Disclaimer: I own a couple Fushigi Yuugi Manga. Does that count? . No.
Okay.
Author's Notes: Sorry it took me so long to update. I tried to write this out.but I'd end up just sitting here for the longest time without anything. But I finally got it done! Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! ^^ 3 This chapter has a bit of action, a few Seishuku (thanks for the correction Sanomi-), and a plot point! Hurrah!
"Alright! Are we ready to go then?" Kira clapped her hands together, the fabric of her costume gloves dulling the sound quite a good deal.
"Uhhh. Could you not talk to loud?" Yuki moaned as she tried rather hard to mount a black horse.
"I told you, you shouldn't have drunken so much." Kage, who was mounted on another black horse, grabbed one of Yuki's arms as she tried to get into the saddle and pulled her up.
It was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining in the sky, the clouds had dispersed quite a good deal, and the desert heat had yet to set in. It was nearly eight o'clock in the morning when Amefuri and Kage had stopped by with a set of horses, where they got them no one knew. The whole group was gathered in front of the inn, half mounted on horseback, the other half was working on mounting. Kira was sitting high atop Kyuumu, Amefuri was next to her on his tall white and brown steed, Kage and Yuki were behind them mounted on two black horses and lastly came Tatara and Kagasuki on a dark brown horse that was curiously named 'Bill.'
"We should head over to the Southern Granaries, that's where the monster is, supposedly." Kage motioned off to the south after he finished helping Yuki.
"Very well then!" Amefuri looked ecstatic about going off to play the good guy. Tatara watched him with an expression of interest, and mocked his every motion.
Kage sighed, and decided he had better lead the way. Amefuri had nearly no sense of direction and the others didn't seem to know their way around town. Kage pulled his horse forward and led the group down through the town; it was nearly half a day's ride to the southern granaries.
While Kira and the gang traveled down the old dirt roads towards the South, they were unaware of the watcher that was cutting across country to get to the granaries first. It was a golden-cream colored cat with black spots across it and it ran like the wind. It cut through the tall grass of the small desert valley and leapt down the hills into the fields. It hopped over a crudely made fence and slowed down to a trot as it made its way around one of the set of five granaries. The cat opened its mouth and let out something between a growl and a roar as it trotted around the granary.
"Toroki! Is that you?" A female voice yelled out as the cat approached the open area between the five storehouses. "Hurry up and tell me what you've seen!" She demanded, and there was a low cat like growl, which quickly transformed to the low growl of a teenage human male.
"Well that's a fine 'how do you do.'" A boy with rather unruly blonde hair, that was at its tips a dark black and gray muttered as he walked around the side of the granary. "No 'Thank you, Dear Toroki.'" He grumbled, and dusted off his black pants and ripped up white tank top.
"First of all, I ordered you back here nearly an hour ago. Secondly, you aren't cute enough to deserve a 'Dear.'" The woman set her brown leather-gloved hands on her hips, and shot him a look. She tapped her foot as she spoke, and her brown, heeled boots made a dull sound against the ground.
"I'll have you know that plenty of women, back home, think I'm the best thing since chopsticks." He shook the index finger on his right hand at her and smirked. She gave him an un-amused look, and grabbed his finger in her left hand, she twisted it back, and he started to move back and shake her hand off. "Hey! Umiyame! That hurts! Ooow~!" He let out a cat- like cry and she let go of his finger. It was uninjured but he got the point.
"Did you see the band of Thieves we're after?" Umiyame asked him, and glanced off at the road.
"Yeah. but they have some other clowns with them," Toroki rubbed his finger and looked up at Umiyame. She cocked an eyebrow at him, and he explained. "One guy in bandages. like those 'Arabian' guys we saw that time, one guy was dressed like a Priest- white robe, blue trim and all, a kid, and a gorgeous gal in black leather.oh her legs went for miles." Toroki started to lose his train of thought, but Umiyame stepped on his sandaled foot and quickly snapped him out of it.
"Which thieves are they with?" Umiyame asked in a rather monotonous tone.
