." He said matter-of-factly. "Just because." He added quickly before Misara could ask.
She smiled once more, then suddenly, she noticed something else. "Where's Hotohori?"
They're faces suddenly became sad, and Misara eyes widened.
"What?" She cried. "Did something happen to him?"
Miaka put her hand on Misara's shoulder. "Well," she began. "after you left...he was so sad, because Taitskun said you could never come back. He would hardly come out of his room, and when he did, he wouldn't talk to anybody. We tried to cheer him up, but..." she trailed off.
"But he's alright?" Misara asked frantically.
"Well, besides his broken heart, he's fine. As far as we know now." Tamahome said quietly.
Misara sighed in relief. "At least he's alright...I couldn't stand it if he wasn't. But..." she added softly, "I didn't want to break his heart."
Minutes later, they all plodded the short distance to a large door, where the Shinzaho of Genbu was supposedly located. After Nuriko threw the gigantic boulder out of the way, he opened the doors and they all walked inside. Misara shivered, and Chichri looked over at her.
"Cold?" He asked her, smiling.
She nodded. "I'm not really dressed for winter." She said, looking down at her short-sleeved shirt. At least she had jeans on, she thought to herself. Before he could stop him, Tasuki had whipped off his outer coat and put it around her shoulders.
"Oh...thank you..." She said hesitantly. She looked down at her feet, not sure of what else to say to him, but it seemed he wasn't looking for a reply.
Suddenly, shards of ice flew around them, and everyone ducked.
"What are you doing here?" A voice boomed around them. Tamahome stood up.
"Show yourself, coward!" He yelled into the dark. Suddenly, two figures appeared out of nowhere. One had long, white hair, with a black patch over his eye, while the other appeared very young and was carrying a bow. Both were almost transparent, like ghosts, only they were deadly ones.
"Wait!" Miaka cried. "I'm the Priestess of Suzaku! Please don't hurt us!"
The young one scowled, but the other put his hand on his shoulder. "What do you want?" he asked.
"We want the Shinzaho of Genbu, so we can summon Suzaku." Miaka said, rather timidly.
This time, the white-haired one narrowed his eyes. "Prove it."
"Prove what?" Miaka asked.
"That you are indeed the Priestess of Suzaku."
"How am I supposed to prove that?" She asked, a little angry.
"We shall put you to a test, to see if you are worthy."
Miaka hesitated, then stepped forward. "Alright. Test me."
"Miaka! You don't have to do this!" Tamahome cried.
"I already promised!" She yelled at him, then turned back around. "Go ahead."
"Take off your clothes." The white-haired one said.
"WHAT???" Everyone screamed.
"Are you serious?" Misara cried.
"What kind of people are you?" Tasuki growled at them, but the cries of the Suzaku warriors were ignored as Miaka started to strip. Suddenly, Tamahome ran forward, trying to get to Miaka, but slammed into an invisible wall.
"You won't be able to melt this ice wall." The young one said. Tamahome began to beat on the wall with his fists.
"Miaka!" He cried, as ice started to climb up her legs and engulf her.
Miaka didn't move from where she stood, and let the ice surround her completely.
"She'll die in there!" Nuriko shrieked.
The young man with the bow shrugged, and Misara started to get fidgety. And angry. Suddenly, she couldn't take it anymore, and ran toward Miaka, forgetting about the ice wall. To everyone's complete surprise, the wall shimmered as she passed right through it, and when Tamahome tried to follow Misara, it had frozen like before and he couldn't pass. The two strangers were too shocked to do anything as Misara stood next to Miaka. Nuriko's symbol flashed on the young girl, and one swing was all it took to smash the ice around Miaka, who collapsed breathlessly onto the ground at the same time as Misara.
The ice wall disappeared, and the Suzaku warriors rushed toward their priestess. As Tamahome desperately tried to dress Miaka as fast as he could, Nuriko helped Misara to her feet and winked at her.
They were interrupted by the two strangers. "I am Hikitsu." The white-haired one said calmly. "And this is Tomite." He gestured to the younger man. "We are two warriors of Genbu."
"What??" Nuriko cried.
"You've got to be...over 200 years old!" Chichiri exclaimed.
"Our spirits have remained here to guard the Shinzaho until it is needed." Hikitsu explained. "Our bodies may be gone, but as you can see, our will to fight still remains." He motioned to the cave around them, and for the first time, the warriors of Suzaku noticed the thousands of bones scattered about.
"Ewww..." Misara said quietly, backing up a little.
"So are you going to give us the Shinzaho or what?" Tasuki said loudly.
Tomite snorted. "We won't give it to YOU, that's for certain."
"What was that?" Tasuki growled.
Hikitsu interrupted them. "You proved your worth because you have the Goddess of the Sky with you. She demonstrated her ability to protect you, thus proving you are who you claim to be. The Goddess cannot be held against her own will, so you could not have imprisoned her with spells and other such tricks. Therefore, we believe that since she is the Goddess of the Sky, you must be the Priestess of Suzaku and her warriors. And we must give you the Shinzaho." He turned toward another large set of doors. "This way, please."
"Way to go, Misara!" Miaka said quietly as they followed him. Nuriko just winked at her again.
They followed the two Genbu warriors into a large, well-lit room. On the far end of the room stood a pedestal, and on top of the pedestal sat a beautiful necklace. Miaka ran over and picked it up.
"It's so pretty..." she breathed.
"It belonged to the Priestess of Genbu. Once she summoned Genbu, her necklace stayed behind as she went back to her own world." Hikitsu said softly.
"Then, the Priestess of Genbu HAD to go back to her own world?" Tamahome said, his forehead furrowed in thought.
Miaka looked at Tamahome for a moment, then forced a smile. "Now we can summon Suzaku!" She said happily.
Tomite raised his eyebrows. "You can't summon Suzaku with just that..."
"What?" Miaka turned to him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, you need the Byakko Shinzaho as well." He answered, a little sardonically.
Everyone groaned out loud, and after a few moments of silence, Misara spoke up.
"Well, we might as well go now, right?" She asked them. Everyone nodded slowly.
After they bid farewell to the Genbu warriors, they walked out once more into the bright sunlight. Misara turned back to wave, but they were gone.
"They must have been guarding the Shinzaho until another Priestess came for it...and now that they don't need to guard it anymore, their souls can rest." Chichiri said softly. Everyone else turned around to see, when suddenly, a wolf jumped out of the snow and snatched the Shinzaho from Miaka's hands. Miaka cried out and started to chase it, with Tamahome and Misara trying to catch up to her.
A while later, Misara was wandering around in the woods, calling Miaka's name, when Miaka appeared from behind a tree and grabbed her arm.
"Shhh!" She whispered loudly.
"Miaka!" Misara cried. "We've been looking all over for you!"
Miaka looked at the ground for a moment. "There's something I need to tell you..."
Misara leaned up against the tree, astonished. "Let me get this straight...you have to...with Nakago? To get the Shinzaho back?"
Miaka nodded miserably. "I wanted you to come with me, just to make sure he didn't try anything funny, you know?"
Misara sighed. "I know what you mean...but...what about Tamahome?"
Tears started to form in the corners of Miaka's eyes, and Misara realized that Miaka had already thought about him.
"I'm sorry." Misara said quickly. Miaka nodded.
After a few moments of silence, Misara had an idea. She knew it wasn't the best, but she was willing to do it for Miaka. She told Miaka of her plan. Miaka refused at first, but eventually gave in to Misara's pleadings when she realized that Misara was doing it for her.
Sighing, Miaka took a small knife out of her boot, and Misara undid the ribbon on the end of her long braid of hair.
