Chapter Four
"This is really bad." Nuriko kept repeating as the Suzaku warriors picked their way through the rubble. Taylor followed quietly and didn't speak. The mess was terrible. It looked as though the building had been destroyed from the inside, and everything was half-submerged in a brackish- colored water. Somewhere toward the north end of the building, Mitsukake had unearthed a large mirror, smashed and broken. When Chichiri had seen that, he pulled off his mask (only later did Taylor realize that it was a mask) and his jaw was set in anger.
No one knew what to do. The sun had almost set and they needed a place to camp. Tasuki mentioned this aloud, but Chichiri shook his head.
"We can't camp near here tonight." He said quietly. "This place feels strange to me.I don't think sleeping near here would be a good idea."
Hotohori nodded grimly. "Then we should head back down the mountain now. We can investigate further tomorrow." He motioned for them to go, then saddled his horse. They followed him back down the mountain, looking for a place to sleep that night.
Surprisingly, they reached the bottom in less than an hour, and set up camp at the foot of the mountain. They ate their dinner quietly, and no one spoke for a long time. Even Tasuki looked serious. Taylor wasn't remotely tired, and it looked like no one else was either. Something bad had happened. They all knew it, and no one knew what to do next. Hotohori looked worse than anyone else, looking pale and strained, and Taylor remembered what he had lost.
She was worried too. What had happened up there? Did this mean they couldn't get Misara back? What would happen next? She wanted nothing more than to get Misara back, and now it didn't look like there was a way.
Eventually they all fell asleep, except for Hotohori. Just before Taylor closed her eyes, she saw him sitting by the fire, clutching a chain. Hanging from the chain was a heavy-looking ring. It looked familiar to Taylor, but in the firelight she wasn't sure.
The next morning, Taylor woke up to sunlight shining fully in her face. She opened her eyes slowly and realized that it was late in the morning. Nuriko was snoozing next to her, but the other warriors were nowhere to be found. Panicking, Taylor shook Nuriko awake.
"What-?" Nuriko sputtered as he opened his eyes. "What's the big idea?"
"Everyone's gone!" Taylor cried.
Nuriko groaned and turned over. "They went back to the mountain to look around. Hotohori told me to let you sleep, so I decided to go back to sleep as well."
He yawned and closed his eyes again, apparently wanted to sleep some more. After a moment, Taylor got up and headed over to the smoldering fire. There were some water jugs around it, and she took a long drink. As she set down the jug, she glanced at her watch to see what time it was and almost spit out the last of the water in her mouth. Her watch had stopped working.
"I just got the battery changed too..." she muttered to herself. "Figures."
Helping herself to some breakfast, Taylor took a good look around. They had camped in some kind of clearing, far enough from the main road so they wouldn't be seen. As she sat there, she grew upset, feeling that she was in the way.
It was much later in the day, almost the end of the afternoon by Taylor's reckoning, when the rest of the Suzaku warriors returned, looking even more dejected than the previous night. Taylor was too afraid to ask what they had found, but Nuriko asked for her.
It turned out that not all of the building had been destroyed. There was most of one room still standing in the very back, but there had been no trace of Taitskun or her servants. Absolutely none, no trace of bodies or even shreds of clothing, which the warriors of Suzaku seemed to find very strange. They had no clues as to who had done it, and Chichiri had seemed very adamant that whoever had done it had taken Taitskun as well, which meant that they were very powerful.
So a very depressed and tense group headed back to the palace, with no clues as to how to get Misara back. They were so depressed that they didn't even try to hurry, so they had to camp for another night a few miles outside the city.
When they finally arrived back at the palace, they were dismounting when they all heard a shrill, familiar voice.
"Hotohoriiiii! Nuriko! Tasuki!" The voice continued to shout out their names until they discovered the source.
"Miaka!" Nuriko cried.
Miaka was running down the stairs to their left, and threw her arms around Nuriko.
"How-how did you get here?" Tasuki stammered.
"Who cares?" Miaka cried gleefully. "I brought you a present!" She pulled out Misara's scroll, which had been given to Misara by Taitskun when she became the Goddess of the Sky. Miaka handed it to Chichiri. "I had a feeling you would need it." She gave him a look and winked, then looked around at them all. She was about to say something else when Tamahome stepped out in front of the group. Miaka gaped at him, a look on her face that no one knew quite how to read.
"Taka?" She said hesitantly.
"Miaka, it's me. Tamahome." He said sternly. "I'm not Taka, I'm Tamahome." He added, a little desperately.
"But." Miaka trailed off. She looked at him for another minute, and no one spoke. "Alright." She said finally. "Tamahome." He moved forward to embrace her, and as he did, she stiffened visibly, but Tamahome either didn't notice or didn't care.
After another moment of awkward silence, Nuriko clapped his hands together. "Alright! Who's hungry?"
To no one's surprise, the first to answer was Miaka.
Dinner was more of an exhibition than anything, as they all watched Miaka shovel food into her mouth.