"Oh! Amefuri, and his ninja looking fellow." Toroki replied, and leaned over to rub his poor foot.
"Right then." Umiyame looked off at the road and walked towards the right side of the granary complex. "Lets prepare for their arrival then."
"Fine, fine." Toroki walked over towards the right side of the complex and began work on their trap.
The sun rose high into the sky and the temperature in the valley rose quite considerably. Though it was still tolerable, it was rather warm outside. The group was riding at a relaxed pace along the dirt paths that led through the tall grass. Yuki had dropped back, allowing Amefuri and Kage to take the lead. Kira rode in the middle of the group, talking to Tatara all the way. It was nearly noon when they arrived at the top of a hill overlooking the granaries and fields.
"Wow." Yuki managed to say as she looked out at the rows of plants that stretched all the way to the cliffs that surrounded the valley.
"I can see why you want to protect this place from the Army." Kira looked over at Amefuri, and he smiled.
"Yeah, it is beautiful. Well, come on, let's go find that 'monster.'" Amefuri smiled back at Kira, and flicked the reigns on his horse. He rode forward and the others followed him rather quickly. They rode down the hill, and took the road that led towards the granary complex. There were quite a few fruit trees growing along the side of the road that provided a good deal of shade on this warn sunny day.
Kira slowed down and admired the trees, allowing the others to pass her but not slow enough to leave her behind. She stared up at the lush green apple trees and smiled. There was a brief rustling in the branches, and for a moment she could have sworn she saw the black cat from last night. She flicked Kyuu's reigns and sped up a bit. She had a rather ominous feeling growing in the back of her mind but she quickly shrugged it off as they came in sight of the complex gates.
The red wooden fence that surrounded the granary complex stretched down the road quite a ways. At its end it had a pair of long metal gates that had been painted to match the fence. They looked rather similar to the swinging gates at a horse stable or a ranch, but they were almost never closed. Today they were propped open with a pair of large white rocks that sat just off the road a bit.
"That's strange." Amefuri slowed his horse as he passed through the gates.
"What?" Yuki blinked at him and looked around the complex.
"Those crates aren't supposed to be sitting in the middle of the circle like that." Kage pulled his horse to a slow stop as he passed the gates.
Inside the gates, there was a large dirt circle, around which the set of five granaries had been built. There were five separate gates behind each of them that led off into the adjacent fields, most of them were opened during this time of year but they all appeared to be tied shut today. In the center of the dirt circle there were seven crates, stacked in a sloppy pyramid shape.
The group rode into the circle, and came to an uneasy stop. Kyuu seemed rather reluctant to let Kira off inside the complex, but she dismounted despite his protests. The others hopped off their horses and began to look around. It was eerily quiet here, there weren't any birds singing and the only sound was that of the wind passing through the fields of grain and leaves of the trees. The only sound until the gates behind them slammed. Everyone jumped when they heard the loud metal clang of the gates as they shut rather abruptly.
"Something's not quite right about this." Kage muttered under his breath and drew a curved knife out of a hidden sheath in his shirt. Yuki saw Kage's apprehension and she drew out her whip. Kira drew her Samshir, and both she and Kagasuki stepped in front of Tatara.
"Indeed, something is most definitely not right!" A female voice yelled at them, and all eyes shot up to the roof of the closest granary.
Standing on the roof of the building, were two people. A woman with long turquoise hair, wearing a brown leather tank top that resembled armor, gloves, loose white pants that were tucked into knee-high heeled brown leather boots. The second was a teenage boy with blonde hair that was dark grey to black at its tips. He was dressed in a loose, dusty, white ripped tank top with a pair of loose black pants and sandals.
"The very fact that the we would be sent to deal with you filthy thieves is not right!" She addressed them in a rather loud, commanding voice.
"Truly, we will take care of you and your accomplices too!" The teenage boy stood up and addressed them in a far less intimidating manner.
"Just who are you people? Are you the 'monsters' that have been terrorizing villagers?" Amefuri yelled up at them, and the woman looked at her partner.
