Disclaimer: If I have to say this one more time, I'll go nutz. I DON'T OWN
IT!!!
^*^AN^*^ I wrote a lotta chapters last night, so I don't think I'm going to be putting up author's notes for a while, just so ya know.
Warnings: None, but a slightly uneventful chapter. ^_^;
Chapter 6
Kami's head jerked up, and he went wide-eyed. "You mean you're- you're-" Lana just snorted and looked forward again, saying, "After I drop ya off at Allelu's, I gotta return the horse, and then go to the capital to get your Dad. I promised your little sister I wouldn't be gone longer than I had to be." "You can't go into the capital on your own! That's suicide!" Kami cried, waving his hands around. Lana turned and glared at him, saying, "I was the only one eligible for the job at the house since SOMEONE didn't happen to be there. I don't need anyone's help." "Are you crazy!? The thugs at the capital make us bandits look like perfect gentlemen!" Kami yelled, grinding his teeth together. He couldn't let her go alone. Lana just turned back to the road, and said coldly, "I'll live. You just keep Allelu-chan occupied until I get back." Kami growled, and said, "If your going to the capital, I'm comin' with ya. You'll never make it on your own." Lana turned and gave him a cold look, before saying, "And have you run out on ME when I most need ya? No thanks. I'm better off on my own." Kami was shocked into silence, and didn't say anything all the way back.
"I'm back!" Marisa yelled, rushing through the front door of Lana's Grandparent's house, grabbing some things from Lana's room before rushing up to her friend's grandparents. "Thank goodness!" Miaka-san cried, and ran out, pulling her into the living room. "Ok, just hold on to the book, and be careful!" she instructed Marisa, giving her a final hug, before handing the book to her. "I will be. Lana and I will be back in no time." she assured her friend's family, and held the book tight, calling, "I'm coming Lana!" when red light enveloped her. "Good luck Marisa." Miaka-san whispered when she disappeared, and said another silent prayer.
Joses was shocked. He had been following Kami and 'Jireh' and had heard when Lana told Kami she was a girl. Joses cocked his head to one side, looking at her. He finally decided it had to be true. Her face was much too feminine to be male, and he also noticed much of her body was hidden by the cloak she was wearing. He winced. She also had the ATTITUDE of a woman. He felt sorry for Kami. This girl sure knew how to rub a guy's mistakes in his face. He guessed she had a reason to be angry though, she seemed to be really attached to Kami's little sister, and it sounded like little Allelu had had a rough time. "The girl's also a pretty good fighter. She managed to take Kami out without any injuries in record time." Joses thought with a sly grin, and edged his horse closer to the two riders. He noticed neither teen was saying anything, and the girl seemed to be positively radiating below freezing temperatures. "She obviously doesn't like Kami." Joses thought, shaking his head in wonder. Usually the girls were falling all over Kami, but this one seemed to DEFINETLY have something against him. Joses grinned again, and decided to make his presence known. He suddenly rode out of the woods next to them, and said, "Hey guys, what's up?"
Lana nearly fell off her horse when the blue-haired man from earlier suddenly rode up out of nowhere, and greeted them. "Hello, Joses isn't it?" she said politely, and he smirked back at her, saying, "Hey babe. I take it your name isn't Jireh, is it?" Lana blushed, and said, "Crud, so you figured it out, huh?" Joses grinned, and said, "Yeah. I heard you guys earlier. Can't believe I was fooled earlier. Our men must be blind not to be able to see past your little disguise. You seriously need to do something to your face if you want to walk around as a guy. You look too much like a girl." Lana blushed even more, and heard Kami give a loud cough beside her. "Since we both already know you're a girl, why don't you take off the cloak? It's hot out here. You must be baking." Kami suggested, looking at Lana out of the corner of his eye. Lana shook her head, and said stiffly, "I'm fine. I still need to look like a guy if anyone else decides to stop us." "So what are we supposed to call you?" Joses asked, guiding his horse next to Lana's. Lana shrugged, and said, "Call me Jireh. It's the safest thing to do at the moment." "Come on, what's your real name?" Joses pressed, and Lana finally relented, and said, "My name's Lana." "Good. Now, the next thing to do is get you out of that cloak and back to looking like a girl. Kami's right. You'll get heat stroke out here. Plus if they see you're with two guys, no one's going to bother you anyway." Joses said, tugging playfully at the end of her cloak. Lana had to laugh a