"I had forgotten how disgusting that was." Tasuki muttered, and Nuriko hit him. At the sight of Miaka eating, most of them had lost their appetites, and were just picking at their food. Chichiri hadn't touched his plate, and was in fact reading Misara's scroll and muttering to himself.
Finally dinner (or whatever you could call it) was over, and they retired to a different room to sit and discuss the scroll.
"Basically," he began, "we have to do a lot of things to get Misara back. First of all, we need to go back to Taitskun's palace and find her mirror. Then." here he paused, and looked at Taylor. "We have to go to Kutou." Taylor's eyes widened, but she didn't say anything. Hotohori looked at her, then turned back to Chichiri, who had kept on talking. "Nakago has something of Misara's that we need to get back, but the scroll doesn't say what it is." He turned to Taylor. "Do you have any idea what he could have?"
Taylor shrugged and shook her head. "I'm pretty sure it's not her ring.last I knew, she had that. I can't think of what else he could have. Where's her violin?"
"In her room." Hotohori said stiffly. "I didn't want to move it."
"How are we supposed to get anything from Nakago anyway?" Tamahome said a little angrily. "Who cares what it is?"
"We could sneak in and steal it, couldn't we?" Nuriko suggested.
"We might have to." Chichiri sighed. "Only it would be much easier if we knew what we were stealing."
"A few of us could go back to Taitskun's palace and get the mirror while someone else went to Kutou." Chiriko piped up. "The giant mirror, I presume?" Chichiri nodded. "We'll need something to carry it on then. A cart, or something."
"I will arrange that. The ones that are going can leave tomorrow morning." Hotohori replied. He exited the room to give the orders.
"Chichiri?" Taylor asked. "What else do we have to do?"
Chichiri rolled up the scroll. "We can't do anything else until we have those two items." He didn't look at anyone, concentrating solely on the scroll, obviously hiding something. He stood up. "We should all get a good night's sleep. Who's going to get the mirror tomorrow?"
Mitsukake stood. "I will go."
Tamahome and Miaka nodded. "We'll go with him." Miaka said.
"I guess I have to go too." Nuriko yawned. "Someone has to lift that thing, and it will probably be me."
Chichiri looked at Taylor. "No way." She said, shaking her head. "I'm going to Kutou with you. You need me."
Chichiri sighed. "Alright." He moved toward the door. "I'm going to rest for a while." As soon as he left, Taylor caught Nuriko's eye. Nuriko shrugged.
Taylor stood. "Me too. See you in the morning." Nuriko followed her out into the hallway. Chichiri was nowhere to be seen.
As the two of them headed down the hallway, Nuriko whispered to Taylor. "Did you get the feeling he wasn't telling us something?"
"This is really bad." Nuriko kept repeating as the Suzaku warriors picked their way through the rubble. Taylor followed quietly and didn't speak. The mess was terrible. It looked as though the building had been destroyed from the inside, and everything was half-submerged in a brackish- colored water. Somewhere toward the north end of the building, Mitsukake had unearthed a large mirror, smashed and broken. When Chichiri had seen that, he pulled off his mask (only later did Taylor realize that it was a mask) and his jaw was set in anger.
No one knew what to do. The sun had almost set and they needed a place to camp. Tasuki mentioned this aloud, but Chichiri shook his head.
"We can't camp near here tonight." He said quietly. "This place feels strange to me.I don't think sleeping near here would be a good idea."
Hotohori nodded grimly. "Then we should head back down the mountain now. We can investigate further tomorrow." He motioned for them to go, then saddled his horse. They followed him back down the mountain, looking for a place to sleep that night.
Surprisingly, they reached the bottom in less than an hour, and set up camp at the foot of the mountain. They ate their dinner quietly, and no one spoke for a long time. Even Tasuki looked serious. Taylor wasn't remotely tired, and it looked like no one else was either. Something bad had happened. They all knew it, and no one knew what to do next. Hotohori looked worse than anyone else, looking pale and strained, and Taylor remembered what he had lost.
She was worried too. What had happened up there? Did this mean they couldn't get Misara back? What would happen next? She wanted nothing more than to get Misara back, and now it didn't look like there was a way.
Eventually they all fell asleep, except for Hotohori. Just before Taylor closed her eyes, she saw him sitting by the fire, clutching a chain. Hanging from the chain was a heavy-looking ring. It looked familiar to Taylor, but in the firelight she wasn't sure.
The next morning, Taylor woke up to sunlight shining fully in her face. She opened her eyes slowly and realized that it was late in the morning. Nuriko was snoozing next to her, but the other warriors were nowhere to be found. Panicking, Taylor shook Nuriko awake.
"What-?" Nuriko sputtered as he opened his eyes. "What's the big idea?"
"Everyone's gone!" Taylor cried.
Nuriko groaned and turned over. "They went back to the mountain to look around. Hotohori told me to let you sleep, so I decided to go back to sleep as well."
He yawned and closed his eyes again, apparently wanted to sleep some more. After a moment, Taylor got up and headed over to the smoldering fire. There were some water jugs around it, and she took a long drink. As she set down the jug, she glanced at her watch to see what time it was and almost spit out the last of the water in her mouth. Her watch had stopped working.
