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Another Opportunity For Sibling Bonding

Chapter III: Ryuen, Woman of the Forest

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"How in the name of Suzaku do you DO that?"

Ryuen glanced back at me, blinked a few times. "Do what?"

We'd been trekking over a faint path for almost an hour now, brushing our way past weeds and thorns, over rocky rises and across log bridges determined to tip and roll beneath our feet. And, yet... I took a few steps to catch up with him, shook the mud from my fingertips, the thorns from my skirt, the twigs from where they'd tangled in my hair. "How do you stay so...so...*perfect*? I mean--gods, no thorns, no twigs, no mud." Despite myself, I smiled. "It's like the woods're afraid to touch you."

Ryuen sniffed, blew humbly on his knuckles. "Of course, they are. It's not everyday you see a crossdressing Suzaku shichiseishi, you know. They're just showing their respect."

I tried to hold it in, I really did. But, with Ryuen standing there, gorgeous as an Imperial Harem girl and talking in that high voice--I couldn't help it. I burst out laughing. It was too loud--especially in the woods--but, it swept over me like a tide, and before it left, I was lying on my side on the ground, gasping for breath and brushing tears away from my eyes. "Crossdressing shichiseishi," I managed. "Good...gods..."

"Wait! Shh." A second's pause. "Someone's coming, get off the path!"

I collected myself quickly. It wasn't often that I heard that voice from Niisama--tight, tense, and quick--but, I knew to obey it when it came. Still wiping at my eyes, I drew myself up from the ground, found that Ryuen had gathered his skirts and was moving near-silently to the edge of the path, heading for a big oak. And, now that I'd stopped laughing, I could hear just what was making him go.

It came from ahead of us, from down the path. We'd been climbing up a small rise in the ground, had been about two thirds of the way to the top when we stopped. But, something was coming up the other side, moving quickly and not-too-quietly--and, if we didn't get out of sight fast...

I grabbed onto my skirt, turned, and hurried after Niisama, careful to keep my feet away from twigs and branches. "You think it's bandits?" I whispered once we'd settled in behind the big oak.

Ryuen shook his head, bringing an index finger to his lips. I nodded and--creeping as silently as I could to the left edge of the tree--peered past the bark and out onto the path. It was a few seconds before anything happened. The rustling was drawing nearer, faster, coming up over the hilltop--I glimpsed a flicker of red through the trees--

"THERE you guys are!"

I froze. That voice. That loud, echoing, damnably-familiar voice. It wasn't coming from up the path, like it should've been. No. Gods, no. It was coming from right behind us.

Oblivious to the fact that Ryuen and I were frantically waving our arms at him to be quiet, Rokou came tramping up to us like the Seiryuu seishi were chasing after him, skidded to a halt just beside the tree and let out a heavy sigh. "Gods, I've been lookin' all over the place for you two! Where've you been? And, what're you doin' hiding behind a--"

A slim figure suddenly stepped into view. "I was wondering much the same thing."

I felt the breath go out of my lungs, felt Ryuen go suddenly stiff beside me.

"A...a tree," Rokou finished belatedly.

It was like we were under some kind of spell. We just stood there, Ryuen and I still leaning up against the oak, Rokou standing a little behind us with his mouth hanging open, and stared at him. It wasn't like his picture was plastered all over Eiyo, or like I would've been in the right places to look at it if it were--but, even so, I knew who he was. He was tall, almost a full head taller than Ryuen or me, and was dressed in what was--for him, anyway--a simple white shirt (gold-embroidered along the edges, of course), dark trousers, boots, and a cloak. The cloak was what I'd noticed earlier, I guessed, since it was the only thing he was wearing that was red, but I couldn't imagine why anybody would want to be wearing more clothes than they had to in this kind of weather.

Then again, I'd always heard weird things about royalty.

The boy took a small step towards us, brushed his hair back behind his shoulders. My eyes followed it almost against my will, caught up in the way the light flickered on the hair, made it glow like tanned gold in the sun. "Hello," he said. His voice was softer than it had been the first time he spoke, sounding a little distracted--and, it didn't take much thought to figure out just what might be distracting him.