"You- idiot." She growled in monotone, and smacked him. "I told you not to interrogate villagers for information!" He swayed on the rooftop for a moment and looked like he was about to fall off, but in a show of rather amazing balance he caught himself and looked at his partner sheepishly.
"But, Umiyame, you told me to gather information." He whined, and took a step away from her.
"Never mind Toroki! I'll deal with you later. For now, get them!" She sighed, and pointed at Amefuri.
"Yes Maam." Toroki responded, and jumped off the roof of the building, landing gracefully on the crate at the top of the pyramid. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Toroki said, and pushed some of his hair back with his hand.
"Unless I'm mistaken, its five against two." Amefuri smiled, and put his hands on his hips. "But if you really want to have a go, I guess we can't deny you." Amefuri smirked, and pulled out a weapon that looked a good deal like a nightstick.
"Yes, but I doubt any of you have skills enough to catch me!" Toroki smiled, and a gust of wind blew through the complex, tossing dust and straw into the air.
"Where is he?" Yuki yelled, as she waved her hands in front of her face in an attempt to clear the cloud of dust.
"I don't know!" Kage yelled back, he sounded like he was nearly on top of the crates, and everyone held their weapons ready.
Kira pulled her facemask up to help keep from breathing in the dust, and took a cautious step forward. She had her Samshir out and ready to slice, but she couldn't see anything in this dust and the wind was making it incredibly difficult to hear. She spun around as she heard a cracking noise behind her, but nothing was there. There was a long tense silence and then they heard Kyuu neigh.
There was the sound of quite a bit of commotion near the horses, and a cat like growl. Kyuu must have reared and kicked something, because whatever was there came tumbling towards Kira. The creature stood up, and let out a hiss as it stared at Kira. There was a cracking noise and the creature was dragged off towards the crates. As the dust cleared Kira laughed at what she saw.
Yuki was standing on the second step, holding her whip tight in her hands, and half tangled, half wrapped up in the other end of the whip was what looked like a cheetah. Kage was looking around rather impatiently, waiting for the teenage boy to attack them, and Amefuri seemed to be having a staring contest with the woman on the roof.
"Toroki, you blasted fool! Why did you attack the horse?" The woman yelled down at the cheetah, and the cat let out a rather pathetic meowing sound. There was a popping sound and a small cloud of smoke surrounded the cheetah, the smoke quickly dissipated and instead the teenage boy was lying there hopelessly caught up in Yuki's whip.
"It's not my fault. I thought it was the guy in the robes." He whined, and tried to get Yuki's whip off, but he failed miserably.
"You are a disappointment as a Royal Guardian." Umiyame rubbed her temples and gave Toroki a look.
"You're Royal Guardians of Byakko Palace then?" Amefuri asked, but his tone was more like a statement.
"Indeed. And we were ordered here to stop a band of unruly thieves, but it seems we'll have to try again when we are more prepared." Umiyame glared at Toroki as she poke, and muttered something like 'Damn trainees,' under her breath.
"We will meet again, have no fear of that!" Umiyame pulled out a small bag, and threw it down to the ground. It exploded with a flash of light, and a good deal of smoke. When the smoke had cleared both she and Toroki were nowhere to be seen.
"Well, that was. anti-climactic." Yuki stared at her whip as she rolled it back up, and everyone else looked like they agreed.
"Looks to me like we're going to have to go to Byakko Palace and speak to the Emperor himself then." Kira said as she sheathed her Samshir, and checked the horses.
"Why?" Yuki looked at her like she was rather insane.
"Well, the Emperor doesn't seem to be paying too much attention to these people. So we have to go 'converse' with him over it." Kira smiled, and patted Kyuu on his neck. Yuki knew that look, and smirked. The others looked a tad confused until they came to the realization of what Kira's 'conversing' must involve. Everyone smiled, and jogged over to their horses.
"Well then.Onward to Byakko Palace!" Amefuri mounted his horse, and everyone cheered.