little at that, and after ten minutes of pestering, Lana finally asked if she did, would he leave her alone, to which Joses replied, "About the cloak anyway." with a twinkle in his eye. Lana rolled her eyes, and dismounted, going behind a boulder to make alterations to her outfit. "So what do you think of 'er?" Joses asked Kami, jerking a thumb in Lana's direction. Kami got a sour look and started to say, "I think-" But Lana walked out, and mounted her horse in one swift motion, saying, "Ready?" Joses and Kami both stared at her. Her long, auburn hair was out of the bandana, and brushed out, shining in the sun, hanging down to her shoulder blades, and now that the cloak was gone, both boys could see she had a thin and lean figure, built for speed and strength. And her face, now clean and free of all the dust and dirt that she had acquired on her journey, was quite pretty. Lana rolled her eyes at their looks, and said, "Let's get going. We should be there by midday tomorrow." She then nudged her horse into a trot, and kept a few yards ahead of the boys. "-she's beautiful." Kami finished hoarsely, staring at Lana's back. Joses gulped, and silently agreed. Suddenly he grinned, and looked at Kami with a smirk, saying, "Yeah, too bad your little sis adopted 'er. Oh well. That leaves her open for the rest of us eligible bachelors." Kami shot him a withering glare, and also went into a trot, catching up with Lana and riding by her side.
"I think Kami must be a descendent of Tasuki's." Miaka mused, reading over Taka's shoulder. "Must be. Lana's been a real help to that little family, maybe after she's finished helping them, she can come home." Taka said semi-hopefully, knowing that probably wouldn't be the case. "At least she hasn't run into any trouble so far." Miaka pointed out, looking cheerful. "Yeah, but who knows how long THAT will last?" Taka sighed.
The journey the rest of the day was uneventful, and that night Kami, Lana and Joses set up camp near a small spring. "You two can get a fire going, I'll go get us some food." Lana told them, pulling some fishing equipment out of one of her saddlebags. "Hey, those're MINE!" Kami exclaimed, and noticed suddenly that she was also wearing HIS clothes, and most of everything else she had was once his. Lana snorted, saying, "Of course. I don't have anything of my OWN, and you just left all of your things behind, so Serena-chan gave them to me." "WHAT!?" Kami yelled, going SD, trying to look through all of her bags seeing what all she had of his. Lana pulled him out of 'her' stuff, and said, "If you wanna eat, start the dang fire." Before dropping him, and going to go sit by the spring, tossing the line in the water. Kami grumbled, and helped Joses light a small fire, saying, "I can't believe Mom just gave all my stuff to someone." Joses chuckled, and said teasingly, "Don't worry, sharing with her won't be THAT bad." Kami glared at him, and after a while, Lana came back with several large trout. They ate in silence for a while, before Lana asked, "So why'd ya leave?" Kami looked at the fire for a while, before answering. "I guess I just felt like I needed some adventure. The house is so small, and it was just the three of us, I just needed to get out on my own and be with some other guys. I probably should have gone back to check on them at least once in a while though." Kami sighed in regret, and Lana just nodded. "Uhm hm. By the way, the house isn't so 'small' anymore. You guys had some extra room in the stable, so I put up a wall and made another room. I also built a shed for the firewood so it doesn't have to fill up the back room. Serena and Allelu definitely needed the extra space." Lana said, and stretched out on the ground, folding up her cloak and using it as a pillow. Joses and Kami stared at her, before Joses said, "You built all of that by yourself?!" Lana shrugged, and said, "Sure. Now let's get some sleep. We start out again early tomorrow. How far are you commin', Joses?" Joses yawned, and said, "I think I'll come along and see Kami's family. Don't know after that." Lana nodded, then looked at Kami, and said, "Sorry I bit your head off back there. Traveling for a long time with nothing to do tends to make me grumpy." Kami choked on part of his fish, and said, "What the heck?! You're not mad anymore?!" Lana grinned, and said, "Nah. I can't stay mad at ANYONE for a long time, and besides, you're coming back ain't ya? Even if you DO go back to the mountain after a while, I'll just go back and get ya again if you don't come back for a visit once in a while." Kami sputtered, and Lana chuckled, rolling onto her side to go to sleep. Joses and Kami looked at eachother, then Joses grinned mischievously, and flopped down on the ground next to Lana. "Goodnight!" he said with a wink at Kami, who looked liked he wanted to kill Joses.