"I just got the battery changed too..." she muttered to herself. "Figures."
Helping herself to some breakfast, Taylor took a good look around. They had camped in some kind of clearing, far enough from the main road so they wouldn't be seen. As she sat there, she grew upset, feeling that she was in the way.
It was much later in the day, almost the end of the afternoon by Taylor's reckoning, when the rest of the Suzaku warriors returned, looking even more dejected than the previous night. Taylor was too afraid to ask what they had found, but Nuriko asked for her.
It turned out that not all of the building had been destroyed. There was most of one room still standing in the very back, but there had been no trace of Taitskun or her servants. Absolutely none, no trace of bodies or even shreds of clothing, which the warriors of Suzaku seemed to find very strange. They had no clues as to who had done it, and Chichiri had seemed very adamant that whoever had done it had taken Taitskun as well, which meant that they were very powerful.
So a very depressed and tense group headed back to the palace, with no clues as to how to get Misara back. They were so depressed that they didn't even try to hurry, so they had to camp for another night a few miles outside the city.
When they finally arrived back at the palace, they were dismounting when they all heard a shrill, familiar voice.
"Hotohoriiiii! Nuriko! Tasuki!" The voice continued to shout out their names until they discovered the source.
"Miaka!" Nuriko cried.
Miaka was running down the stairs to their left, and threw her arms around Nuriko.
"How-how did you get here?" Tasuki stammered.
"Who cares?" Miaka cried gleefully. "I brought you a present!" She pulled out Misara's scroll, which had been given to Misara by Taitskun when she became the Goddess of the Sky. Miaka handed it to Chichiri. "I had a feeling you would need it." She gave him a look and winked, then looked around at them all. She was about to say something else when Tamahome stepped out in front of the group. Miaka gaped at him, a look on her face that no one knew quite how to read.
"Taka?" She said hesitantly.
"Miaka, it's me. Tamahome." He said sternly. "I'm not Taka, I'm Tamahome." He added, a little desperately.
"But." Miaka trailed off. She looked at him for another minute, and no one spoke. "Alright." She said finally. "Tamahome." He moved forward to embrace her, and as he did, she stiffened visibly, but Tamahome either didn't notice or didn't care.
After another moment of awkward silence, Nuriko clapped his hands together. "Alright! Who's hungry?"
To no one's surprise, the first to answer was Miaka.
Dinner was more of an exhibition than anything, as they all watched Miaka shovel food into her mouth.
"I had forgotten how disgusting that was." Tasuki muttered, and Nuriko hit him. At the sight of Miaka eating, most of them had lost their appetites, and were just picking at their food. Chichiri hadn't touched his plate, and was in fact reading Misara's scroll and muttering to himself.
Finally dinner (or whatever you could call it) was over, and they retired to a different room to sit and discuss the scroll.
"Basically," he began, "we have to do a lot of things to get Misara back. First of all, we need to go back to Taitskun's palace and find her mirror. Then." here he paused, and looked at Taylor. "We have to go to Kutou." Taylor's eyes widened, but she didn't say anything. Hotohori looked at her, then turned back to Chichiri, who had kept on talking. "Nakago has something of Misara's that we need to get back, but the scroll doesn't say what it is." He turned to Taylor. "Do you have any idea what he could have?"
Taylor shrugged and shook her head. "I'm pretty sure it's not her ring.last I knew, she had that. I can't think of what else he could have. Where's her violin?"
"In her room." Hotohori said stiffly. "I didn't want to move it."
"How are we supposed to get anything from Nakago anyway?" Tamahome said a little angrily. "Who cares what it is?"
"We could sneak in and steal it, couldn't we?" Nuriko suggested.
"We might have to." Chichiri sighed. "Only it would be much easier if we knew what we were stealing."
"A few of us could go back to Taitskun's palace and get the mirror while someone else went to Kutou." Chiriko piped up. "The giant mirror, I presume?" Chichiri nodded. "We'll need something to carry it on then. A cart, or something."
"I will arrange that. The ones that are going can leave tomorrow morning." Hotohori replied. He exited the room to give the orders.
"Chichiri?" Taylor asked. "What else do we have to do?"
Chichiri rolled up the scroll. "We can't do anything else until we have those two items." He didn't look at anyone, concentrating solely on the scroll, obviously hiding something. He stood up. "We should all get a good night's sleep. Who's going to get the mirror tomorrow?"
Mitsukake stood. "I will go."
Tamahome and Miaka nodded. "We'll go with him." Miaka said.
"I guess I have to go too." Nuriko yawned. "Someone has to lift that thing, and it will probably be me."
Chichiri looked at Taylor. "No way." She said, shaking her head. "I'm going to Kutou with you. You need me."
Chichiri sighed. "Alright." He moved toward the door. "I'm going to rest for a while." As soon as he left, Taylor caught Nuriko's eye. Nuriko shrugged.
Taylor stood. "Me too. See you in the morning." Nuriko followed her out into the hallway. Chichiri was nowhere to be seen.
As the two of them headed down the hallway, Nuriko whispered to Taylor. "Did you get the feeling he wasn't telling us something?"