Author's Notes (Part 2): Well, Umiyame and Toroki remind me of Team Rocket.I wonder why. But it looks like the plot is actually moving! *Gasp*
(Please Read & Review!~)
Author's Notes: Sorry it took me so long to update. I tried to write this out.but I'd end up just sitting here for the longest time without anything. But I finally got it done! Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! ^^ 3 This chapter has a bit of action, a few Seishuku (thanks for the correction Sanomi-), and a plot point! Hurrah!
"Alright! Are we ready to go then?" Kira clapped her hands together, the fabric of her costume gloves dulling the sound quite a good deal.
"Uhhh. Could you not talk to loud?" Yuki moaned as she tried rather hard to mount a black horse.
"I told you, you shouldn't have drunken so much." Kage, who was mounted on another black horse, grabbed one of Yuki's arms as she tried to get into the saddle and pulled her up.
It was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining in the sky, the clouds had dispersed quite a good deal, and the desert heat had yet to set in. It was nearly eight o'clock in the morning when Amefuri and Kage had stopped by with a set of horses, where they got them no one knew. The whole group was gathered in front of the inn, half mounted on horseback, the other half was working on mounting. Kira was sitting high atop Kyuumu, Amefuri was next to her on his tall white and brown steed, Kage and Yuki were behind them mounted on two black horses and lastly came Tatara and Kagasuki on a dark brown horse that was curiously named 'Bill.'
"We should head over to the Southern Granaries, that's where the monster is, supposedly." Kage motioned off to the south after he finished helping Yuki.
"Very well then!" Amefuri looked ecstatic about going off to play the good guy. Tatara watched him with an expression of interest, and mocked his every motion.
Kage sighed, and decided he had better lead the way. Amefuri had nearly no sense of direction and the others didn't seem to know their way around town. Kage pulled his horse forward and led the group down through the town; it was nearly half a day's ride to the southern granaries.
While Kira and the gang traveled down the old dirt roads towards the South, they were unaware of the watcher that was cutting across country to get to the granaries first. It was a golden-cream colored cat with black spots across it and it ran like the wind. It cut through the tall grass of the small desert valley and leapt down the hills into the fields. It hopped over a crudely made fence and slowed down to a trot as it made its way around one of the set of five granaries. The cat opened its mouth and let out something between a growl and a roar as it trotted around the granary.
"Toroki! Is that you?" A female voice yelled out as the cat approached the open area between the five storehouses. "Hurry up and tell me what you've seen!" She demanded, and there was a low cat like growl, which quickly transformed to the low growl of a teenage human male.
"Well that's a fine 'how do you do.'" A boy with rather unruly blonde hair, that was at its tips a dark black and gray muttered as he walked around the side of the granary. "No 'Thank you, Dear Toroki.'" He grumbled, and dusted off his black pants and ripped up white tank top.
"First of all, I ordered you back here nearly an hour ago. Secondly, you aren't cute enough to deserve a 'Dear.'" The woman set her brown leather-gloved hands on her hips, and shot him a look. She tapped her foot as she spoke, and her brown, heeled boots made a dull sound against the ground.
"I'll have you know that plenty of women, back home, think I'm the best thing since chopsticks." He shook the index finger on his right hand at her and smirked. She gave him an un-amused look, and grabbed his finger in her left hand, she twisted it back, and he started to move back and shake her hand off. "Hey! Umiyame! That hurts! Ooow~!" He let out a cat- like cry and she let go of his finger. It was uninjured but he got the point.
"Did you see the band of Thieves we're after?" Umiyame asked him, and glanced off at the road.
"Yeah. but they have some other clowns with them," Toroki rubbed his finger and looked up at Umiyame. She cocked an eyebrow at him, and he explained. "One guy in bandages. like those 'Arabian' guys we saw that time, one guy was dressed like a Priest- white robe, blue trim and all, a kid, and a gorgeous gal in black leather.oh her legs went for miles." Toroki started to lose his train of thought, but Umiyame stepped on his sandaled foot and quickly snapped him out of it.
"Which thieves are they with?" Umiyame asked in a rather monotonous tone.
"Oh! Amefuri, and his ninja looking fellow." Toroki replied, and leaned over to rub his poor foot.
