Noon. The sun beats down on all that are in the path of its warm rays.
Here the road forks into three; a north road, a south road, and an east
road. Which way?
Yui looks out the window of the Chinese carriage. She points to the left. "The north route?" the driver asks in confirmation. She nods. This is a blind search, anyway. And besides, this route would be closest.
Drawing the door curtains open, she takes in more of the Sairou scenery—somehow, although the arid, cracked, rosy coloured earth of this particular region is far from the verdant, seemingly eternal beauty of the landscapes of Konan and Kutou, the land still held undeniable charm. The yellow and red colours of the ground so accentuate the sky that in the horizon, everything forms into an indistinct and amorphous haze composed of nameless shades of colour blends. So this is the tranquility of the western empire. Four kingdoms, all unique in their beauty. [So beautiful is the enchanting land called ancient China.]
(In Genbu Country)
A man looking about thirty with straw-blond hair, blue eyes, and a determinedly good-looking face sits in the village elder's house, and politely asks where his parents are. He then listens in disappointment and a partial disbelief as the village head explains how his mother has died and his father left home to search for him, two years ago. The middle-aged man just shakes his head, as if in disbelief. "They…Kaa-san(Mother)and Tou- san(Father)just can't be gone. If you say that my mother passed away, then where is her grave marker? Where is it, liar?"
The village head replies: "She was cremated. Her deathbed wishes. Your father took her ashes with him."
The sandy-haired man slams his fist down on the simple wooden table in the small room that he was sitting by. His facial expression is one of both total despair and anger. The table cracks into two and his expression softens. "I'm sorry…I will work to pay for this."
"It is all right, Kaika. We all know you have a warm heart few can match. We understand your frustration. This is not something you would do under any other circumstances. May we know why you left us so very many years ago?"
The country north of the capital vibrates with an air of celebration as Yui watches the people harvesting the fields, a rich golden expanse rising up and down like ocean waves with the winds. The Harvest Festival is not far away! I wonder if the harvest is as rich in Kutou…The atmosphere here is so happy and mesmerizing…I wish Miaka was with me on this journey, or rather, perhaps Suboshi, someone to share the joy with me.
"The next town is only a li more away." the driver announced. Yui now throws open the curtains to let the wind brush against her face. She forgets her loneliness, and casts herself in the role of one of the villagers, exulting in the triumph of the harvest as a result of the toil and effort of the previous months, exulting in the villagers' reward.
On the horizon, at the foothill of the mountain, simple brick houses and more elaborate wooden houses snuggle around what appears to be a stone temple, carved into an interesting design. As the carriage approaches the settlement, merchants and people with cartloads of goods and harvested grains crowd the road. Yui is surprised at the bustling nature of the place, all the pleasant commotion and children running everywhere, all signs of joy and hope that always precede a festival. Her eyes widen as they travel from houses to food stands to ceramic displays that the common people could now afford.
Yui's carriage ambles along as waves of people flood past the carriage in a rapid, streamline motion. She is now at the prosperous delta at the village entrance, formed by connecting two traveling roads with the main path, along which rows of building, now doubt housing the most important people of the village, stood modestly. Yui takes a look at some of these as her carriage moves cautiously away from the booths and heads down the main path, where some lodging should be found. Some respected merchant standing outside the door of his home—his very warm gestures seem to congratulate various people—his dwelling, while unelaborated in appearance, nevertheless communicates his high status with taste: elegant hard wood furnishings, outside and inside, coated with black lacquer, a stately courtyard with bamboo that reach over the walls. All this Yui has been able to observe in a matter of seconds, since the eye takes things in faster than the brain can process. She takes one long look back, having to turn her shoulders out of the carriage window in order to do so. Only after she turns and steps out of the carriage, stopped at the hotel diagonally across from the merchant's house, does she hear the frantic screams: "Fire! Fire!"