^*^AN^*^ I wrote a lotta chapters last night, so I don't think I'm going to be putting up author's notes for a while, just so ya know.
Warnings: None, but a slightly uneventful chapter. ^_^;
Chapter 6
Kami's head jerked up, and he went wide-eyed. "You mean you're- you're-" Lana just snorted and looked forward again, saying, "After I drop ya off at Allelu's, I gotta return the horse, and then go to the capital to get your Dad. I promised your little sister I wouldn't be gone longer than I had to be." "You can't go into the capital on your own! That's suicide!" Kami cried, waving his hands around. Lana turned and glared at him, saying, "I was the only one eligible for the job at the house since SOMEONE didn't happen to be there. I don't need anyone's help." "Are you crazy!? The thugs at the capital make us bandits look like perfect gentlemen!" Kami yelled, grinding his teeth together. He couldn't let her go alone. Lana just turned back to the road, and said coldly, "I'll live. You just keep Allelu-chan occupied until I get back." Kami growled, and said, "If your going to the capital, I'm comin' with ya. You'll never make it on your own." Lana turned and gave him a cold look, before saying, "And have you run out on ME when I most need ya? No thanks. I'm better off on my own." Kami was shocked into silence, and didn't say anything all the way back.
"I'm back!" Marisa yelled, rushing through the front door of Lana's Grandparent's house, grabbing some things from Lana's room before rushing up to her friend's grandparents. "Thank goodness!" Miaka-san cried, and ran out, pulling her into the living room. "Ok, just hold on to the book, and be careful!" she instructed Marisa, giving her a final hug, before handing the book to her. "I will be. Lana and I will be back in no time." she assured her friend's family, and held the book tight, calling, "I'm coming Lana!" when red light enveloped her. "Good luck Marisa." Miaka-san whispered when she disappeared, and said another silent prayer.
Joses was shocked. He had been following Kami and 'Jireh' and had heard when Lana told Kami she was a girl. Joses cocked his head to one side, looking at her. He finally decided it had to be true. Her face was much too feminine to be male, and he also noticed much of her body was hidden by the cloak she was wearing. He winced. She also had the ATTITUDE of a woman. He felt sorry for Kami. This girl sure knew how to rub a guy's mistakes in his face. He guessed she had a reason to be angry though, she seemed to be really attached to Kami's little sister, and it sounded like little Allelu had had a rough time. "The girl's also a pretty good fighter. She managed to take Kami out without any injuries in record time." Joses thought with a sly grin, and edged his horse closer to the two riders. He noticed neither teen was saying anything, and the girl seemed to be positively radiating below freezing temperatures. "She obviously doesn't like Kami." Joses thought, shaking his head in wonder. Usually the girls were falling all over Kami, but this one seemed to DEFINETLY have something against him. Joses grinned again, and decided to make his presence known. He suddenly rode out of the woods next to them, and said, "Hey guys, what's up?"
Lana nearly fell off her horse when the blue-haired man from earlier suddenly rode up out of nowhere, and greeted them. "Hello, Joses isn't it?" she said politely, and he smirked back at her, saying, "Hey babe. I take it your name isn't Jireh, is it?" Lana blushed, and said, "Crud, so you figured it out, huh?" Joses grinned, and said, "Yeah. I heard you guys earlier. Can't believe I was fooled earlier. Our men must be blind not to be able to see past your little disguise. You seriously need to do something to your face if you want to walk around as a guy. You look too much like a girl." Lana blushed even more, and heard Kami give a loud cough beside her. "Since we both already know you're a girl, why don't you take off the cloak? It's hot out here. You must be baking." Kami suggested, looking at Lana out of the corner of his eye. Lana shook her head, and said stiffly, "I'm fine. I still need to look like a guy if anyone else decides to stop us." "So what are we supposed to call you?" Joses asked, guiding his horse next to Lana's. Lana shrugged, and said, "Call me Jireh. It's the safest thing to do at the moment." "Come on, what's your real name?" Joses pressed, and Lana finally relented, and said, "My name's Lana." "Good. Now, the next thing to do is get you out of that cloak and back to looking like a girl. Kami's right. You'll get heat stroke out here. Plus if they see you're with two guys, no one's going to bother you anyway." Joses said, tugging playfully at the end of her cloak. Lana had to laugh a little at that, and after ten minutes of pestering, Lana finally asked if she did, would he leave her alone, to which Joses replied, "About the cloak anyway." with a twinkle in his eye. Lana rolled her eyes, and dismounted, going behind a boulder to make alterations to her outfit. "So what do you think of 'er?" Joses asked Kami, jerking a thumb in Lana's direction. Kami got a sour look and started to say, "I think-" But Lana walked out, and mounted her horse in one swift motion, saying, "Ready?" Joses and Kami both stared at her. Her long, auburn hair was out of the bandana, and brushed out, shining in the sun, hanging down to her shoulder blades, and now that the cloak was gone, both boys could see she had a thin and lean figure, built for speed and strength. And her face, now clean and free of all the dust and dirt that she had acquired on her journey, was quite pretty. Lana rolled her eyes at their looks, and said, "Let's get going. We should be there by midday tomorrow." She then nudged her horse into a trot, and kept a few yards ahead of the boys. "-she's beautiful." Kami finished hoarsely, staring at Lana's back. Joses gulped, and silently agreed. Suddenly he grinned, and looked at Kami with a smirk, saying, "Yeah, too bad your little sis adopted 'er. Oh well. That leaves her open for the rest of us eligible bachelors." Kami shot him a withering glare, and also went into a trot, catching up with Lana and riding by her side.