"Right then." Umiyame looked off at the road and walked towards the right side of the granary complex. "Lets prepare for their arrival then."
"Fine, fine." Toroki walked over towards the right side of the complex and began work on their trap.
The sun rose high into the sky and the temperature in the valley rose quite considerably. Though it was still tolerable, it was rather warm outside. The group was riding at a relaxed pace along the dirt paths that led through the tall grass. Yuki had dropped back, allowing Amefuri and Kage to take the lead. Kira rode in the middle of the group, talking to Tatara all the way. It was nearly noon when they arrived at the top of a hill overlooking the granaries and fields.
"Wow." Yuki managed to say as she looked out at the rows of plants that stretched all the way to the cliffs that surrounded the valley.
"I can see why you want to protect this place from the Army." Kira looked over at Amefuri, and he smiled.
"Yeah, it is beautiful. Well, come on, let's go find that 'monster.'" Amefuri smiled back at Kira, and flicked the reigns on his horse. He rode forward and the others followed him rather quickly. They rode down the hill, and took the road that led towards the granary complex. There were quite a few fruit trees growing along the side of the road that provided a good deal of shade on this warn sunny day.
Kira slowed down and admired the trees, allowing the others to pass her but not slow enough to leave her behind. She stared up at the lush green apple trees and smiled. There was a brief rustling in the branches, and for a moment she could have sworn she saw the black cat from last night. She flicked Kyuu's reigns and sped up a bit. She had a rather ominous feeling growing in the back of her mind but she quickly shrugged it off as they came in sight of the complex gates.
The red wooden fence that surrounded the granary complex stretched down the road quite a ways. At its end it had a pair of long metal gates that had been painted to match the fence. They looked rather similar to the swinging gates at a horse stable or a ranch, but they were almost never closed. Today they were propped open with a pair of large white rocks that sat just off the road a bit.
"That's strange." Amefuri slowed his horse as he passed through the gates.
"What?" Yuki blinked at him and looked around the complex.
"Those crates aren't supposed to be sitting in the middle of the circle like that." Kage pulled his horse to a slow stop as he passed the gates.
Inside the gates, there was a large dirt circle, around which the set of five granaries had been built. There were five separate gates behind each of them that led off into the adjacent fields, most of them were opened during this time of year but they all appeared to be tied shut today. In the center of the dirt circle there were seven crates, stacked in a sloppy pyramid shape.
The group rode into the circle, and came to an uneasy stop. Kyuu seemed rather reluctant to let Kira off inside the complex, but she dismounted despite his protests. The others hopped off their horses and began to look around. It was eerily quiet here, there weren't any birds singing and the only sound was that of the wind passing through the fields of grain and leaves of the trees. The only sound until the gates behind them slammed. Everyone jumped when they heard the loud metal clang of the gates as they shut rather abruptly.
"Something's not quite right about this." Kage muttered under his breath and drew a curved knife out of a hidden sheath in his shirt. Yuki saw Kage's apprehension and she drew out her whip. Kira drew her Samshir, and both she and Kagasuki stepped in front of Tatara.
"Indeed, something is most definitely not right!" A female voice yelled at them, and all eyes shot up to the roof of the closest granary.
Standing on the roof of the building, were two people. A woman with long turquoise hair, wearing a brown leather tank top that resembled armor, gloves, loose white pants that were tucked into knee-high heeled brown leather boots. The second was a teenage boy with blonde hair that was dark grey to black at its tips. He was dressed in a loose, dusty, white ripped tank top with a pair of loose black pants and sandals.
"The very fact that the we would be sent to deal with you filthy thieves is not right!" She addressed them in a rather loud, commanding voice.
"Truly, we will take care of you and your accomplices too!" The teenage boy stood up and addressed them in a far less intimidating manner.
"Just who are you people? Are you the 'monsters' that have been terrorizing villagers?" Amefuri yelled up at them, and the woman looked at her partner.