"Hello," Ryuen murmured. Before I knew what was happening, he'd brushed past me and taken the hand the boy offered, and I watched him smile as his smaller hand was drawn to the boy's lips.

I rolled my eyes. Great. Just great. I could just hear the explanation, now. //Oh, well, Tousan, we didn't get the dresses back...but, Heika-sama is in love with Ryuen! Yeah, I thought you'd be pleased...//

But, then, those eyes--like liquid amber, good gods!--were on me, and suddenly it was MY hand being encircled by those princely fingers, MY hand being drawn up to those lips. I've never been one to giggle or swoon...but, good gods, I wanted to now. It took every ounce of willpower I had in me not to.

By the time I'd recovered, Heika-sama had greeted Rokou, too, although obviously not in quite the same way. He grabbed Aniki's hand between his fingers, shook it firmly. And then, the greetings over, the boy glanced at each of us in turn, bowed his head a bit as if in apology. "I'm sorry if I startled you," he said. His voice was as smooth as his skin, as liquid as his eyes. Suddenly seeming to remember something, he glanced at Ryuen and me. "I thought I heard a woman sobbing. I don't suppose that was either one of you?"

Sobbing... I felt my cheeks redden, opened my mouth to try to explain--

"Yes!" Ryuen exclaimed. "Yes. That was...that was me." He sniffled a little, managed to bring such a look of sorrow to his face that I felt the breath trickle out of my lungs. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize anyone else was around, or I would never have cried so loudly."

He was covering for me, I knew, trying to keep me from embarrassment...but, gods, the way he looked at her then! I mean. I coughed inwardly. Ryuen. Him. Not her. Damn, this was hard. And...well, a little strange.

Heika-sama looked like he was one step away from offering his sleeve as a hankerchief. "What were you crying for? Is there anything I can do to help?"

An idea hit me hard, blew the words out of my mouth in a little dry bullet of air. "She was crying because bandits stole our dresses!"

Ryuen and Rokou were staring at me--I could feel their eyes burning into the back of my head--but I paid no attention.

"Bandits?" Heika gasped. His face twisted in what looked a lot like righteous anger. "That's TERRIBLE!"

"It is," said Ryuen, bowing his head a little. Ever the resilient actor... "We were taking them to our father's shop, and bandits attacked us on the way."

"It was terrifying," I added.

Ryuen nodded. "Yes. They took all the dresses we had--a very expensive order. Without them, our father will lose his shop."

The young prince's eyes widened. "You're not...you're not trying to get them back, are you? All by yourselves?"

"They DO have me," Rokou grumbled.

"Still!" Heika exclaimed. "That's insane! Two girls and a young boy, going into a nest of bandits? How will you do such a thing?"

Ryuen sniffled, and I could've sworn I saw a glimmer of tears in his eyes. "We don't know," he said mournfully, "but what other choice do we have?"

Heika's voice was firm. "I will go with you." His hand slipped to his belt, patted a slender sheath I hadn't noticed before. "With my sword and I, at least you'll be protected."

"Oh, we couldn't ask that of you..." Ryuen's eyelashes fluttered.

"No. I insist." Expression still firm with resolve, the boy gave a slight bow, let the hair trickle over his shoulders in a wave of golden brown. "My name is Saihitei."

"I'm Rokou," Aniki said, looking relieved to finally have something worthwhile to say. "And, this is Korin and--" He broke off, suddenly, eyes going wide. "This is...er...this is..."

Ryuen stepped forward with a rustle of skirts and a soft smile. "Call me Hoshi," he said.

The young prince smiled. "Hoshi," he echoed. "Very pleased to meet you. Hoshi... Oh, a-and you, Korin. And, Rokou."

Right. Pleased to meet all of us. Uh-huh.

Gods, it was gonna be a long day.

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To Be Continued...