(Kaika smirks victoriously as he dashes from rooftop to walls, escaping from the concentrated attentions of the village head and other village citizens as they work themselves to death to put out that pathetic "fire" he started. How easy it would be now to get out of this place, now that it brings him little more than disappointment. He had expected to find his "parents", and then to question them on Yunsuwa, his little "cousin." Of course, she was the first person he suspected of possessing Byakko's powers. But now, even after this "disaster" scenario, Byakko's seishi fails to show up. The only thing to do now is go out to search for the next seishi, as the seishi that was supposed to reside in this town has mysteriously disappeared…for how else would the chi suddenly fade away, unless that seishi could mask their chi like Nakago? That's not very likely, he had concluded, so it's time to leave this place, and spend time on a slightly worthier pursuit. Hey, if luck is with him, perhaps the first mystery seishi has already met some great misfortune and is currently dead. Well, maybe that's too much to hope for, but no use spending time here any more.
Then, suddenly, over the rooftop of the town's hotel he pauses. What is that aura he just sensed? Deciding to take a peek, he sweeps down the shingles and leans over the edge. A stronger chi…A Seiryuu chi, yet how could that be except…what, it's the Seiryuu maiden? How the heck could she have gotten back into this world? Deciding that he has better uses of his time, he throws away the thought, and the very source of his confusion. What matters now is how he could use her in some way. To gather information. Something from his instinct tells him that she must also be on a quest to look for the seishi. He grins inwardly as he formulates a new plan, and leaps downward, as predator swiftly pounces on prey.)
Yui stands, speechless and staggered. The fire somehow seems to make everything simply difficult. How could she inquire about white characters flashing on someone's forehead when everyone is obviously panicking about the fire and what it will do to their homes and what it will do to absolutely ruin the joyous atmosphere of the Festival? Swarms of people, women and men, adults and children alike, are now running past her towards the fire, fortified with buckets of water to put it out. She wonders what she could do now—help them bring water, or perhaps try to figure out a more scientific way to put the fire out? Well, if they could start another fire, a little higher, on that roof…
"Lady Yui?" She turns around. Then, "Lady Yui! I'm so glad to see you!"
"What?" Yui exclaims, still held stationary by the element of shock, at seeing him. "Amiboshi?!"
"No, Lady Yui." He runs up to her and stops to catch his breath. "I am Suboshi."
Yui looks out the window of the Chinese carriage. She points to the left. "The north route?" the driver asks in confirmation. She nods. This is a blind search, anyway. And besides, this route would be closest.
Drawing the door curtains open, she takes in more of the Sairou scenery—somehow, although the arid, cracked, rosy coloured earth of this particular region is far from the verdant, seemingly eternal beauty of the landscapes of Konan and Kutou, the land still held undeniable charm. The yellow and red colours of the ground so accentuate the sky that in the horizon, everything forms into an indistinct and amorphous haze composed of nameless shades of colour blends. So this is the tranquility of the western empire. Four kingdoms, all unique in their beauty. [So beautiful is the enchanting land called ancient China.]
(In Genbu Country)
A man looking about thirty with straw-blond hair, blue eyes, and a determinedly good-looking face sits in the village elder's house, and politely asks where his parents are. He then listens in disappointment and a partial disbelief as the village head explains how his mother has died and his father left home to search for him, two years ago. The middle-aged man just shakes his head, as if in disbelief. "They…Kaa-san(Mother)and Tou- san(Father)just can't be gone. If you say that my mother passed away, then where is her grave marker? Where is it, liar?"
The village head replies: "She was cremated. Her deathbed wishes. Your father took her ashes with him."
The sandy-haired man slams his fist down on the simple wooden table in the small room that he was sitting by. His facial expression is one of both total despair and anger. The table cracks into two and his expression softens. "I'm sorry…I will work to pay for this."
"It is all right, Kaika. We all know you have a warm heart few can match. We understand your frustration. This is not something you would do under any other circumstances. May we know why you left us so very many years ago?"
The country north of the capital vibrates with an air of celebration as Yui watches the people harvesting the fields, a rich golden expanse rising up and down like ocean waves with the winds. The Harvest Festival is not far away! I wonder if the harvest is as rich in Kutou…The atmosphere here is so happy and mesmerizing…I wish Miaka was with me on this journey, or rather, perhaps Suboshi, someone to share the joy with me.