"You- idiot." She growled in monotone, and smacked him. "I told you not to interrogate villagers for information!" He swayed on the rooftop for a moment and looked like he was about to fall off, but in a show of rather amazing balance he caught himself and looked at his partner sheepishly.
"But, Umiyame, you told me to gather information." He whined, and took a step away from her.
"Never mind Toroki! I'll deal with you later. For now, get them!" She sighed, and pointed at Amefuri.
"Yes Maam." Toroki responded, and jumped off the roof of the building, landing gracefully on the crate at the top of the pyramid. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Toroki said, and pushed some of his hair back with his hand.
"Unless I'm mistaken, its five against two." Amefuri smiled, and put his hands on his hips. "But if you really want to have a go, I guess we can't deny you." Amefuri smirked, and pulled out a weapon that looked a good deal like a nightstick.
"Yes, but I doubt any of you have skills enough to catch me!" Toroki smiled, and a gust of wind blew through the complex, tossing dust and straw into the air.
"Where is he?" Yuki yelled, as she waved her hands in front of her face in an attempt to clear the cloud of dust.
"I don't know!" Kage yelled back, he sounded like he was nearly on top of the crates, and everyone held their weapons ready.
Kira pulled her facemask up to help keep from breathing in the dust, and took a cautious step forward. She had her Samshir out and ready to slice, but she couldn't see anything in this dust and the wind was making it incredibly difficult to hear. She spun around as she heard a cracking noise behind her, but nothing was there. There was a long tense silence and then they heard Kyuu neigh.
There was the sound of quite a bit of commotion near the horses, and a cat like growl. Kyuu must have reared and kicked something, because whatever was there came tumbling towards Kira. The creature stood up, and let out a hiss as it stared at Kira. There was a cracking noise and the creature was dragged off towards the crates. As the dust cleared Kira laughed at what she saw.
Yuki was standing on the second step, holding her whip tight in her hands, and half tangled, half wrapped up in the other end of the whip was what looked like a cheetah. Kage was looking around rather impatiently, waiting for the teenage boy to attack them, and Amefuri seemed to be having a staring contest with the woman on the roof.
"Toroki, you blasted fool! Why did you attack the horse?" The woman yelled down at the cheetah, and the cat let out a rather pathetic meowing sound. There was a popping sound and a small cloud of smoke surrounded the cheetah, the smoke quickly dissipated and instead the teenage boy was lying there hopelessly caught up in Yuki's whip.
"It's not my fault. I thought it was the guy in the robes." He whined, and tried to get Yuki's whip off, but he failed miserably.
"You are a disappointment as a Royal Guardian." Umiyame rubbed her temples and gave Toroki a look.
"You're Royal Guardians of Byakko Palace then?" Amefuri asked, but his tone was more like a statement.
"Indeed. And we were ordered here to stop a band of unruly thieves, but it seems we'll have to try again when we are more prepared." Umiyame glared at Toroki as she poke, and muttered something like 'Damn trainees,' under her breath.
"We will meet again, have no fear of that!" Umiyame pulled out a small bag, and threw it down to the ground. It exploded with a flash of light, and a good deal of smoke. When the smoke had cleared both she and Toroki were nowhere to be seen.
"Well, that was. anti-climactic." Yuki stared at her whip as she rolled it back up, and everyone else looked like they agreed.
"Looks to me like we're going to have to go to Byakko Palace and speak to the Emperor himself then." Kira said as she sheathed her Samshir, and checked the horses.
"Why?" Yuki looked at her like she was rather insane.
"Well, the Emperor doesn't seem to be paying too much attention to these people. So we have to go 'converse' with him over it." Kira smiled, and patted Kyuu on his neck. Yuki knew that look, and smirked. The others looked a tad confused until they came to the realization of what Kira's 'conversing' must involve. Everyone smiled, and jogged over to their horses.
"Well then.Onward to Byakko Palace!" Amefuri mounted his horse, and everyone cheered.
Author's Notes (Part 2): Well, Umiyame and Toroki remind me of Team Rocket.I wonder why. But it looks like the plot is actually moving! *Gasp*
(Please Read & Review!~)