"I think Kami must be a descendent of Tasuki's." Miaka mused, reading over Taka's shoulder. "Must be. Lana's been a real help to that little family, maybe after she's finished helping them, she can come home." Taka said semi-hopefully, knowing that probably wouldn't be the case. "At least she hasn't run into any trouble so far." Miaka pointed out, looking cheerful. "Yeah, but who knows how long THAT will last?" Taka sighed.
The journey the rest of the day was uneventful, and that night Kami, Lana and Joses set up camp near a small spring. "You two can get a fire going, I'll go get us some food." Lana told them, pulling some fishing equipment out of one of her saddlebags. "Hey, those're MINE!" Kami exclaimed, and noticed suddenly that she was also wearing HIS clothes, and most of everything else she had was once his. Lana snorted, saying, "Of course. I don't have anything of my OWN, and you just left all of your things behind, so Serena-chan gave them to me." "WHAT!?" Kami yelled, going SD, trying to look through all of her bags seeing what all she had of his. Lana pulled him out of 'her' stuff, and said, "If you wanna eat, start the dang fire." Before dropping him, and going to go sit by the spring, tossing the line in the water. Kami grumbled, and helped Joses light a small fire, saying, "I can't believe Mom just gave all my stuff to someone." Joses chuckled, and said teasingly, "Don't worry, sharing with her won't be THAT bad." Kami glared at him, and after a while, Lana came back with several large trout. They ate in silence for a while, before Lana asked, "So why'd ya leave?" Kami looked at the fire for a while, before answering. "I guess I just felt like I needed some adventure. The house is so small, and it was just the three of us, I just needed to get out on my own and be with some other guys. I probably should have gone back to check on them at least once in a while though." Kami sighed in regret, and Lana just nodded. "Uhm hm. By the way, the house isn't so 'small' anymore. You guys had some extra room in the stable, so I put up a wall and made another room. I also built a shed for the firewood so it doesn't have to fill up the back room. Serena and Allelu definitely needed the extra space." Lana said, and stretched out on the ground, folding up her cloak and using it as a pillow. Joses and Kami stared at her, before Joses said, "You built all of that by yourself?!" Lana shrugged, and said, "Sure. Now let's get some sleep. We start out again early tomorrow. How far are you commin', Joses?" Joses yawned, and said, "I think I'll come along and see Kami's family. Don't know after that." Lana nodded, then looked at Kami, and said, "Sorry I bit your head off back there. Traveling for a long time with nothing to do tends to make me grumpy." Kami choked on part of his fish, and said, "What the heck?! You're not mad anymore?!" Lana grinned, and said, "Nah. I can't stay mad at ANYONE for a long time, and besides, you're coming back ain't ya? Even if you DO go back to the mountain after a while, I'll just go back and get ya again if you don't come back for a visit once in a while." Kami sputtered, and Lana chuckled, rolling onto her side to go to sleep. Joses and Kami looked at eachother, then Joses grinned mischievously, and flopped down on the ground next to Lana. "Goodnight!" he said with a wink at Kami, who looked liked he wanted to kill Joses.