"The next town is only a li more away." the driver announced. Yui now throws open the curtains to let the wind brush against her face. She forgets her loneliness, and casts herself in the role of one of the villagers, exulting in the triumph of the harvest as a result of the toil and effort of the previous months, exulting in the villagers' reward.
On the horizon, at the foothill of the mountain, simple brick houses and more elaborate wooden houses snuggle around what appears to be a stone temple, carved into an interesting design. As the carriage approaches the settlement, merchants and people with cartloads of goods and harvested grains crowd the road. Yui is surprised at the bustling nature of the place, all the pleasant commotion and children running everywhere, all signs of joy and hope that always precede a festival. Her eyes widen as they travel from houses to food stands to ceramic displays that the common people could now afford.
Yui's carriage ambles along as waves of people flood past the carriage in a rapid, streamline motion. She is now at the prosperous delta at the village entrance, formed by connecting two traveling roads with the main path, along which rows of building, now doubt housing the most important people of the village, stood modestly. Yui takes a look at some of these as her carriage moves cautiously away from the booths and heads down the main path, where some lodging should be found. Some respected merchant standing outside the door of his home—his very warm gestures seem to congratulate various people—his dwelling, while unelaborated in appearance, nevertheless communicates his high status with taste: elegant hard wood furnishings, outside and inside, coated with black lacquer, a stately courtyard with bamboo that reach over the walls. All this Yui has been able to observe in a matter of seconds, since the eye takes things in faster than the brain can process. She takes one long look back, having to turn her shoulders out of the carriage window in order to do so. Only after she turns and steps out of the carriage, stopped at the hotel diagonally across from the merchant's house, does she hear the frantic screams: "Fire! Fire!"
(Kaika smirks victoriously as he dashes from rooftop to walls, escaping from the concentrated attentions of the village head and other village citizens as they work themselves to death to put out that pathetic "fire" he started. How easy it would be now to get out of this place, now that it brings him little more than disappointment. He had expected to find his "parents", and then to question them on Yunsuwa, his little "cousin." Of course, she was the first person he suspected of possessing Byakko's powers. But now, even after this "disaster" scenario, Byakko's seishi fails to show up. The only thing to do now is go out to search for the next seishi, as the seishi that was supposed to reside in this town has mysteriously disappeared…for how else would the chi suddenly fade away, unless that seishi could mask their chi like Nakago? That's not very likely, he had concluded, so it's time to leave this place, and spend time on a slightly worthier pursuit. Hey, if luck is with him, perhaps the first mystery seishi has already met some great misfortune and is currently dead. Well, maybe that's too much to hope for, but no use spending time here any more.
Then, suddenly, over the rooftop of the town's hotel he pauses. What is that aura he just sensed? Deciding to take a peek, he sweeps down the shingles and leans over the edge. A stronger chi…A Seiryuu chi, yet how could that be except…what, it's the Seiryuu maiden? How the heck could she have gotten back into this world? Deciding that he has better uses of his time, he throws away the thought, and the very source of his confusion. What matters now is how he could use her in some way. To gather information. Something from his instinct tells him that she must also be on a quest to look for the seishi. He grins inwardly as he formulates a new plan, and leaps downward, as predator swiftly pounces on prey.)
Yui stands, speechless and staggered. The fire somehow seems to make everything simply difficult. How could she inquire about white characters flashing on someone's forehead when everyone is obviously panicking about the fire and what it will do to their homes and what it will do to absolutely ruin the joyous atmosphere of the Festival? Swarms of people, women and men, adults and children alike, are now running past her towards the fire, fortified with buckets of water to put it out. She wonders what she could do now—help them bring water, or perhaps try to figure out a more scientific way to put the fire out? Well, if they could start another fire, a little higher, on that roof…
"Lady Yui?" She turns around. Then, "Lady Yui! I'm so glad to see you!"
"What?" Yui exclaims, still held stationary by the element of shock, at seeing him. "Amiboshi?!"
"No, Lady Yui." He runs up to her and stops to catch his breath. "I am Suboshi."
